There's a Stabber in my nanoRupture

NanoRupture vs Stabber

or

"Why you shouldn't fly the stabber."

It's pretty simple really; I don't even have to dig all that hard to start showing just how much better the Rupture is (in every way) than the stabber. Let's just start with a slot layout comparison, now the stabber here is a tier 2 cruiser while the Rupture is a tier 3, so we already know that the Rupture is going to have more slots to show for that, as well as other better stats to back that up

Stabber - 6 high, 3 mid, 3 low, 5 m3 drone bandwidth and bay, 3 rig slots.

Rupture - 6 high, 3 mid, 5 low, 25 m3 drone bandwidth and bay, 3 rig slots.

In addition to that the Rupture has better base hp across the board! Already that should be enough to tell you that short of the price tag difference, there is really no reason to buy a stabber let alone fly in one. Okay I suppose that some people will say "what about the speed man, the stabber is soooo much faster."

Well yes, I suppose you are right, but let's look at two test fits, without rigs. Nano Rupture (t2 guns) vs the Nano Stabber (also with t2 guns).

[Stabber, Standard]
Damage Control II
Tracking Enhancer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Disruptor II
Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Microwarpdrive
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
Small Energy Neutralizer II
Small Energy Neutralizer II


Warrior II x1

vs

[Rupture, nanorupture norigs]
Damage Control II
Gyrostabilizer II
Gyrostabilizer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Tracking Enhancer II
Y-T8 Overcharged Hydrocarbon I Microwarpdrive
Large Shield Extender II
Warp Disruptor II
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
Medium Energy Neutralizer II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M
Small Energy Neutralizer II, Barrage M
425mm AutoCannon II, Barrage M


Hornet EC-300 x5
Hornet EC-300 x1

Now while the Nanostabber holds the advantage in speed (still) the Nano Rupture wins in every other way, more EHP, much better DPS, better engagement envelope, as it can hit out to about 32KM (opt + falloff), better gun tracking, ability to use faction ammo out to the ranges the stabber will likely be fighting at, further multiplying it's DPS. Even as heavy tackle the Rupture is a bit better, overheating close to the base speed of the stabber under MWD.

Then you throw in being able to use 5x drones vs the 1 drone from the Stabber, and the utility of neut's to immobilize light, fast tackle getting close to you?

I've heard that people fly the Stabber to "get ready" for a ship like the Vagabond. Realistically the Nano Rupture, especially with rigs, is a much better option to train with. The hull feels heavier than the Vaga or even the Stabber, but the guns hit much more realistically towards what you get out of a Vaga vs similar from the stabber, and the slot loadout is much closer to the Vagabond on the Rupture than the Stabber.

The always flawed approach is to look at a NanoStabber vs a NanoRupture in a 1v1 engagement, so let's save that for last and instead look at application vs targets. The Rupture's better engagement range, and still intact ability to stand off (kite) targets forges it's very true reputation for being a great solo boat, able to up-engage and then disengage if things are going badly. The stabber has much lower DPS, without downgrading the guns (lowering it's DPS further) there is no room to fit anything but small neuts, rockets, or assault missile launchers. None are very good options. (In be4 defenders)

Now I was using all level 5 skills to look at this, so the numbers in use may vary a bit, but what the Rupture loses in speed, it makes up for in range, DPS, survivability and utility.

Taken from the only view the stabber gets of the Rupture. Right before it dies.

I'm not all THAT impressed

As most of you know, Yesterday the Eve-world was hit by a bomb shell of Hellmar proportions; the massive, and deserved, letter to the fan base.

Now other than that dev blog already being inaccessible, and the terribly worded unavailable notice, I'm just not all that surprised to see this letter from CCP.

Why? because it comes too close to being just another ploy, and already an effective one. If just by releasing this blog CCP starts to see more people re-sub, or new players come in from the attention it will undoubtedly draw then it was a full on success. CCP's in a unique place here. Theoretically at least, they have the resources to draw from now that they did not have before(this being close to the end of their 18 months, or at least 13-14 months), with the last of the CQ's being completed, even though only one person in a time in there please, they now have some dev cycles they can use to fix parts of the game that need some fixing and have since either their release, or in some cases (hybrids) for the last 2+ years.

Right now is the perfect time for Hellmar to draw people back in with promises to address those things nearest to our hearts, the spaceships. I was expecting this blog for as long as Jester over at Jester's Trek and I guessed it's content with perhaps some more clarity or at least accuracy than he did a few weeks ago looking at problems with the game from my perspective.

The task list looks impressive, but how much of that will actually get done in the next 2 months? or how much will just be heavy-handed, and forced into some kind of change so they can mark the checkbox next to the problem with a big ole check even if their "fix" just breaks 10 more things with eve gameplay.

It's a good start; but one that shouldn't have taken this long to bring into place. I'm reserving judgement on this until I start to see how these changes will happen, and over what time-period. I suggest you do the same. As always, nothing has changed in-game yet, so if you still hate Eve's current problems, you are still going to hate eve's problems because nothing has changed. If you still have fun with Eve then Eve's still fun. Now, as always, all that's left to do is wait to see what CCP does with this letter, and momentum change, will they capitalize and turn the game around, fixing all those things they can in a admittedly short time, or will they devote 1/4 effort to every project and in doing so fail to fix any of them?

Time, not Hellmar, will tell.

Criminal is in the Name

EVEOGANDA : Criminal Intentions

First let me state, that as in my comment there, I will not be sitting over here trying to convince Rixx's character that he is a criminal. Self perception being what it is... let's just say that is futile, and would be like trying to convince Stalin that what he was doing was evil and unjust, he certainly didn't see it that way.

The idea that "nobody" controls lowsec just simply isn't true and can be clearly defined by looking in the upper left corner.

This is taken from just some random screenshot I found online, I didn't have time this morning to fly all the way to Rixx's home system in lowsec just to make a point on my blog! It clearly states "Sovereignty > Amarr Empire" and if Rixx still lives in List then it likely says Sov is Gallente. Out in Syndicate, it says Sov > Syndicate. Even when you engage in combat against a neutral, non-flashy target, your GCC lists (usually) the Empire/Republic/whatever that is pissed at you for engaging in combat in highsec, and lowsec, but not in nullsec.

"Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory."

Sure there are no police, faction or otherwise in Lowsec, as are present in Highsec, but it's a lot like the wild west analogy brought up by Rixx. One where if you jump into the real fort (aka highsec) or to an outpost (aka stations in lowsec or gates) the guns will engage you and your criminal acts (Global CRIMINAL countdown, security status punishments and restrictions) are punished in some fashion or another. I'd get into a million game design arguments here but I really don't think that 15 minutes is a fair offset for fighting in lowsec, it should be much shorter (5 minutes). In lowsec, Law is "enforced" or maybe better explained by "represented" by your security status. Kill enough ships, pilots, pods etc, and your security status drops below -5.0 making you "flashy"until you use another broken mechanic to rat your way back above -5.0.

Punishments in lowsec may be light in comparison to highsec (CONCORDOKKEN) but they are still present and are enforced by the controlling parties and Concord in the case of your sec status.

Ships of all sizes do indeed have crew, so although the pod might or might not escape and the legality of destroying another players pod is questionable (although with the monstrous sec status hit one takes for killing a pod strongly suggests that it is illegal). Digressions aside, it has long been established in PF, or as cannon that ships, even frigates, do indeed have crews in addition to the capsuleer.

Now survival rates and "real math" aside (that would lead to the startling knowledge that the eve universe would be facing near extinction with the current crew losses faced on a day-to-day basis). The proof is in the pudding that fights and kills in lowsec made against other capsuleer ships do cause casualties, and is a pretty solid crutch used in RP, as by this token we are all mass murderers to some extent (especially you high-sec red + killing people, those ships have crew too!).

This image, shamelessly stolen from a post entitled "Your frigates have crew" on Backstage (thank you Victoria Valadeus, of KotMC), and originally from a Dev blog on the same subject, clearly shows that there is sizable crew on most ships and even room for passengers with the maximum capacity stat. Survival stats are much lower than I would expect(I think it should be closer to 80-90% survival or more across the board), however, people are sure to die as a result of Rixx's ship opening fire on them.

Now on to the more philosophical argument, does Logan and by extension Rixx understand what they are doing?

I am sure Logan, the character, is aware, he knows some of his crews, and understands loss all to well. Does this deter him from fighting? No, as he also is aware of his cause, outlined by Stimulus, requires bloodshed to enlighten and advance their cause. To him these deaths are justified, further, he sees himself as a freedom fighter on a scale that not even pilots of Ushra'Khan can comprehend.

Rixx on the other hand seems, judging by Rixx blog post, chooses to either not understand the deaths he inflicts or marginalizes them by not choosing to acknowledge their deaths, or instead, like pirates, claims to own his own house and only direct force to bring him to justice would label him a criminal. Or that he is simply defending his home, albeit aggressively.

Criminals aren't "criminals" because they are in jail, they are criminals long before then, judged by acts they commit. In the confines of this game, capsuleers are largely "above" the law of concord in null and lowsec with the obvious exceptions (gate guns, sec status). Does this freedom grant us, as capsuleers, the ability to stand above the repercussions of our actions, I think the answer there is a resounding yes. If every time one broke a "law" in Eve or murdered an innocent, you were punished fully, I think Eve would take a bit of a turn for the dull.

While certainly individual capsuleers in eve each have different view to death and loss in eve, and the destruction that they cause, and others cause. I'll wrap it up here and just simply say that to some level we are all criminals in eve, all the rest is up to perception, both yours and theirs.

AT9 group stages day 2!

Did pretty well yesterday, here are my official choices for today!

Sunday June 12th

15:00 RAZOR Alliance vs. Wild Boars
15:20 Circle-of-Two vs. Outbreak
15:40 RvB - Red Federation vs. Babylon 5..
16:00 White Noise vs. SOLAR FLEET
16:20 WE FORM VOLTRON vs. POWER OF TWO
16:40 Aggravated Assault.. vs. The R0NIN
17:00 Black Legion vs. Nulli Secunda
17:20 Lack of Imagination vs. B A N E

BREAK

18:20 Pandemic Legion vs. Unaffiliated
18:40 Ushra'Khan vs. HYDRA RELOADED
19:00 Against ALL Authorities vs. Raiden.
19:20 Negative Ten vs. DarkSide.
19:40 Vanguard Imperium vs. Sev3rance
20:00 Perihelion Alliance vs. Paisti Syndicate
20:20 The G0dfathers vs. Get Off My Lawn
20:40 The Kadeshi vs. Wildly Inappropriate