Are you rage quitting too?

So many people rage quitting over Incarna and the macrotransactions... Me? Well, I just wont be buying the things I don't want, as I always have.

Ok, so you're quitting in protest. I wish you well. Could you please donate all your stuff to OUCH? The nullsec survival and PVP training Corp could really do with your donations, and your stuff would help a great deal of people.

Please contact Black Claw in-game to organize your donations. Thank you.

Tales from the front line #3

Please enjoy another 'tale from the front line'. This is a recent engagement that our OUCH members were involved in. I want to remind you that these professional soldiers were - only very recently - noobs and carebears. There's no shame in being new, or being a carebear, because OUCH exists to help you grow. Just like it helped the below-mentioned members grow.

Gatecrashers
It was a normal day in our favored hunting grounds, with the exception of having two bubbles (one for each gate) up due to the size of the gathered fleet. I had chosen to come out in a covert ops scout to expand my growing inventory of tactical bookmarks and provide probing support and additional EWAR to the fleet, which appeared to have sufficient tacklers for the afternoon's festivities.

The traffic that day was enough to keep things interesting, but was also primarily singles and small fleets that are a welcome sight compared to the overwhelming blobs that usually interrupt our activities. Eyes in the adjacent systems kept us well informed about our next potential customer as they approached the system, and several ended up in the bubble as a snack for the wolves gathered around it.
This continued satisfactorily for a while, but then our eyes reported ships setting up a medium bubble next door. The fleet composition was a Myrmidon with ECM support from a cloaky Blackbird. It was noted that they had placed eyes in the system we were camping as well. We coexisted for an hour or so, with occasional report from our scouts.
Then one of our experienced pilots spoke up in fleet, "You know I could fit-up a tanked Vexor real quick for bait."

This simple statement was initially met with resistance by the FC, but the tactical planning and evaluation machine had already been set in motion. Experienced pilots began offering their analysis of the situation and our potential for successfully breaking the neighboring camp. The FC was reassured of our chances and planning began in earnest, while a lone pilot docked to begin crafting the bait.
The only remaining doubt was the possibility that our potential prey might have friends beyond the gate they were camping. This was put to rest by a scouting report that there was no relief available for the unsuspecting targets beyond the gate. "Clear to grid and scan, two neuts, different corp and alliance."
While this was happening, our quartermaster was busy contracting the remaining modules necessary to bring the bait ship online. Then the Vexor undocked and made its way back to the bubble for a final debrief before departing on its perilous mission of deception and mayhem.
The final plan was to ineptly pilot the baitship across our system, falling into our second bubble. This would hopefully be within sight of the cloaked spy stationed there by our targets. Following this the bait would then slow boat to the gate before jumping into the next system and warping into their waiting "trap" and engaging the hopefully eager Myrmidon pilot and his Blackbird partner. Knowing that eyes were watching the gate, the non-cloaked elements of the fleet aligned to their gate tacs and awaited the FC's order to warp to tacs and proceed through the gate to ultimately warp to the baitship, and hopefully victory.

A forward scout had achieved a position off their bubble which would be ideal for our ECM and EWAR pilots to engage the targets with an impressive array of electronics that has tipped many a fight in our favor. Our ECM ships were directed to warp to the scout when they entered the system.
In preparation for the orchestrated chaos that was about to occur, I positioned my cloaked Buzzard at a tac which was a short warp from the gate to the neighboring system, and the targets which lay within. I watched with excitement as the order sent the baitship into our bubble just off the gate and watched as it slowly cleared the bubble and made its journey to the gate and jumped beyond.
Voice comms were eerily silent until the baitship pilot reported "in warp to the bubble... in the bubble... Myrmidon engaged!"
Suddenly comms came alive, "fleet warp to tacs, go to gate, jump on contact." The order was answered by a flurry of reports that pilots were in warp. I initiated my short warp to the waiting gate as the first ships were arriving at tacs just off the gate, and jumped as the tacklers and damage boats were hitting the gate behind me.
Upon entering the neighboring system, I initiated my warp to our scout at 50km, hoping I would be in a good position to employ my sensor dampener and tracking disruptor while engaging my cloaking device in mid warp. I could not have hoped for a better vantage point.
The rest of the fleet swooped on grid and engaged the Myrmidon as the baitship reported that its cap was dry and was rapidly loosing armor due to the Myrmidon's neutralizers. We would learn later that the Myrmidon was fitted with a full rack of neutralizers and not a single gun, relying instead on its drones to put out the damage necessary for its purposes. Being unaware of this, I decloaked, engaged my sensor booster and targeted the Myrmidon, bringing my tracking disruptor and sensor dampener online, while a friendly Blackbird and Falcon set about removing the Blackbird's ability to jam our tacklers, which were swarming the Myrmidon.
To remove any possibility of the Myrmidon escaping, an interdiction sphere was launched. This unfortunately prevented the warp out of our baitship, which was deep into structure and was subsequently lost to the Myrmidon's drones. This was our only loss of the engagement.
Meanwhile, the Blackbird who had been jammed to impotence by our own ECM pilots warped out to our dismay, only to return to the killing grounds a short while later. The Myrmidon was almost through armor at that point, but we were soon to learn that it was hull tanked! Let me say it again, hull tanked!
The Blackbird's return was a grave error on the pilot's part, as I targeted it and cut its targeting range as soon as the ship exited warp. The doomed pilot hovered in space as a Rifter disengaged from the melee below and streaked with laserlike precision to the now aligning Blackbird.

"Scram web" was nonchalantly announced over comms by the Rifter pilot, who could probably tackle a cruiser in his sleep. My vantage point, some 80km from this maneuver, afforded a fantastic view of the purple box settling into what appeared to be a slow and deliberate orbit of the now trapped Blackbird, as the statement "Blackbird is jammed" was calmly passed via comms.

Following this flurry of activity, the Myrmidon slowly melted before our combined firepower as his accomplice watched, awaiting their own turn to go up in flames.

I locked the Myrmidons pod as it was expelled from the wrecked ship and tagged it briefly with my tracking disruptor, before reengaging it on the immobile Blackbird, just for the hell of it. Ultimately, the Blackbird pilot's pod escaped, perhaps due to the time they had to prepare their escape. The real prizes however, lay burning at our feet.
The fleet then set about looting the wrecks and cleaning up, while I engaged my engines and reengaged my cloak, delighting in the excitement of the hunt and the success of the operation. Afterwards, we set a course back to the bubble we had left unattended in our system, while leaving the bubble placed by our prey intact and unmolested. It was a good day.

I hope I have accurately portrayed the events of the engagement in such a way as to give credit to the intentionally unnamed pilots who made it all possible. These pilots are the reason that I came out to null, and are the primary reason why EVE and OUCH are providing the best online gaming experience I have had in twenty years of online gaming. Many thanks.

We're changing the rules

A long time ago, OUCH started out as the 'school of hard knocks'. it encouraged the students to get out there and practice what they learnt from written guides on our forums. These guides were based on my experiences over the years, and the experiences of others, and they taught the basics of nullsec survival and PVP. We had ship programs that provided T1 frigates to the members, so they didn't have to worry about losing their own ships; but still, the fights they got in to were their own, and from them they learnt how to survive.

It was tough being a student back then in the early days. We didn't have any trainers apart from me. And being in Australia, my availability to the rest of the US/EU members was limited. I did what I could, staying up late and getting up early, so I could be there for them and take them through the guides, teaching them how to create bookmarks and why, and taking them on lowsec and nullsec roams to teach how to avoid gate and bubble camps.

I taught about travel, scouting and intel, and I did my best to make sure that what I taught was passed on, so that the students could become the teachers and they could teach the members I was unable to teach myself. Those who were skilled at PVP were given the responsibility of teaching others their PVP skills, because I know my specialty isn't PVP. :)

It worked well. Eventually we built up a training department, and then an operations department, and we created training modules and graduation programs. The rules within the Corp slowly evolved to accommodate an increasing professionalism, and the expectations we had from ourselves and our students started to change accordingly.

It's reached a point where I have a solid group of senior staff who are professional and committed to the goals that we started with. The rules have been working well, and allowing us to move forward. We've been very successful in establishing ourselves as a known and respected PVP Corp in our operational areas of nullsec.

My involvement has become peripheral to the daily activities of OUCH and the alliance that was built up around it. My senior staff are doing a fantastic job, and I can just sit back and relax.

Except that's not me... I can't just sit back and do nothing, which is why I'm creating a new venture with my alt Alexia Morgan and her Corp, The Punishers.

Even though my alt is going anti-pirate, I decided to maintain a relationship between them, so I declared that OUCH no longer condones piracy, and Black Claw is no longer a pirate. He's now trying to rat his security status back to normal. Well, he would be if people would just stop trying to kill him wherever they see him....

As result of forbidding acts of piracy within OUCH, I've had to recently kick out a few of my members who decided to ignore policy and bait highsec pilots into can-flipping so that they could then be attacked. "But we were mining and forced to respond!" they complained to me after getting the hard end of my boot. How often do miners fly with webs and scrams on their mining ships? Some people are really stupid.

But it showed there's a few changes needed in the Corp policies and regulations, so we're working on revising those at the moment. We're also going to make our regulations public, once we've completed them, so that interested pilots can see what will be expected of them once they make the choice to join us.

OUCH will no longer be the 'school of hard knocks'. We're going to be a professional training organization, with professional expectations of it's students. We're getting serious about what we expect from our students, and what they can expect from us.

To provide you with a teaser, we're not going to allow any students to enter nullsec and/or engage in PVP until they've completed a number of training modules. Too many of our students needlessly die because they just don't know what they're doing yet, so we're going to change that.

The old days are over. The new days are just beginning. The rules are changing, and exciting times are ahead of us as we grow and embrace our professionalism.

OUCH Frequently Asked Questions

Thanks to our Training Director, we have a Frequently Asked Questions post about the student requirements within OUCH, which currently sits on our forums in the student area.  I just wanted to add a few notes for you to be aware of while you're reading the FAQ:

1) The FAQ applies to students within OUCH, and is from the perspective of "Now that I'm in OUCH I have some questions..."  From reading this, you'll understand a lot about what is expected of our students.

2) The Student Folders mentioned in the FAQ are a requirement for all students to create on our forum. This is where a record is kept of their training, achievements, and any relevant discussions they might want to engage in with trainers or mentors.

3) If you're intrigued by the training concepts described in the FAQ and feel like you'd like to be a part of it, then join us so you can be. :)

4) If you're reading this and you've been playing for a few years and now you're looking for a challenge in your Eve career and you think that helping OUCH with our student training, PVE or PVP in some way just might be it, then contact me to discuss this.

And now, on to the Frequently Asked Questions!

The graduation requirements say I have to graduate within 90 days of joining OUCH. Real life might make this impossible. Can I get an extension? 

Yes. We strictly adhere to a real-life-comes-first policy. If more time is needed, post a reply to your student folder letting us know. At some point, however, your ingame title will be changed to Trial and if your absence is prolonged, you might be removed from the corp. If this happens, when you become active again simply re-apply to OUCH and we'll re-activate your student folder.

I'm a six-year-old character and can fly every ship in the game. Do I have to fly the student-fit frigate? 

Yes. We will train you to competently pilot a no-frills frigate. The skills you learn while a student can be applied after you graduate to other ships and fittings, but will serve as a solid foundation. Your student time in OUCH will focus on a very particular small-gang role, that of secondary tackler.

Are there any exceptions to the student-fit frigate requirement? 

Yes.

1) You may travel-fit a frigate for navigating through null. Typical travel fits include a cloaking device, microwarpdrive and warp core stabilizers. You may put your combat modules in the cargo hold and re-fit when desired in nullsec. You may also use the travel-fit frigate for the nullsec run graduation requirement, though an empty cargo hold is advised.

2) If you wish to participate in PVE activities, consult the folks in Logistics about what ship and fitting you should bring.

Do I have to set up on the Singularity server? 

No, you don't have to, but it is highly recommended. Some things will be taught and practiced on SISI that won't be available to you on Tranquility, such as how to place the mobile small warp disruption bubble.

The training module sessions conflict with my real life schedule. Is there a workaround? 

Depends. Our trainers have real lives too. We do sometimes hold module sessions outside of the times scheduled to accomodate groups of students who have similar time constraints, and in some cases will hold one-on-one sessions depending on a trainer's availability. However, please do your best to make the scheduled sessions.

Will OUCH help me make ISK to support my PvP habit? 

No. However, we do have a Logistics Department that is involved in ISK-making activities and you are welcome to participate.

How then do PvPers support their habit? 

Varies by pilot. Some buy PLEX, some engage in PVE, some in industry or trading, some have other accounts they use for making ISK. You'll need to figure out what works for you.

How do I become a permanent member of OUCH? 

Within 30 days of graduation, apply to one of our Departments: Operations (PvP), Training, or Logistics (essentially PVE). If accepted, you then become a permanent OUCH member, though pilots in the Operations Department must maintain a monthly combat record of at least four fights to remain permanent members. Failure of an Operations Department member to meet this requirement will result in that member being removed from Operations and placed in 30-day post-graduation status

What if I graduate and don't apply to one of the Departments? 

If you haven't applied to a department within 30 days of graduating, you will be removed from OUCH.  You're either a student or a permanent member - there's no inbetween.

Do you have a ship replacement program? 

No. However, some modules can be made available to you in our nullsec HQ and we do offer a number of ships at a discount to the market via corporate contracts.

Does OUCH have a POS or sovereignty? 

No and no.

Does OUCH have corporate hangars? 

Yes. However, as a student you will have read-only access to a couple of the hangar divisions.

Does OUCH have a loot policy? 

Yes. What that policy is differs between Operations and Logistics. Ask your op leader.

Tales from the front line #2

I proudly bring you another 'tale from the front line'. This is a recent engagement that our OUCH members were involved in.  I want to remind you that these warriors were - only very recently - noobs and carebears, just like you probably are. There's no shame in being new, or being a carebear, because OUCH exists to help you grow.  Just like it helped the below-mentioned members grow.

Please enjoy:

‘Maelstrom's in the Bubble’
I log onto Teamspeak after logging off for a short break from EVE to see nine killers in the PVP OPS 1 channel.  So I  drop down to the channel to see what’s going on. “Maelstrom on D-Scan” is called out, seconds later “Second Maelstrom on D-Scan” is announced.  I immediately begin logging into EVE.
I hear primary being called and pilots calling out points all the time I’m frantically trying to log into game only to find myself in [CENSORED] station instead of the system of the engagement. Jamm’s are announced on both battleships.
“He’s shield boost tanked” is called out. I immediately begin assessing the situation in my head as I wait for session change to be able to change ships. Another pilot announces “We don’t have enough DPS to break the tank!” I select my Sacrilege to bring the pain…
As I undock I call to my fellow capsuleers to hold onto them, I’m on the way with more DPS. As I’m warping to the gate I’m going over the info that has been given out in my head when I realize that comms are eerily silent. I hit the gate and jump on contact calling it out over comms. Once on the other side I warp to a tactical bookmark, and then with gritted teeth into the fray I warp.
As I'm locking the primary still our comms are pretty silent.  My ship acquires a lock and I unleash hell. At this point I go into combat mode and the military trained part of my brain engages and assumes control. I begin asking for reports from out ECM pilots and begin assuring we have points on both BS’s.  The flow of information begins again, I smile.
“+1” is announced over comms.  “Any relation to the Mael’s?” I ask.
“No, we have a rifter on D-scan” is the reply.  The gears in my head begin to spin even faster now. Do I let the Rifter go and keep my focus on the battleship? Or do I feed him to the the blood-frenzied sharks currently swarming the battleships? A few heartbeats later I decide. This is our system - intrusion will not be tolerated by a single rifter.
I call for two of my best tacklers to move to the bubble and greet our new guest when/if he arrives.  A few seconds later “Rifter in the bubble!” is called.
“Grab him” I call, and almost immediately the tacklers respond with their confirmations of tackle. They have been trained well.  I quickly give orders for two of my pilots to hold the battleships and for everyone else to get on the Rifter. “KILL IT” is the order given after I receive the confirmation that all free pilots are on him. He pops almost instantly and his pod is scrammed quickly thereafter. Not wanting to waste time I call for the pod to be killed without waiting for everyone to get on it, and give orders for everyone to get back on the primary Mael.
The Maelstrom's shields begin to very slowly melt way when he engages his shield boosters again. Concern on whether or not we can break his tank is voiced in comms. Seeing how much shield is being boosted I realize that he must be dual boosted, which means he’s running a cap booster. “He’s using a cap booster with charges and they cant last forever.” I assure my pilots over comms.  Sure enough, his boosting amountv soon cuts in half which means he’s dropped down to one booster. His cap charges are running low. His shields begin to dissipate at an increased rate and before long he is in armor.  As his structure begins to quickly bleed out I call for my tacklers to prepare to grab his pod and for the rest of my fleet to switch primary to the second Mael upon the first's destruction. The Maelstrom explodes in a glorious ball of fire, but unfortunately his pod escapes.
Having tasted blood my pilots descend up the second Maelstrom like a pack of rabid piranha. And his tank doesn’t seem to be quite as strong as the first. It begins melting at a much faster rate. When intel reports that a small fleet consisting of interceptors, Dramiels, and a Flycatcher have landed on the gate next door with a Dram jumping into our system. “Stay on target” I call out, “Dram on D-scan” calls out another.
Decision time again, I quickly assess our situation and decide to not and try to get a tackle on the Dramiel unless he attempts to engage us first. We are so close now to bringing down the Maelstrom that I need every bit of DPS we can muster to pop it before this fleet jumps in on us.
“Dram in the bubble” is called. I watch as it quickly turns and begins burning for the gate, “He’s bugging out,” I call out over comms.
“Fleet jumping into system,” reports our scout next door just as the Maelstrom drops into structure.
“Bring him down now, we're about to have company!” I demand over comms, and like the vicious killers they are, they comply. The Maelstrom pops just as the fleet is identified on D-scan. “Warp to tacs” (tactical bookmarks) command is given out and all pilots warp off to safety with zero losses. We decide to give the incoming fleet a free pass while we reload and let the adrenaline run its course out of our system.
While I know this is not a AAR (after action report) in its true form and more of a narrative from my POV, it gives an account of what I saw and my emotions during the engagement.  I am extremely proud of all the pilots involved in these kills. An extraordinary job was done by our ECM pilots who kept our opponents jammed for the majority of the battle. All fleet members followed orders precisely and quickly. While I am aware that my spelling, grammar, and just general use of the English language is frighteningly horrible I hope you enjoy this account as much as I did. I am a proud member of Art of War Alliance and look forward to killing with you all again.

Takedown of a Cynabal

Just recently, some of our guys had a great time taking out a neutral Cynabal in nullsec. Below is the action report from one of the OUCH fleet members. (I've taken the liberty to censor some sensitive information.) This is an example of what our OUCH members are doing out there:

The [CENSORED] gate bubble in [CENSORED] was slow. Very slow. So slow that the FC had asked the fleet if a roam would be more fun. Just as fleet members were considering the roam or logging for the evening, intel comes in from [CENSORED]: Neutral in system.....Cynabal on scan.

I keep open on another computer several webpages, one of them is an eve-wiki page. I quickly look at Cynabal and see this:
Fast. Really fast. Faster than a Vagabond due to # of low slots + base speed.

25% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret rate of fire
10% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret damage per level
10% bonus to Medium Projectile Turret falloff per level

Hmm. As one of the fastest ships in our little camp with a scram (the other being [CENSORED] in his Incursus), I am going to share primary tackle duty. Noting that there is no bonus to tracking speed, I felt that if he came into the bubble, we could hold him and I could stay under his weapons if I kept the afterburner on.

He lands on the [CENSORED] gate in [CENSORED] and enters are system. We wait. "Cynabal on D-scan" is called out. And then he lands 5km from me. The fight is on.

It takes almost 4 seconds for me to get a lock once he became vulnerable. "Scram!"...."Web!".... a few more calls came out. I am about 6-7km or so, well within my scram range and web. Afterburner is on. Drone: out. I start to apply damage. Shield buffered. Going to be a long fight.

FC calls out "Drones. Target drones". I quickly hit my drones tab and target the Hornet EC drones he has. I switch damage over.

During this whole time, our quarry has targeted me and had begun shooting and applying a neut. I watched my capacitor run dry. It didn't take long. Once I slowed, his 425 Auto IIs caught up with me.

"[CENSORED], get out of there", called our FC. I was into structure now. With the neut, I didn't have the ability to warp away. Once I started aligning, my transversal was gone. No warp, no transversal...*poof*.

I was spamming warp already, so my pod zipped out (he didn't have a point, but I didn't want to be an easy target). As I left the field, the FC called out that the Cynabal's shields were gone. The ship didn't last much longer after that, nor did his pod. No one else in our fleet was lost. 17,500+ damage was delivered first class.

In essence, we traded a student-fit Incursus for a 170 Million ISK Cynabal. It was a good deal.


Lessons:
1. Know what you're going up against. It helps to have cheat sheets if you're memory is as alcohol-damaged as mine.
2. Speedy frigs can be effective.
3. Neuts suck.

I do want to thank those in the fleet last night. What a crew! And especially the FC [CENSORED]. I really appreciated [CENSORED]'s precise and calm FC-ing. A real pro.

An OUCH poster for your desktop

I've been very excited to engage the services of Rixx Javix and, as I'd hoped, he's outdone himself with his work for OUCH.  Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a poster for OUCH.  Feel free to save it to your desktop or share it with your friends.

[Click on it for a larger view]