Null Sec

Went on an Alliance Op into Null Sec. A gate camp. Now I know...I know...I've read they are boring. I wasn't bored. Nope...not even close. Before I knew it...2.5 hours evaporated just like that. It was very exciting...for me. Really-I tried to kill stuff in my Rapier...honestly...either they were too far away or cloaky or too fast...

Even though I felt as useless as a football bat, I learned a metric crap ton of information:

- Like how bubbles work...as opposed to how I thought they worked

- What a "rolling Safe" was and how it works...

- The value of scouts...

- How to set up my overview to avoid mis-clicks...great tips from Arden and crew.

- How to step-up relevant safes in the target system...and what the "it's gone to shit" plan was...

Hope we can do more of that.

The Mega and the Smartbomb

We Ninjas in the Heimatar region fleet up for our nightly shennanigans...it's good to have friends to come and help out.

One intrepid ninja has been toying around with a Looting Ruppy. (Made popular by Aiden Mourn) It has advantages...like grabbing a point and pew-pewing without having to leave the mission. Unfortunately...it will eventually need some RR to stay alive.

So last night in the top secret local Ninja channel...

Apoc > Boxed!

I align my Oneiros and my RR Battle Phoon toward the sun...every second matters when you are in a cruiser and you have an angry bear shooting you.

Same goes for other Ninjas in system...Orcas align, Exequerors align, Ospreys align, etc. 5-6 ships in all.

Apoc > WARP!

The ruppy is in trouble! Party Time!

Upon exiting warp....WTF! I'm getting attacked?!?! I just got here. The Mega is red to me? huh?

Then Concord shows up to melt the offending criminal...

Somehow...we all showed up at the same time...and got hit by the Mega's Large Smartbomb! Of course, Concord didn't like that so much and ended the engagement quite quickly. The MR thought this was going to be a good thing...it did kill the ruppy's drones. He just didn't count on a Ninja fleet warping in at the same time. Smartbombs ain't so smart in highsec...mkay.

End result...one dead Mega AND a whole bunch of negative numbers in the Security Status panel!!

He emoragequit 5 secs later.

I R bad at maths...but 5 x criminal acts in a .8 system equals a one way trip to pain.

Scamming

OK...I am enamored by the sandbox. I find that this is one of the main reasons I play this game. A pretty novel concept: I get to decide how to play the game I purchased. And the developers..."let" me play it that way.

RL isn't fair...MMORPG games shouldn't be either. I get it. Most don't get it.

One thing that makes this game so amazing is the brutality that is EVE. Part of the brutality is scamming.

I am fascinated by scamming...for two reasons. First and foremost: self preservation. I have to be up-to-speed on the latest scams so I don't become a victim. (My corp has an award called the "Special Kinda Stupid" award. You receive this if you do something really stupid. I hope to never get it...) The second reason is the mechanics of a scam. I find this soooo interesting. Whether is be social engineering, creative use of game mechanics, etc., this makes scamming such an unique way to play the game.

I have been 'collecting' scams on my corps' forums...a running list of scams and how they work. (Kinda like magic tricks and their secrets) Some of them are very ingenious and seem like they would work well. The list is quite long.

This weekend...I moved from pure fascination to actually putting a few into action.

And the results were nothing short of amazing! 1 Billion isk over the two days.

Crazy easy money...plus, extremely entertaining! (Shout out to my Sensei...Herr Wilkus!)

And the really amazing thing...two of my marks KNEW I was scamming them! That's right! They knew beforehand and still went through with it! I'm at a lose for words here...

well done
From: Red Ozy
To: Sarkor Nafaar

too fast :(

This guy^ was told in local that my spam was a scam. He bit anyways. -275m isk for you.

quick clicker
From: Texas Bamf

To: Sarkor Nafaar

i thought i could beat ya to it but ya got me quick clicker

This guy^ knew it was a scam also!?! and thought he could somehow reverse the scam and win. -350m isk for you.

Somehow folks think that the scam I used was about how fast you "click". They are...mistaken. And poorer for it.

The next guy I scammed immediately EMORAGE logged...no e-mail, convo, or anything. -250m isk for you. However, he miraculously showed up in my home system the next day. (I put my "marks" on the watch list for a few days. <-Notice scammer lingo...lol..."marks"...love it. I feel like a real grifter)

Local:

Sarkor> Hi

Elephantosis> o/

Sarkor> u my new best friend?

Elephantosis> Yes

Sarkor> Cool...well...back to buying Officer mods with your isk. Cyas

Gonna do a Ninja vanish for awhile and pop up somewhere else...with another scheme. Good times ahead.