Blog Banter #18 – Things Change

Posted by Roc Wieler on
Welcome to the eighteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

On May 6th 2010, EVE Online celebrated its 7th Anniversary. Quite a milestone in MMO history, especially considering that it is one of the few virtual worlds out there to see its population continually grow year after year. For some of you who’ve been here since the very beginning, EVE has evolved quite a lot since its creation. With the expansion rolling out roughly twice a year, New Eden gets renewed and improved regularly. But, how about you the player? How has you gaming style evolved through the years or months since you’ve started playing? Have you always been a carebear, or roleplayer? Have you only focused on PvP or have you given other aspects of the game a chance – say manufacturing. Let’s hear your story!

Once, I was a slave; a slave who carved his path to freedom.

Once, I was a mortal man; transformed into an immortal god.

Once, I was a war hero; now I am … something new.

There are many schools of thought on the progression of life. Some believe it to be a straight and linear line; we start at point A and end at B. It has all been pre-ordained.

Others believe that every choice we make creates a new reality; that life is an ever changing universe of decisions we make. To extend that line of thought, every decision we don’t make could theoretically create a new reality where we did make that choice. Imagine how many infinite universes there must be for every decision we never made, and ever decision that may have existed from those unmade decisions… tenth dimension.

I subscribe to a more fatalistic approach to life. Life is a river, constantly flowing and ebbing. I can’t control the river; I can merely adjust my position within it at times. There are moments when the river rages onwards around me, dragging me under, leaving me gasping for breath. There are more moments when I can slow my forward momentum downstream, allowing me the illusion of control, even providing the opportunity for me to look around and enjoy the view.

But like water, life is in constant motion; nothing ever remains the same.

I’ve dabbled in the market, tried fulltime employment with the Republic Security Services. I’ve ransomed capsuleers for profit, killed Amarr in a bloody war for my people’s freedom. I’ve run a POS. I’ve been a director in a corporation. I’ve been a rock star, and a writer. I’ve trained in the ancient martial arts of my ancestors. I’ve recovered relics from a time long forgotten.

I’ve seen many things in my lifetimes, but know my combined experience is but a speck of sand on a beach in the grand scheme of things. There is still so very much for me to do.

In my mind’s eye, I see a waterfall ahead of me. I can hear the growing rumble of its precipice, but I cannot see over the edge. I breathe in the freshness of the air deeply, exhilarated.

No matter what life brings me next, I’ll be ready for it.

  1. CrazyKinux’s Musing: The Heroes with a Thousand Faces
  2. StarFleet Comms: Life. Evolved.
  3. A Carebear’s Journeu: This Carebear Thinks He Is Developing Teeth
  4. The Elitist: Our ventures in EVE
  5. A Mule in EVE: From a guppy predator
  6. Travels of the Ronin: Evolution and Adaptation
  7. The Ralpha Dogs: The Past Through Tomorrow
  8. Where the frack is my ship: A journey, not a destination
  9. I am Keith Neilson: 7 Year Itch?
  10. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah: Evolution Me
  11. EVE Opportunist: A long history of a short time
  12. Roc’s Ramblings: Things Change
  13. Guns Ablaze: Onwards and Upwards
  14. EVE On Real Life: Haven’t you grown up yet?
  15. More as they get published…

Dal Signo Al Fine

Posted by Roc Wieler on

ARNON IX – MOON 3
SISTERS OF EVE BUREAU

I see the rumours of your demise were greatly exaggerated, Roc Wieler. This pleases me. You have been a loyal ally to the Sisters of Eve.

Your anger is understandable, but we’ve got more reason to cooperate than to quarrel. Dagan’s your real enemy. You’ll be interested to know that some of his corpmates have been spotted at a nearby station. We’ve prepared an agent to gain their confidence and extract information on their further operations. To you, she’ll be Tahaki Karin, a ship’s engineer from the Damsel. Before our operative can infiltrate Dagan’s group, Karin’s identity records will need to be altered. Take these records to an archive station. Once they’re updated there, our friends will make sure they’re changed throughout the entire workout.

This woman was completely unbelievable. It had been over a year and yet she was all business. She hadn’t even flinched as I stormed into her private office, slamming open the doors with a look of cold death on my face. She had simply turned, smiled, and assigned me my task. She knew it still goaded me that I had never finished off this business with Dagan.

I hated being manipulated, even if I had given my word. Maybe I had been looking at her reaction the wrong way. Maybe she was doing her best to not increase my level of discomfort by reminding me of my failure to deliver, instead opting to pick up where we left off as if nothing had changed.

As much as I resented Sister Alitura, she was a complex and interesting persona. Several decades had to pass before I finally understood just how intertwined our paths would become.

“Fine, but once we’re done here, we’re done.” I said flatly. She simply smiled knowingly, nodding slightly.

Playing courier didn’t take long, and I successfully delivered the altered identity as requested. As I was returning to Alitura to see what would inevitably come next, I received a transmission from the RSS, or Republic Security Services as they were properly known. For the sake of Republic security she will remain nameless, but it was encouraging to hear that she guaranteed me full support from the Republic should I need it. Perhaps the wounds were starting to heal.

In the meanwhile, Tahaki Karin was ready to be transported to a waiting Society of Conscious Thought transport. After everything I had accomplished in the last year, it goaded me to play delivery boy, whether it was of an object or a person. I clenched my teeth and bared it.

The Society of Conscious Thought transport didn’t take long to arrive. I relaxed my mind from locking my targeting crosshairs on the ship and blowing it into so much dust; I had been instructed to not engage the vessel.

Karin successfully traversed the blackness between our ships to arrive safely aboard. That was when Aura flagged their ship as hostile.

Still I did nothing as instructed.

Within moments, the ship aligned and warped off. My heart was pounding with impotent rage as I commed Sister Alitura.

The next several hours became far more interesting. Agents from each of the Empires contacted me, each wanting me to acquire Dagan for them. I didn’t even bother listening to the Amarr agent, cutting the comm before he could even finish his appeal.

A few skirmishes with Society of Conscious Thought squads and various mercs finally unearthed Dagan’s location. Sister Alitura had sent me to her colleague Brus Colterne for the final leg of this journey, as he was the agent closest to Dagan’s whereabouts.

Destroying Dagan’s ship, and his escorts was easy. The Ripsack had barely warmed up before the encounter was over. I smiled at the look of helplessness on his face through the glass of his damaged pod as my tractor beam pulled him into the cargo hold. My smile faded as I realized I felt just as helpless as he did at changing fate; as if all our destinies were pre-written.

Brus verified the identity of my precious cargo, and soon I was passing through the stars towards what I hoped would be my final act for the Sisters of Eve.

As I came out of warp, I was surprised to see not just the Republic Security Services agent I had contacted and agreed to deliver Dagan to, but representatives from each of the Empires. I smirked, my trigger finger itching to open up on the Amarr and Caldari, but I knew my assault class frigate would be no match for their factional battleships. Another time perhaps.

As I slowed my ship, I received a transmission from Sister Alitura, notifying me of a change in plan. Lovely.

I don’t know how the woman did it, but she had convinced everyone involved to allow the Sisters of Eve custody of Dagan. A transport warped in, and I delivered his pod to it. The RSS agent paid me anyway for service to the Republic, and Sister Alitura also deposited a sum into my account, as well as thanking me for fulfilling my promise to her.

You are a noble warrior, Roc Wieler. There is no doubt our paths shall cross again.

As for me? I was happy to be done with this business and get back to nullsec. The cares of Empire space were quickly fading from my priority list…

Old promises

Posted by Roc Wieler on

ZQ-Z3Y
CATCH REGION


“What do you mean there’s an abandoned Abaddon in front of you, Wieler?” the Ushra’Khan Fleet Commander asked again.

“I’m telling ya, I’m less than 20k from it, angling in cautiously on an escape vector, just in case.” I replied, skepticism in my own voice.

“Do you require backup?” the fleet commander repeated.

“Negative. You know what they say when things look too good to be true…”

I continued my slow approach, constantly checking my ship scanners for any signs of incoming warp signatures. There were none. I maintained a calm, practiced heart rate, though I fully expected a Curse to decloak at any moment to be quickly joined by an Amarr gank fleet.

It wasn’t meant to happen that day. My Jaguar, the Ripsack, remained docked alongside the Abaddon for hours, while my small team explored the abandoned and derelict ship.

Every moment was a nerve-wracking adventure, both for the team expecting danger around every corridor corner, and for me, constantly on watch for any sudden unwelcome guests.

There was nothing out of the ordinary to be found once the initial sweep of the vessel had been completed. My tech specialist downloaded the computer’s core data onto our ship, and I quickly had Aura scan through the immense amount of data, flagging anything out of the ordinary.

It didn’t take long to get a hit.

My eyes widened slightly as I read what she had discovered, old memories flooding the forefront of my mind. I quickly recalled my team, followed up with my fleet commander, then took leave of this region of space, making full haste towards a place I hadn’t been in a very long time.

Joining the Federation immediately after its founding, the Intaki remain one of the largest ethnicities of the nation. Exceedingly gifted communicators, the Intaki are today very prominent among the Federal bureaucracy. Though Gallentean culture has permeated their society to some extent, they still cling to their cultural identities and beliefs, most notably their unusual theories regarding the human life cycle – in particular, death and rebirth. These theories give them a unique outlook on life and the living, and many attribute the Intaki’s stoic nature to this philosophy.

LISUDEH SYSTEM
DEVOID REGION

“Haven’t heard from you since you killed Taphos in the ritual duel, and to be honest, given your well publicized hatred of the Amarr, I never expected to.” Doctor Canius said through the comm.

It had been over a year since I been in touch with Canius. He was my best lead when I trying to discover the whereabouts of Dagan for Sister Alitura and the Sisters of Eve. I had given her my word that I would find him and bring him to justice. At the time, my infamy as a Republic War Hero made it virtually impossible to travel through the Amarr systems without getting shot on sight, and in fact, I had lost several frigates in my attempts to make good on my promise.  Eventually, the Republic demanded more of my priority on the front lines of the war than in humouring the Sisters of Eve, and the memory had faded.

It was the Abaddon that had rekindled my interest.

While scanning the databanks of the ship, Aura had flagged Society of Conscious Thought, and that sparked my memory of Dagan, and my promise to Sister Alitura. I didn’t know whether the derelict ship had been there for over a year, or if Dagan was still at large.

The only way to find out was to pick up where I had left off, and that meant Doc Canius. It was unsettling in some ways to travel unmolested through Amarr space. It was as if I had been forgotten…

“Yeah, it’s been a while, doc. Couldn’t be helped. Listen, I need some information.” I said.

“Of course you do. Why else would you come back from the dead to bother me?” Canius replied. I was confused by his comment, but attributed it to a phrasing analogy I simply didn’t see applying.

“What do you have on Dagan and the Society of Conscious Thought?” I asked bluntly.

“Geez, didn’t you resolve that months ago?” Canius replied.

“It’s been over a year actually, and no; there was a war and all…” I let the rest of the sentence hang unspoken.

There was silence on the comm for a while before Canius finally started transmitting data.

“You were lied to, Roc Wieler. I had initially assumed you knew, which is why I hadn’t heard from you, then with the reports of your death, I filed this away, figuring it would never be needed. I was going to delete this information in a few days, so you’re timing is quite fortuitous.”

Again he had mentioned my death. At the moment I was more concerned about the lying part.

“Who lied to me, Canius? What are you talking about?” I asked, urgency entering my voice.

“The Sisters of Eve, Roc; Alitura. They’ve known where Dagan has been all along. They played you.”

Each of us has triggers to our anger, some more than others. There are degrees to these triggers; some slightly flustering us while the extreme others instill in us a blinding and uncontrollable rage. At that moment, I was closer to the latter; dangerously closer.

“Thank you … doc.” I squeezed out through clenched teeth, transferring a small sum of ISK to Doctor Canius’ account as a token of good will for hanging onto this information for so long.

I laid in my next course … Arnon. It was time to say hello to an old friend.

The 5 minute challenge

Posted by Roc Wieler on

I received this letter in response to a comment made HERE that basically stated I could show several five minute workouts that would crush us all.

Dear Roc,

Been lurking in your blog for a while now, but felt compelled to speak up when you mentioned 5 minute workouts. I spend 3 hours ever single day in the gym, so know you’re talking crap. Nobody can get a good workout in 5 minutes.

Proof or STFU,

Knuckle Dragging Moron

Let me start my reply by saying that unless you are a professional bodybuilder, there is absolutely no reason whatsoever why anyone should spend more than 45 minutes doing a weight workout. If you want to do cardio for 6 hours, that’s a different story, I’m strictly talking muscle training here.

Muscle building burn can occur in less than one minute when done correctly, so I will most definitely put up or shut up.

Here is a quick sample of a five minute workout I challenge anyone to do:

No rest between each exercise. That’s five minutes of exercise that is working your cardio, chest, shoulders, back, arms, legs and abs.

Here’s another sample, same rules:

Tired yet? Try doing 3 – 4 rounds of this with only 1 minute rest between sets!

I hope by now you’re understanding the concept. Proper form, repetition, abuse that muscle group until it no longer functions. If you’re performing these exercises correctly, you will notice significant improvements in yourself within 7 days. Seriously.

And if you want to make it harder, try to do more repetitions within each minute, or add heavier weights to the routine.

It’s astounding the abuse the human body can recover from. Don’t be afraid to push your limits!

Three things before I go. The first is my favourite five minute routine:

  • 1 minute 12 mph treadmill sprint on a 20 degree incline
  • 1 minute 7 mph treadmill jog on a 12 degree incline
  • 1 minute 12 mph treadmill sprint on a 20 degree incline
  • 1 minute 7 mph treadmill jog on a 12 degree incline
  • 1 minute 12 mph treadmill sprint on a 20 degree incline

If that doesn’t make you feel like puking as you fall over collapsing then you’re a better man than me.

Secondly, please remember to consult your physician before engaging in any type of physical exercise, especially some of the strenuous exercises I reference in my blog. I am merely making recommendations that have worked for me and cannot be held liable for any personal injury you may sustain by reading this.

And lastly, thanks to Zuzana from www.bodyrock.tv for being so damn hot.

60 second protein cupcake

Posted by Roc Wieler on

“Dear Roc,

I wanted to thank you for all your fitness and nutrition tips. I’ve been trying really hard to follow your exercise and eating programs, but I find it takes too long to prepare food or to complete your workouts. What can I do that doesn’t take any time and effort?

– LayZ”

Dear LayZ,

It amazes me just how good we are at making excuses for everything, including our health. There are 5 minute workouts out there that would crush us both. There are 5 minute recipes that can keep us healthy and strong. If even five minutes is too much “time and effort”, there is a very big part of me that wants to say “Then do nothing; that’s what got into this state in the first place”, but I will not.

Instead, I’ll do you one better.

60 Second Protein Cup Cake


INGREDIENTS

  • 30 grams of whey protein powder
  • 1 tablespoon 100% cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 2 packets sweetener
  • 1 tablespoon pumpkin or applesauce (your choice!)
  • 1 egg white

METHOD

  1. In a microwavable mug, place the protein powder, cocoa powder, baking powder, and sweetener.
  2. Mix well.
  3. Stir in the egg white and pumpkin or applesauce so that you end up with a thick batter.
  4. Microwave for 60 seconds.
  5. Use a knife to gently loosen the cake from the mug.
  6. Place the mug upside down on a plate and let the cake slide out.
  7. Cut in half and fill with desired toppings like peanut butter, greek yogurt (30g of protein per serving!!!), or any other healthy choice.

Enjoy. Stay strong. Work hard.

Of Pizza and Poker

Posted by Roc Wieler on

9UY4-H SYSTEM
PROVIDENCE REGION

There was certainly not a lack of activity for the Ushra’Khan.

In the week since I had arrived, my inbox was flooded with training ops, roams, declarations of war, market updates, requisition requests, inventory deliveries and more. Every waking minute was filled with the hustle and bustle of life in nullsec.

I found it exhilarating.

I possessed only two fully fit ships at the time, the Hound I had arrived in, and the Hasimu, a Cynabal class cruiser I had jump cloned back to Rens to pick up. Once I got the hang of jump bridges (always leaving some liquid ozone behind to replenish the fuel used), and had committed our bridge network to memory, I quickly had discovered that Rens was only nine jumps away from our nearest bridge point; a lot more convenient than I thought living in nullsec would be.

While I still wouldn’t be making any large runs to Rens, as I wasn’t an industrialist, it meant I could bring out a lone ship with necessary supplies when I needed them.

The higher echelon of the Ushra’Khan quickly took notice of my natural problem solving abilities when it came to tactical and strategic planning, and I found myself overworked for six days straight, logging 98 hours of planning sessions with various fleets and key personnel. It was simply exhausting.

During one such marathon planning session, I mentioned that we should order ourselves some dinner, my treat. I was always one to lift morale when I could, and I had noticed every long stint out of my pod left me with a ravenous appetite. As it turned out, one of my favourite pizza places happened to be in station; a further testament to the Ushra’Khan and their ability to treat their people right.

I contacted the establishment, which had apparently just opened this location.

“Hello.” said a gruff and thickly accented voice on the other end of the comm.

“I’d like to place an order please.” I said, not sure I had the correct comm connection. I was used to businesses being overly friendly when answering, so such a curt response had caught me off guard.

“Ok.”

This was quickly becoming disconcerting.

“I’m looking to order a few pizzas please. I need beef with no olives. Do you have anything like that?” I already knew the answer was yes, as I had called up their digital menu only moments before contacting them.

“No. You make custom pizza.”

“Ooooo …. kkkk.” I replied, trying to keep my temper. Never get angry with those preparing your food, Roc’s Rule #280. “How about chicken with no olives?” Again, I knew the answer, but was really starting to question the ability of this worker to take a food order.

“No. You make custom pizza.”

I snapped my fingers to gain the attention of someone nearby, silently communicating with them to bring up the menu again.

“Let me make this easy.” I said, finding my annoyance levels quickly rising, “I’d like a large Capri and a large Milano. You’ll notice one is beef with no olives, the other chicken with no olives. Sound good?”

“Ok.” was the reply on the other, before hanging up.

I was very confused. Sure, they knew the address from the comm link, but I hadn’t given them my payment information.

I called back.

“Hello.”

“Yes, I just placed the order for the Capri and the Milano.” I said, throttling my anger back.

“Ok.”

“I’d like to pay via my credit account.”

“No. Our remote machine is not working for credit yet. You come here, pay by credit, then we deliver.”

I could feel the vein in my forehead and the one in my neck pulsating.

“So let me get this straight. You want me to walk down there, pay by credit account, then you’ll deliver the pizza back up here to me and probably charge me the delivery fee anyway?”

“Ok.”

I snapped.

“No it’s not ok! What kind of shoddy operation are you running? You don’t know you’re own menu, you don’t know how to properly answer a phone, you don’t even have your equipment up and running and you want your customer to come to you for delivery? Seriously, if I wasn’t so damned hungry I’d cancel the order right now!” I screamed.

One of my colleagues got my attention, holding up cash chits in his hand.

“Do you take cash?” I asked.

“Ok.” the pizza guy said before hanging up.

I was stunned, not sure if the order was cancelled, if it was coming, or what the hell was going on.

The next 44 minutes were a write off. I was unable to concentrate at all.

My colleagues wouldn’t let me answer the door when the pizza guy arrived for fear I might literally rip him a new one. Then the laughter started.

I walked into the kitchen to see what the fuss was about, my eyes settling on the pizza boxes that had been delivered. Hand-written, in permanent marker, on the top of the boxes, was their marketing message… “Hi, Eat more Amato’s” … yeah, like I would ever be doing that again.

After a few slices I was feeling better, and was eager to get back to work. The others wanted to call it a night, some feeling the need for a nap now that they had eaten, and out of good conscience, we wrapped up our session.

I was tired as well, but my anger kept me awake. I decided to walk along the promenade of the station, get myself familiar with my new home.

That is when I saw they had an Eve Online Poker station here …

I lost the next eight hours of my life to it, but I was up 16 million ISK…

It was going to be a long night.