Guristas Anomic Base Live

Vanguard deployed today, which means the Guristas Anomic (cruiser/BC sized) mission is now available from your friendly neighborhood lvl4 agent.

I haven't been able to get on SISI and play due to several consecutive family commitments, work commitments, work drama, and a (woohoo!) pending job change.  But that's the subject of a whole 'nother post.  However, while typing I'll say that things look crazy until well after EVE Vegas and I'm only moderately hopeful for a quiet holiday period.  And at the moment I have a head cold.  Bleh.

I'll chain grind some missions if I'm able and see if I can get the new mission to drop.  In the interim, here is some guidance from the forums.

• The SISI thread is here.
• This post seems to have a reasonable guide almost in the style that I would write it (Deimos).   Credit goes to Talsha Talamar.  
• This post is another approach (Vigilant) and a good guide.  Credit goes to Chainsaw Plankton.

Both posts are dated today, based on the SISI content but could (in theory) not represent the final live version.  Beware of surprise changes. :)

Pending a confirmation, the mission text is as follows.  Sounds like a fun scenario.

Anomic Base

I have a special optional and extremely difficult mission for you, we won’t penalize you if you decline it. 

The Wyvren-class Supercarrier Antero was recently stolen from the Caldari by a group of hijackers funded by the Guristas. They seem to have somehow double-crossed their employers, and now both the Caldari Navy and the Guristas are after them. Their Supercarrier is severely damaged, but still commands a powerful contingent of heavily modified fighters. 

I wouldn’t normally care too much about this ship, except that it just showed up outside a nearby repair depot demanding repairs and threatening violence. If they damage that depot I’m going to personally lose a significant investment, and we can’t let that happen. If you accept this mission, you’ll need to get over there and convince them that there are better depots to hold up than mine. There’s no way that you’ll be able to kill it, but if you wipe out enough of its fighters I’m sure they’ll get the hint. 

Only medium sized ships can gain entry to the repair yard, so don’t try to bring anything bigger. 

These rogue pirates have waves of heavily modified fighters and fighter bombers with strong shield tanks and small signatures. They deal all four damage types, with their modified Dragonfly fighters spewing Explosive, Kinetic and Thermal at close range, and their modified Mantis fighter-bombers lobbing EM damage from longer ranges. They always fly with Stasis Webifiers and Warp Scramblers fit. To save my repair depot you’ll need to keep destroying waves of fighters until the Wyvren decides to cut its losses and leave.  

A word of warning: these rogue pirates are extremely dangerous and have proven very capable of destroying capsuleer ships. If you choose to decline this mission or if you fail to complete it, you will not lose any standings. 

Declining a mission from a particular agent more than once every 4 hours will result in a loss of standing with that agent.

Guristas Anomic Base in Vanguard

The patch notes for Vanguard, which is due next Tuesday are available.

Two things of note for readers of Dog's Breath:

1. Guristas Anomic Base appears to be in this patch.  I haven't had time to go looking on SiSi, but if I have time this weekend will see what I can find out.

2. Navy Battlecruiser rebalance.  Changes are too long to list here, but I did notice that the Navy Drake is getting a little more tank (skill bonus changed from missile velocity to +4% all resists) and some additional drone bandwidth.

Happy Friday!

Disenfranchising Core Playerbase ... On Purpose

Happened across this article about the Games Workshop AGM annual general meeting.  The whole thing is a good quick read, but will quote a few snippets here.

Background:  GW is a company name you may not recognize, but you probably recognize their primary product lines:  Warhammer and Warhammer 40k.  They're a niche tabletop miniatures company, with licenses for their IP across a wide range of tie in products (including a slew of PC games over the years).

As I've been reading more about the tabletop scene, I've noticed a large amount of angst with GW, and quite a few defectors who now swear to never buy their products again (in favor of most notably Warmachine, but honestly the tabletop market is simply exploding with neat games thanks to Kickstarter and the power of online internet shopping).  GW is the grand-daddy of these upstarts, but from my (very limited) exposure at GenCon and random local game stores, it appears that the upstarts are eating GW's lunch these days.

Part of this is an intentional strategy on the part of GW Management.  GW has been moving itself away from being a "tabletop game" company and towards a "hobby/model kit" company.   In other words - they view their primary audience as guys who assemble and paint but actually don't PLAY the games.  This comes at a time when gamers are pushing their local stores to offer more dedicated game nights but are being turned away because there's no time in the schedule to squeeze in more titles and no room for more tables.

This move isn't being unnoticed by the fan base, who a) actually enjoyed playing the games and b) are generally pissed off about being marginalized after supporting GW over the past couple of decades.

Here's the first quote:

I’ve got bad news for disenchanted gamers complaining on the Internet. The company’s attitude towards customers is as clinical as its attitude towards staff. If you don’t like what it’s selling. You’re not a customer. The company believes only a fraction of the population are potential hobbyists, and it’s not interested in the others. 

.... 

 When another shareholder asks if the company would sell games with pre-painted easy to assemble miniatures like the popular Star Wars themed X-Wing game, there’s a collective growl from the Games Workshop people. It wouldn’t be a hobby business then, it would be a toy company.

It's interesting, but not unexpected, that X-Wing came up in conversation.  Fantasy Flight's X-Wing tabletop game, in particular, appears to be simply printing money.  Expansions sell out before reprints can be shipped from China.  X-Wing is highly accessible to new gamers because, in part, the minis come pre-painted.  Clumsy guys like me can simply buy the ships and play. It's apparent that GW is dismissing this as "casual play" (in EVE terms), but that over-simplification saddens me.  X-wing has it's flaws, no doubt, but at the Club and National level is a nuanced game of strategy and ability to gauge an opponent. As my 4hr game at GenCon shows - it can scale from 3-4 ships to dozens for that 'epic' all-day gaming session that the serious guys love.  (And if X-Wing is too ezmode, its more complicated brother Armada is the X-Wing ruleset on crack.)

In response, GW is waiving their hands saying "Pah, noobs" and retreating from a tabletop market that is thriving.  This is truly puzzling ... I'm not saying that they should clone X-Wing, but simply dismissing the forces at work that is making X-Wing successful instead of trying to step in and grab market share when (not if, WHEN) X-Wing eventually cools down might be a better strategy...

I leave the Games Workshop fortress confident of one thing. Managment have set a course and they will not be deviated.  ... 

Niche businesses are often very profitable and the hard decisions they take is what makes them different, but they’re also vulnerable if unforeseen events reduce the attractiveness of the niche. ...

All of this reminds me of a certain small Icelandic video game company just before there were riots in Jita.  Niche game with a bunch of hard-headed leaders all hyping and reinforcing their own version of reality.  Sound familiar?

I hope it goes better for GW.

CSMX Fall Summit - Minutes Day 1

If you weren't aware, our CSMX Reps are currently at CCP HQ for the Fall summit.

Minutes from Day 1 are available here.

I typically tackle Minutes in a few waves - right now I'm in the mode where I hit ctrl-F for search and look for interesting keywords.  I'll read for content later once more of the content is available (and if things are slow at work).

Note that the words* 'burner,' 'gank,''agent,' and  'pvp' and 'mining' do not appear in the document at all.  Neither does 'Abavus' ... hah.

The word 'mission' appears once, in context of what to do with attribute implants should attributes be removed (something mission runners expend their LP on is attribute implants).  'LP' appears only in that same conversation.  The word* 'pve' appears once in context of pending PVE additions to null that are still NDA'd.  'Incursions' were mentioned once, regarding potential impacts from IGB changes.

This isn't a rant about lack of content for any particular platform/activity. They have a multi-day agenda, and some/all of these things will be discussed later I'm sure.  It's just a quick way for me to scan and see if any of my interests are being discussed.

Note that I wasn't able to load the PDF and then search in it via Chrome.  I'm working from the full text version.

-----
*I know pvp and pve are acronyms. :)

So You Wanna Start a Corp (Part VI)

Previous Entries

1. Part 1 - Starting Up
2. Part 2 - Components of a Serious Corp
3. Part 3 - Fighting Battle Fatigue
4. Part 4 - Questions to Ask at Startup
5. Part 5 - Being a Leader

VI. The Transition
This is the final (and long overdue) installment of this series, As we wrap up, I wanted to talk about the "what happens next" part of standing up a corporation.

In my mind, there are kind of the 3 phases to a corporation:  Startup, Transition, and Stable Execution.

Most of this series has been about the first phase - Startup.  It's perhaps the hardest (though no phase is particularly "easy") to navigate cleanly.

The next phase is what I think of as Transition.  This is the awkward teenage years of the corporation, where the group finds its true voice, begins to mature, and really begins to look towards the long haul of a well-run corporation.

So, how do you navigate through Transition?

Wrapping Up August

As another month of 2015 slips away, I've had one bonkers week in a month of bonkers weeks.

This post has not much to do with EVE, so you can skip ahead a bit if you feel the need.

In the past week, I've gone to an Opera (Christmas present for Mom), and a monster outdoor-venue rock concert for one of my favorite bands (Christmas present from Mrs. Durden to me; the show sold out ~9mo ago).  The opera was fine (I enjoy the pit orchestra but could do without the singing).  The concert was fantastic - easily in my top 3 concerts.

We took time off work to go to the eye doc; I didn't want to go this week but we'd already cancelled once and I was on my last set of contacts.

We took Friday off to go to an antique tractor show about 90 miles away.  It is a show that my father and grand-dad used to display their old engines at.  I'm getting old enough now that I walk through the aisles of John Deere and recognize the models that my uncle used to farm with.  It doesn't seem so long ago, but he quit farming almost 30 years ago.  Along with tractors, there were old engines of any and every kind.  My favorites are the large hit-and-miss engines that were used to pump oil or water or whatever from the 1910s through the 1940s or so.

So we toured row after row of small engines like the one pictured, and several rows of monster engines that filled a flatbed semi trailer.  These big ones put out maybe 20 hp, but spun flywheels 4-8 feet across and flexed the trailer when the piston hit the limits of its travel.

Amanco hit-and-miss engin by PeterJewell - Own work.
Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons

Thursday afternoon I had a job interview.  It smells like a good prospect, and I'm hopeful that an offer will be on the table by mid-next week.  The job duties sound less fun than what I do today, but the promotion potential is virtually unlimited and the stability is solid enough that I'd say I could retire there in 20 years if I desired.  At the interview (which was conducted by the Deputy Director), I was introduced to the Director / VP-level exec as "this is him, the guy I told you about."

On Thursday I also took the car to the shop for a semi-emergency set of tires.  I was going to replace all 4 this fall anyway, but one had a slow leak (caused by a monster screw or nail that I finally found this week) and then I hit a board on the way home on Tuesday and did in another tire.

Today I got up fairly early and biked ~30 miles, then returned and showered and the Mrs. and I ran errands.  Three stores, lunch, and (literally) a truckload of "stuff" later, and we returned home.  And by "stuff" I mean 280 pounds of bird seed, steel roof panels for my new wood crib, 2wks of groceries, other odds and ends for winterizing the house, and a couple of new work outfits to wear should I need to wear something swanky for a repeat interview.

So that's been me - two concerts, a job interview, car in the ship, road trip for an old tractor show, and a truckload of stuff to get the house ready for fall.  I hope next week is more calm so that I can enjoy the Holiday weekend here in the U.S.

Gravity Well

Operation Gravity Well, the wardec plan of the Amarr Empire against the Drifters, has begun.

AMARR NAVY FORCES IN COMBAT WITH DRIFTERS IN KHANID KINGDOM
2015-08-25 15:00 By Lina Ambre 

NANDEZA – The Amarr Empire's Ministry of War has confirmed reports from independent observers that, within the last hour, elements of the Imperial Navy have engaged a concentration of Drifters in the Khanid Kingdom system of Nandeza. This action follows today's declaration of war against the Drifters by the Amarr Empire. It is unclear if the latest Drifter presence represents a change in their activity at this time. 

Elements of the Imperial Armed Forces continue to move into positions according to the war plan designated "GRAVITY WELL" by the Ministry of War. Activated within moments of the assassination of Empress Jamyl I, it now seems clear that the plan is a combined core systems consolidation and border reinforcement strategy that is presumably a planned response to a so-called "decapitation strike" by an enemy power. While the main fleet elements of the plan seem to have been put into place within hours of its activation, there are many auxiliary units and large numbers of ground troops still in the process of reaching their designated locations. 

On the home front, across all the worlds of New Eden's largest empire, the Ministry of Internal Order has been active both on the streets and on public GalNet casts. The primary propaganda theme has been to strike a note of iron resistance to a foe of unimaginable evil, with subjects exhorted to work and pray for the "Defense of the Throne Worlds".

Source.

I for one, welcome our new Drifter overlords, and hope they offer me good lvl4 missions in the future.  :)


What's Playing:  TOOL, Aenima

EVE Vegas - More Speakers Announced

Here's one of those things that make you squint.  I haven't given more than a passing thought to EVE Vegas for the past several weeks, but after having it come up in conversation today with no less than three (3!) different people about the upcoming trip, I get home and see an email from CCP about ... EVE Vegas of all things.

Wait, what? The universe is weird sometimes.

Anyway, I'll just quote the entire email here, as it's not a bad summary of old-news and new-news:

A new round of Prize draws
The second round of EVE Vegas ticket holder prize draws has just kicked off, and with attendance at an all time high we've decided to reveal a little bit more about the events that will be happening in Sin City this year! 

More speakers and participants announced
Attendees are in for a content packed weekend in the desert this year, with many of our speakers, both player and developer, already announced here and here. 

After the opening ceremony hosted by CCP Guard and CCP Falcon, we will have two days of spaceship packed goodness, with all those speakers already confirmed, plus more!  

We're delighted to announce that CCP Quant will be joining us this year, for another data science presentation after the amazing feedback on his talk from Fanfest 2015. In addition to this, CCP Larrikin will be flying out to Vegas for a talk and roundtables on ship balancing and what we can expect coming up in the releases after EVE Vegas.
CCP Logibro will also be joining us in the desert for the EVE Vegas PvP tournament, and CCP Leeloo will be with us for a CSM roundtable and recap of the CSM X Summit which will be taking place in September. 

In addition to the above announcements, we will also have CCP t0rfifrans joining us for an IP Development roundtable, and CCP DIGGER, Executive Producer for EVE Valkyrie will be heading out to EVE Vegas to give a keynote update on progress with EVE Valkyrie. 

The EVE Store
The EVE Store will also make a return, as CCP Spitfire brings out his latest wares to Las Vegas for your scrutiny, and we'll also be hosting a silent auction for five blades from Tranquility, which were incredibly popular at Fanfest 2015.

Gunjack & EVE: Valkyrie 

We're also happy to announce that both Gunjack and EVE: Valkyrie will be with us at EVE Vegas this year, so that attendees will be able to get a taste of the action that's coming up over the course of the next 12 months. 

Instead of recreating all the links in the email, I'll take the easy way out and shove you at the EVE Vegas Facebook page.

What's Playing:  TOOL, Opiate, Sweat

Sniffing Glue II

I am still working on the Shadows of Brimstone assembly.  We still haven't played yet.  My assembly efforts are slowing as I'm pressed with other stuff around the house and a pending visit from my parents this weekend.  But as I type, I'm somewhere around 13 hours invested, generally 20 or 40 minutes at a time (I am a nerd, I keep track of these things).

At this point, everything is assembled and scraped.  Everything in the core set has a base color down, and all but the Golem (end boss) have had their detailing and final shading done.  Next step for most things is to glue them to their little black bases (I'm doing that part out of traditional order).

I am ignoring the Cinder expansion, as well as a couple of things I bought from the web store that will likewise need assembly.  One thing at a time, and I'd really like to PLAY the darn game before I get lost in a haze of acrylic fumes.

Anyway, here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure.  I'm a novice at this - my first attempt at miniature painting - and I am quite happy with the results.  They're a little difficult to photograph with indoor lighting and a cell phone, so trust me when I say they look a little better in person.

Night Terrors - Shaded

Strangler - Shaded

Not this weekend, as I'll be busy, but I'm hoping that by next weekend I can share the entire Army in all its glory on a mock board map ready to slug it out.


What's playing:  Alice in Chains, Facelift, Bleed the Freak

Random Saturday Post: Things that Scare Me

Irrational fears are irrational.  These are things that scare me.

1. Spiders that I know are there but I can't see.  If I see a spider across the room, I'm fine.  If I feel a spider on my arm, I'm fine.  But if the same spider goes behind a pillow or under a magazine and I don't know exactly where he is, I go into arm flailing spider slapping puppy whimpering mode.  And then I leave the area in disgust.  (And you don't want to know what happens when I walk through a spider web at night...).
2. Forgetting my EVE password.  It's long, complicated, and thanks to muscle memory, really easy for me to type.  But don't ask me what it is because I don't know it unless I'm typing it.  And then I panic.
3. Dropping my car keys in a storm drain.  About halfway between my office door and where I usually park my car, there's a manhole sized storm drain.  In my mind, it's a magnet for my car keys, should I drop them (which, I have probably dropped my car keys walk walking maybe 10 times in my entire life...).  I will walk 10 feet out of my way to give it a wide berth, even though it would be far easier just to put my keys in my pocket.
4. Undocumented changes to burners.  After every patch I cringe the first few times I enter a pocket, especially on the frigate sized team burners.  I like my Garmur very much, and would prefer it not be ninja'd by some undocumented/unannounced change to AI behavior.
5. Constraints and commitments.  Give me half a day to putz around in the game and I'm happy.  Put an event on the calendar and I stew about the start time right up until the start time.  Being committed to being somewhere somehow changes the entire dynamic of the day.  It's weird, but it is what it is.

Go Do Something Cool(tm)

This is an addendum to the previous Corp Management post.

Mrs. Durden reminded me of one of my favorite delegation stories.  This one happens to come from the Office, but has implications to your CEO career as well.

Years ago, I switched from a highly stiffling corporate environment (building of 1200-1500 and many many layers of management) to the far less formal group that I still reside with today.  I went from that hyper-corporate environment to a team of about 25 people (at the time) and nearly no oversight at all.

A few months in, I needed to get a demo model done out in the shop for an upcoming conference.  It involved taking an existing piece of equipment and carving on it so that people could see all the little widgets inside move.

My first instinct was to start an email to the shop manager, who I'll call Barry.  The email to Barry started with good intentions, but as I continued to think through how I wanted the model to look and act, the longer it got.  Cut here, paint this, remove this ... paragraph after paragraph of instruction and requirements.

I was about to hit send, but I sat back in my chair for a second and said "Gawd, what a mess.  This is Barry, he knows this crap better than I do.  I'm writing this like it's the old office."

I selected the entire email, hit delete, and then said typed (paraphrasing):

Barry, 

Need a demo model for the conference for product XYZ. 

Recommend you carve up one of the carcasses in the scrap pile. Needs to be onsite before the meeting and look good enough for sr. customers.  If you need help, let me know.   

Otherwise, go do something cool.

A few things happened:

• Barry thought the task was great and commented repeatedly on the chance to get to "do something cool."  He was truly excited about getting full control over the demo model.
• The result far, far exceeded my expectations, came in quicker than needed, and was a hit at the conference. In fact, the demo model has attended every conference since.
• A year or two later, we were having a discussion about delegation and team management and I told this story to the other Leads.  "Go do something cool" has become sort of a catch phrase around the office, a code word for getting "management" the hell out of the way and letting people be creative instead of stifling them with unnecessary requirements.

Now, I could continue to type and sell this as some sort of a feel-good fluffy story about delegation and trust, and how Delegation is a good thing.  And I could probably milk that for another 2 or 3 paragraphs and be done.

Instead, I'll just say that "Go do something cool" is about delegation, but it's MORE about trust and ownership of a problem.  When you have a good, seasoned, veteran crew that truly want to do a good job, just define some high level expectations, trust them, and then get the hell out of the way.