Tuesday 27 March 2012

Turning Pages

Yesterday, I finally stepped down as the director of Agony's PVP University. I've flown with Agony for over three years, and run PVP-U for two thirds of that. During this time I've had some great experiences and flown with some incredible people - Agony was my first true PVP corp, and I couldn't have asked for a better home.

However three years is a long time to do one thing, and I feel like it's time for a change. Over recent months I've started getting back into solo and very small gang PVP (that is, 2 or 3 people), and I've been having a lot of fun with that. I've never felt like a great solo pilot and have spent most of my Eve life flying with gangs or around 5-30, so really getting to grips with solo again is the first goal I'm setting myself.

Aside from that, I have no concrete plans. Agony's RoE has always precluded (or at the very least, dissuaded) lowsec PVP, so I plan to take advantage of my new found freedom in that area and see just what all the fuss is about. In many ways I feel like I've barely scratched the surface of what Eve has to offer, and that's something I mean to address. For the most part, I plan to just see where the wind takes me - I'm open to recommendations!

In addition to my own PVP, there are a couple of projects that I'd like to devote a little more time to. The first, of course, is this blog - I don't necessarily plan to write more (although we can always hope), but I intend to use my game time a little more to back up the topics I'm writing about. The second project I'd like to develop is PVP instructing - obviously I've been doing this for a while, but rather than the large scale introductory classes that I ran with Agony, I'd like to begin offering my services as a private PVP instructor both to corporations and individuals. More details on this one when I've decided exactly how I'm going to approach it!

So that's where I'm at right now. I'll have a few more articles going up over the coming days (I have quite a backlog written up, but I've so far been quite lax with actually posting them)!

See you in space!

19 comments:

  1. Come out to Heild, R1fta will show you a good time =)

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    1. Pfft, and drag him into the shitball that is Molden? That'll put him right off lowsec PvP.

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  2. Good luck with your new found freedom :)

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  3. Can I sign up to be your first student?

    Also, I want to take this chance to let you know how amazing this site has been in helping me to start PvPing.

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  4. Yarr and ahoy, Azual.

    GL in low, and thanks for helping me suck less.

    o/ Wittaker

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  5. 07
    Gonna miss you, man. But then I will try to get into blaster range >:).

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  6. I will agree that Heild (all of molden heath really) is great fun for solo/duo roaming. R1fta is fun to go against =D

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  7. Gotta say it was fun flying with you in E-U, and Agony. Maybe Wormholes are something you could consider?

    Asuri Kinnes
    Adhocracy Inc.

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    1. It's definitely something I'm interested in doing, but doesn't really fit with what I'm looking for in the short term (i.e. a way to get back into solo PVP). Further down the line I'd like to give it a go - when that will happen, who knows.

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  8. Confirming we'll still see you out with RvB Ganked fleets to...well....gank? ;-)

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  9. you want to go flashy or not?

    Right now, i think hagilur is pretty nice and active and easy to call home (3 jumps to hek, very rarely camped entry nowadays (because e-uni blows them up)).

    Much small gang action going in Dud/hag/thelan and there are always solo opportunities arising due to that (and besides). Some bigger fights as well.

    For very quick solo targets check the system's top belt as well as (for frigs/dessies) the angel 2/10 DED in adjacent (cul-de-sac) Ragnarg. Then go roaming beyond Anher.

    It gets more dangerous (but very target rich) if you go flashy or engage unistas, lots of em around. Then the Dudreda pocket is very good hunting ground. Dunno if you want to do that - them being mostly new to the game, but most of them relish a good fight, they come there for learning lowsec-action after all.

    Hagilur seems to be the most kill active lowsec system after the crazy uninhabitable ones (you know them by reputation). It often features on the top-5 most kill-intensive lowsec-systems on dotlan while being pretty easy to live in solo.

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    1. I'm not really bothered about being flashy or not, I rarely go into hisec anyway, and I'm used to everyone being able to shoot me all the time (it still feels weird to land on gates and not be able to shoot anyone). If it means more fights, then it works for me.

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    2. No better learning experience than having dangerous predators around we must be cautious of.

      We have quite a few pilots in the LSC area that would be willing to give you the good fight. Then again, no promises against getting nailed by the blob from time to time... :-/

      -Shegunna Blow

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  10. I second asuri. I think you should give wormholes a shot. C5s and down. Truth be told, there is a lot of waiting. But the dynamics are very different, and fascinating.

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  11. I'll third the suggestion that your view on wormhole combat would be very interesting. It'd definitely help you with the 'know your enemy' series on T3s, anything you write about stealth bombers and would provide a different perspective on your recon piece.

    Plus of course there's the massive subject of defensive flying in wormhole space. But it is /very/ different, and there is, as the Anon above me says, a lot of waiting.

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  12. I'll be missing you, Azual, but looking forward to read from you at the very least.

    o/
    Toran

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  13. Thanks for setting such a good example of how to help people. Every postyou make gets discussed on our bubble. Good luck in your new adventures. And, yes, we will shoot you in Curse :)

    -Zurakaru Ze
    OPS XO
    OUCH

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  14. Take care Azual, Just remember Agony loves you.

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The Altruist is the Eve Online blog of Azual Skoll, PVP instructor and small gang PVPer.

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