Know Your Enemy - Frigate Updates

As the process of updating my Know Your Enemy articles continues, I wanted to address some of the gaps left in previous articles before publishing anything new (yes, Attack Cruisers is coming - honest)! In particular, there were two things that really needed fixing.

The first, as you probably noticed, was that my Combat Frigates article only covered five of the eight ships in the class. At the time that I wrote it, the Tristan, Kestrel and Breacher were still pre-tiericide and I decided it was better to leave them out and add them in later rather than include them in their unbalanced form. That, finally, is done.

The other issue was less obvious, and has to do with the Condor. I wrote my Attack Frigates article quite soon after the ships were released, and at the time the Condor wasn't all that popular. In the time since then, there's been an explosion of light missile Condors to the point that they're probably one of the most popular T1 frigs around. That really wasn't reflected in my article, and I was probably misleading a lot of people as to the frustratingly awesome nature of this ship as a result. Solution: the Condor entry has been rewritten too!

I didn't want to repost the articles since much of the original content was still accurate, but you can find the finished pieces here: Combat Frigates and Attack Frigates. For maximum convenience, I've also included the updated entries by themselves right here:

The Art of Influence

It's been quite a while since I responded to a Blog Banter. This blog has a fairly focused topic list, and I like to avoid steering too far away from that focus where possible. Blog Banter 45 however caught my interest, and I'd like to share my thoughts with you. The subject? Propaganda.

We all know roughly what propaganda is, although many of us may feel like it's not something that we personally do. In short, propaganda means communication with the intent of influencing wider opinion. Ask someone to point to an example of Eve propaganda, and you'll probably see references to various pep-talks by nullsec CEOs, or perhaps some of the well crafted posters or parody songs used to rally the masses around their alliance banner.

In truth however, it's difficult to do anything in the sandbox without affecting someone's opinion of something. Whether you're posting a CEO update or simply asking a fallen opponent if they happen to be upset about the experience, every interaction with another player conveys some form of message. Even the ships you fly and the way that you act can play a significant part in shaping what other people think about you. There is no do or don't on this one - you can argue about where exactly the definition of 'propaganda' stops, but the simple truth is that your actions will influence the opinions of those around you regardless of whether you want them to or not. The only question is whether you want to understand and control that influence, or simply let it run unchecked.

Know Your Enemy - Combat Cruisers

When strength and firepower are your requirements, look no further than the combat cruisers. These four ships represent the heavyweights of the T1 cruiser lineup, with stronger tanks and (for the most part) higher damage outputs than their attack cruiser counterparts.

Combat cruisers make excellent brawlers, with strong tanks and plenty of firepower.

While the class offers plenty of variation, combat cruisers generally excel when fighting at close to medium range. Thanks to their strong tanks and offensive abilities, these are difficult ships to take on toe to toe, and are typically capable of out-brawling most of the competition. With lower speed however, they have a harder time chasing down or evading targets than their attack brethren.

Considering Joining the Tuskers?

As you might have heard, we at The Tuskers have undergone a little internal organisation recently. Legendary pirate and Tusker founder Ka Jolo has stepped aside to focus on RL events, handing over the reins to long-time director and FC Suleiman Shouaa. Sulei has been all but running the show for some time, so I'm confident that the corp is in good hands and things are definitely looking good for the future.

One of the outcomes of this change is that we're going to be taking a slightly more targeted approach to recruitment.Initially we're looking for ten new Tuskers from any timezone to join our ranks. After that, we'll likely be switching the focus to bring in applicants with specific skills and experience, or who play in a particular timezone.

If you've got a strong desire for solo PVP, like the idea of a life of piracy, and think that you've got what it takes to be a Tusker, consider putting in an application. You can find out more about us (as well as our current recruitment situation) by visiting our website or clicking that new image over on the right hand side of the blog. ->

Feel free to also drop into The Tuskers Public Channel in-game, where you'll find plenty of members, friends, and general hangers-on to answer your questions and tell you just what nice guys we are! (Honest)