My complete kerfuffle on deciding which corporation to join aside, the one thing I validated was the corporation’s stance on taking PVP noobs. If their bio didn’t state clearly they were ‘PVP Noob Friendly’, it was closed without further consideration.
I have an ‘old’ EVE account if you go by the birth of my character. However, I’ve never played more than a few months consecutively and 99.9% of that has been in high security space, running missions and salvaging. Transitioning to an aware, proactive and proficient PVP pilot isn’t going to happen overnight. And certainly won’t come about because I clicked the ‘join’ button for a PVP corp.
Sucking from a Fire Hose
The day after I officially joined Aideron Robotics, I participated in my first FW fleet. It was my first FW fleet - EVER. It was only my second formal fleet in the entirety of my EVE gaming career. To say it was like sucking from a fire hose would not be an exaggeration. It was organized but in my opinion, could have done a better job at accounting for the presence of noob PVP pilots.
There are things I know about EVE from reading other bloggers and having played the game. Things I know in theory but not in practice. I knew that I should have an overview specifically customized for PVP. I found a recommended package on the corporate forums and installed it. I knew that I should be aware of the benefits and disadvantages of the ship I was given to fly as a new inductee, so I did some reading on the Atron. I knew where we tended to launch PVP fleets from so I looked at a local map. I did the things I knew to do, to avoid being a complete liability. Unfortunately, none of my preparation helped very much.
Our corp members only fleets, use a standard setup/team composition, where the Atron is pretty much the forerunner to combat. We advance into combat to tackle and scramble targets. In normal speak, that means slow a ship down and prevent its ability to warp away. Other participants will be our heavier DPS ships and logistical support, such as remote repairing (healing). I’m sure this works very well when the pilots flying the Atron have a clue. We did not.
Mini Games #1 and #2
Keeping up with calls for which gate or outpost to align to, warp to and enter was an effort unto itself. We don’t know the area by heart yet. We have to scan up and down the overview to find which place they’re talking about and they’re not using the whole name. You’re also roaming around a lot looking for targets. So the first thing I had to master was the mini-game of finding the truncated names of places that were being called out in my overview, before I could follow commands. Consequently, I at least, was always lagging behind the fleet.
It’s kinda hard to be the first to engage and tackle when you’re bringing up the rear. It’s hard to be up front and close in combat when you haven’t a clue either. You’re adrenaline is pumping. You’re in a new ship. You’re fulfilling a new role and nothing is muscle memory at this point. AND you’re learning mini-game #2, finding the names of the primary targets being called out in your overview while it’s scrolling up under your cursor. Ever play whack-a-mole? Try that when people are shouting, your blood is pounding in your ears, your palms are sweating and your ship is melting!
During one encounter our small gang split up, the FC going with a different group from the one I was following. Our group entered a complex and found targets or based on the end result, they found us. As our side of the equation dissolved into a cluster, the FC shouted for the Atron's to call out points. Uh?? I thought I knew what was needed but my mind screamed, "Now you expect me to talk while I'm busy swallowing my tongue??" I'm pretty certain I was the only pilot to croak out a reply. It didn't really matter who I had locked, I was being focus fired into oblivion. Wah-wah Charlie Brown.
During these encounters the Atron’s couldn’t hold point even once. As expected, somewhat, people got a bit annoyed. The next time we took our lil pods home to reship, a veteran swapped into an Atron. While I wholly understand the need to put new pilots in the cheaper ships, I disagree with them being given such a pivotal role the first few times out. We should be the “extra peeps”. Not the ones where if we can’t do our job the whole gang goes boom. Trust me, we’re not getting better at it the 2nd or 3rd time we fuck it all up. We’re just more nervous, edgy and likely to underperform again.
Ouch!
For me, I felt horrible afterward. I wasn’t concerned about the ships I lost. I hated that other people lost ships. Ugh! Taking a proactive approach, I tried to identify the things that had gone wrong for me and how to fix them. Overview scrolling – I found a tip for that on the internet. Combat hotkeys –CCP’s defaults didn’t feel intuitive to me so I configured my own. Module layout – like any other MMO, I moved my modules (commands) to the rows and order that made sense to me. Safety – have an overview tab of safe warp-to points as an escape route. Flee- if your armor gets below 25% it’s time to run like a girl!
Don't be fooled into thinking that because you've calmly handled solo PVE combat, even when greatly outnumbered, it's anything like PVP. I only lost one ship in PVE and that was within my first week of playing, 6 years ago. I'm Gallente - a PVE drone boat pilot, with plenty of time to click command modules and deploy more drones from the safety of my Vexor. That was then, certainly not now and requires a huge adjustment in play style.
1 <> 1
Clearly, there are many definitions of what someone means when they say ‘PVP noob friendly’. Being allowed to sink or swim is one. Slow easing into is another. I know a bit more now. I have made an earnest attempt to correct things on my side. Now I need time and practice. I might be better served to find larger public FW groups where my impact is less and as a result, I will inflict less harm while learning the ropes.
IIRC, if you press ctrl while hovering on the overview it stops scrolling so you can be sure you're getting the right target. Been a few years since I played Eve, though, so I could be misremembering.
Posted by: pkudude99 | January 21, 2014 at 04:09 PM
You are correct! It was one of the tips from the UniEve page I linked. Didn't know that until after. :-)
Posted by: Alysianah aka Saylah | January 21, 2014 at 04:16 PM
You've been thrown into the fire and it sounds like you didn't do too badly considering. I'm in AIDER as well, which is how I came to be reading your blog. The same thing happened to me not too long ago. I'm still a newb. Anyway, I just wanted to console you by saying you're not alone in your experience. It's not easy to get started. I agree with you that it would be nice if the corp had more of a program to ease people in. To fill the gap, I'm thinking about taking a PVP class from Agony Unleashed (http://www.agony-unleashed.com/wiki/index.php?title=PVP_Classes). I've started teaching myself and I've been asking question of the veterans in the corp. Anytime I've asked a question or had a concern, everyone has been really nice and they will take the time to truly answer you or take care of your concern. Also check out the Welcome page on the corp wiki.
I wasn't in the fleet your wrote about until that last encounter. In a further attempt to make you feel better, there were several things working against you in that last encounter you had flying an Atron. First was that the target calling was a little sketchy so not everyone was focused and working together. At the start everyone should have been trying to take out the EWAR. So that's not your fault. Second, no one expected the enemy's EWAR ship to be packed full of jammers. Most people couldn't lock anything. I'm guessing you couldn't lock anyone as well. It was just a bad situation so I wouldn't feel bad about it if I were you. Sure there are things we could have done better, such as better communicating the situation, but hey, we're newbs. It takes time to learn this stuff. Third, the Atron fit you were flying is actually listed under "Expendable Atron" on the doctrine page. There are better tackle fits but this one is designed to be very cheap and it's something the newest players can get into very quickly. It's also something everyone can get into and just have fun and not worry about losing their ships. So it's not the best at tackling but it's still a great ship to just go out there and get blown up in because that's how you learn.
So this post turned out to be way longer then even I was expecting but there is one last thing. I feel bad for all the new players in that fleet. The FC did sound very frustrated at some points and I know that would have greatly turned me off if that was my 1st fleet. Trust me, he was more frustrated in the situation and not with his pilots. Still, it's not good. He's a great FC but that is something he needs to work on. You were totally fine. Also, don't expect that to happen very often.
Oh wait, one more thing. A tip. When the list of targets gets long and you need to find the right one, it helps to sort the overview by name or type. You can click on the column headers to sort by that column.
Posted by: Montecore | January 21, 2014 at 09:54 PM
Thanks for the thoughtful reply!! I hate sucking. And it may sound silly but I hate sucking at games women aren't readily identified with. Ya know, making female gamers look bad. EVE is a bit out of my comfort zone and may never be great at it but I want to be competent. I tend to play support roles like healers so being up close and personal is startling at first.
That said, the experience didn't sour me on the corp or PVP. Just more determined to figure out what will work best for me. I know it's not lucrative or suggested to do in low sec flagged as a FW target but I took the Atron out and did a few missions today. Consequently, I felt much better in the fleet this evening. First off, I knew how the ship worked and where all my stuff was located. I understand how the fleet tends to move around and some of the gates were familiar from last time. So I was able to be sent out ahead or arrive first at the next location etc which in and of itself made me feel more comfortable. :-)
See you in game!
Posted by: Alysianah | January 21, 2014 at 10:39 PM