Managing Kill Rights

Those of us in the AG Community who partake in special operations will sometimes get kill rights against us.  For example, gankers typically use a large fast ship like a Machariel to bump their victims to keep them from escaping before a gank.  One special op some of us undertake is to gank these ganker operated Machariels.  It is a big financial loss for the ganker and potentially lets a victim escape.  However, it also results in the special ops team getting a kill right against them.  This blog post focuses on thinking about how to manage these kill rights. 

Kill Right Removal By Ally

The easiest way to get rid of a ganker kill right against you is to have a friend remove it. Of course, you can only do this for kill rights made available to the public, but that is often what happens with kill rights.  Get a cheap ship, go somewhere private with your friend, and have your friend obtain the kill right and destroy your cheap ship.  Kill right removed.

There may be a price for the kill right.  So you might want to give your friend the ISK for buying the kill right up front.  If the price is cheap, it's no big deal.  But if the price is high, you may want to deal with the kill right in some other way because otherwise it costs you money, and worse, that money goes to the ganker.

Kill Right Removal By Neutral

If you have a public kill right that is of price high enough you don't want to pay it, you can optionally try to get a neutral party to destroy a cheap ship to remove it.  Money still goes to the ganker, which is bad, but at least that money isn't coming from you or an ally.  Get a somewhat cheap ship -- you'll probably have to pick something more significant than a rookie ship, maybe like a cruiser -- and go hang out at the trade hubs.  Chances are, someone will buy the kill right and kill you.  You'll probably lose your pod too if you aren't super fast, so make sure you are in a clone with few or no implants.

Kill Right Avoidance By Alt

Use an alt to perform your Anti-Gank ganking activities.  Then your main never has a kill right for this.  I like this approach, but it does take time to train up an alt, and it means some of your elite AG activity won't be associated with your main.  Still, it's a good approach.  Now you can do your non-AG activities on your main without worrying about kill rights.

Kill Right Avoidance By Time

Kill rights, as far as I understand them, are gone in 30 days.  Wait 30 days offline, or only fly cheap ships for 30 days, and you minimize your risk.  Not a great approach, but I thought I would list it, as it is an option.

Kill Right Avoidance By Tactics

Last but not least, you can just try not to get into a situation where someone will buy and activate your kill right.  With a kill right on you, act like you are in low or null security space.  Use insta-docks and insta-undocks, avoid busy areas, try not to be seen by others.  Use special ops cloak or the cloak+MWD trick when traveling through gates with a lot of activity. 

Other Ideas?

Feel free to share your thoughts or ideas on this.  But most importantly, think about how to manage kill rights against you.

Fly safe!

Burner Mission Review (Mostly Negative)

Before I begin this review, let me me reiterate that I am not a long term veteran of Eve (though I'm not brand new either).  I have been playing Eve for about 5 months now, and have about 10 million skill points.  Could another hundred million skill points or so have made a difference?  I have to think maybe so, because I don't otherwise see why anyone would find a burner mission entertaining.  It was literally the least fun I've had in Eve since I began playing.  I would have ended the evening feeling more satisfied if I had just spent it mining Veldspar.

A word of warning before you read on.  This post is a total rant.  So take it with a grain of salt.  This post is about a bad experience with a burner mission, but there may be other burner missions out there that I might actually like.  That said, let me continue with my rant.

The burner mission I tried was named Anomic Team, and it was located in Sibe.  It consisted of 3 enemy frigates, 2 of which were supposedly logi for the 3rd, not that they were needed.  I spent most of my evening setting up for this mission, and made 2 attempts at it.  I never got a single shot off at any enemy.  Both times, they were able to destroy or nearly destroy my frigate before I could lock a target and begin firing.  It was that fast.  Probably no more than 10 seconds per attempt, if that.

Let me go over what some of the problems were.

I can only guess that the only valid approach to this mission is long range kiting.  I just don't see how any frigate can engage the opponents of the mission unless the opponents simply can't fire upon you.

I first attempted to use a tracking disruptor, but the opponents also had missiles (something the mission description didn't mention), so I'm not sure if it would have helped much.  On the first attempt I had 2 warp core stabs equipped (the burners use scrams) just so I could test the waters and run for a refit if I didn't like how things were going.  Of course, stabs mean I had very short targeting range.  The opponents were initially about 40km away.  I activated my ASB as soon as I started taking fire, but the time I was in targeting range I was already almost dead.  I warped away with maybe 10% structure left.

The second attempt I knew I probably needed to keep some distance.  I swapped out the stabs for something more combat oriented.  I warped in, but to my displeasure, I found the opponents were sitting right on top of the warp in location.  I immediately tried to gain some distance but was webbed and scrammed within a couple of seconds, and my ship was destroyed a few seconds after that.

Now, I'm not opposed to having to retry a difficult mission a few times to get it right.  But this mission appeared to be intentionally set up to where trying again wasn't reasonably feasible.  It was located a long 7 jumps from the mission hub and set in a system where no merchant activity takes place.  Even trying to buy something simple like a microwarp drive required traveling 4 jumps.  The one station in the system didn't even have repair ability.  I literally spent the whole night on just 2 attempts of the mission.  Hours of set up and refit for a combined action time of about 20 seconds. 

I've heard the new burner missions are receiving good reviews, but I just don't understand why.  Here are the ways I could see the missions having value:

1. Was it fun?  No, it wasn't.  If I wanted to get my ass kicked, there are other much quicker ways of doing it.
2. Did I profit from it?  No.
3. Did I learn from it?  Not really.  The battle was so quick, how much could I learn?  I think I learned that the right approach for the mission is to stay the hell away from the opponent and fire from a distance.  If that is wrong, then I didn't learn anything.  If that is right, then it's no different than the best strategy for every other mission in the game; stay the hell away and fire from a distance.
4. Can it hone my combat ability?  This is where the mission really fails.  If this mission had been set in a place where it would be easy to refit and retry multiple times, it could have been useful.  But it appeared to be set up the exact opposite such that setting up for another go would require a huge time penalty.

Some people really like the burner missions. So who knows, you might too. So I don't really want to make any recommendations for anyone. But if you ask my opinion about trying a burner mission, my opinion is that it might be a lot more fun and profitable to just spend your night mining.

Anti-Gank: Madirmilire/Niarja, 11/1/2014

A particular group within RvB decided they wanted to host an event for freighter ganking in and around Madirmilire.  A post about it can be found on their forum:

http://rvbeve.com/forums/index.php/topic/8593-ganked-140-freighters-must-die/

The Anti-Gank (AG) High-Sec Militia responded.  I am happy to report that multiple freighters were saved.  I was personally there to repair and see a Rhea, one of the more expensive freighters, survive a gank and get away clean.  I also heard good reports from others throughout the day.

I was only there for a few freighters due to some RL interruptions and due to being off on a special operation.  A few of us in the High-Sec Militia teamed up to remove Apex Aubaris' bumper Machariel from operation.

https://zkillboard.com/kill/42149167/

I have a side job within the AG community I refer to as AG Special Ops.  My participation in the Machariel kill was in service to the mission of AG Special Ops -- to undertake higher risk anti-gank operations to test new tactics, increase the effectiveness overall of AG activities, and further boost the morale of the AG community.  While the others involved were not members of this particular group, they certainly had a similar spirit.

Well done AG community, and thanks to all of you who made an effort to help and made this day a success for AG.

This wasn't the typical CODE. orchestrated gank night.  It was triggered by one or more members of RvB.  I hope our activities helped to send a message to the RvB organization that freighter ganking is not an honorable activity, will not be tolerated by the Eve community at large, and is not something the RvB organization wants to be associated with or condone. 

Finding Redemption

A pilot sits alone.  He ponders the chain of events leading to his current situation.  His ship is surrounded by his fleet, but an uneasy feeling is growing inside him.  His fleet, under the boot of his organization, is preparing to destroy another defenseless freighter in violation of Empire law.  And for what purpose?  The lies are so many he is drowning in them. 

All of the Empire stand against him.  His only friends, the ones who are with him in his fleet, scurry about like dingos over a lost baby deer that calls out helplessly for it's mother.  Friends who relish in lies, deception, greed, and an empty feeling of power over the defenseless.  Of what quality are such friends?  Is he ready to give away his integrity and honor -- perhaps his very soul -- for the brief membership in a pack of wild dogs that will only lead to inevitable betrayal and abandonment?  It is their nature.

He just wanted a friend.  He just wanted to be a part of something.  Now a cold dark leash tightens around his neck.  The devil is at his door with welcoming arms. 

What if there was a way out?  Could he reclaim his soul?  Could he reclaim his honor?  Could he find redemption?  A voice whispers out from the cosmic dark:  "I believe in you.  You still have a choice."  So long, grasped by darkness, suddenly the pilot dares to hope. 

The fleet moves in for the kill.  One ship turns back.  One pilot, who spares his own soul.  He knows the road to redemption will be long and challenging, but real friendship awaits him at the end.  Real friends look forward to welcoming him one day, in time, when that trust has been earned.  One brave soul who turned his back on the devil and found hope waiting on the other side.  A tear runs down his cheek.  The fleet is gone in a flash of hatred.  His ship sits alone.  But he no longer need be.  The pilot is surrounded by hope for a brighter future.  He sets his course for redemption.  A long road.  But worth the trip.

The hands of darkness will never cease trying to pull him back.  But the pilot need only remember The Great Dictator's Speech, and the hands of darkness will never again be able to grasp him.  It's powerful words echo in his head.  "Soldiers! Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty!"

Anti-Gank: Uedama 10/26/2014

Gankers were at it again, and Loyalanon would say in local something along the lines of "Anti-gankers fail again" after each ganked freighter.  However, the real failure was Loyalanon thinking he knows what our objectives are.

One of my objectives for the evening was to come up with a good ship capable of taking out ganker ships before CONCORD arrives that would also stand up to ganker secondary fire.  After flying straight into the ganker pack on one occasion and coming out with plenty of armor left on an armor tanked ship, with some small fitting tweaks it is an achieved objective.  Furthermore, it was able to take out ganker ships before CONCORD arrives as intended.  Success again.  Here are just a few kills from the night:

• https://zkillboard.com/kill/42016675/
• https://zkillboard.com/kill/42017263/
• https://zkillboard.com/kill/42017871/
• https://zkillboard.com/kill/42018545/

Another objective was to meet some new AG pilots and strengthen our ability to operate and coordinate AG activities in the future.  I am happy to say this is yet another achieved objective.  I networked with a number of pilots who were very capable and who I have not met before.  I look forward to teaming up with them again in the future.

Despite all of this, the AG militia does need to start focusing on saving freighters again soon.  And when this day comes, the criminals of Eve will cower at the unstoppable force of justice they themselves had a hand in creating.

CONCORD is on our side.  The Empire is on our side.  Justice is on our side.  The criminal's days are numbered.  They are the darkness.  We are the light.  Shine bright, my brothers and sisters.

- Judge Bacon

Anti-Gank: Uedama, 10/8/2014 01:00

CODE. has apparently had daddy along to help them the last few nights to bolster their wilting alliance and save them from potential irrelevance.  Now reinforced, freighter ganks are once again happening in Uedama, and it requires an equal step up from the anti-gank community if we are to put a stop to it.

Our forces were insufficient.  We need more remote repair if we want to save freighters from these combined criminal forces.  Many millions in blasters, ammo, and other equipment was confiscated from criminal shipwrecks.  Some criminals were destroyed before CONCORD arrived (in particular, I like this kill, where Gorila Vengaza and I took out a ganker together).  But, while I don't know what transpired earlier in the evening, for the time while I was online we were unable to save any freighters.  I would like to make a call out to my AG brothers and sisters to step it up a notch and get more repair forces on the field of battle.

Missile Damage Calculation Tool

Below is a tool I made for looking at how different ammo, skills, and equipment affect missile damage. As with my prior posts, I am personally most interested in looking at the situation with cruise missiles for use against battleships. Therefore, for now, the drop down select lists only include cruise missiles and a small number of sample NPC battleships. However, you can set the drop downs to Custom and enter values for other missiles and ships.
Take note of the field labeled "Avg Max Velocity". Originally, I just labeled this as Max Velocity. However, the maximum velocity of most NPC battleships, from the data I found online, is actually much higher than the values I am using; somewhere in the neighborhood of 1200 - 1400 m/s. The reason I didn't use those values is that the NPC battleships almost never actually go that fast. They usually hobble along at much lower speeds. We are most interested in what will happen most of the time, not in the fringe cases where they actually burst up to top speed. The numbers I therefore used are their orbital velocities, as those values are accurate for orbiting and I think not too far off from what is typically seen when they approach.
I also have a few assumptions at play here. First, I am assuming that multiple affects (for example, if using 2 Rigor Catalysts) will stack in a manner similar to how multiple resist mods stack. Furthermore, I am assming that Target Navigation Prediction reduces the target velocity in the equation, which is also why you will see the graph X axis go up to a lower number than the value in the Avg Max Velocity field with the axis labeled as Effective Target Speed -- because it has the Target Navigation Prediction skill applied to it.

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Show/Hide Equations

xr	Missile Explosion Radius
xv	Missile Explosion Velocity
d	Damage Reduction Factor
sr	Ship Signature Radius
sv	Ship Max Velocity
kr	Skill: Guided Missile Precision explosion radius percent
kv	Skill: Target Navigation Prediction target velocity percent
p	Target Painter signature radius percent (0 if not equipped)
r1	Rig 1: Rigor Catalyst signature radius percent (0 if not equipped)
r2	Rig 2: Rigor Catalyst signature radius percent (0 if not equipped)
r3	Rig 3: Rigor Catalyst signature radius percent (0 if not equipped)
f1	Rig 1: Flare Catalyst explosion velocity percent (0 if not equipped)
f2	Rig 2: Flare Catalyst explosion velocity percent (0 if not equipped)
f3	Rig 3: Flare Catalyst explosion velocity percent (0 if not equipped)
xrf	Missile Explosion Radius: Final
xvf	Missile Explosion Velocity: Final
srf	Ship Signature Radius: Final
svf	Ship Max Velocity: Final
B	Zero Velocity Damage Percentage Applied
C	Max Velocity Damage Percentage Applied

x_rf = x_r * (1 - k_r) * (1 - r₁) * (1 - r₂) * (1 - r₃)
x_vf = x_v * (1 + f₁) * (1 + f₂) * (1 + f₃)
s_rf = s_r * (1 + p)
s_vf = s_v * (1 - k_v)
B = s_rf / x_rf
C = [B * (x_vf / s_vf)] ^ [ln(d) / ln(5.5)]

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Missile	Exp. Radius	Exp. Velocity	DRF
Custom

Target Ship	Sig. Radius	Avg Max Velocity
Custom

Target Painter: None Target Painter I (25%) Target Painter II / Generation Extron (30%)

Rig 1: None Rigor Catalyst I Rigor Catalyst II Flare Catalyst I Flare Catalyst II Rig 2: None Rigor Catalyst I Rigor Catalyst II Flare Catalyst I Flare Catalyst II Rig 3: None Rigor Catalyst I Rigor Catalyst II Flare Catalyst I Flare Catalyst II

Guided Missile Precision Level: 0 1 2 3 4 5

Target Navigation Prediction Level: 0 1 2 3 4 5

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Zero Velocity Damage Applied
Max Velocity Damage Applied