https://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/api.php?action=feedcontributions&user=Bamar&feedformat=atomAgony Unleashed - User contributions [en]2024-03-29T07:15:47ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.25.2https://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17878Learning to FC2011-11-22T19:41:33Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Note - This article is still in active development, check back for updates, and feel free to offer feedback on the Agony forums.<br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a gang - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than reading, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Pick a tactic - Running T1 and kitchen sink gangs is good and all, but if you want to evolve as an FC you have to start running specialized fleets. Pick one that suits your natural style and start running it all the time. If you're slower and more methodical then something heavier like armor BS is probably good, if you like making quick snappy decisions then pick something like nano roams. Either way though get to know the tactic inside and out. Know what ships you need, how you use them, what gangs will kick your ass, when you need to run away, etc etc.<br />
* Get to know your pilots - Being a great FC is pretty useless if you have a crappy rapport with your fleet members. Get to know your scouts well, and get to know their habits. The less chatter you need on comms the better, and when you fly with the same people on a regular basis you'll get good at anticipating their actions, and they'll get good at anticipating yours. Talk with people after fleets and work together to make things better next time. Be a leader, not just someone who tells everyone what to do.<br />
* Think farther ahead - If you have a good handle on basic fleet mechanics then start getting fancy. Work on more elaborate traps, get used to breaking your fleet up and coordinating more than one group at a time. Get used to warping around on grid, luring enemies into the right spots, etc. Always keep an eye out for new tricks, either from friendly FCs, or from moves enemies use on you. Actively work on expanding your play book, mastering things you already know, and learning things you don't.<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Mentor - Sometimes the best way to crystallize things in your own mind is to explain them to someone else. Offer advice to newer FCs, teach tactics that you know well, and just generally help people who know less than you. You probably know all sorts of stuff, but might not quite see how it all fits together. Having to teach it to someone else is a great way to pull everything together.<br />
* Experiment - At this point you've probably got very deep knowledge in some areas, but are probably missing breadth in others. Try fleet types different than what you've flown before. If you've mostly flown kiting gangs then try a close-range fleet. If you're used to fast roaming gangs then try a big heavy one. Figure out your weak areas and specifically work on them.<br />
* Metagame - No, I don't mean make a bunch of spy alts, I mean think about the metagame. It's easy as an FC to focus in on each individual fight and to ignore the greater context. Chances are you fight the same fairly small group of people on a regular basis. Think about your history with these opponents, how they view you, and how you view them. Maybe they've beat you pretty badly a few times recently and they're getting cocky, can you use that against them to spring a trap? Maybe you tend to beat them and they're skittish, how can you lure them out and make them think they have the advantage. Get to know your opponents and think at a larger scale than just each individual fight.<br />
* Think bigger - Start to think about working capitals into your fleets, hitting things like POS, etc. Obviously this varies a lot depending on your group, but start to scheme and plot beyond just taking out roaming gangs. Figure out who your enemies are and how you can hurt them.<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17877Learning to FC2011-11-22T02:42:23Z<p>Bamar: /* Things to Work On */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a gang - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than reading, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Pick a tactic - Running T1 and kitchen sink gangs is good and all, but if you want to evolve as an FC you have to start running specialized fleets. Pick one that suits your natural style and start running it all the time. If you're slower and more methodical then something heavier like armor BS is probably good, if you like making quick snappy decisions then pick something like nano roams. Either way though get to know the tactic inside and out. Know what ships you need, how you use them, what gangs will kick your ass, when you need to run away, etc etc.<br />
* Get to know your pilots - Being a great FC is pretty useless if you have a crappy rapport with your fleet members. Get to know your scouts well, and get to know their habits. The less chatter you need on comms the better, and when you fly with the same people on a regular basis you'll get good at anticipating their actions, and they'll get good at anticipating yours. Talk with people after fleets and work together to make things better next time. Be a leader, not just someone who tells everyone what to do.<br />
* Think farther ahead - If you have a good handle on basic fleet mechanics then start getting fancy. Work on more elaborate traps, get used to breaking your fleet up and coordinating more than one group at a time. Get used to warping around on grid, luring enemies into the right spots, etc. Always keep an eye out for new tricks, either from friendly FCs, or from moves enemies use on you. Actively work on expanding your play book, mastering things you already know, and learning things you don't.<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Mentor - Sometimes the best way to crystallize things in your own mind is to explain them to someone else. Offer advice to newer FCs, teach tactics that you know well, and just generally help people who know less than you. You probably know all sorts of stuff, but might not quite see how it all fits together. Having to teach it to someone else is a great way to pull everything together.<br />
* Experiment - At this point you've probably got very deep knowledge in some areas, but are probably missing breadth in others. Try fleet types different than what you've flown before. If you've mostly flown kiting gangs then try a close-range fleet. If you're used to fast roaming gangs then try a big heavy one. Figure out your weak areas and specifically work on them.<br />
* Metagame - No, I don't mean make a bunch of spy alts, I mean think about the metagame. It's easy as an FC to focus in on each individual fight and to ignore the greater context. Chances are you fight the same fairly small group of people on a regular basis. Think about your history with these opponents, how they view you, and how you view them. Maybe they've beat you pretty badly a few times recently and they're getting cocky, can you use that against them to spring a trap? Maybe you tend to beat them and they're skittish, how can you lure them out and make them think they have the advantage. Get to know your opponents and think at a larger scale than just each individual fight.<br />
* Think bigger - Start to think about working capitals into your fleets, hitting things like POS, etc. Obviously this varies a lot depending on your group, but start to scheme and plot beyond just taking out roaming gangs. Figure out who your enemies are and how you can hurt them.<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17876Learning to FC2011-11-22T01:12:46Z<p>Bamar: /* The FC */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a gang - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than learning, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Pick a tactic - Running T1 and kitchen sink gangs is good and all, but if you want to evolve as an FC you have to start running specialized fleets. Pick one that suits your natural style and start running it all the time. If you're slower and more methodical then something heavier like armor BS is probably good, if you like making quick snappy decisions then pick something like nano roams. Either way though get to know the tactic inside and out. Know what ships you need, how you use them, what gangs will kick your ass, when you need to run away, etc etc.<br />
* Get to know your pilots - Being a great FC is pretty useless if you have a crappy rapport with your fleet members. Get to know your scouts well, and get to know their habits. The less chatter you need on comms the better, and when you fly with the same people on a regular basis you'll get good at anticipating their actions, and they'll get good at anticipating yours. Talk with people after fleets and work together to make things better next time. Be a leader, not just someone who tells everyone what to do.<br />
* Think farther ahead - If you have a good handle on basic fleet mechanics then start getting fancy. Work on more elaborate traps, get used to breaking your fleet up and coordinating more than one group at a time. Get used to warping around on grid, luring enemies into the right spots, etc. Always keep an eye out for new tricks, either from friendly FCs, or from moves enemies use on you. Actively work on expanding your play book, mastering things you already know, and learning things you don't.<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Mentor - Sometimes the best way to crystallize things in your own mind is to explain them to someone else. Offer advice to newer FCs, teach tactics that you know well, and just generally help people who know less than you. You probably know all sorts of stuff, but might not quite see how it all fits together. Having to teach it to someone else is a great way to pull everything together.<br />
* Experiment - At this point you've probably got very deep knowledge in some areas, but are probably missing breadth in others. Try fleet types different than what you've flown before. If you've mostly flown kiting gangs then try a close-range fleet. If you're used to fast roaming gangs then try a big heavy one. Figure out your weak areas and specifically work on them.<br />
* Metagame - No, I don't mean make a bunch of spy alts, I mean think about the metagame. It's easy as an FC to focus in on each individual fight and to ignore the greater context. Chances are you fight the same fairly small group of people on a regular basis. Think about your history with these opponents, how they view you, and how you view them. Maybe they've beat you pretty badly a few times recently and they're getting cocky, can you use that against them to spring a trap? Maybe you tend to beat them and they're skittish, how can you lure them out and make them think they have the advantage. Get to know your opponents and think at a larger scale than just each individual fight.<br />
* Think bigger - Start to think about working capitals into your fleets, hitting things like POS, etc. Obviously this varies a lot depending on your group, but start to scheme and plot beyond just taking out roaming gangs. Figure out who your enemies are and how you can hurt them.<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17875Learning to FC2011-11-22T01:00:28Z<p>Bamar: /* Things to Work On */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a gang - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than learning, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Pick a tactic - Running T1 and kitchen sink gangs is good and all, but if you want to evolve as an FC you have to start running specialized fleets. Pick one that suits your natural style and start running it all the time. If you're slower and more methodical then something heavier like armor BS is probably good, if you like making quick snappy decisions then pick something like nano roams. Either way though get to know the tactic inside and out. Know what ships you need, how you use them, what gangs will kick your ass, when you need to run away, etc etc.<br />
* Get to know your pilots - Being a great FC is pretty useless if you have a crappy rapport with your fleet members. Get to know your scouts well, and get to know their habits. The less chatter you need on comms the better, and when you fly with the same people on a regular basis you'll get good at anticipating their actions, and they'll get good at anticipating yours. Talk with people after fleets and work together to make things better next time. Be a leader, not just someone who tells everyone what to do.<br />
* Think farther ahead - If you have a good handle on basic fleet mechanics then start getting fancy. Work on more elaborate traps, get used to breaking your fleet up and coordinating more than one group at a time. Get used to warping around on grid, luring enemies into the right spots, etc. Always keep an eye out for new tricks, either from friendly FCs, or from moves enemies use on you. Actively work on expanding your play book, mastering things you already know, and learning things you don't.<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17874Learning to FC2011-11-22T00:58:16Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a gang - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than learning, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Pick a tactic - Running T1 and kitchen sink gangs is good and all, but if you want to evolve as an FC you have to start running specialized fleets. Pick one that suits your natural style and start running it all the time. If you're slower and more methodical then something heavier like armor BS is probably good, if you like making quick snappy decisions then pick something like nano roams. Either way though get to know the tactic inside and out. Know what ships you need, how you use them, what gangs will kick your ass, when you need to run away, etc etc.<br />
* Get to know your pilots - Being a great FC is pretty useless if you have a crappy rapport with your fleet members. Get to know your scouts well, and get to know their habits. The less chatter you need on comms the better, and when you fly with the same people on a regular basis you'll get good at anticipating their actions, and they'll get good at anticipating yours. Talk with people after fleets and work together to make things better next time. Be a leader, not just someone who tells everyone what to do.<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17873Learning to FC2011-11-22T00:52:49Z<p>Bamar: /* Things to Work On */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a gang - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than learning, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17872Learning to FC2011-11-22T00:44:15Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
Becoming an FC is a slow, complicated, and non-linear process. Ultimately there's no secret to becoming a great FC. You need a combination of natural skill, tons of experience, and a good attitude. This article's objective is to provide some pointers for aspiring FCs to take their game up a notch. I've defined four general skill levels for FCs, simply read through the descriptions, pick out the one that best represents you (when in doubt round down), and then work through some of the suggested things to work on.<br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Run a fleet - Stop right now, switch to another tab and post a planned gang, or better yet just take out an impromptu one right now, you can read this later. It's way too easy to get caught up in all sorts of advice and tactics around being an FC, and never actually FC a fleet. Doing is better than learning, so go out there and do. Take out a gang, give it a try, make some mistakes, and learn from them.<br />
* Ask for constructive criticism - After each fleet you run ask some of the more experienced pilots for advice. Some advice will probably be better than others, and some might even be contradictory. There can often be more than one right answer to things, and the objective here isn't to take every single bit of advice as gospel. What you want is to be exposed to as many ideas and possible ways of thinking about things as possible.<br />
* Screw up - It's inevitable, at some point you're going to do something monumentally stupid and get your fleet wiped out. Just accept this fact and move past it. This isn't to say you should just go out and suicide a fleet for no reason, but you can't be afraid of making mistakes. Do your best to put this off for as long as possible, but when it does happen suck it up and move on. Learn from your failures, don't dwell on them.<br />
* Learn ship types - If you're an experienced player who's just starting to learn how to FC this probably won't be a huge issue, but if you're a newer player it probably will be. As an FC you basically need to know about every single ship in the game, what their abilities are, and how they work together. This is also one area where it's purely about knowledge, so you can actually study it. Play with EFT, look through battle reports, read up on fittings and strategies. If you're lucky you might even find someone to quiz you on them. Eventually your goal is to be able to see any ship in the game and be able to rattle off it's general abilities, it's weaknesses, how it's typically used in fleets, etc. This needs to become automatic, you shouldn't have to think about it.<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17871Learning to FC2011-11-22T00:17:14Z<p>Bamar: /* The Sophomore */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Gang Leader=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17870Learning to FC2011-11-21T23:56:43Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
* Teach! - You have a ton of great experience, share it with your corpmates and alliancemates. Fly along with others' fleets and offer pointers (assuming they want them, and after the fleet's over of course). Write an article, guest lecture at EVE-Uni, do something to help other FCs improve their skills.<br />
* Don't be complacent - This is a far too easy trap to fall into. Just because you know all about FCing doesn't mean you can stop learning. EVE is a constantly changing game and you need to change right along with it. Always be looking to pick up new tricks, new tactics, etc. Don't get arrogant and don't get lazy otherwise it will come back to bite you.<br />
* Have fun - It's also far too easy to get jaded. When you feel like you've seen it all before it's not nearly as exciting to take a gang out. Challenge yourself by trying new fleet tactics, inventing new ones, taking on tough odds, etc. If you've always run big sov ops then try an interceptor roam, if you always fly in low sec then try a wormhole gang. Mix things up for yourself and keep finding parts of the game that are new to you.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17869Learning to FC2011-11-21T23:51:35Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're one of the go-to guys in your corp/alliance. You might not be perfect, but you tend to know what you're doing, and know what needs to be done. You've taken out large, expensive, and complicated gangs, and have probably coordinated with groups outside your own. You probably have a particular type of fleet as a specialty, but you don't have much trouble switching contexts.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
You're "that guy" in your corp/alliance. You've been running fleets for longer than many of your fleetmates have been playing the game. You might not know everything, but you can usually figure it out pretty fast. It's rare that you see something new when running a fleet, and while you may still screw up from time to time usually it's because you knew better but did something dumb anyway.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17868Learning to FC2011-11-21T23:46:26Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
Things are starting to make sense, you're no longer nervous taking out a gang, and you think you're on the right path. There's still plenty you don't know, but you at least have a good handle on what it is you don't know.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You don't get overwhelmed - Navigating a fleet around in second nature, and even in an intense battle you can keep your wits about you. You might not always make the best decision, but you never freeze up.<br />
* You understand fleet tactics - You probably have a particular fleet style you enjoy the most, and you know it pretty damn well. You're good at getting fights on your terms, and you don't tend to fall for traps.<br />
* You bring the rights ships for the job - When you see a T2 ship you don't see the price tag, you see the role it will serve in your fleet. When forming up you know what you need, and you know how you'll use it.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You run on instinct - Processing intel should just happen naturally as reports come in. You can easily keep a picture of everything happening around you in your head. When you see a fleet on your overview you immediately know who you want to call primary first.<br />
* You really understand fleet tactics - While you might have a favorite tactic, you can switch between different styles of fleets without too much trouble, and maybe even come up with some of your own strategies. You find that you're rarely surprised, and most decisions are a matter of a calculated risk rather than a leap of faith. Given a particular enemy gang you can quickly decide how to counter it and get people formed up in the right composition.<br />
* You think outside the box - You know what ships are right for what, but you can also be creative. Whether it be tweaking fittings or tweaking fleet composition, you experiment and come up with ideas outside of typical fleet doctrines. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but you generally come up with good ideas.<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17867Learning to FC2011-11-21T22:59:39Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17866Learning to FC2011-11-21T22:59:01Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
* Just running a fleet is overwhelming - Dealing with incoming intel reports feels like drinking from a fire hose, and the fire hose is winning. You regularly feel like there's too much information, too many choices, and not enough time.<br />
* You don't have a very good grasp of fleet concepts - Sure, you might know generally about some different types of fleets, but when it comes down to actually fighting them you're not really sure how to go about it. You tend to default to charging right on in against most fleets.<br />
* You get nervous taking out anything expensive - You probably feel self-conscious about your abilities and get nervous when someone brings out a shiny ship into one of your fleets. Given the choice you'd prefer just flying a T1 cruiser swarm all the time.<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
* You feel pretty comfortable flying a fleet around - Sometimes in the heat of a battle you still feel overwhelmed, but generally you don't have a problem navigating a fleet around and keeping track of your scouts and skirmishers.<br />
* Fleet combat is starting to make sense - You're starting to understand some of the tactical decisions more advanced FCs make. You still might not be an expert on any particular tactic, but you're starting to see the differences between general fleet types, and starting to understand how to maneuver your fleet to take advantage of strengths and weaknesses of your opponents. You might still get surprised now and then, but generally you know how to react when you see your scanner fill up with drakes.<br />
* You're starting to like having expensive ships in your fleet - Yes you might still feel bad when they get blown up, but you're starting to recognize how useful specialized T2 ships can be in a fleet. You're getting to the point where there are certain ships you'll ask for when forming up, and have some preference for how to arrange your fleet setup.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17865Learning to FC2011-11-21T22:44:17Z<p>Bamar: /* The Noob */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
The beginning, we've all been here. You don't really know anything about anything. You've tried to read up on things a bit, and you think you have a vague idea about how to FC from observing others. Really though you're not really sure what to expect, and you're pretty sure you'll make a huge mess of everything.<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17864Learning to FC2011-11-21T21:47:40Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Summary===<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17863Learning to FC2011-11-21T21:43:33Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=The Noob=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Sophomore=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The FC=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=The Expert=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17862Learning to FC2011-11-21T21:41:33Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
=Blissful Ignorance=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=Knowledgeable enough to be dangerous=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===<br />
<br />
=Been there done that=<br />
===Symptoms===<br />
===Things to Work On===</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Learning_to_FC&diff=17861Learning to FC2011-11-21T19:41:53Z<p>Bamar: New page: Category:Public <p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p> '''First''' - Placeholder '''Second''' - Pla...</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
'''First''' - Placeholder<br />
<br />
'''Second''' - Placeholder<br />
<br />
'''Third''' - Placeholder</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=NanoSHAG&diff=17812NanoSHAG2011-10-03T23:16:20Z<p>Bamar: /* Tactic Overview */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
==Tactic Overview==<br />
NanoSHAG (Nano SHield gang, and yes there's no A, get over it) describes most nano roaming gangs centered around mid-range combat with shield logistics (usually scimitars). It's a similar tactic to [[High_Speed_Long_Range_Gang|HSLR]], but relies less on range and sniping and more on quick movement and higher damage output. Generally NanoSHAG gangs will engage at medium range, outside of web range, but still within 50km or so. NanoSHAG ships also tend to be fast, usually over 2 km/s, and use their speed to both move around quickly looking for targets, and to dictate range during a fight, or to escape a fight altogether. NanoSHAG gangs tend to be roaming/skirmishing gangs and aren't very well suited to very large gangs, or to static fights like over a POS or Sov. It's also important to remember that while you're built around speed, you're not really speed tanking, you're range tanking. The speed in NanoSHAG is used to dictate range and keep out of the enemy's range, not to out-track his guns. If you're orbiting with your MWD on in something other than a Scimitar or Interceptor then you're probably doing something wrong.<br />
<br />
==DPS==<br />
The poster child of the NanoSHAG gang is the Vagabond. They have the great combination of high speed, long range with barrage, good damage output, and high shield resits. Similar ships such as Cynabals and even Machariels can also work. Hurricanes are a good option if you want something cheaper, although they're slower and more fragile than vagabonds. Tracking, damage output, and range are all important in NanoSHAG because you need the ability to kill off tacklers, kite, and take down larger ships in a reasonable time. Autocannons tend to fit the bill perfectly, and allow for more MWDing since they don't require capacitor to fire.<br />
<br />
==Logistics==<br />
Scimitars tend to be preferred over basilisks due to their higher speed and independence. A lot of times NanoSHAG gangs can get spread out, so being entirely dependent on others to keep your cap up isn't a very good idea. Also, since the rest of the gang is so fast Basilisks will oven trail behind the main gang, making them easier targets. Generally as a Scimitar you want to keep the main gang between you and the hostiles, staying close enough to repair everyone as needed, but far enough away to avoid most damage.<br />
<br />
==Tackle==<br />
Tackle in NanoSHAG is a lot like in HSLR. Recons are great for tackling at long range, especially if they have a strong shield tank. In addition close-range frigates like Jaguars are very useful for getting scrams and webs on pursuing targets. As always long-range interceptors work well for keeping targets from warping away. Bubblers tend to be less useful in NanoSHAG gangs due to the tendency to kite and move around a lot, causing targets to often fly out of bubbles.<br />
<br />
==FC Strategy==<br />
Kite, kite and kite some more. It's very rare that you want to engage head-on with a NanoSHAG fleet. Engaging at range gives you a chance to pick off tacklers and such before engaging their main gang, and generally gives you a higher chance of survival. The main advantage of NanoSHAG is its maneuverability, so use it. Keep moving and keep anyone from getting an easy drop on you. Generally you want to move around at under 100km or so, so that it's harder for enemies to get warp-ins on you. Keep your align points moving, and generally try to keep your tacklers in front of your DPS ships, which should be in front of your logistics.<br />
<br />
==What you need to know==<br />
As a typical pilot in a NanoSHAG gang your #1 priority is to keep safe. Prioritize picking off enemy tacklers that get close, and if you do get tackled be sure to call it out so that others in the gang can spring you free. Remember that it's better to warp out before being tackled rather than hang around a few seconds longer and get caught. Tacklers should hang around the slowest DPS ships and be ready to swoop in to grab any target that's killable by the main fleet.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Tactics_and_Techniques&diff=17811Tactics and Techniques2011-10-03T23:14:18Z<p>Bamar: /* Hit and Run Tactics */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
Click here to go back: [[Agony:Main Page]]<br />
<br />
==Alliance Tournaments==<br />
* [[Alliance Tournaments|Link to Alliance Tournament Page]]<br />
<br />
==General Articles==<br />
* [[Things YOU can do solo]]<br />
* [[Scanning & Skirmishing 101]]<br />
* [[An Introduction to Bookmarks in Eve]]<br />
* [[TACTICAL ASSISTED MINIWARP (TAM)|Tactical Assisted Miniwarp]]<br />
* [[Fleet Setup and Roles]]<br />
* [[Wolfpack Tactics]]<br />
* [[Advanced Flyby Maneuvers]]<br />
* [[Flyby Sniping Maneuvers in PvP]]<br />
* [[Precise navigation]]<br />
* [[Harassment Gangs]]<br />
* [[Fleet Support Team]]<br />
* [[Psychological PvP Using Asymmetrical Warfare]]<br />
* [[FCing the Soft Side]]<br />
<br />
==Interceptors==<br />
* [[Interceptor Fishing]]<br />
* [[The Concept of Fishing]]<br />
<br />
==Destroyers==<br />
* [[The Destroyer in PvP]]<br />
<br />
==Covert Ops and Scanning==<br />
* [[PVP COVOPS Required Reading|PVP COVOPS]]<br />
* [[PVP COVOPS Probing|COVOPS Probing]]<br />
* [[Advanced Covert Ops Tactics]]<br />
<br />
==Stealth Bombers==<br />
* [[The Stealth Bomber in Combat]]<br />
* [[Surviving in a Stealth Bomber]]<br />
* [[Advanced Stealth Bomber Tactics]]<br />
<br />
==Interdictors==<br />
* [[Interdictor Operations]]<br />
<br />
== Electronic Warfare==<br />
* [[ECM - Electronic Counter Measures]]<br />
* [[ECCM - Electronic Counter Counter Measures]]<br />
<br />
==Drones and Drone Ship Related Tactics==<br />
* [[Drone Tactics]]<br />
* [[Drone Love Battleships]]<br />
<br />
==Hit and Run Tactics==<br />
* [[High Speed Long Range Gang]]<br />
* [[NanoSHAG]]<br />
<br />
==Logistics & Remote Repair==<br />
* [[Dual Basilisk Gang]]<br />
* [[Dual Guardian Gang]]<br />
* [[Spider Tanking]]<br />
* [[HSSR]]<br />
* [[Armor HACs]]<br />
<br />
==Capital Ships==<br />
* [[Combat Capitals - Introduction]]<br />
<br />
==Hydra Fleets==<br />
* [[Frigate Hydra Fleet Sync'd to Hanger Inventory Named Mods]]<br />
* [[T1 Hydra Fleet, 2 Each Race|T1 Hydra Fleet, Two Frigs of Each Race]]<br />
* [[Destroyers Supplemental Fleet]]<br />
<br />
==Black Ops==<br />
* [[Black Ops Planning|Black Ops Planning and Pilot Roster]]<br />
<br />
==Baiting & Traps==<br />
* [[Bubble and Cyno Trap]]<br />
<br />
==Tactics in Development==<br />
* [[Tactics in Development]]</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=NanoSHAG&diff=17810NanoSHAG2011-10-03T23:13:39Z<p>Bamar: New page: Category:Agony ==Tactic Overview== NanoSHAG (Nano SHield gang, and yes there's no A, get over it) describes most nano roaming gangs centered around mid-range combat with shield logisti...</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
==Tactic Overview==<br />
NanoSHAG (Nano SHield gang, and yes there's no A, get over it) describes most nano roaming gangs centered around mid-range combat with shield logistics (usually scimitars). It's a similar tactic to [[High_Speed_Long_Range_Gang|HSLR]], but relies less on range and sniping and more on quick movement and higher damage output. Generally NanoSHAG gangs will engage at medium range, outside of web range, but still within 50km or so. NanoSHAG ships also tend to be fast, usually over 2 km/s, and use their speed to both move around quickly looking for targets, and to dictate range during a fight, or to escape a fight altogether. NanoSHAG gangs tend to be roaming/skirmishing gangs and aren't very well suited to very large gangs, or to static fights like over a POS or Sov.<br />
<br />
==DPS==<br />
The poster child of the NanoSHAG gang is the Vagabond. They have the great combination of high speed, long range with barrage, good damage output, and high shield resits. Similar ships such as Cynabals and even Machariels can also work. Hurricanes are a good option if you want something cheaper, although they're slower and more fragile than vagabonds. Tracking, damage output, and range are all important in NanoSHAG because you need the ability to kill off tacklers, kite, and take down larger ships in a reasonable time. Autocannons tend to fit the bill perfectly, and allow for more MWDing since they don't require capacitor to fire.<br />
<br />
==Logistics==<br />
Scimitars tend to be preferred over basilisks due to their higher speed and independence. A lot of times NanoSHAG gangs can get spread out, so being entirely dependent on others to keep your cap up isn't a very good idea. Also, since the rest of the gang is so fast Basilisks will oven trail behind the main gang, making them easier targets. Generally as a Scimitar you want to keep the main gang between you and the hostiles, staying close enough to repair everyone as needed, but far enough away to avoid most damage.<br />
<br />
==Tackle==<br />
Tackle in NanoSHAG is a lot like in HSLR. Recons are great for tackling at long range, especially if they have a strong shield tank. In addition close-range frigates like Jaguars are very useful for getting scrams and webs on pursuing targets. As always long-range interceptors work well for keeping targets from warping away. Bubblers tend to be less useful in NanoSHAG gangs due to the tendency to kite and move around a lot, causing targets to often fly out of bubbles.<br />
<br />
==FC Strategy==<br />
Kite, kite and kite some more. It's very rare that you want to engage head-on with a NanoSHAG fleet. Engaging at range gives you a chance to pick off tacklers and such before engaging their main gang, and generally gives you a higher chance of survival. The main advantage of NanoSHAG is its maneuverability, so use it. Keep moving and keep anyone from getting an easy drop on you. Generally you want to move around at under 100km or so, so that it's harder for enemies to get warp-ins on you. Keep your align points moving, and generally try to keep your tacklers in front of your DPS ships, which should be in front of your logistics.<br />
<br />
==What you need to know==<br />
As a typical pilot in a NanoSHAG gang your #1 priority is to keep safe. Prioritize picking off enemy tacklers that get close, and if you do get tackled be sure to call it out so that others in the gang can spring you free. Remember that it's better to warp out before being tackled rather than hang around a few seconds longer and get caught. Tacklers should hang around the slowest DPS ships and be ready to swoop in to grab any target that's killable by the main fleet.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Main_Page&diff=17802Main Page2011-10-03T19:59:50Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
__TOC__<br />
<br />
== Welcome to the Agony Wiki ==<br />
<br />
The Agony Wiki provides information about Agony as a PVP corp.<br />
<br />
It also contains details and reading material for our PVP classes, and additional articles relating to PVP - many of which are available to the public.<br />
<br />
Click the headings below for more information.<br />
<br />
* [[About Agony Empire|About Agony Unleashed]]<br />
* [[Joining Agony Empire|How to Join Agony]]<br />
* [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/ Agony Unleashed Forums]<br />
* [[Agony PVP University]]<br />
** [[Agony_Empire_Classes_and_Seminars|Agony PVP Classes]]<br />
* [[Public Articles]]<br />
* [[Agony Empire Wiki Copyright]]</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Bamar%27s_The_Soft_Side_of_FCing&diff=17696Bamar's The Soft Side of FCing2011-09-09T17:57:42Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
<p align="Left"><small>Original text by [http://www.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?/user/23-bamar/ Bamar]<br/></small></p><br />
<br />
I think a lot of times we talk a lot about tactics and procedures around FCing without really talking about the "soft" skills around it. How do you deal with people while FCing, how to phrase things, etc. This post is an attempt to lay out some of the things that I do and work for me. Keep in mind that everyone is different, and my way of doing things isn't necessarily the only way. This should be a reference point, not a bible.<br />
<br />
'''Confidence''' - You might not always do the right thing, but you always know the right thing to do. Being an FC is all about making calculated risks based off of incomplete information. Whenever you make a mistake it's probably because of one of the below. The one uniting theme though is that they're all mistakes. They're all things that you can recognize and fix. Don't get down on yourself over mistakes, just fix them and make yourself better.<br />
* You made the right move, it just didn't work out - In any reasonably close fight there's some chance that you'll lose. If you go into a fight knowing that there's a chance you'll lose, and you lose in the way you expected then that's just part of the game. These explanations tend to be the most comforting but the least satisfying. Even if you FC perfectly there's still a chance you'll lose, and if there isn't then you're not taking close enough fights. Sometimes you gamble, sometimes you lose.<br />
* You didn't know as much as you should have - For new FCs you're going to have incomplete knowledge for a while, sometimes that missing knowledge will bite you in the ass. Didn't know that the Eris is an interdictor? Whoops, so much for that fleet. Mistakes coming from ignorance tend to be the most aggravating, but are also the easiest to fix. Read up on the area that you're weak on and make sure you don't make the same mistake again.<br />
* You didn't think far enough ahead - Another common one for newer FCs. As an FC you always need to be thinking ahead. Sometimes it's one step ahead, sometimes it's six, but either way you need to be able to predict your opponents and respond accordingly. Sometimes your opponent does something you don't expect and you pay for it. Maybe you fall for bait, maybe they come in at range when you expected them to come short. Either way you need to look at why you thought what you did, why you were wrong, and think about how you'll identify it in the future. This is where the big nebulous "experience" comes in. A lot of these decisions just become ingrained habit/instinct after you deal with the same situation dozens of times. You won't entirely know why you think someone will do what they do, you just know that they will.<br />
* You made a mistake - You're just human, sometimes you goof up and do something stupid. Sometimes you'll realize how stupid your instruction was before it even leaves your lips, but you still say it anyway. As long as you know how dumb you were there's not much to do but kick yourself and vow never to do it again.<br />
* You didn't do anything - The absolute worst mistake an FC can make is doing nothing. Any action is better than no action. If the only thing you can think to do is monumentally stupid then be monumentally stupid, it's better than being silent. Mistakes tend to kill ships, silence kills entire fleets. These are the most demoralizing losses too. These are fights were you kill nothing and lose 20. NEVER STOP TALKING. If you go down or warp off grid then call on your backup FC, otherwise you should always be giving orders. If what you're doing isn't working then try something else, but never stop. This seems to be another common one with newer FCs, you freeze up because you're afraid of making the wrong decision and end up making the worst of all. This is also the only error that will actually keep you from being an FC. You can be an inexperienced FC, you can be a reckless FC, you can even be an unknowledgeable FC, but you can NOT be an FC who freezes or goes silent.<br />
<br />
'''Take responsibility''' - If you mess up then admit you messed up. You don't need to go on and on about it, but sometimes a simple "whoops, that didn't go quite how I expected it to" will lead to far less bitching down the line. When you mess up as an FC you'll know it, and everyone else in the fleet will know it. Trying to pretend like it wasn't your fault will only lower others' opinions of you. They'll either think that you're incompetent and don't realize that you skrewed up, or you'll think that you're too proud to admit it. In the end if you make a mistake, acknowledge it, learn from it, then move on. At first this might seem directly opposed to the prior point, but in reality it's a balancing act. If you have full confidence in your abilities then admiting a mistake isn't a big deal. You were doing the right thing, but you didn't have the right information, or something totally random happened, or whatever. Ultimately your decision-making process is always valid, it just might have had the wrong inputs (either lack of scouting, lack of experience, whatever). While you might make mistakes you are always in control, and it's important to not undermine yourself with self-effacing humor, which can be tempting especially as a newer FC. Saying something like "I'll probably get bored and suicide us" is way better than saying something like "We'll probably get wiped out." As an FC you should always be in control of things, and it's important to portray that in the way you talk about yourself. You might do stupid or wrong things from time to time, but it's always a conscious decision, not something that happened to you.<br />
<br />
'''Optimism''' - Always look on the brighter side. It's easy to get down on yourself as an FC, it happens to all of us. Sometimes a brutal fight just gets you down, and that's fine, but when talking to your fleet you need to be the eternal optimist. Sure you just got wiped out, but you learned something from it. Sure you lost a bunch of ships, but hey, look at that crazy-expensive Dramiel we killed. Sure you might have flown a frig blob into smartbomb destruction, but damn if it wasn't freaking hilarious. There is ALWAYS a bright side, and it's your job to focus on it. It's fine if you're pissed off that they just dropped 5:1 odds on you, but your job as FC is to brush it off and laugh at it. Sure you shouldn't just make stuff up to cover up for a horrible fight, but you can fix what went wrong and then focus on the future. Constructive criticism and optimism are always valuable, moping and whining never are. Remind your fleet members what's awsome about EVE and they'll keep coming back. Dwell in what you hate about EVE and you'll make them all bittervets.<br />
<br />
'''Yelling'''- Quite simply don't. I can count the number of times I've yelled at someone in a fleet over the past 5 years on one hand, and none of them were Agony members. Rather than freaking out at someone for making a mistake think about why they made that mistake. 99% of the time it's for one of the following reasons.<br />
* They just don't know - Luckily the easiest to fix, just explain to them what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and what to do differently. Even experienced players can have surprising gaps in their knowledge, and even if you're telling them what they already know it can be helpful to newer people in the fleet to understand what went wrong and why. It's almost always best to try to educate on the first mistake.<br />
* They weren't paying close enough attention - Another very common one. People sometimes have things going on in the background, they got distracted during a quiet moment, or whatever. Even the best PvPers sometimes get distracted and do stupid things. If someone in a key position seems to be distracted either shift other people to compensate or simply ask them if they'd like to stop doing such a central role (or remind them to wake up).<br />
* They simply screwed up - Sometimes people just make silly mistakes. Whether it's bombing themselves or losing a ratting Nightmare/Thanatos (ahem...), sometimes people just do things that they know are stupid and have no excuse for. With experienced players they'll almost always feel dumb enough on their own and really don't need you harping on them about it. If they're less experienced then this will likely fall under #1 or #2 and be an opportunity for learning.<br />
* They just don't care - This should never be the case for an Agony member (and if it is then you should bring it up with their mentor/director), but it can come up when dealing with allies or students. As long as they're not being disruptive it's usually best to just ignore them. Ultimately if they don't care there's not much you can do to make them care. Just put them in a role where they won't cause any damage and let them go on not caring.<br />
* They're an asshole - Sometimes people are just assholes. In my experience this is actually a surprisingly small group. Most people will respond well as long as you find the right way to approach them. Sometimes though things just don't work out and it's time to deal with them the hard way. Generally I find that an icy threat works much better than animated ranting. The important thing is the never lose control. Keep it so that you're the voice of reason trying to watch out for the fleet, and they're the douche who's keeping that from happening. An annoyed "X, please try to keep comms clear, we're trying to PvP here" will likely work better than "Goddamnit X, shut the hell up, god you're such an idiot." When you get to this point the person in question is a lost-cause, your main objective is to keep everyone else in the fleet on your side, so keep your cool. In the end you always have the "my way or the highway" card. If all else fails just boot them from the fleet and keep things moving.<br />
In the end the old adage "Speak softly but carry a big stick" applies. First try to educate, then remind, and finally punish if you need to, but yelling doesn't fit in anywhere in the process. The only times I've yelled as FC has been to clear comms because I couldn't find someone to mute them quickly. It might feel good to yell at some people, but in the end it doesn't help anything.<br />
<br />
'''The not-really-a-question question''' - When you actually sit down and look at it the vast majority of your time spent as an FC isn't giving orders, it's asking questions. Really the only direct orders you should be giving are fleet movement and target calling, everything else is questions of some sort or another. The trick is that there are a lot of things kind of in the middle that could be phrased as orders or questions. "Bamar, check EC-P8R" for example could also be phrased as "Bamar, could you check out EC-P8R for us?" The second phrasing accomplishes everything that the first does, but has two side benefits.<br />
* It requires a response. Granted, most experienced PvPers will acknowledge the first one and the second one equally, but by asking the question you remove any uncertainty. If they hear you they'll respond, and if they don't then they won't.<br />
* It strikes a better tone. Giving people the (illusion of) choice tends to make them happier to follow. Especially as a new FC flying with experienced members a lot of times tone can be tricky. How do you give orders to people you know know far more about PvP than you? By asking them to do things rather than telling them you come across as more collaberative and less of a know it all. It's not a huge deal in the end, but it can help a lot with some people.<br />
<br />
'''The hurry-the-hell-up question''' - Similar to the not-really-a-question question, this one is about setting the right tone. Inevitably while running a fleet you'll hit a spot where one of your scouts or skirmishers is hunting someone down. They're probably all caught up in directional scanner and probes and god knows what else, and probably aren't paying a lot of attention to the clock. It's your job as FC to keep them to a reasonable time frame. It's probably not worthwhile to keep a 50 man gang waiting for a cov-ops to probe down a Kestrel, and it's up to you to make this judgement call. When you're starting to hit the point where you think it's time to move on it's time to ask probably one of my most common questions, "So... how's it coming?" This question is important for a few different reasons.<br />
* It's non-accusatory - Asking something like "have you found him yet?" can come off as assigning blame to the scout for not finding him yet. In reality they're almost always doing the best they can (see section on yelling), and giving them the impression that you're blaming them is only going to piss them off or distract them.<br />
* It gives you an update - While working scouts tend to be tight-lipped. They're busy and the last thing on their mind is continually giving updates to the FC. Asking how it's going every once in a while gives you a better idea of how long it will likely take, and lets you adjust accordingly. Maybe you go roam a couple jumps while they're probing, maybe you tell them to just forget about it, but either way you have more information to make your decision.<br />
* It gives them a little kick in the ass - By no means the chief reason to ask (and if you overuse it it will bite you in the ass), but sometimes scouts just need a little reminder of "hey, you've got a couple dozen guys waiting for you." This tends to work best when you're waiting on a warp-in because it will turn a "I'll spend another 60 seconds getting the perfect spot" into "I'm close enough, just warp to me now." A lot of cov-ops pilots are perfectionists, and left to their own devices will spend more time to get a more perfect spot. In reality you don't need a perfect spot, you just need a good enough spot, and giving them a little reminder of the time constraints will help you get what you want in a more timely fashion. Again though, if you overuse it in this way you will piss people off, so think of it as a useful side-effect, not a purpose in itself.<br />
<br />
'''Aggression''' - How much aggression is good for an FC? How aggressive should a new FC be? There isn't any single right answer to this question, so I'll give three.<br />
* Aggression is good - You don't really learn anything from a fight you don't take. If you're not sure it's probably better to take the fight, let it go sideways, then learn from it. Obviously this doesn't mean you should just suicide in, but if you could go either way on the fight then take it. For one thing people tend to underestimate their capabilities more than overestimate, so chances are if you think it's a dead-even fight you probably have a slight advantage. Additionally even if it is iffy then that's the sort of fight that will actually test you and provide you with a challenge which will make you better. Finally if it is a charlie-foxtrot then at least you'll know it was, be able to look at why you thought it was an even fight and learn from it. In the end the worst-case is that you learned something and will be a better FC in the future. By never taking iffy fights you're freezing yourself at a certain level of competency, and keeping yourself from advancing beyond that.<br />
* Aggression is personal - Different FCs FC differently. Some people like to plan out every detail of a fight before they ever engage in it. By definition they'll be less aggressive because they don't like engaging in fights that they don't fully understand. Personally I tend to prefer to just jump right into a fight then rely on my ability to adapt better than my opponent in the heat of the battle. Neither approach is inherently better than the other, it's about what fits your personality best. The more cautious approach tends to work best for heavier gangs, and especially for capital warfare, while the second is more suited to hit and run tactics where you can engage and disengage at will.<br />
* Aggression is bad - Sometimes aggression can be used as a crutch to keep from actually thinking things through. It's usually not a good idea to suicide a T1 fleet just to suicide it. You don't really learn anything in the process and it's just an empty fight. Sure, sometimes you're just freaking bored and don't care, but as an FC you should always be purely rational. Once you have a lot of experience you can go off of instinct a lot more but at no point should you not really be thinking/caring about what will happen. Your aggression should always be calculated, never reckless. It should be the last step in your decision-making process, not a replacement for it.<br />
Notice that none of these issues relate to fear. Fear should never enter into the equation. A fight is either a good fight or a bad fight, and you should act accordingly. You shouldn't be nervous about getting people killed, because they're certainly going to be killed. Your job isn't to keep everyone from getting blown up, your job is to get into good fights and win. Good fights never occur without any losses on your side (ok, sometimes they do, but it's rare), and it's very hard to win if you're afraid of losing ships. Again, FCing should be purely rational, fear of losing ships shouldn't enter into the equation. Sometimes the best play is to lose a few ships, while it sucks it's just reality, and trying to avoid this reality is only going to cause more pain in the long-run.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Bamar%27s_The_Soft_Side_of_FCing&diff=17695Bamar's The Soft Side of FCing2011-09-09T17:56:23Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Public]]<br />
I think a lot of times we talk a lot about tactics and procedures around FCing without really talking about the "soft" skills around it. How do you deal with people while FCing, how to phrase things, etc. This post is an attempt to lay out some of the things that I do and work for me. Keep in mind that everyone is different, and my way of doing things isn't necessarily the only way. This should be a reference point, not a bible.<br />
<br />
'''Confidence''' - You might not always do the right thing, but you always know the right thing to do. Being an FC is all about making calculated risks based off of incomplete information. Whenever you make a mistake it's probably because of one of the below. The one uniting theme though is that they're all mistakes. They're all things that you can recognize and fix. Don't get down on yourself over mistakes, just fix them and make yourself better.<br />
* You made the right move, it just didn't work out - In any reasonably close fight there's some chance that you'll lose. If you go into a fight knowing that there's a chance you'll lose, and you lose in the way you expected then that's just part of the game. These explanations tend to be the most comforting but the least satisfying. Even if you FC perfectly there's still a chance you'll lose, and if there isn't then you're not taking close enough fights. Sometimes you gamble, sometimes you lose.<br />
* You didn't know as much as you should have - For new FCs you're going to have incomplete knowledge for a while, sometimes that missing knowledge will bite you in the ass. Didn't know that the Eris is an interdictor? Whoops, so much for that fleet. Mistakes coming from ignorance tend to be the most aggravating, but are also the easiest to fix. Read up on the area that you're weak on and make sure you don't make the same mistake again.<br />
* You didn't think far enough ahead - Another common one for newer FCs. As an FC you always need to be thinking ahead. Sometimes it's one step ahead, sometimes it's six, but either way you need to be able to predict your opponents and respond accordingly. Sometimes your opponent does something you don't expect and you pay for it. Maybe you fall for bait, maybe they come in at range when you expected them to come short. Either way you need to look at why you thought what you did, why you were wrong, and think about how you'll identify it in the future. This is where the big nebulous "experience" comes in. A lot of these decisions just become ingrained habit/instinct after you deal with the same situation dozens of times. You won't entirely know why you think someone will do what they do, you just know that they will.<br />
* You made a mistake - You're just human, sometimes you goof up and do something stupid. Sometimes you'll realize how stupid your instruction was before it even leaves your lips, but you still say it anyway. As long as you know how dumb you were there's not much to do but kick yourself and vow never to do it again.<br />
* You didn't do anything - The absolute worst mistake an FC can make is doing nothing. Any action is better than no action. If the only thing you can think to do is monumentally stupid then be monumentally stupid, it's better than being silent. Mistakes tend to kill ships, silence kills entire fleets. These are the most demoralizing losses too. These are fights were you kill nothing and lose 20. NEVER STOP TALKING. If you go down or warp off grid then call on your backup FC, otherwise you should always be giving orders. If what you're doing isn't working then try something else, but never stop. This seems to be another common one with newer FCs, you freeze up because you're afraid of making the wrong decision and end up making the worst of all. This is also the only error that will actually keep you from being an FC. You can be an inexperienced FC, you can be a reckless FC, you can even be an unknowledgeable FC, but you can NOT be an FC who freezes or goes silent.<br />
<br />
'''Take responsibility''' - If you mess up then admit you messed up. You don't need to go on and on about it, but sometimes a simple "whoops, that didn't go quite how I expected it to" will lead to far less bitching down the line. When you mess up as an FC you'll know it, and everyone else in the fleet will know it. Trying to pretend like it wasn't your fault will only lower others' opinions of you. They'll either think that you're incompetent and don't realize that you skrewed up, or you'll think that you're too proud to admit it. In the end if you make a mistake, acknowledge it, learn from it, then move on. At first this might seem directly opposed to the prior point, but in reality it's a balancing act. If you have full confidence in your abilities then admiting a mistake isn't a big deal. You were doing the right thing, but you didn't have the right information, or something totally random happened, or whatever. Ultimately your decision-making process is always valid, it just might have had the wrong inputs (either lack of scouting, lack of experience, whatever). While you might make mistakes you are always in control, and it's important to not undermine yourself with self-effacing humor, which can be tempting especially as a newer FC. Saying something like "I'll probably get bored and suicide us" is way better than saying something like "We'll probably get wiped out." As an FC you should always be in control of things, and it's important to portray that in the way you talk about yourself. You might do stupid or wrong things from time to time, but it's always a conscious decision, not something that happened to you.<br />
<br />
'''Optimism''' - Always look on the brighter side. It's easy to get down on yourself as an FC, it happens to all of us. Sometimes a brutal fight just gets you down, and that's fine, but when talking to your fleet you need to be the eternal optimist. Sure you just got wiped out, but you learned something from it. Sure you lost a bunch of ships, but hey, look at that crazy-expensive Dramiel we killed. Sure you might have flown a frig blob into smartbomb destruction, but damn if it wasn't freaking hilarious. There is ALWAYS a bright side, and it's your job to focus on it. It's fine if you're pissed off that they just dropped 5:1 odds on you, but your job as FC is to brush it off and laugh at it. Sure you shouldn't just make stuff up to cover up for a horrible fight, but you can fix what went wrong and then focus on the future. Constructive criticism and optimism are always valuable, moping and whining never are. Remind your fleet members what's awsome about EVE and they'll keep coming back. Dwell in what you hate about EVE and you'll make them all bittervets.<br />
<br />
'''Yelling'''- Quite simply don't. I can count the number of times I've yelled at someone in a fleet over the past 5 years on one hand, and none of them were Agony members. Rather than freaking out at someone for making a mistake think about why they made that mistake. 99% of the time it's for one of the following reasons.<br />
* They just don't know - Luckily the easiest to fix, just explain to them what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and what to do differently. Even experienced players can have surprising gaps in their knowledge, and even if you're telling them what they already know it can be helpful to newer people in the fleet to understand what went wrong and why. It's almost always best to try to educate on the first mistake.<br />
* They weren't paying close enough attention - Another very common one. People sometimes have things going on in the background, they got distracted during a quiet moment, or whatever. Even the best PvPers sometimes get distracted and do stupid things. If someone in a key position seems to be distracted either shift other people to compensate or simply ask them if they'd like to stop doing such a central role (or remind them to wake up).<br />
* They simply screwed up - Sometimes people just make silly mistakes. Whether it's bombing themselves or losing a ratting Nightmare/Thanatos (ahem...), sometimes people just do things that they know are stupid and have no excuse for. With experienced players they'll almost always feel dumb enough on their own and really don't need you harping on them about it. If they're less experienced then this will likely fall under #1 or #2 and be an opportunity for learning.<br />
* They just don't care - This should never be the case for an Agony member (and if it is then you should bring it up with their mentor/director), but it can come up when dealing with allies or students. As long as they're not being disruptive it's usually best to just ignore them. Ultimately if they don't care there's not much you can do to make them care. Just put them in a role where they won't cause any damage and let them go on not caring.<br />
* They're an asshole - Sometimes people are just assholes. In my experience this is actually a surprisingly small group. Most people will respond well as long as you find the right way to approach them. Sometimes though things just don't work out and it's time to deal with them the hard way. Generally I find that an icy threat works much better than animated ranting. The important thing is the never lose control. Keep it so that you're the voice of reason trying to watch out for the fleet, and they're the douche who's keeping that from happening. An annoyed "X, please try to keep comms clear, we're trying to PvP here" will likely work better than "Goddamnit X, shut the hell up, god you're such an idiot." When you get to this point the person in question is a lost-cause, your main objective is to keep everyone else in the fleet on your side, so keep your cool. In the end you always have the "my way or the highway" card. If all else fails just boot them from the fleet and keep things moving.<br />
In the end the old adage "Speak softly but carry a big stick" applies. First try to educate, then remind, and finally punish if you need to, but yelling doesn't fit in anywhere in the process. The only times I've yelled as FC has been to clear comms because I couldn't find someone to mute them quickly. It might feel good to yell at some people, but in the end it doesn't help anything.<br />
<br />
'''The not-really-a-question question''' - When you actually sit down and look at it the vast majority of your time spent as an FC isn't giving orders, it's asking questions. Really the only direct orders you should be giving are fleet movement and target calling, everything else is questions of some sort or another. The trick is that there are a lot of things kind of in the middle that could be phrased as orders or questions. "Bamar, check EC-P8R" for example could also be phrased as "Bamar, could you check out EC-P8R for us?" The second phrasing accomplishes everything that the first does, but has two side benefits.<br />
* It requires a response. Granted, most experienced PvPers will acknowledge the first one and the second one equally, but by asking the question you remove any uncertainty. If they hear you they'll respond, and if they don't then they won't.<br />
* It strikes a better tone. Giving people the (illusion of) choice tends to make them happier to follow. Especially as a new FC flying with experienced members a lot of times tone can be tricky. How do you give orders to people you know know far more about PvP than you? By asking them to do things rather than telling them you come across as more collaberative and less of a know it all. It's not a huge deal in the end, but it can help a lot with some people.<br />
<br />
'''The hurry-the-hell-up question''' - Similar to the not-really-a-question question, this one is about setting the right tone. Inevitably while running a fleet you'll hit a spot where one of your scouts or skirmishers is hunting someone down. They're probably all caught up in directional scanner and probes and god knows what else, and probably aren't paying a lot of attention to the clock. It's your job as FC to keep them to a reasonable time frame. It's probably not worthwhile to keep a 50 man gang waiting for a cov-ops to probe down a Kestrel, and it's up to you to make this judgement call. When you're starting to hit the point where you think it's time to move on it's time to ask probably one of my most common questions, "So... how's it coming?" This question is important for a few different reasons.<br />
* It's non-accusatory - Asking something like "have you found him yet?" can come off as assigning blame to the scout for not finding him yet. In reality they're almost always doing the best they can (see section on yelling), and giving them the impression that you're blaming them is only going to piss them off or distract them.<br />
* It gives you an update - While working scouts tend to be tight-lipped. They're busy and the last thing on their mind is continually giving updates to the FC. Asking how it's going every once in a while gives you a better idea of how long it will likely take, and lets you adjust accordingly. Maybe you go roam a couple jumps while they're probing, maybe you tell them to just forget about it, but either way you have more information to make your decision.<br />
* It gives them a little kick in the ass - By no means the chief reason to ask (and if you overuse it it will bite you in the ass), but sometimes scouts just need a little reminder of "hey, you've got a couple dozen guys waiting for you." This tends to work best when you're waiting on a warp-in because it will turn a "I'll spend another 60 seconds getting the perfect spot" into "I'm close enough, just warp to me now." A lot of cov-ops pilots are perfectionists, and left to their own devices will spend more time to get a more perfect spot. In reality you don't need a perfect spot, you just need a good enough spot, and giving them a little reminder of the time constraints will help you get what you want in a more timely fashion. Again though, if you overuse it in this way you will piss people off, so think of it as a useful side-effect, not a purpose in itself.<br />
<br />
'''Aggression''' - How much aggression is good for an FC? How aggressive should a new FC be? There isn't any single right answer to this question, so I'll give three.<br />
* Aggression is good - You don't really learn anything from a fight you don't take. If you're not sure it's probably better to take the fight, let it go sideways, then learn from it. Obviously this doesn't mean you should just suicide in, but if you could go either way on the fight then take it. For one thing people tend to underestimate their capabilities more than overestimate, so chances are if you think it's a dead-even fight you probably have a slight advantage. Additionally even if it is iffy then that's the sort of fight that will actually test you and provide you with a challenge which will make you better. Finally if it is a charlie-foxtrot then at least you'll know it was, be able to look at why you thought it was an even fight and learn from it. In the end the worst-case is that you learned something and will be a better FC in the future. By never taking iffy fights you're freezing yourself at a certain level of competency, and keeping yourself from advancing beyond that.<br />
* Aggression is personal - Different FCs FC differently. Some people like to plan out every detail of a fight before they ever engage in it. By definition they'll be less aggressive because they don't like engaging in fights that they don't fully understand. Personally I tend to prefer to just jump right into a fight then rely on my ability to adapt better than my opponent in the heat of the battle. Neither approach is inherently better than the other, it's about what fits your personality best. The more cautious approach tends to work best for heavier gangs, and especially for capital warfare, while the second is more suited to hit and run tactics where you can engage and disengage at will.<br />
* Aggression is bad - Sometimes aggression can be used as a crutch to keep from actually thinking things through. It's usually not a good idea to suicide a T1 fleet just to suicide it. You don't really learn anything in the process and it's just an empty fight. Sure, sometimes you're just freaking bored and don't care, but as an FC you should always be purely rational. Once you have a lot of experience you can go off of instinct a lot more but at no point should you not really be thinking/caring about what will happen. Your aggression should always be calculated, never reckless. It should be the last step in your decision-making process, not a replacement for it.<br />
Notice that none of these issues relate to fear. Fear should never enter into the equation. A fight is either a good fight or a bad fight, and you should act accordingly. You shouldn't be nervous about getting people killed, because they're certainly going to be killed. Your job isn't to keep everyone from getting blown up, your job is to get into good fights and win. Good fights never occur without any losses on your side (ok, sometimes they do, but it's rare), and it's very hard to win if you're afraid of losing ships. Again, FCing should be purely rational, fear of losing ships shouldn't enter into the equation. Sometimes the best play is to lose a few ships, while it sucks it's just reality, and trying to avoid this reality is only going to cause more pain in the long-run.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Agony_Unleashed_Structure_and_Organization&diff=17690Agony Unleashed Structure and Organization2011-09-07T20:38:55Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>* [[The History of AGONY]]<br />
* [[About Agony Empire]]<br />
* [[Agony Empire Corporate Structure]]<br />
* [[Agony Logistics: Structure and Organization]]<br />
* [[Agony Empire Rules of Engagement]]<br />
* [[Certificate Evaluators]]<br />
* [[Evaluating Pilot Certification Requirements]]<br />
* [[Mentoring]]<br />
* [[Pilots and Ships|Database of Members' Ship Capabilities]]<br />
* [[Joining Agony Empire]]<br />
* [[AGONY Empire Alliance Rules|If Agony Accepts Other Corps Into Alliance]]<br />
<br />
[[Category:Agony]]</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Agony_Unleashed_Structure_and_Organization&diff=17689Agony Unleashed Structure and Organization2011-09-07T20:38:21Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>* [[The History of AGONY]]<br />
* [[About Agony Empire]]<br />
* [[Agony Empire Corporate Structure]]<br />
* [[Agony Logistics: Structure and Organization]]<br />
* [[Agony Empire Rules of Engagement]]<br />
* [[Agony Empire Rank Qualifications|Advancement and Rank Qualifications]]<br />
* [[Certificate Evaluators]]<br />
* [[Evaluating Pilot Certification Requirements]]<br />
* [[Mentoring]]<br />
* [[Pilots and Ships|Database of Members' Ship Capabilities]]<br />
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[[Category:Agony]]</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=The_History_of_AGONY&diff=17686The History of AGONY2011-09-07T20:31:41Z<p>Bamar: /* Providence */</p>
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<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
[[Category:Public]]<br />
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<small>Early history (Origins - Pure Blind II) by Rells. Later history (Curse I Onwards) by Azual.</small><br />
<br />
In (Perpetual) Development!<br />
<br />
==Origins of Agony==<br />
<br />
Rells founded AGONY with a desire to break from big alliance warfare and teach the basics of frigate combat. The first ever PvP-Basic class was run soon after, with 12 students and an ad-hoc curriculum. It was an inauspicious start, but the message was there. New players can be effective in PvP, and that there's a world outside massive sov. warfare.<br />
<br />
==The First Wolfpacks==<br />
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Date: April 30th, 2006<br />
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PVP-BASIC had been running quite regularly by spring of 2006. It was starting to become more well known, advertised by word of mouth and a bit of discreet system spamming. The classes were running 30 or so pilots per class. However many of our graduates wanted more and so did I.<br />
<br />
So several months later I am sitting in MHC-R3 with the first group of about 12 students for the pvp Wolfpacks class. We had intel that an enemy fleet was coming up the pipe from the far end near solitude and they were blasting everything in their path. Slightly ahead of the main fleet was a single Megathron and his tackling buddy. He was presumedly the bait for the main fleet. Once he got you engaged then he would call in his friends and they would finish you off. He certainly did not expect what happened.<br />
<br />
The Megathron jumped into MHC-R3 from 6E-578 and warped after the ship he saw there. He came out of warp 100km off the gate inside a small mobile warp disruptor. Immediately the destroyers on the bubble jumped him, tagging him with EWAR. "Point!!!" yelled an excited Sever Aldaria (nearly blowing my eardrums.) "Damp, Track, Web," the calls came in over Ventrilo. The intrepid mega pilot had been reduced to a paperweight in effectiveness and his valuable tank melted like butter on a hot sunny day. At the same time Rells noticed half the players in he gang were orbiting the mega and in the bubble. Local had already spiked and the relief fleet was in warp. I said over and over again, "get out of the bubble, get out of the damn bubble." As soon as the last destroyer was clear I engaged warp to a safespot, the parting shot from students popping both the pod and wreck. Right as the crew were warping out, the reinforcements were arriving. The landing fleet had to see us flying off grid as they arrived.<br />
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What followed was smack talk like you had rarely seen in your life. Of course they blew up the bubble and told us how stupid we were that we couldn't fly a battleship like "real men." However, I was busily trying to calm down my crew who were suffering from the after effects of adrenaline rush. This was 2006 in Eve online. People just didn't PvP in destroyers. Destroyers were a piece of garbage that had no use whatsoever. However, this Megathron pilot learned what happens when people think out of the box and to the students involved, it served as a lesson that you don't have to have the biggest ship to win at pvp.<br />
<br />
After the fight we collected ourselves and roamed a bit. We caught a couple more ships and toasted them but then time ran out as the class evaporated to the pressure of duties outside Eve Online. After we broke up Choran posted his video of the incident (which used to be on our server) and I posted about the video to the main Eve forums in order to advertise our classes.<br />
<br />
You have to understand that our classes weren't well known and were almost universally condemned as being a scam to rip off newbies or at best devoid of value. Our videos of fights were claimed to have been staged with a throwaway ship in order to bilk players out of isk. You can see on the video post thread what the reaction of the players at the time was. When presented with video evidence they had to believe. However most thought that the Megathron was stupid. "I could kill 14 destroyers in my Ishtar no problem, especially 14 pilotted by relatively new players," claimed one pilot. The thread devolved into a flame war that kept it pinned to the top for a week and filled subsequent classes to the point that we had to upgrade our vent account.<br />
<br />
The next few basic classes were packed, Wolfpacks class was even more packed. We were up to 30 destroyers with two covops pilots flying recon. The hurt was put on syndicate. They started avoiding wolfpacks when Carenthor loon dropped us on two different eagles and they blew so fast not even all the cycled guns on the destroyers went off. Wolfpacks was now a bastion of the AGONY curriculum and strangely the laughter at the destroyers in local subsided. <br />
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==Syndicate==<br />
<br />
Date: 2006<br />
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Base of operations : UM-Q7F<br />
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It was in 2006 that AGONY made its first real foray into 0.0 space for the purpose of living. Since Jump Freighters had not been introduced yet and capitals were restricted to massive alliances, the move resembled an old Battlestar Galactica episode with a train of haulers protected by several smaller ships via recon. The system UM-Q7F was the destination of the fleet. It took a bunch of haulers and runs back and forth with ships but the agony pilots finally got all of their gear a scant two jumps into what was known at the time as the most violent area in Eve.<br />
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At this time PF-346 was a bright sun of a system on the "ships destroyed in last 24 hours" map. Anyone who wanted to prove their virtual manhood in Eve would go and try to hit PF and most of them ended up dead. The attraction of the system was more historical than anything else. PF-346 was the system where people in Beta would go to fight when there were few in the immense universe of Eve and after the start of the game PF-346 remained PVP central. Even to this day on the test server, PF-346 is the central location where people go to fight. In 2006 PF-346 was a nasty place and Syndicate was an extension of PF-346. No one could claim Syndicate for very long before they were crushed by the tide of resident and tourist PvPers. Into this violent soup I had thrown AGONY.<br />
<br />
It wasnt easy living in 0.0 for the first time for many of our pilots. You had to constantly watch your back and you were never able to relax. Some of our members couldn't handle the pressure and left. Other members thought that we should join up with larger alliances. The character Ezra from Brooklyn was one of those and despite being one of the first co-directors, he didnt get what I was trying to accomplish. The first crisis in the survival of AGONY occurred when Ezra took nearly half the corp and left to go join another alliance. I was determined to stick it out and to not have any blues unless there was something damn good in it for AGONY and there rarely was in those days.<br />
<br />
When Ezra left I was pissed to be sure. I felt betrayed by a friend and livid. Fortunately I still had another co-founder named Rasql with me and I adopted a bright young pilot who joined with a good percentage of his entire corp after their ex-ceo stole everything from the corp and left. Sever Aldaria became another director of AGONY as did Stein Vorhees. Despite the "MHC Incident" with a class, another pilot named Carenthor Loon promised to be a future expert in covert ops. AGONY continued to run its classes and build up but out main focus was getting together the class gangs and trying to figure out how to not get crushed like a grape by the feet of the enormous alliances around us.<br />
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Necessity was the mother of invention and Knez Rex was sick of waiting for classes to go out and kick some butt. He fashioned together a Rifter, one of few ships he could fly at the time, and put on the biggest guns he could, then a small buffer tank with a plate. Then he put on two webs and a warp disruptor. At that time that is what you needed to stop an interceptor. The two webs would drop the inty by 90% each, stacking on each other and the point would keep him around -- the scrambler at the time only gave 2 points at 10km with no microwarp turnoff. Knez went out on the first fishing trip ever; he sat on the Harroule gate in MHC-R3 and just waited. His first customer was a Malediction interceptor and he destroyed it to the dismay of the inty pilot.<br />
<br />
By this time other inventions in AGONY were well under way. The safe spot was as old as beta but very few people had bookmarks spaced around a gate at 300km. Some sniper ships which were common at the time would have a couple but the majority of bookmarks in the game were to allow a pilot to warp to 0 on a gate. At that time you could only warp to 15km and so pilots would mark 15km behind a gate and warp to the bookmark -- they were called instas. Although instas went the way of the dodo when warp to 0 came about, through thick controversy, other types of tactical bookmarks came into being. When we discovered we could warp if the target was 150km or more away we knew we could use that to our advantage. Since we didnt have huge fleets to back us up, necessity forced us to innovate and tactical bookmarks started getting marked around gates. We had straight up, behind, all manner of bookmarks. We had bookmarks to drop us 5000km off a gate to scan and other bookmarks to warp up to those sniping battleships who liked to mark directly above the gate. Our covops pilot learned to anchor the fleet in tactical warps and many a sniper died to the fledgling upstarts in AGONY. The alliance 3FA amongst others declared all out war on AGONY in 0.0.<br />
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The problem 3FA had with us was not that they couldn't out gun us; on the contrary they could crush us with firepower. Their problem was that we moved so quickly and with such agility that they couldn't catch us. We would pick off their tacklers, their lead ships and their stragglers and then vanish before they could get a hold of us. On one incident in particular a fleet of nearly 30 3FA ships were chasing the 15 man AGONY fleet through Syndicate. The race was on to get out and their tacklers and fast warping cruisers were trying to catch up to us. One rupture set up to do 4km/s was almost on top of us, being only 1/2 a jump back and 2 jumps ahead of the main 3FA fleet. AGONY went through the next gate and just stopped. As soon as the rupture came through he saw the waiting fleet and held cloak as long as he could. It wasn't long enough. The rupture was popped and podded, the wreck was destroyed and the AGONY pilots were warping off grid just as the gate was firing for the main 3FA fleet. Between the experience AGONY pilots were gaining with tacticals and the fast moving tactics, 3FA and other residents of Syndicate were stymied on how to deal with this pest of a corp.<br />
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The one thing 3FA and other had to fend us off was their vastly superior firepower and 10 to 1 superiority in pilot count. They stopped sitting at 100km and sniping because they lost a lot of ships to AGONY doing that. They stopped running ahead of thier main force because too many got picked off. They stopped attacking AGONY frigs with interceptors because fishing had become commonplace and they lost a lot of valuable interceptors to AGONY. Fleet warfare had devolved into 3FA and others sitting in a tightly bunched ball, huddled under the protection of the main fleet. The laughter at the frig packs roaming once every week through syndicate had subsided and they tried their best to avoid the classes. They had learned that smartbombing BS didn't kill the pack of pesky noobs and they had lost a lot of equipment trying. The frig packs were so quick that the fleets they deployed to take them out couldn't catch the pack and when the pack did engage those fleets the pack would lose a few cheap frigs and typically pop the most expensive thing in the other fleet. Of course the smacktalk never ceased.<br />
<br />
AGONY wasn't content with that situation. Even though the puny corp of less than 20 active players had forced major changes in the behavior of large alliances, AGONY pilots were bloodthirsty and inventive. One day when Rells was sitting over the gate to Harroule watching the 3FA come and go, an interceptor decided to power out to his cormorant at high speed. This was not a good situation for fishing which required catching the inty at short range and pinning it to neutralize the speed tank. Rells was in an annoyed mood and had an up to date clone so he fired his tech 2 rails at the incoming interceptor. All of the shield and half the armor of the ceptor vanished in the first volley. The ceptor pressed on and ended up in orbit after closing the distance at 8km per second. But the tracking of the destroyer and the tech 2 125s was too much and the third voley finished the armor. The interceptor turned to run out of point range but the fourth volley turned the ceptor into plasma.<br />
<br />
It occurred to Rells how to annoy his opponent at that time and he asked people to train up tech 2 small weapons and destroyers. It only required six or seven to execute the plan but ten would be better. Once trained up bookmarks were set and the next 3FA huddled fleet was to get a nasty surprise. A couple days later 3FA was firmly entrenched on the Harroule gate with fast lock tacklers. They saw 12 AGONY come in local adding to what they assumed (correctly) was the covops pilot already there. They scanned and saw the group of destroyers on scan and their snipers salivated at the comming kills. The AGONY pilots appeared on overview and the fleet commander called the primary AGONY target. They didn't get the chance to lock. It took less than six seconds and one volley from all 10 agony destroyers and a malediction was rubble on the gate and the fleet was gone. The second pass blew up a Crow and the FC sent out tacklers to grab the fleet next time they appeared. The tacklers were ready to snare the nasty ships, but the destroyer pack appeared next another 100km further away and a tackler lost their ship to a single volley. Placing more tacklers strung out, they were detearmined to take the force out. The AGONY destroyers, however, didn't oblige and appeared on the other side of the gate and launched a volley at a tech 1 cruiser. Wounded but not dead, the cruiser powered up his repair mechanisms but the second pass blew it up. After 10 min and 10 kills all the light ships had enough of the AGONY guys. They jumped out as soon as they saw the AGONY guys on overview. Chasing at them was suicide, trying to warp was too slow. Now 3FA was to be denied tacklers as was the rest of their allies in the area.<br />
<br />
It didn't take much longer before 3FA had left the area and subsequently broke up. Over time more and more corps gained grudging respect for those pesky AGONY guys. The laughter had subsided and anyone that had locked horns with the tiny group in Syndicate came away with a healthy respect and the conclusion that they had to take a new look at tactics within Eve. Pilots had begun to fear AGONY and that made it harder to get targets for the bloodthirsty maniacs. Eventually they had to move to find more.<br />
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==Great Wildlands I==<br />
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Date: ?<br />
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Base of operations : Egbinger<br />
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The second great crisis in AGONY happened when the targets began to run thin in the Syndicate area. The big alliances had begun to leave syndicate alone and soon you could run an Iteron 5 through PF-246 without a scout. To AGONY this was practically the kiss of death. Although the classes were still running, it became harder and harder to get new targets to give the students practical experience. On top fo that, the bored AGONY pilots were drifting off to low sec at their mission alts to make money. The weekends were times of possible fight but otherwise the fertile ground of combat that had been Syndicate was dry. The directors met and decided that it was time to move.<br />
<br />
Since Rells' old stomping ground with BSA was the Great Wildlands, and he knew the area well, that region was targeted for the move. Advance pilots were dispatched to map the area, prep instas and create tacticals for dissemination. A huge bookmark campaign was underway. Some weeks later the corp was more or less packed up and began to move -- at least partially. Some in AGONY did not want to go to Great Wildlands and for the first solid month in GW, the corp was split in half. People were reluctant to change where they fought and some were just plain lazy. Bickering had started to develop in AGONY on the forums and elsewhere. Once in Great Wildlands, the pilots there had a tough time. The NPC stations in GW were locked up tight by numerous massive and co-NAPed alliances and they were willing to camp for years if necessary. At that time AGONY lacked the moxy to take space or construct outposts so the situation developed where AGONY was now based out of lowsec and had to traverse gate camps to enter 0.0.<br />
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There were some really spectacular fights on that entry gate, one in particular had agony pilots going back time and again for new ships to try to finish off the ships tackled and immobilized. Although the carnage was spectacular, agony continued to learn about intel, teamwork and tactics. The fledgling corp learned how to traverse hostile space and the value of good intel. The fleets became good at using a new concept called Skirmishers. A skirmisher was a tackler pilot racing sometimes several jumps ahead of the fleet to find targets. The skirmisher could move much faster than the fleet and skipped through empty systems in the route quickly, giving him time to look for targets in occupied systems while the main fleet caught up. The fleet movements became more fluid and deadly. Agony fleets could cover huge expanses of space quickly with very little stopping and waiting on gate. With several skirmishers the fleet could probe alternate branches and even pull rear guard to allow them to double back on hostile forces.<br />
<br />
However, times were tough in AGONY and antipathy was high. People hated living in lowsec and they hated even more dealing with opponents that seemed to only show up in fleets of 400 and were all NAPed together. People drifted off to mission agents to recover from combat losses and AGONY was spread out all over the universe. At this time AGONY was in mortal threat of becoming one of many corps that just didn't make it in the hostile world of Eve. Although Rells was trying to keep the corp together with the other leadership, the whole PvP situation simply sucked. Squadrons came into being in order to manage the issue and try to put people closer to their commanders and that had some good effects but it didn't recover things. Furthermore, the more problems the GW people had, the harder it was to get people still in Syndicate to move. AGONY was, quite simply, dieing slowly. People were peeling off AGONY to go elsewhere and Rells was pained at every departure. It was becoming clear that moving to GW was, well, dumb. It was time for another change.<br />
<br />
==Pure Blind I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : X-7OMU<br />
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The second move was agreed to by leadership and was met with a howl of protest. After all the first one wasnt so fun so it was little wonder the membership was reluctant to embrace another. Many wanted to go back to syndicate and pick up the AGONY stragglers (some of which never left there to this day). Many were just not happy. So the question was, where do we move to. All sorts of 0.0 regions were out there but had problems. Curse was rich in rat loot but occupied by rats that were a pain to kill. The regions of Catch, Outer Ring and Venal were considered but discarded because of their relatively tight pipes which favored huge fleets because they allowed few alternate routes. Pure Blind turned out to have potential. It had NPC stations, it had many alternate routes to limit the amount of trapping that can be done by large fleets. Pure blind also had the ability to access other regions as well as a high-sec to 0.0 gate which was active.<br />
<br />
Torrinos was owned by ISS at the time. ISS was, at one time, the largest supplier of Tech 2 in the game at a time when tech 2 was made only by those with BPOs won out of a random chance lottery. ISS had collected dozens of BPOs but they were, in the end, carebears. Living in 0.0 was something they had to do, not something they wanted to do. At the same time x-70mu, the target system for the move, was owned by a shaky alliance. To facilitate the move, Rells negotiated the first blue alliance in AGONY's history. At the time Rells was training empire control 5 to establish his own alliance but Rells really needed the inhabitants of x-70mu to mostly stay off his back while he got his corp back into 0.0. The move commenced, advanced pilots plotted instas and tacticals. Agony scraped together a run of two freighters which contained 90% of the corp and player assets. The freighters docked back in x-70mu and AGONY was once again back in 0.0.<br />
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Once in 0.0, AGONY based out of the only kick-out station in the system and warned pilots to spread their gear to other stations. That was a safe warning because the inhabitants of the north took on an instant air of hostility. AGONY's overtures of peace were rebuffed possibly because they set only one blue alliance and believed peace was best established by wiping out everyone else. Alliances and corps offered NAPs one after another but Rells had boiled down diplomacy to a single word, "No". The hostiles swarmed in and AGONY learned how to use a kick-out station to their advantage. Docking in Sisters of Eve Academy was pure suicide. AGONY pilots would log in to hit a kill in the system if necessary and they were quick. Some tried bubbles but met with Flyby snipers for their trouble. AGONY was starting to come back, like a vampire, fueled by blood lust.<br />
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All things must come to an end and so did AGONY's first NAP. One corp in the NAPed alliance was especially hostile and some of their members were downright rubes. One day they took it in their head to fire on and destroy an agony pilot while he was still blue to them. The resulting political controversy ended up ripping apart the fragile alliance and the aggressive corp remained, set AGONY red and devoted their existence to wiping out AGONY. AGONY rather enjoyed the fights, taunting the opponent, executing flybys on the bubble camps and otherwise making their life miserable. At one point AGONY managed to catch a freighter in space and pilots appeared out of the woodwork for AGONY to take it down. It didn't take long before the aggressive corp in question was spewing obscenities daily in local. However, there were a few bright spots in the opponent. A pilot named Roccinante was very good at what he did and was pretty respectful. AGONY began to solicit him to drop his corp and come over to the dark side. Another pilot named Beef Hardslab was well regarded as a worthy opponent as well. When the other corp broke up, AGONY acquired Beef and Roc and several other pilots.<br />
<br />
In Pure Blind, AGONY acquired skills in using POSes, researching tons of tech 1 BPOs and created a logistical nightmare that was perpetuated by the desire to keep basic equipment on hand for pilots in the corp. The logistics consumed the playtime of many AGONY pilots including Rells and was massively boring as well. However, there were bright spots in the skills department. Flybys had been perfected and AGONY was more often the hunter than the hunted. Beef Hardslab, borrowing on ideas from Heikki (a well known player at the time) invented the modern durka trap and incinerated tons of unwary ships. The hunting was good and so was the fishing. After a while enemy interceptors refused to engage single agony pilots. Also Pure Blind was the heyday of PVP university classes with BASIC, WOLFPACKS and COVOPS beign refined and ADVANCED being invented. AGONY upgraded the Vent server and fielded massive packs of destroyers and frigs. The classes once scorned were filling literally within minutes of announcement. AGONY also began to get into heavier ships and complimented those with extremely well trained skirmishers.<br />
<br />
AGONY was well on the way to recovery.<br />
<br />
Pure blind was something of an idyllic time for AGONY in the middle of the corp's development. There were targets aplenty as anyone who wanted to traverse into the north needed to either go through pure blind or solidly held and camped alliance space. The alliances really didn't want Pure Blind that much because there was little there for the big crews to exploit. There were few moons of real value and the rats were of mediocre quality. Furthermore the NPC stations meant that it was impractical to dislodge any small corp that wished to take up residence. Sure the alliances had the manpower to infinitely camp the stations but that gets old fast for alliance pilots and since they couldn't take the stations, the area was left pretty much alone to act as a huge combat arena. That suited AGONY just fine. <br />
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AGONY became the roaming pack of PVPers that could literally be anywhere in the North at a moment's notice. Ratters learned to straight dock or warp and cloak when a single AGONY came in system. It got to the point that AGONY was occasionally able to fly haulers right through empire chokes without escort because those camping the gates would be fearful, for good reason, of a trap. When they did come after AGONY, the opponents usually preferred to outnumber us 3 or 4 to 1 and then they felt better about it but mostly we managed to avoid serious wipe outs in combat. Our ships were relatively cheap and AGONY pilots had a nose for smelling the 250million isk caracal in the enemy formation. In fact AGONY had to be the king of roamers because people had begun to desert pure blind to escape the raving bunch of maniacs that could not be NAPed and would shoot anything. Even BOB, after a quick foray into pure blind, left to pursue more productive activities after loosing multiple interceptors to fishing and flybys and several battleships to basic classes. <br />
<br />
When it came to AGONY's combat development, we finally had the moxy to make a serious attempt at small POS warfare. The operations required a massive amount of battleship firepower at the time. There were no dread pilots in AGONY and dreads themselves were enormously expensive. AGONY under the FC and event leadership of Bamar took out several small POSes after putting them in reinforced. Now the farmers were evacuating Pure Blind as well. About this time NXT Level (Roc and Beef's old corp) got a carrier in trouble off the Sisters of Eve station in x-7omu. Unfortunately we simply didn't have the firepower to break the tank but the carrier pilot was scared out of his mind and Rells poked that fire a bit asking him where his backup from NXT was. It was only a week or two later that the carrier pilot in question dropped NXT and left the area. Rells had counted another psyops coup. <br />
<br />
Other developments in AGONY were seriously underway with the implementation of the PVP-ADVANCED class and the refinement of several other classes. The problem with the classes is that they had gotten so long and complicated that it took 12 hours to run them. Clearly this was not sustainable with 2 or 3 people running all of the classes week in and week out. Rells had formed AGONY to get paid for teaching PVP and now he had a bit more than he bargained for. Every week the class would fill in minutes and Rells would end up spending entire weekends at the mic. Some weekends Rells was insane enough to run two classes back to back. However, the classes were the core of the recruitment efforts. Although AGONY didn't recruit actively from the classes unless the pilot was in an NPC corp, many pilots decided on their own that they would like to join. The skills and discipline they were gaining through the classes was paying off in combat and many AGONY players, known today as a feircely lethal pilots, had their humble beginnings learning about tracking and orbiting in PVP-BASIC.<br />
<br />
Some class fights were particularly memorable. In one incident a wolfpacks class was jumped by a bait battleship while off gate in x-70mu. The class opened up on the bait but then quickly changed targets when the main fleet came in. EWAR was executed flawlessly and the smaller attacking ships blew like popcorn. When an interdictor warped in to pin us in a bubble, the students seamlessly switched to the interdictor and blew him up less than a second after he hit his bubble launcher. The opposition lost several ships in that fight, some really expesnive HACs and recons worth half a billion isk, and the losses to the class were only a couple of destroyers. <br />
<br />
Another fight that was particularly memorable occurred at the end of the first PVP advanced class when the class was headed back to Nonni to break up. A famous pirate named Lord Vodka decided he would attack the fleet with his command ship and a couple of friends while the fleet was in a safe spot. His command ship ended up blasted to pieces and the blinking pirate zipped his pod out to a station to regroup with his friends. The Advanced class warped to a planet to remote rep damage. Shortly after a group of well tanked battleships, all blinking red, jumped the AGONY formation. The pirates knew that usually when they warp into a group in lowsec, the group scatters and they can pick off targets as they wish. Unfortunately for the pirates they hadn't fought the combat psychotic known as Rells and they had no idea that the gang in question was actually a group of students looking for blood. No one scattered and Rells called primary targets. One ship went down and another was being worked on when two falcons showed up on the scene. Rells immediately burned out to the falcons in the company of two rapier pilots. Points were put on one of the falcons and the other ran scared, warping off. Rells was shortly jammed but the damage had been done, rells 5 drones were now eating away at the fragile recon and the two rapiers now had webs and disruptors on the falcon. The falcon fought valiantly but couldn't keep us all jammed and eventually caved to the mass of drones. His friend in the other falcon warped in to try to help him jam off the rest of us but the friend was caught by the rapier and stopped long enough to be the next victim. In the meantime the class had taken out 3 more ships with minimum losses, the blackbirds jamming the snot out of the opponent and the damps and tracks taking their toll. There was one battleship left, it was lord Vodka again in a heavily tanked BS trying to hold off destruction and loose. He was in 20% armor, 10%, 5% and in warps a Nidhoggur carrier to a planet in lowsec. The Nidhoggur caught the battleship with remote reps at half structure and we couldn't defeat the remote reps so we warped off. Of course the Nidhoggur was crazy and would subsequently lose that ship to another crew that had a waiting BS fleet. As we did not, we withdrew. <br />
<br />
It was at this time that Sever Aldaria, the default corporate videographer, completed his ground breaking video, the "Agony Phenomenon" and that video showed the magnificent corp that AGONY had become. Any ideas that we were a joke of a corp had been relegated to those in the Eve community that thought "Reason" was a dried fruit you get out of a Sun Maid box. The classes were well regarded and many corps began to require them for membership. It became increasingly harder to get into a class. Although many had threatened to compete with AGONY, anyone who tried realized just how much work it was and abandoned the idea. At this time it started to be known that if you wanted to learn about general aspects of eve and carebearing you went to Eve University but when you wanted to learn combat, you would come to AGONY. We were now the sharp point of the spear in pvp education and tactics thought Eve had begun to change. People abandoned monolithic fleets with huge firepower and started to work on ways of countering those wackos in AGONY. Through a combination of game balance changes and the spread of tactics from the thousands of pilots educated by agony, the sniping battleship was deprecated in favor of much more inventive strategies. Although a great portion of Eve still remains entrenched in firepower, much of eve actually thinks about tactics, traps, deceit and strategy. <br />
<br />
The only serious problem in pure blind was that AGONY pilots were outgrowing tech 1 ships of all kinds and even tech 2 frigs. They were reaching a wall whereby they would need much more financial backing to proceed into the next level of ship combat. Furthermore, as invention hadn't been ... well ... invented yet, tech 2 was still enormously expensive. Clearly AGONY pilots needed to spend more time gathering isk than ever before. Some went off to their mission agents and some went off to work on a POS farm in another area of space with alts that couldn't be associated with AGONY. The pilots couldn't do these things while being known as AGONY pilots because that would get their investments wrecked by any number of the organizations we had pissed off up to now. Sure, some organizations respected AGONY's teeth but few actually liked us. <br />
<br />
However the money issue couldn't be denied and AGONY started getting spread out in search of isk. Through the stupidity of CCP, making money in empire was significantly more productive than doing so in 0.0 at the time. In fact most of 0.0 was a barren wasteland that was there seemingly to be merely an impediment to travel. Agony pilots kept on their alts in far flung areas of empire to hoard some cash before the next big fight. This was becoming an ever more heavy draw on the combat resources of AGONY and an impediment to growth. <br />
<br />
Another problem was that AGONY was becoming too complacent and comfortable for Rells' taste. They had bordered on arrogance in their handling of opponents and that indicated that they needed much more of a challenge. Something to keep what Rells called "the crucible" going. A crucible is a container used for melting metal at thousands of degrees and Rells had always seen the corp as a crucible where the strong, adaptive, intelligent team players were the most likely to survive. With money pressing and the need for more challenge, Rells began to look North to Venal.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Venal I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : 6NJ8-V<br />
<br />
As the corp members began to need more and more funding, it was clear that they would have to disperse to their mission agents because the Pure Blind region simply couldn't support the needs of AGONY. As a result people were spread out all over the universe and often logging in just for scheduled gangs and for a quick gank in x-70mu. On top of that many in the corp had become complacent. Pure Blind had mostly cleared out of any serious threat and camping gates that didnt fire for 9 hours straight was not in the nature of AGONY pilots. However another mini-crisis was brewing as well. <br />
<br />
In the lead up to Venal, AGONY had recruited heavily and as a result had a large number of potential pilots in the corp that needed a bit of mentoring. All sorts of mistakes were being made that were, in the minds of leadership, stupid at the best. Haulers were jumped into 0.0 without waiting for recon reports, pilots were flying into obvious traps and being popped like pinyatas and the general quality of PvP had been watered down. Although it wasn't exactly the fault of the newer pilots, they needed training is all, but it was also a fault of leadership. Gone were the days when AGONY could simply assimilate new players and hope they picked up living in 0.0 by osmosis. AGONYs policy of recruiting newbie players (which in the long run turn out to be some of the best) contributed to the problem. <br />
<br />
There was a third and ultimately more devastating problem pending. At this time AGONY was trying to keep corp hangers full of tech 1 gear, frigs and destroyers and some cruisers for members to use. One problem that was that some people were appropriating ships from the hangars and then tossing them away in stupid maneuvers because they didn't have any vested interest in the ships themselves. This is a natural byproduct of being given things, people tend to value those things less. Combined with the increase in pilots, logistics had become a daily 6 hour job for about 10 people in the corp including Rells. Life was consisting of logging in and replacing things in hangars, starting jobs getting the over 200 blueprints researched and then logging out tired and unhappy from having done no killing. AGONY for many in logistics had become a job, not a game. Many logistics people drifted off to other corps and the load was increased to the point of ridiculous. At one point Rells tracked that he had been spending 52 hours in one week doing logistics and hadn't run a gang in weeks. <br />
<br />
Clearly this was an unsustainable situation and so Rells began to look for ways to make corp members more independent and fatten their wallets. he reasoned that if they had more money they would be more likely to buy thier own ship or module rather than wait for someone to fill the gap in inventory. Rells also hoped that making the pilots richer would give more desire to stay in 0.0 space and not be transient 0.0 arena folks. A move was in the planning with leadership and Venal was the target. It was rich, it was far into 0.0 space which discouraged transient pilots, it was hostile giving players more challenge and it had NPC stations, essential for a corp without the moxy to hold space. <br />
<br />
The move to Venal was received with lukewarm reception at best which really surprised Rells. Rells attributed this to apathy and the obvious challenge that pure blind meant and pushed forward eager to create a crucible once more. He didn't want the pilots happy and comfortable but rather fat with isk and raving maniacs with bloodlust. After some convincing carrier flights began to hop gear up to the Sisters of Eve station in 6NJ8-V, Venal. Pilots began to filter up to the new home base and get the lay of the land. It was a tense time in AGONY. Many felt that Rells had made an awful mistake and some thought he was being outright pretentious and arrogant but most of AGONY persevered. The locals, however, were not amused.<br />
<br />
Phalanx alliance had held that space with tacit approval from their friends for as long as they could remember. They were not happy with their new co-habitant and less with the flippant attitude the new corp seemed to have towards diplomacy. Dimplomatic efforts were rebuffed with "no, we don't want a NAP." Furthermore, threats to crush AGONY just seemed to make the CEO chuckle and say, "Bring it on." Rells was far to concerned with internal strife to care one whiff about Phalanx Alliance and their posturing. Phalanx did try to make good on their threat to destroy agony and tied to enlist their allies in the process. Now began the Phalanx Alliance campaign which had something of a bittersweet ending. <br />
<br />
Phalanx was aggressive but not too bright. Many agony tactics worked beautifully on them. In one event Beef Hardslab managed to kill several interceptors returning from a fight with only the help of Rells' interdictor. The smartbombs did the trick. AGONY was anywhere and everywhere. Station camps were treated with flybys and other demoralizing tactics. On top of that psyops was in full force. Rells had become a bit bummed about the reception to the Venal move and had resolved to take out his anger on Phalanx alliance. Rells left a number of clues to Phalanx which indicated that their closest ally had actually hired AGONY to get rid of Phalanx so that the ally could have the system. Rells refused to confirm the allegations saying that he could not discuss the business of AGONY with their clients. The resonances had been set up and now just needed to be nurtured and they would rupture Phalanx. Rells then ordered pilots to not attack their supposed client if Phalanx was present or to allow the other alliance to escape from fights. Intel from Phalanx began to report these things and an earthquake built up in phalanx. Under the combined pressure of killing Phalanx peaceful ratters and interrupting their lucrative one jump trade missions, Phalanx began to crack. Obscenities began to be common in space and AGONY delighted in getting them muted by devs for obscenities not necessarily because they cared about the obscenity (agony were all adults after all) but because it pestered Phalanx and Phalanx earned it with their mouth. Phalanx were bad sports, horrible at pvp in numbers less than 30 and couldn't take the pressure. Corps began to peel off phalanx, they cancelled their NAP with other alliances and the breakup had begun. <br />
<br />
However, at the same time AGONY had its own problems to deal with. For one thing, the European players were under far more pressure than the American ones and it was far too late before Rells realized the enormity of the problem and many euros unfortunately took that as a sign of indifference. Rells actually didn't understand until he took a day off work to see what the problem was. Phalanx had the euros camped in a lot and it was much tougher to implement the guerrilla war that was the hallmark of AGONY during that time frame. Rells, finally realizing the problem started to advise ways of countering it and stepped up his psyops that he was hopeful was about to crack phalanx in half, relieving the pressure on the euros. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and Rells felt he had let down his euro players. But his next mistake would be one that would almost kill AGONY.<br />
<br />
The AGONY directors had met and decided that PVP-BASIC and WOLFPACKS wasn't enough, that there needed to be more formalizzed training beyond that. Venal had exposed the weakness in training in some pilots and the leadership wanted to plug these holes. As a group they decided to introduce certifications and military rank (which had up to then been honorary) and to require certifications for rank. Furthermore they reasoned the seasoned experts in AGONY would quickly run their certs back to the requirements of their rank. It seemed fair at the time to require everyone have the same qualifications to reach a rank and all of the leadership agreed to set an example by knocking out the certs they needed themselves. Rells brought the new ranking system to the membership and the reaction was entirely unexpected. <br />
<br />
Long time players, friends of Rells, were extremely angry at the rank reset and the certification requirements. They didn't feel they needed to justify their ranks and were pissed at being asked to do so. Many apparently felt it a betrayal of trust which was certainly not the intention of Rells or anyone else in the corp leadership. Several people immediately announced they were leaving and Rells was the lightning rod of their ire. Rells hadn't anticipated this reaction but rather thought people would be happy to have a formal rank structure. The anger completely caught him off guard and depressed him. Between the combination of the move to Venal and the cert system, long time friends had decided they didnt want to be part of AGONY anymore and Rells hated every leaving thread. Leaving threads snowballed and gained momentum and soon a large contingent was leaving and a large contingent was just as intent on staying. A civil war had erupted in AGONY.<br />
<br />
One hazard of being a CEO is that people sometimes forget you are a real person. Rells was crushed at what was happening to the corp and didn't know how to fix it. Furthermore, long time friends of Rells that he had flown with for 2 or more years had started to issue epithets, and accusations that were incredibly hurtful. Rells passed it off as anger and frustration but in reality few knew that Rells was a basket case, depressed and upset on a daily basis. Twice Rells offered his resignation to be rejected and talked down by leadership. It got to the point where many of the ex agony pilots were not only being extremely nasty to their former CEO, but they were doing it very publicly. Rells didn't give a damn what strangers though of him, only people he cared for could hurt him and some of them did. He knew that they had some valid points and some legit complaints but when the insults and nastiness came out, Rells just disconnected and went into something of a zombie mode. <br />
<br />
The exodus had started to subside and AGONY was in a bit of a state of shock. Like a boxer stunned by a right hook, AGONY was on the floor and struggling to get up. Rells was in much worse condition having canceled and reactivated his account seven times in a month. However, things began to stabilize because of the resilience of the pilots and the fact that the rest of the AGONY leadership handled it far better than Rells. Phalanx, for their part coincidentally decided they wanted to evict AGONY for good and set up bubbles on the station and kept them there for days, manned 24 hours a day. The USA agony players were able to harass them and even get them to blow up their own bubbles on a number of occasions when no one in their corp could unanchor. However, the euros had a much harder time of it with fleets of 50 often in the system. Rells had made the mistake of not requiring enough diversification of where equipment should be put in several stations and even systems to allow options in the case of camping. Ultimately Phalanx ended up ending their own siege and giving up on driving AGONY out but at the same time AGONY was in a horrible state of affairs with a lot of animosity on both sides, the decision was made to withdraw agony first to h-pa and then back to pure blind. Coming back felt bad, as if AGONY had been defeated for the first time. The corp was in a bad state and Rells had just about had enough of Eve.<br />
<br />
==Pure Blind II==<br />
<br />
Date: April 08 to Nov 08<br />
<br />
Base of operations : X-7OMU<br />
<br />
Back in Pure Blind, AGONY began to recover some of its strength and added some new memberships. Dozens of posts that had exchanged nasty comments from both sides, Rells included among the transgressors, were moved to archive to facilitate the rebuilding and prevent recruits from seeing the carnage. Agony began to prosper again after a while but Rells had faded from the game for the most part, often not logging in for weeks at a time. It was time for new leadership of AGONY and it wasn't long after that when Rells finalized his resignation nominating Bamar as his successor, started to look at other games and having bad luck in them, quit MMOs for over a year. The corp that Rells had founded so that he could PvP without ever having to rat or mine again, was now honestly better off in other leadership and Rells was officially burned out on eve. <br />
<br />
However, AGONY began to take new directions. Bamar, began to put his own imprint upon the corp and the corp began to recover a lot of its former glory. Not too long after, Bamar would reverse out the horrible mistake of the certs and move the corp in his own direction and it has prospered under Bamar possibly more than it ever did or could have under Rells. <br />
<br />
So ends my personal recorded history of AGONY. Naturally it is recorded from my own point of view and others had different impressions of certain incidents. However, perhaps for the first time, some may know my view of things. Writing this has been an emotional experience.<br />
<br />
Today the pilots of AGONY are known Eve-wide as being lethal and innovative and under fantastic leadership with fantastic people staffing the fleets. Bigger organizations than AGONY have a healthy respect for the pilots of AGONY and you can see it in how they try and fight you. I hope that I had some part in starting the ride but it is for all of you, every one of you, to take that history, that fight for survival, that wonderful coalescence of tactics and keep the name high and honored among the corps of eve. In AGONY's beginning no one knew who AGONY was -- and many that were known before, are lost to be forgotten by history but AGONY remains. Now few dont know AGONY.<br />
<br />
==Curse I==<br />
<br />
Date: Nov 08 to Feb 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Hemin<br />
<br />
As the Great War reached its peak, the whole north began to NAP against Band of Brothers (the core of this would remain NAPed long after the war ended as the Northern Coalition), and the majority of PvP pilots flocked to the front lines in the south. This left the north, including Agony’s long time home of Pure Blind, a very quiet place. It was time for a ‘vacation’. <br />
<br />
Our destination was Curse, in the south. Like Syndicate, Curse is a heavily stationed region, and thus a popular area for smaller non-sov holding factions who are typically hostile to each other. It was also close enough to the main fighting that it was still well populated. <br />
<br />
Agony made its home in Hemin, a pipe system close to empire, making it excellent for bubble camping and bringing the targets to us, which indeed became a common and very successful tactic for Agony gangs during this deployment. The initial period in particular, before Agony had tamed the system, saw great deal of action right on our doorstep. At the time of this writing (roughly a year later) Hemin remains one of Agony’s most destructive systems in history. <br />
<br />
This deployment also saw an incident which is forever ingrained in Agony history as ‘Speedy’s balls’, during which a drunken Executive Outcomes carrier pilot hotdropped a small Agony sub-capital camp (back in the days when a carrier kill was kind of a big deal!) and was gradually torn apart, accompanied by vent recordings and all.<br />
<br />
Agony's Curse deployment culminated in our entry in the [[AT6 Summary of Matches|6th Alliance Tournament]], in which Agony succesfully made the final 8 teams.<br />
<br />
==Venal II==<br />
<br />
Date: Feb 09 to June 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : 6NJ8-V<br />
<br />
Tactial Developments: Partial move from localised camping and ad-hoc to more structured, longer range roaming gangs. Larger ship classes (especially Cruisers & BCs) are now the norm in Agony roams.<br />
<br />
Following the Alliance Tournament, Agony’s Curse deployment came to an end. With wallets running low, many members found their PvP time reduced by the need to earn isk. To counteract this, a plan was made to spend a short time, perhaps a month or so, on some hardcore isk making ready for a more challenging deployment afterwards.<br />
<br />
Venal seemed the perfect choice for such a venture. While still NPC space, Venal is deep into 0.0 and is considered quite a profitable region, with excellent ratting territory. It was also an old haunt of Agony, with Venal I often being considered one of Agony’s best deployments. Intel reported that the region was very quiet at the time, and the decision was made.<br />
<br />
What made Venal an interesting deployment was primarily the distance from high sec space, and the bearing of this upon logistics operations. Unlike most of our deployments, Venal as a region does not border empire space. Conventional travel requires around 25 jumps through Pure Blind and Tribute, and even carriers cannot reach Venal in a single cyno jump.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, Agony’s Pure Blind base in X-70MU was still maintained and relatively quiet, so the move was split into two phases; firstly a move to Pure Blind, followed by the final move to Venal. Due to the difficulty of the move, as well as the intended length of stay, ship transport was minimal, and mainly geared towards ratting.<br />
<br />
They say that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and this is exactly how things went. Upon arriving in 6NJ8-V, the same HQ Agony had used during our previous stay in the region, things were not so quiet after all. Our PvP habit rapidly replaced any intention to carebear, and Agony did what Agony does best - pewpew!<br />
<br />
Notable opponents during this stay were Circle of Two (a relatively minor alliance in the Northern Coalition who would later come to unexpected fame as runners up in the [[7th Alliance Tournament]]), Tau Ceti Federation (also NC, these guys moved right into 6NJ with us near the end of the deployment) and Morsus Mihi (that’s right, more NC) in Tribute to the south.<br />
<br />
In the end, Venal II lasted far longer than originally intended, and while it didn’t succeed in its original purpose as an isk raising venture, it did provide an interesting logistical challenge, and a limited amount of action with good a good environment for medium to long roams. Inevitably though, greener pastures soon began to beckon, and as rumours began to spread of a potentially interesting situation in Great Wildlands, it was time to pack up and move back to Pure Blind ready for our next deployment.<br />
<br />
==Great Wildlands II==<br />
<br />
Date: June 09 to October 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : N-DQ0D<br />
<br />
Tactial Developments: Early GW - Experimenting with the use of POS, and living in a highly hostile environment. Late GW - More focus on solo and smaller gang, due to low activity; smaller ships such as AF become increasingly popular again.<br />
<br />
During the end of Agony’s stay in Venal, Great Wildlands had become a highly contested region due to the collapse of Foundation Alliance, who had previously controlled the area. After the relative quiet of Venal, it was hoped that a warzone like this would provide the kind of interesting tactical challenges that we were looking for.<br />
<br />
As it happened, we faced an entirely different set of challenges. By the time Agony finally deployed to Great Wildlands (via a short stay in Pure Blind), fighting in the region had ceased and the area was firmly in the grip of Cult of War, who had NAPed most other factions in the region (the most notable groups being Gentlemen’s Club and YARR & Co). Rote Kapelle remained neutral and occasionally roamed in from nearby lowsec, but the region was otherwise completely NAPed.<br />
<br />
Our choice of system was N-D, the least populous of the three station systems in Gread Wildlands (the majority of CoW based out of the nearby systems of E02-IK and M-MD3B, which acted as a chokepoint to all of southern GW). This left us with relatively free reign of the northernmost pipes such as the one to Etherium Reach, but effectively cut off from most of the southern Wildlands.<br />
<br />
Due to the station being kickout, we initially staged from a POS. This served the dual purpose of facilitating logistics and provoking a response from CoW.<br />
<br />
Initial operations began as expected. A number of CoW regulars kept the N-D station camped pretty much around the clock, usually with capital support. Roaming gangs encountered some success, but targets in Wildlands were sparse, and CoW & friends were quick to use their numbers advantage in most fights, with most trips into southern Wildlands being swiftly camped into the pipe once they passed the CoW home systems. Thus Etherium Reach to the north became the preferred destination.<br />
<br />
Before long, CoW began to take an interest in the POS. Initial attacks were mainly casual, and were repelled with a combination of POS gunners and bombing runs. Eventually CoW committed to a more organised assault as expected and put the POS into reinforced. Word was spread discreetly to a few of CoW’s enemies, and when the CoW cap fleet entered siege the following day, they were annihilated by a hotdrop from Pandemic Legion. CoW ultimately returned to remove the POS with a cautious sub-capital fleet, but by this point the damage was done.<br />
<br />
Shortly afterwards, corp focus switched to the [[7th Alliance Tournament]]. Despite an excellent showing behind the scenes and an excellent first round, we suffered a significant loss in the second round and were unable to qualify for the finals.<br />
<br />
Due to a combination of factors, most notably the tournament, Agony activity in Wildlands had gradually died. Most of the corp had moved to lowsec, and gangs generally ignored Wildlands in favour of Etherium Reach. Morale and participation were at a significant low, as was combat efficiency, leading to GW commonly being considered as one of Agony's darker times. Rather than rebuild our Wildlands 0.0 presence, the corp chose to look forwards, with a number of options considered for our future direction including faction warfare and mercenary work. Ultimately though it was backwards, not forwards, that we chose to head.<br />
<br />
==Syndicate II and Agony 0.0==<br />
<br />
Date: October 09 to March 2010<br />
<br />
Base of operations : EZA-FM<br />
<br />
Tactical Devlelopments: Bombers become very popular in the corp, leading to some of Agony's first successful blackops drops as well as co-ordinated bombing tactica. Some move back towards short range roams and localised camping, with HSSR fleets becoming very popular, as well as the re-introduction of HSLR and some (mainly unsuccessful) experimentation with RR battleships.<br />
<br />
Syndicate is considered the birthplace of Old Agony, and in many ways this deployment was intended as a return to those roots in order to re-strengthen the corp.<br />
<br />
Geographically, Syndicate couldn’t be more different to Great Wildlands. A heavily stationed region, Syndicate has historically been a hotbed for small unaligned factions - a huge change to the quasi-sov situation in Wildlands at the time. It also differs in its lack of pipes, with most routes (other than the pipe between upper and lower Syndicate) having multiple viable paths.<br />
<br />
Agony made its new home in EZA-FM southern Syndicate. While not really an obvious through-system to anywhere, EZA is central enough to have numerous entrance and exit routes (and isn’t in a pocket), giving the corp a great deal of maneuvreability. Our most significant neighbours were the very large IT Alliance (mainly ex-Band of Brothers) just one system away in 6-C and Reblier (some of whom later based out of EZA) and long-time Syndicate residents Huzzah Federation in the nearby PC9 pocket. (After the Dominion expansion, most of IT Alliance moved on to sov warfare, and Huzzah ultimately disbanded, with numerous smaller factions moving in in their wakes).<br />
<br />
During this time, Agony also underwent a significant internal change – the replacement of the complex Agony 2.0 philosophy for the more streamlined Agony 0.0.<br />
<br />
The guiding ethos of the change was to focus on PvP rather than beurocracy. Under Agony 0.0, the complex military ranks were removed in exchange for a flat structure, with all Core members (other than directors) sharing equal responsibility. Many internal admin processes were simplified and/or delegated, most notably recruitment and trial periods, which underwent a complete rework. Agony’s previously rigid Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement were also modified in favour of a more simplified ‘common sense’ system.<br />
<br />
Syndicate proved to be far more suited to small gang and solo PvP than Wildlands had been, with activity, morale and effectiveness quickly rising to pre-Wildlands levels, and then beyond. An influx of new members and the return of many old ones breathed further life into the corp, and Agony began to flourish once again. Tactical development (inspired partly by our unused preparation work on the tourney) was once more a part of Agony life, initially with regular HSLR and HSSR and bomber gangs, and expanding to include RR battleships, Black Ops drops and Titan bridging.<br />
<br />
Other incidents of note include Agony being wardecced by long time Syndicate residents and local gankers Exquisite Malevolence, who proceeded to get their POS network torn down by Agony within the first few days of the war, and Agony's first Mothership kill courtesy of No Trademark.<br />
<br />
==Providence==<br />
<br />
Date: March 2010 to Dec 2010<br />
<br />
Base of operations : H6-CX8<br />
<br />
Tactical Development: First real encounter with Sovereignty. Prolification of logistics, including Agony's first forays into the use of the triage carrier. Blackops drops and Durka battleships become (or re-become) hallmark Agony tactics, with innovation on both. ArmourHAC gangs and later Drake swarms become flavour of the month throughout Eve, with Agony deploying both to great effect. Later parts of the stay saw Agony participating in and leading very large CTA fleets or operating as a subsidary 'ace in the sleeve' for these fleets, such as an autonomous bomber or ewar wing.<br />
<br />
In early 2010, Against All Authorities fell out with the long-time resident of Providence, CVA (and their various allies) and decided to remove them from the region. CVA had long held the region as an NRDS carebear's paradise, and had populated it with a huge number of outposts. However, the space itself was almost worthless in terms of moon income, and there had been little incentive for anyone to remove them.<br />
<br />
AAA approached Agony, along with a small number of other alliances, with the offer of a constellation in Providence with no strings attached - for AAA's part it gave them a non-sov-threatening neighbour on their border, as well as a target rich environment for PVP. For Agony, it gave the same target rich environment, as well as an opportunity to experiment with sovereignty without needing to get involved in the politics of 0.0 bloc warfare.<br />
<br />
CVA was removed fairly swiftly, and Agony moved in as one of the first Providence residents into the constellation around H6-CX8, a pipe constellation close to Providence's main highsec entrance, and a great location for targets. Neighbouring 9UY (the hub connecting all the pipes of Providence) became the home of Ushra'Khan, with the highsec border system of Y-M going to Atlas Alliance, providing significant numbers of targets on both sides.<br />
<br />
Other noteable initial residents included Paxton Federation (an old CVA ally who was initially kept in out of respect for their will to fight, but later removed when they attempted to help CVA reclaim the space), Daisho Syndicate, Sodalitas XX, and Opticon Alliance (who were removed from the region after a misguided betrayal attempt). Later additions include Important Internet Spaceship League and Flying Dangerous (both friends of Agony from Syndicate, with similar modus operandi to our own), Circle of Two (who we earlier fought in Venal II), Shock and Awe, Legio Astartes Arcanum, and the well known mercenary corp Noir who used a constellation primarily for renters. In addition to these, a great number of non-resident corps would roam into Providence for it's rich PVP environment, including Genos Occidere (for a time part of Hydra Reloaded), AAA and AAA Citizens, Initiative, and many others.<br />
<br />
Intially many of the Providence residents were relucant to un-blue either other after the invation, with Agony being the first to do so by a considerable period. Early in Providence Agony mostly stayed out of regional politics, but over time a lack of competent regional leadership, combined with Agony leading the way in PvP tactics and organization, caused Agony to end up at the center of political developments.<br />
<br />
This period also included Agony's first (assisted) Titan kill, and a period of rapid tactical development, with many new tactics becoming commonplace in additon to an increasing (and increasingly expensive) range of ships at our disposal. Of particular note, ArmourHAC gangs (low-sig afterburning armour tanked HACs and guardians, especially Zealots) became incredibly popular throughout Eve, and Agony fielded them with much success.<br />
<br />
Due to the Sov nature of Providence as a region, this deployment was not without it's drama. Providence alliances would rattle their sovereignty sabres from time to time, and a number of Provi resident alliances collapsed (either effectively or entirely) during this period, leaving the membership and power-balance of Provi in almost constant flux.<br />
<br />
The biggest shakeup occurred when first Atlas and then Against ALL Authorities, both of whom had been major players in the taking of Providence, all but collapsed under attack from a number of alliances supported by Pandemic Legion. With the big boys gone, alliances within Provi began jostling for the leadership role, sparking a confrontation between Daisho and Ushra'Khan which saw Provi split into two warring factions in what became known as the 'Providence Civil War'. Agony, along with a number of other neutral alliances opted to stand by the initial agreement of non-invasion, and defend any alliance whose space was under attack - as the weaker of the two parties by a significant margin, this meant Ushra'Khan. Unable to gain any ground against the rest of Providence, Daisho soon began to back down and negotiate peace. However by this point eyes were on Providence from elsewhere, and in its fractured state it looked like a juicy target.<br />
<br />
The first to invade Providence was CVA, the previous residents who had retained much of their strength. All of Providence was soon blue-ed up for defence and CTA fleets of a few hundred a side became the norm, to the disappointment of many Agony pilots. While CVA was able to match or often surpass Provi numbers in Euro timezone, their number in US timezone were almost non-exitant, and the CVA push quickly stalled. However for whatever reason, a number of Provi alliances in the area managed to drop their sov, and CVA pounced on every opportunity, quickly securing themselves a handful of systems in southern Provi without having to fight through the timers. Due to Provi's lower numbers in Euro timezone and the significant defender advantage in Dominion sov mechanics, both sides were now unable to make significant inroads, and the war stagnated.<br />
<br />
After being evicted from Could Ring, the German alliance Ev0ke set their sites on northern Provi, as far from the CVA war as possible and the site of Provi's effectively largest alliance (Daisho had been fairly inactive since the civil war) - Sodalitas XX. With much of provi on the verge of collapse, it fell to Agony to hold the region together with Bamar assuming the leadership role of the coalition. Gradually, Provi began to form a cohesive fighting force. However Ev0ke were a strong and co-ordinated opponent, and this too became a timezone war with very little territorial change on either side.<br />
<br />
This war dragged on for months, with many in Agony tiring of the situation. The tipping point came when Ev0ke managed to bring in their friends from 'NC.' (formerly Triumvirate), eliminating Provi's US advantage. At this point, the majority of Provi quickly fell apart, with a number of alliances either collapsing or leaving. Agony morale and participation were beginning to suffer, and after much internal deliberation, Agony decided it was no longer worth trying to hold the region together. In the space of two days, agony's entire membership and asset base had been relocated to Curse. Agony's sov adventures were over - we were back in NPC 0.0, but far stronger for our experiences.<br />
<br />
==Curse II==<br />
<br />
Date: Dec 2010 onwards<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Hemin<br />
<br />
The future awaits!</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=The_History_of_AGONY&diff=17685The History of AGONY2011-09-07T20:24:12Z<p>Bamar: /* Origins of Agony */</p>
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<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
[[Category:Public]]<br />
<br />
<small>Early history (Origins - Pure Blind II) by Rells. Later history (Curse I Onwards) by Azual.</small><br />
<br />
In (Perpetual) Development!<br />
<br />
==Origins of Agony==<br />
<br />
Rells founded AGONY with a desire to break from big alliance warfare and teach the basics of frigate combat. The first ever PvP-Basic class was run soon after, with 12 students and an ad-hoc curriculum. It was an inauspicious start, but the message was there. New players can be effective in PvP, and that there's a world outside massive sov. warfare.<br />
<br />
==The First Wolfpacks==<br />
<br />
Date: April 30th, 2006<br />
<br />
PVP-BASIC had been running quite regularly by spring of 2006. It was starting to become more well known, advertised by word of mouth and a bit of discreet system spamming. The classes were running 30 or so pilots per class. However many of our graduates wanted more and so did I.<br />
<br />
So several months later I am sitting in MHC-R3 with the first group of about 12 students for the pvp Wolfpacks class. We had intel that an enemy fleet was coming up the pipe from the far end near solitude and they were blasting everything in their path. Slightly ahead of the main fleet was a single Megathron and his tackling buddy. He was presumedly the bait for the main fleet. Once he got you engaged then he would call in his friends and they would finish you off. He certainly did not expect what happened.<br />
<br />
The Megathron jumped into MHC-R3 from 6E-578 and warped after the ship he saw there. He came out of warp 100km off the gate inside a small mobile warp disruptor. Immediately the destroyers on the bubble jumped him, tagging him with EWAR. "Point!!!" yelled an excited Sever Aldaria (nearly blowing my eardrums.) "Damp, Track, Web," the calls came in over Ventrilo. The intrepid mega pilot had been reduced to a paperweight in effectiveness and his valuable tank melted like butter on a hot sunny day. At the same time Rells noticed half the players in he gang were orbiting the mega and in the bubble. Local had already spiked and the relief fleet was in warp. I said over and over again, "get out of the bubble, get out of the damn bubble." As soon as the last destroyer was clear I engaged warp to a safespot, the parting shot from students popping both the pod and wreck. Right as the crew were warping out, the reinforcements were arriving. The landing fleet had to see us flying off grid as they arrived.<br />
<br />
What followed was smack talk like you had rarely seen in your life. Of course they blew up the bubble and told us how stupid we were that we couldn't fly a battleship like "real men." However, I was busily trying to calm down my crew who were suffering from the after effects of adrenaline rush. This was 2006 in Eve online. People just didn't PvP in destroyers. Destroyers were a piece of garbage that had no use whatsoever. However, this Megathron pilot learned what happens when people think out of the box and to the students involved, it served as a lesson that you don't have to have the biggest ship to win at pvp.<br />
<br />
After the fight we collected ourselves and roamed a bit. We caught a couple more ships and toasted them but then time ran out as the class evaporated to the pressure of duties outside Eve Online. After we broke up Choran posted his video of the incident (which used to be on our server) and I posted about the video to the main Eve forums in order to advertise our classes.<br />
<br />
You have to understand that our classes weren't well known and were almost universally condemned as being a scam to rip off newbies or at best devoid of value. Our videos of fights were claimed to have been staged with a throwaway ship in order to bilk players out of isk. You can see on the video post thread what the reaction of the players at the time was. When presented with video evidence they had to believe. However most thought that the Megathron was stupid. "I could kill 14 destroyers in my Ishtar no problem, especially 14 pilotted by relatively new players," claimed one pilot. The thread devolved into a flame war that kept it pinned to the top for a week and filled subsequent classes to the point that we had to upgrade our vent account.<br />
<br />
The next few basic classes were packed, Wolfpacks class was even more packed. We were up to 30 destroyers with two covops pilots flying recon. The hurt was put on syndicate. They started avoiding wolfpacks when Carenthor loon dropped us on two different eagles and they blew so fast not even all the cycled guns on the destroyers went off. Wolfpacks was now a bastion of the AGONY curriculum and strangely the laughter at the destroyers in local subsided. <br />
<br />
==Syndicate==<br />
<br />
Date: 2006<br />
<br />
Base of operations : UM-Q7F<br />
<br />
It was in 2006 that AGONY made its first real foray into 0.0 space for the purpose of living. Since Jump Freighters had not been introduced yet and capitals were restricted to massive alliances, the move resembled an old Battlestar Galactica episode with a train of haulers protected by several smaller ships via recon. The system UM-Q7F was the destination of the fleet. It took a bunch of haulers and runs back and forth with ships but the agony pilots finally got all of their gear a scant two jumps into what was known at the time as the most violent area in Eve.<br />
<br />
At this time PF-346 was a bright sun of a system on the "ships destroyed in last 24 hours" map. Anyone who wanted to prove their virtual manhood in Eve would go and try to hit PF and most of them ended up dead. The attraction of the system was more historical than anything else. PF-346 was the system where people in Beta would go to fight when there were few in the immense universe of Eve and after the start of the game PF-346 remained PVP central. Even to this day on the test server, PF-346 is the central location where people go to fight. In 2006 PF-346 was a nasty place and Syndicate was an extension of PF-346. No one could claim Syndicate for very long before they were crushed by the tide of resident and tourist PvPers. Into this violent soup I had thrown AGONY.<br />
<br />
It wasnt easy living in 0.0 for the first time for many of our pilots. You had to constantly watch your back and you were never able to relax. Some of our members couldn't handle the pressure and left. Other members thought that we should join up with larger alliances. The character Ezra from Brooklyn was one of those and despite being one of the first co-directors, he didnt get what I was trying to accomplish. The first crisis in the survival of AGONY occurred when Ezra took nearly half the corp and left to go join another alliance. I was determined to stick it out and to not have any blues unless there was something damn good in it for AGONY and there rarely was in those days.<br />
<br />
When Ezra left I was pissed to be sure. I felt betrayed by a friend and livid. Fortunately I still had another co-founder named Rasql with me and I adopted a bright young pilot who joined with a good percentage of his entire corp after their ex-ceo stole everything from the corp and left. Sever Aldaria became another director of AGONY as did Stein Vorhees. Despite the "MHC Incident" with a class, another pilot named Carenthor Loon promised to be a future expert in covert ops. AGONY continued to run its classes and build up but out main focus was getting together the class gangs and trying to figure out how to not get crushed like a grape by the feet of the enormous alliances around us.<br />
<br />
Necessity was the mother of invention and Knez Rex was sick of waiting for classes to go out and kick some butt. He fashioned together a Rifter, one of few ships he could fly at the time, and put on the biggest guns he could, then a small buffer tank with a plate. Then he put on two webs and a warp disruptor. At that time that is what you needed to stop an interceptor. The two webs would drop the inty by 90% each, stacking on each other and the point would keep him around -- the scrambler at the time only gave 2 points at 10km with no microwarp turnoff. Knez went out on the first fishing trip ever; he sat on the Harroule gate in MHC-R3 and just waited. His first customer was a Malediction interceptor and he destroyed it to the dismay of the inty pilot.<br />
<br />
By this time other inventions in AGONY were well under way. The safe spot was as old as beta but very few people had bookmarks spaced around a gate at 300km. Some sniper ships which were common at the time would have a couple but the majority of bookmarks in the game were to allow a pilot to warp to 0 on a gate. At that time you could only warp to 15km and so pilots would mark 15km behind a gate and warp to the bookmark -- they were called instas. Although instas went the way of the dodo when warp to 0 came about, through thick controversy, other types of tactical bookmarks came into being. When we discovered we could warp if the target was 150km or more away we knew we could use that to our advantage. Since we didnt have huge fleets to back us up, necessity forced us to innovate and tactical bookmarks started getting marked around gates. We had straight up, behind, all manner of bookmarks. We had bookmarks to drop us 5000km off a gate to scan and other bookmarks to warp up to those sniping battleships who liked to mark directly above the gate. Our covops pilot learned to anchor the fleet in tactical warps and many a sniper died to the fledgling upstarts in AGONY. The alliance 3FA amongst others declared all out war on AGONY in 0.0.<br />
<br />
The problem 3FA had with us was not that they couldn't out gun us; on the contrary they could crush us with firepower. Their problem was that we moved so quickly and with such agility that they couldn't catch us. We would pick off their tacklers, their lead ships and their stragglers and then vanish before they could get a hold of us. On one incident in particular a fleet of nearly 30 3FA ships were chasing the 15 man AGONY fleet through Syndicate. The race was on to get out and their tacklers and fast warping cruisers were trying to catch up to us. One rupture set up to do 4km/s was almost on top of us, being only 1/2 a jump back and 2 jumps ahead of the main 3FA fleet. AGONY went through the next gate and just stopped. As soon as the rupture came through he saw the waiting fleet and held cloak as long as he could. It wasn't long enough. The rupture was popped and podded, the wreck was destroyed and the AGONY pilots were warping off grid just as the gate was firing for the main 3FA fleet. Between the experience AGONY pilots were gaining with tacticals and the fast moving tactics, 3FA and other residents of Syndicate were stymied on how to deal with this pest of a corp.<br />
<br />
The one thing 3FA and other had to fend us off was their vastly superior firepower and 10 to 1 superiority in pilot count. They stopped sitting at 100km and sniping because they lost a lot of ships to AGONY doing that. They stopped running ahead of thier main force because too many got picked off. They stopped attacking AGONY frigs with interceptors because fishing had become commonplace and they lost a lot of valuable interceptors to AGONY. Fleet warfare had devolved into 3FA and others sitting in a tightly bunched ball, huddled under the protection of the main fleet. The laughter at the frig packs roaming once every week through syndicate had subsided and they tried their best to avoid the classes. They had learned that smartbombing BS didn't kill the pack of pesky noobs and they had lost a lot of equipment trying. The frig packs were so quick that the fleets they deployed to take them out couldn't catch the pack and when the pack did engage those fleets the pack would lose a few cheap frigs and typically pop the most expensive thing in the other fleet. Of course the smacktalk never ceased.<br />
<br />
AGONY wasn't content with that situation. Even though the puny corp of less than 20 active players had forced major changes in the behavior of large alliances, AGONY pilots were bloodthirsty and inventive. One day when Rells was sitting over the gate to Harroule watching the 3FA come and go, an interceptor decided to power out to his cormorant at high speed. This was not a good situation for fishing which required catching the inty at short range and pinning it to neutralize the speed tank. Rells was in an annoyed mood and had an up to date clone so he fired his tech 2 rails at the incoming interceptor. All of the shield and half the armor of the ceptor vanished in the first volley. The ceptor pressed on and ended up in orbit after closing the distance at 8km per second. But the tracking of the destroyer and the tech 2 125s was too much and the third voley finished the armor. The interceptor turned to run out of point range but the fourth volley turned the ceptor into plasma.<br />
<br />
It occurred to Rells how to annoy his opponent at that time and he asked people to train up tech 2 small weapons and destroyers. It only required six or seven to execute the plan but ten would be better. Once trained up bookmarks were set and the next 3FA huddled fleet was to get a nasty surprise. A couple days later 3FA was firmly entrenched on the Harroule gate with fast lock tacklers. They saw 12 AGONY come in local adding to what they assumed (correctly) was the covops pilot already there. They scanned and saw the group of destroyers on scan and their snipers salivated at the comming kills. The AGONY pilots appeared on overview and the fleet commander called the primary AGONY target. They didn't get the chance to lock. It took less than six seconds and one volley from all 10 agony destroyers and a malediction was rubble on the gate and the fleet was gone. The second pass blew up a Crow and the FC sent out tacklers to grab the fleet next time they appeared. The tacklers were ready to snare the nasty ships, but the destroyer pack appeared next another 100km further away and a tackler lost their ship to a single volley. Placing more tacklers strung out, they were detearmined to take the force out. The AGONY destroyers, however, didn't oblige and appeared on the other side of the gate and launched a volley at a tech 1 cruiser. Wounded but not dead, the cruiser powered up his repair mechanisms but the second pass blew it up. After 10 min and 10 kills all the light ships had enough of the AGONY guys. They jumped out as soon as they saw the AGONY guys on overview. Chasing at them was suicide, trying to warp was too slow. Now 3FA was to be denied tacklers as was the rest of their allies in the area.<br />
<br />
It didn't take much longer before 3FA had left the area and subsequently broke up. Over time more and more corps gained grudging respect for those pesky AGONY guys. The laughter had subsided and anyone that had locked horns with the tiny group in Syndicate came away with a healthy respect and the conclusion that they had to take a new look at tactics within Eve. Pilots had begun to fear AGONY and that made it harder to get targets for the bloodthirsty maniacs. Eventually they had to move to find more.<br />
<br />
==Great Wildlands I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Egbinger<br />
<br />
The second great crisis in AGONY happened when the targets began to run thin in the Syndicate area. The big alliances had begun to leave syndicate alone and soon you could run an Iteron 5 through PF-246 without a scout. To AGONY this was practically the kiss of death. Although the classes were still running, it became harder and harder to get new targets to give the students practical experience. On top fo that, the bored AGONY pilots were drifting off to low sec at their mission alts to make money. The weekends were times of possible fight but otherwise the fertile ground of combat that had been Syndicate was dry. The directors met and decided that it was time to move.<br />
<br />
Since Rells' old stomping ground with BSA was the Great Wildlands, and he knew the area well, that region was targeted for the move. Advance pilots were dispatched to map the area, prep instas and create tacticals for dissemination. A huge bookmark campaign was underway. Some weeks later the corp was more or less packed up and began to move -- at least partially. Some in AGONY did not want to go to Great Wildlands and for the first solid month in GW, the corp was split in half. People were reluctant to change where they fought and some were just plain lazy. Bickering had started to develop in AGONY on the forums and elsewhere. Once in Great Wildlands, the pilots there had a tough time. The NPC stations in GW were locked up tight by numerous massive and co-NAPed alliances and they were willing to camp for years if necessary. At that time AGONY lacked the moxy to take space or construct outposts so the situation developed where AGONY was now based out of lowsec and had to traverse gate camps to enter 0.0.<br />
<br />
There were some really spectacular fights on that entry gate, one in particular had agony pilots going back time and again for new ships to try to finish off the ships tackled and immobilized. Although the carnage was spectacular, agony continued to learn about intel, teamwork and tactics. The fledgling corp learned how to traverse hostile space and the value of good intel. The fleets became good at using a new concept called Skirmishers. A skirmisher was a tackler pilot racing sometimes several jumps ahead of the fleet to find targets. The skirmisher could move much faster than the fleet and skipped through empty systems in the route quickly, giving him time to look for targets in occupied systems while the main fleet caught up. The fleet movements became more fluid and deadly. Agony fleets could cover huge expanses of space quickly with very little stopping and waiting on gate. With several skirmishers the fleet could probe alternate branches and even pull rear guard to allow them to double back on hostile forces.<br />
<br />
However, times were tough in AGONY and antipathy was high. People hated living in lowsec and they hated even more dealing with opponents that seemed to only show up in fleets of 400 and were all NAPed together. People drifted off to mission agents to recover from combat losses and AGONY was spread out all over the universe. At this time AGONY was in mortal threat of becoming one of many corps that just didn't make it in the hostile world of Eve. Although Rells was trying to keep the corp together with the other leadership, the whole PvP situation simply sucked. Squadrons came into being in order to manage the issue and try to put people closer to their commanders and that had some good effects but it didn't recover things. Furthermore, the more problems the GW people had, the harder it was to get people still in Syndicate to move. AGONY was, quite simply, dieing slowly. People were peeling off AGONY to go elsewhere and Rells was pained at every departure. It was becoming clear that moving to GW was, well, dumb. It was time for another change.<br />
<br />
==Pure Blind I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : X-7OMU<br />
<br />
The second move was agreed to by leadership and was met with a howl of protest. After all the first one wasnt so fun so it was little wonder the membership was reluctant to embrace another. Many wanted to go back to syndicate and pick up the AGONY stragglers (some of which never left there to this day). Many were just not happy. So the question was, where do we move to. All sorts of 0.0 regions were out there but had problems. Curse was rich in rat loot but occupied by rats that were a pain to kill. The regions of Catch, Outer Ring and Venal were considered but discarded because of their relatively tight pipes which favored huge fleets because they allowed few alternate routes. Pure Blind turned out to have potential. It had NPC stations, it had many alternate routes to limit the amount of trapping that can be done by large fleets. Pure blind also had the ability to access other regions as well as a high-sec to 0.0 gate which was active.<br />
<br />
Torrinos was owned by ISS at the time. ISS was, at one time, the largest supplier of Tech 2 in the game at a time when tech 2 was made only by those with BPOs won out of a random chance lottery. ISS had collected dozens of BPOs but they were, in the end, carebears. Living in 0.0 was something they had to do, not something they wanted to do. At the same time x-70mu, the target system for the move, was owned by a shaky alliance. To facilitate the move, Rells negotiated the first blue alliance in AGONY's history. At the time Rells was training empire control 5 to establish his own alliance but Rells really needed the inhabitants of x-70mu to mostly stay off his back while he got his corp back into 0.0. The move commenced, advanced pilots plotted instas and tacticals. Agony scraped together a run of two freighters which contained 90% of the corp and player assets. The freighters docked back in x-70mu and AGONY was once again back in 0.0.<br />
<br />
Once in 0.0, AGONY based out of the only kick-out station in the system and warned pilots to spread their gear to other stations. That was a safe warning because the inhabitants of the north took on an instant air of hostility. AGONY's overtures of peace were rebuffed possibly because they set only one blue alliance and believed peace was best established by wiping out everyone else. Alliances and corps offered NAPs one after another but Rells had boiled down diplomacy to a single word, "No". The hostiles swarmed in and AGONY learned how to use a kick-out station to their advantage. Docking in Sisters of Eve Academy was pure suicide. AGONY pilots would log in to hit a kill in the system if necessary and they were quick. Some tried bubbles but met with Flyby snipers for their trouble. AGONY was starting to come back, like a vampire, fueled by blood lust.<br />
<br />
All things must come to an end and so did AGONY's first NAP. One corp in the NAPed alliance was especially hostile and some of their members were downright rubes. One day they took it in their head to fire on and destroy an agony pilot while he was still blue to them. The resulting political controversy ended up ripping apart the fragile alliance and the aggressive corp remained, set AGONY red and devoted their existence to wiping out AGONY. AGONY rather enjoyed the fights, taunting the opponent, executing flybys on the bubble camps and otherwise making their life miserable. At one point AGONY managed to catch a freighter in space and pilots appeared out of the woodwork for AGONY to take it down. It didn't take long before the aggressive corp in question was spewing obscenities daily in local. However, there were a few bright spots in the opponent. A pilot named Roccinante was very good at what he did and was pretty respectful. AGONY began to solicit him to drop his corp and come over to the dark side. Another pilot named Beef Hardslab was well regarded as a worthy opponent as well. When the other corp broke up, AGONY acquired Beef and Roc and several other pilots.<br />
<br />
In Pure Blind, AGONY acquired skills in using POSes, researching tons of tech 1 BPOs and created a logistical nightmare that was perpetuated by the desire to keep basic equipment on hand for pilots in the corp. The logistics consumed the playtime of many AGONY pilots including Rells and was massively boring as well. However, there were bright spots in the skills department. Flybys had been perfected and AGONY was more often the hunter than the hunted. Beef Hardslab, borrowing on ideas from Heikki (a well known player at the time) invented the modern durka trap and incinerated tons of unwary ships. The hunting was good and so was the fishing. After a while enemy interceptors refused to engage single agony pilots. Also Pure Blind was the heyday of PVP university classes with BASIC, WOLFPACKS and COVOPS beign refined and ADVANCED being invented. AGONY upgraded the Vent server and fielded massive packs of destroyers and frigs. The classes once scorned were filling literally within minutes of announcement. AGONY also began to get into heavier ships and complimented those with extremely well trained skirmishers.<br />
<br />
AGONY was well on the way to recovery.<br />
<br />
Pure blind was something of an idyllic time for AGONY in the middle of the corp's development. There were targets aplenty as anyone who wanted to traverse into the north needed to either go through pure blind or solidly held and camped alliance space. The alliances really didn't want Pure Blind that much because there was little there for the big crews to exploit. There were few moons of real value and the rats were of mediocre quality. Furthermore the NPC stations meant that it was impractical to dislodge any small corp that wished to take up residence. Sure the alliances had the manpower to infinitely camp the stations but that gets old fast for alliance pilots and since they couldn't take the stations, the area was left pretty much alone to act as a huge combat arena. That suited AGONY just fine. <br />
<br />
AGONY became the roaming pack of PVPers that could literally be anywhere in the North at a moment's notice. Ratters learned to straight dock or warp and cloak when a single AGONY came in system. It got to the point that AGONY was occasionally able to fly haulers right through empire chokes without escort because those camping the gates would be fearful, for good reason, of a trap. When they did come after AGONY, the opponents usually preferred to outnumber us 3 or 4 to 1 and then they felt better about it but mostly we managed to avoid serious wipe outs in combat. Our ships were relatively cheap and AGONY pilots had a nose for smelling the 250million isk caracal in the enemy formation. In fact AGONY had to be the king of roamers because people had begun to desert pure blind to escape the raving bunch of maniacs that could not be NAPed and would shoot anything. Even BOB, after a quick foray into pure blind, left to pursue more productive activities after loosing multiple interceptors to fishing and flybys and several battleships to basic classes. <br />
<br />
When it came to AGONY's combat development, we finally had the moxy to make a serious attempt at small POS warfare. The operations required a massive amount of battleship firepower at the time. There were no dread pilots in AGONY and dreads themselves were enormously expensive. AGONY under the FC and event leadership of Bamar took out several small POSes after putting them in reinforced. Now the farmers were evacuating Pure Blind as well. About this time NXT Level (Roc and Beef's old corp) got a carrier in trouble off the Sisters of Eve station in x-7omu. Unfortunately we simply didn't have the firepower to break the tank but the carrier pilot was scared out of his mind and Rells poked that fire a bit asking him where his backup from NXT was. It was only a week or two later that the carrier pilot in question dropped NXT and left the area. Rells had counted another psyops coup. <br />
<br />
Other developments in AGONY were seriously underway with the implementation of the PVP-ADVANCED class and the refinement of several other classes. The problem with the classes is that they had gotten so long and complicated that it took 12 hours to run them. Clearly this was not sustainable with 2 or 3 people running all of the classes week in and week out. Rells had formed AGONY to get paid for teaching PVP and now he had a bit more than he bargained for. Every week the class would fill in minutes and Rells would end up spending entire weekends at the mic. Some weekends Rells was insane enough to run two classes back to back. However, the classes were the core of the recruitment efforts. Although AGONY didn't recruit actively from the classes unless the pilot was in an NPC corp, many pilots decided on their own that they would like to join. The skills and discipline they were gaining through the classes was paying off in combat and many AGONY players, known today as a feircely lethal pilots, had their humble beginnings learning about tracking and orbiting in PVP-BASIC.<br />
<br />
Some class fights were particularly memorable. In one incident a wolfpacks class was jumped by a bait battleship while off gate in x-70mu. The class opened up on the bait but then quickly changed targets when the main fleet came in. EWAR was executed flawlessly and the smaller attacking ships blew like popcorn. When an interdictor warped in to pin us in a bubble, the students seamlessly switched to the interdictor and blew him up less than a second after he hit his bubble launcher. The opposition lost several ships in that fight, some really expesnive HACs and recons worth half a billion isk, and the losses to the class were only a couple of destroyers. <br />
<br />
Another fight that was particularly memorable occurred at the end of the first PVP advanced class when the class was headed back to Nonni to break up. A famous pirate named Lord Vodka decided he would attack the fleet with his command ship and a couple of friends while the fleet was in a safe spot. His command ship ended up blasted to pieces and the blinking pirate zipped his pod out to a station to regroup with his friends. The Advanced class warped to a planet to remote rep damage. Shortly after a group of well tanked battleships, all blinking red, jumped the AGONY formation. The pirates knew that usually when they warp into a group in lowsec, the group scatters and they can pick off targets as they wish. Unfortunately for the pirates they hadn't fought the combat psychotic known as Rells and they had no idea that the gang in question was actually a group of students looking for blood. No one scattered and Rells called primary targets. One ship went down and another was being worked on when two falcons showed up on the scene. Rells immediately burned out to the falcons in the company of two rapier pilots. Points were put on one of the falcons and the other ran scared, warping off. Rells was shortly jammed but the damage had been done, rells 5 drones were now eating away at the fragile recon and the two rapiers now had webs and disruptors on the falcon. The falcon fought valiantly but couldn't keep us all jammed and eventually caved to the mass of drones. His friend in the other falcon warped in to try to help him jam off the rest of us but the friend was caught by the rapier and stopped long enough to be the next victim. In the meantime the class had taken out 3 more ships with minimum losses, the blackbirds jamming the snot out of the opponent and the damps and tracks taking their toll. There was one battleship left, it was lord Vodka again in a heavily tanked BS trying to hold off destruction and loose. He was in 20% armor, 10%, 5% and in warps a Nidhoggur carrier to a planet in lowsec. The Nidhoggur caught the battleship with remote reps at half structure and we couldn't defeat the remote reps so we warped off. Of course the Nidhoggur was crazy and would subsequently lose that ship to another crew that had a waiting BS fleet. As we did not, we withdrew. <br />
<br />
It was at this time that Sever Aldaria, the default corporate videographer, completed his ground breaking video, the "Agony Phenomenon" and that video showed the magnificent corp that AGONY had become. Any ideas that we were a joke of a corp had been relegated to those in the Eve community that thought "Reason" was a dried fruit you get out of a Sun Maid box. The classes were well regarded and many corps began to require them for membership. It became increasingly harder to get into a class. Although many had threatened to compete with AGONY, anyone who tried realized just how much work it was and abandoned the idea. At this time it started to be known that if you wanted to learn about general aspects of eve and carebearing you went to Eve University but when you wanted to learn combat, you would come to AGONY. We were now the sharp point of the spear in pvp education and tactics thought Eve had begun to change. People abandoned monolithic fleets with huge firepower and started to work on ways of countering those wackos in AGONY. Through a combination of game balance changes and the spread of tactics from the thousands of pilots educated by agony, the sniping battleship was deprecated in favor of much more inventive strategies. Although a great portion of Eve still remains entrenched in firepower, much of eve actually thinks about tactics, traps, deceit and strategy. <br />
<br />
The only serious problem in pure blind was that AGONY pilots were outgrowing tech 1 ships of all kinds and even tech 2 frigs. They were reaching a wall whereby they would need much more financial backing to proceed into the next level of ship combat. Furthermore, as invention hadn't been ... well ... invented yet, tech 2 was still enormously expensive. Clearly AGONY pilots needed to spend more time gathering isk than ever before. Some went off to their mission agents and some went off to work on a POS farm in another area of space with alts that couldn't be associated with AGONY. The pilots couldn't do these things while being known as AGONY pilots because that would get their investments wrecked by any number of the organizations we had pissed off up to now. Sure, some organizations respected AGONY's teeth but few actually liked us. <br />
<br />
However the money issue couldn't be denied and AGONY started getting spread out in search of isk. Through the stupidity of CCP, making money in empire was significantly more productive than doing so in 0.0 at the time. In fact most of 0.0 was a barren wasteland that was there seemingly to be merely an impediment to travel. Agony pilots kept on their alts in far flung areas of empire to hoard some cash before the next big fight. This was becoming an ever more heavy draw on the combat resources of AGONY and an impediment to growth. <br />
<br />
Another problem was that AGONY was becoming too complacent and comfortable for Rells' taste. They had bordered on arrogance in their handling of opponents and that indicated that they needed much more of a challenge. Something to keep what Rells called "the crucible" going. A crucible is a container used for melting metal at thousands of degrees and Rells had always seen the corp as a crucible where the strong, adaptive, intelligent team players were the most likely to survive. With money pressing and the need for more challenge, Rells began to look North to Venal.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Venal I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : 6NJ8-V<br />
<br />
As the corp members began to need more and more funding, it was clear that they would have to disperse to their mission agents because the Pure Blind region simply couldn't support the needs of AGONY. As a result people were spread out all over the universe and often logging in just for scheduled gangs and for a quick gank in x-70mu. On top of that many in the corp had become complacent. Pure Blind had mostly cleared out of any serious threat and camping gates that didnt fire for 9 hours straight was not in the nature of AGONY pilots. However another mini-crisis was brewing as well. <br />
<br />
In the lead up to Venal, AGONY had recruited heavily and as a result had a large number of potential pilots in the corp that needed a bit of mentoring. All sorts of mistakes were being made that were, in the minds of leadership, stupid at the best. Haulers were jumped into 0.0 without waiting for recon reports, pilots were flying into obvious traps and being popped like pinyatas and the general quality of PvP had been watered down. Although it wasn't exactly the fault of the newer pilots, they needed training is all, but it was also a fault of leadership. Gone were the days when AGONY could simply assimilate new players and hope they picked up living in 0.0 by osmosis. AGONYs policy of recruiting newbie players (which in the long run turn out to be some of the best) contributed to the problem. <br />
<br />
There was a third and ultimately more devastating problem pending. At this time AGONY was trying to keep corp hangers full of tech 1 gear, frigs and destroyers and some cruisers for members to use. One problem that was that some people were appropriating ships from the hangars and then tossing them away in stupid maneuvers because they didn't have any vested interest in the ships themselves. This is a natural byproduct of being given things, people tend to value those things less. Combined with the increase in pilots, logistics had become a daily 6 hour job for about 10 people in the corp including Rells. Life was consisting of logging in and replacing things in hangars, starting jobs getting the over 200 blueprints researched and then logging out tired and unhappy from having done no killing. AGONY for many in logistics had become a job, not a game. Many logistics people drifted off to other corps and the load was increased to the point of ridiculous. At one point Rells tracked that he had been spending 52 hours in one week doing logistics and hadn't run a gang in weeks. <br />
<br />
Clearly this was an unsustainable situation and so Rells began to look for ways to make corp members more independent and fatten their wallets. he reasoned that if they had more money they would be more likely to buy thier own ship or module rather than wait for someone to fill the gap in inventory. Rells also hoped that making the pilots richer would give more desire to stay in 0.0 space and not be transient 0.0 arena folks. A move was in the planning with leadership and Venal was the target. It was rich, it was far into 0.0 space which discouraged transient pilots, it was hostile giving players more challenge and it had NPC stations, essential for a corp without the moxy to hold space. <br />
<br />
The move to Venal was received with lukewarm reception at best which really surprised Rells. Rells attributed this to apathy and the obvious challenge that pure blind meant and pushed forward eager to create a crucible once more. He didn't want the pilots happy and comfortable but rather fat with isk and raving maniacs with bloodlust. After some convincing carrier flights began to hop gear up to the Sisters of Eve station in 6NJ8-V, Venal. Pilots began to filter up to the new home base and get the lay of the land. It was a tense time in AGONY. Many felt that Rells had made an awful mistake and some thought he was being outright pretentious and arrogant but most of AGONY persevered. The locals, however, were not amused.<br />
<br />
Phalanx alliance had held that space with tacit approval from their friends for as long as they could remember. They were not happy with their new co-habitant and less with the flippant attitude the new corp seemed to have towards diplomacy. Dimplomatic efforts were rebuffed with "no, we don't want a NAP." Furthermore, threats to crush AGONY just seemed to make the CEO chuckle and say, "Bring it on." Rells was far to concerned with internal strife to care one whiff about Phalanx Alliance and their posturing. Phalanx did try to make good on their threat to destroy agony and tied to enlist their allies in the process. Now began the Phalanx Alliance campaign which had something of a bittersweet ending. <br />
<br />
Phalanx was aggressive but not too bright. Many agony tactics worked beautifully on them. In one event Beef Hardslab managed to kill several interceptors returning from a fight with only the help of Rells' interdictor. The smartbombs did the trick. AGONY was anywhere and everywhere. Station camps were treated with flybys and other demoralizing tactics. On top of that psyops was in full force. Rells had become a bit bummed about the reception to the Venal move and had resolved to take out his anger on Phalanx alliance. Rells left a number of clues to Phalanx which indicated that their closest ally had actually hired AGONY to get rid of Phalanx so that the ally could have the system. Rells refused to confirm the allegations saying that he could not discuss the business of AGONY with their clients. The resonances had been set up and now just needed to be nurtured and they would rupture Phalanx. Rells then ordered pilots to not attack their supposed client if Phalanx was present or to allow the other alliance to escape from fights. Intel from Phalanx began to report these things and an earthquake built up in phalanx. Under the combined pressure of killing Phalanx peaceful ratters and interrupting their lucrative one jump trade missions, Phalanx began to crack. Obscenities began to be common in space and AGONY delighted in getting them muted by devs for obscenities not necessarily because they cared about the obscenity (agony were all adults after all) but because it pestered Phalanx and Phalanx earned it with their mouth. Phalanx were bad sports, horrible at pvp in numbers less than 30 and couldn't take the pressure. Corps began to peel off phalanx, they cancelled their NAP with other alliances and the breakup had begun. <br />
<br />
However, at the same time AGONY had its own problems to deal with. For one thing, the European players were under far more pressure than the American ones and it was far too late before Rells realized the enormity of the problem and many euros unfortunately took that as a sign of indifference. Rells actually didn't understand until he took a day off work to see what the problem was. Phalanx had the euros camped in a lot and it was much tougher to implement the guerrilla war that was the hallmark of AGONY during that time frame. Rells, finally realizing the problem started to advise ways of countering it and stepped up his psyops that he was hopeful was about to crack phalanx in half, relieving the pressure on the euros. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and Rells felt he had let down his euro players. But his next mistake would be one that would almost kill AGONY.<br />
<br />
The AGONY directors had met and decided that PVP-BASIC and WOLFPACKS wasn't enough, that there needed to be more formalizzed training beyond that. Venal had exposed the weakness in training in some pilots and the leadership wanted to plug these holes. As a group they decided to introduce certifications and military rank (which had up to then been honorary) and to require certifications for rank. Furthermore they reasoned the seasoned experts in AGONY would quickly run their certs back to the requirements of their rank. It seemed fair at the time to require everyone have the same qualifications to reach a rank and all of the leadership agreed to set an example by knocking out the certs they needed themselves. Rells brought the new ranking system to the membership and the reaction was entirely unexpected. <br />
<br />
Long time players, friends of Rells, were extremely angry at the rank reset and the certification requirements. They didn't feel they needed to justify their ranks and were pissed at being asked to do so. Many apparently felt it a betrayal of trust which was certainly not the intention of Rells or anyone else in the corp leadership. Several people immediately announced they were leaving and Rells was the lightning rod of their ire. Rells hadn't anticipated this reaction but rather thought people would be happy to have a formal rank structure. The anger completely caught him off guard and depressed him. Between the combination of the move to Venal and the cert system, long time friends had decided they didnt want to be part of AGONY anymore and Rells hated every leaving thread. Leaving threads snowballed and gained momentum and soon a large contingent was leaving and a large contingent was just as intent on staying. A civil war had erupted in AGONY.<br />
<br />
One hazard of being a CEO is that people sometimes forget you are a real person. Rells was crushed at what was happening to the corp and didn't know how to fix it. Furthermore, long time friends of Rells that he had flown with for 2 or more years had started to issue epithets, and accusations that were incredibly hurtful. Rells passed it off as anger and frustration but in reality few knew that Rells was a basket case, depressed and upset on a daily basis. Twice Rells offered his resignation to be rejected and talked down by leadership. It got to the point where many of the ex agony pilots were not only being extremely nasty to their former CEO, but they were doing it very publicly. Rells didn't give a damn what strangers though of him, only people he cared for could hurt him and some of them did. He knew that they had some valid points and some legit complaints but when the insults and nastiness came out, Rells just disconnected and went into something of a zombie mode. <br />
<br />
The exodus had started to subside and AGONY was in a bit of a state of shock. Like a boxer stunned by a right hook, AGONY was on the floor and struggling to get up. Rells was in much worse condition having canceled and reactivated his account seven times in a month. However, things began to stabilize because of the resilience of the pilots and the fact that the rest of the AGONY leadership handled it far better than Rells. Phalanx, for their part coincidentally decided they wanted to evict AGONY for good and set up bubbles on the station and kept them there for days, manned 24 hours a day. The USA agony players were able to harass them and even get them to blow up their own bubbles on a number of occasions when no one in their corp could unanchor. However, the euros had a much harder time of it with fleets of 50 often in the system. Rells had made the mistake of not requiring enough diversification of where equipment should be put in several stations and even systems to allow options in the case of camping. Ultimately Phalanx ended up ending their own siege and giving up on driving AGONY out but at the same time AGONY was in a horrible state of affairs with a lot of animosity on both sides, the decision was made to withdraw agony first to h-pa and then back to pure blind. Coming back felt bad, as if AGONY had been defeated for the first time. The corp was in a bad state and Rells had just about had enough of Eve.<br />
<br />
==Pure Blind II==<br />
<br />
Date: April 08 to Nov 08<br />
<br />
Base of operations : X-7OMU<br />
<br />
Back in Pure Blind, AGONY began to recover some of its strength and added some new memberships. Dozens of posts that had exchanged nasty comments from both sides, Rells included among the transgressors, were moved to archive to facilitate the rebuilding and prevent recruits from seeing the carnage. Agony began to prosper again after a while but Rells had faded from the game for the most part, often not logging in for weeks at a time. It was time for new leadership of AGONY and it wasn't long after that when Rells finalized his resignation nominating Bamar as his successor, started to look at other games and having bad luck in them, quit MMOs for over a year. The corp that Rells had founded so that he could PvP without ever having to rat or mine again, was now honestly better off in other leadership and Rells was officially burned out on eve. <br />
<br />
However, AGONY began to take new directions. Bamar, began to put his own imprint upon the corp and the corp began to recover a lot of its former glory. Not too long after, Bamar would reverse out the horrible mistake of the certs and move the corp in his own direction and it has prospered under Bamar possibly more than it ever did or could have under Rells. <br />
<br />
So ends my personal recorded history of AGONY. Naturally it is recorded from my own point of view and others had different impressions of certain incidents. However, perhaps for the first time, some may know my view of things. Writing this has been an emotional experience.<br />
<br />
Today the pilots of AGONY are known Eve-wide as being lethal and innovative and under fantastic leadership with fantastic people staffing the fleets. Bigger organizations than AGONY have a healthy respect for the pilots of AGONY and you can see it in how they try and fight you. I hope that I had some part in starting the ride but it is for all of you, every one of you, to take that history, that fight for survival, that wonderful coalescence of tactics and keep the name high and honored among the corps of eve. In AGONY's beginning no one knew who AGONY was -- and many that were known before, are lost to be forgotten by history but AGONY remains. Now few dont know AGONY.<br />
<br />
==Curse I==<br />
<br />
Date: Nov 08 to Feb 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Hemin<br />
<br />
As the Great War reached its peak, the whole north began to NAP against Band of Brothers (the core of this would remain NAPed long after the war ended as the Northern Coalition), and the majority of PvP pilots flocked to the front lines in the south. This left the north, including Agony’s long time home of Pure Blind, a very quiet place. It was time for a ‘vacation’. <br />
<br />
Our destination was Curse, in the south. Like Syndicate, Curse is a heavily stationed region, and thus a popular area for smaller non-sov holding factions who are typically hostile to each other. It was also close enough to the main fighting that it was still well populated. <br />
<br />
Agony made its home in Hemin, a pipe system close to empire, making it excellent for bubble camping and bringing the targets to us, which indeed became a common and very successful tactic for Agony gangs during this deployment. The initial period in particular, before Agony had tamed the system, saw great deal of action right on our doorstep. At the time of this writing (roughly a year later) Hemin remains one of Agony’s most destructive systems in history. <br />
<br />
This deployment also saw an incident which is forever ingrained in Agony history as ‘Speedy’s balls’, during which a drunken Executive Outcomes carrier pilot hotdropped a small Agony sub-capital camp (back in the days when a carrier kill was kind of a big deal!) and was gradually torn apart, accompanied by vent recordings and all.<br />
<br />
Agony's Curse deployment culminated in our entry in the [[AT6 Summary of Matches|6th Alliance Tournament]], in which Agony succesfully made the final 8 teams.<br />
<br />
==Venal II==<br />
<br />
Date: Feb 09 to June 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : 6NJ8-V<br />
<br />
Tactial Developments: Partial move from localised camping and ad-hoc to more structured, longer range roaming gangs. Larger ship classes (especially Cruisers & BCs) are now the norm in Agony roams.<br />
<br />
Following the Alliance Tournament, Agony’s Curse deployment came to an end. With wallets running low, many members found their PvP time reduced by the need to earn isk. To counteract this, a plan was made to spend a short time, perhaps a month or so, on some hardcore isk making ready for a more challenging deployment afterwards.<br />
<br />
Venal seemed the perfect choice for such a venture. While still NPC space, Venal is deep into 0.0 and is considered quite a profitable region, with excellent ratting territory. It was also an old haunt of Agony, with Venal I often being considered one of Agony’s best deployments. Intel reported that the region was very quiet at the time, and the decision was made.<br />
<br />
What made Venal an interesting deployment was primarily the distance from high sec space, and the bearing of this upon logistics operations. Unlike most of our deployments, Venal as a region does not border empire space. Conventional travel requires around 25 jumps through Pure Blind and Tribute, and even carriers cannot reach Venal in a single cyno jump.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, Agony’s Pure Blind base in X-70MU was still maintained and relatively quiet, so the move was split into two phases; firstly a move to Pure Blind, followed by the final move to Venal. Due to the difficulty of the move, as well as the intended length of stay, ship transport was minimal, and mainly geared towards ratting.<br />
<br />
They say that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and this is exactly how things went. Upon arriving in 6NJ8-V, the same HQ Agony had used during our previous stay in the region, things were not so quiet after all. Our PvP habit rapidly replaced any intention to carebear, and Agony did what Agony does best - pewpew!<br />
<br />
Notable opponents during this stay were Circle of Two (a relatively minor alliance in the Northern Coalition who would later come to unexpected fame as runners up in the [[7th Alliance Tournament]]), Tau Ceti Federation (also NC, these guys moved right into 6NJ with us near the end of the deployment) and Morsus Mihi (that’s right, more NC) in Tribute to the south.<br />
<br />
In the end, Venal II lasted far longer than originally intended, and while it didn’t succeed in its original purpose as an isk raising venture, it did provide an interesting logistical challenge, and a limited amount of action with good a good environment for medium to long roams. Inevitably though, greener pastures soon began to beckon, and as rumours began to spread of a potentially interesting situation in Great Wildlands, it was time to pack up and move back to Pure Blind ready for our next deployment.<br />
<br />
==Great Wildlands II==<br />
<br />
Date: June 09 to October 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : N-DQ0D<br />
<br />
Tactial Developments: Early GW - Experimenting with the use of POS, and living in a highly hostile environment. Late GW - More focus on solo and smaller gang, due to low activity; smaller ships such as AF become increasingly popular again.<br />
<br />
During the end of Agony’s stay in Venal, Great Wildlands had become a highly contested region due to the collapse of Foundation Alliance, who had previously controlled the area. After the relative quiet of Venal, it was hoped that a warzone like this would provide the kind of interesting tactical challenges that we were looking for.<br />
<br />
As it happened, we faced an entirely different set of challenges. By the time Agony finally deployed to Great Wildlands (via a short stay in Pure Blind), fighting in the region had ceased and the area was firmly in the grip of Cult of War, who had NAPed most other factions in the region (the most notable groups being Gentlemen’s Club and YARR & Co). Rote Kapelle remained neutral and occasionally roamed in from nearby lowsec, but the region was otherwise completely NAPed.<br />
<br />
Our choice of system was N-D, the least populous of the three station systems in Gread Wildlands (the majority of CoW based out of the nearby systems of E02-IK and M-MD3B, which acted as a chokepoint to all of southern GW). This left us with relatively free reign of the northernmost pipes such as the one to Etherium Reach, but effectively cut off from most of the southern Wildlands.<br />
<br />
Due to the station being kickout, we initially staged from a POS. This served the dual purpose of facilitating logistics and provoking a response from CoW.<br />
<br />
Initial operations began as expected. A number of CoW regulars kept the N-D station camped pretty much around the clock, usually with capital support. Roaming gangs encountered some success, but targets in Wildlands were sparse, and CoW & friends were quick to use their numbers advantage in most fights, with most trips into southern Wildlands being swiftly camped into the pipe once they passed the CoW home systems. Thus Etherium Reach to the north became the preferred destination.<br />
<br />
Before long, CoW began to take an interest in the POS. Initial attacks were mainly casual, and were repelled with a combination of POS gunners and bombing runs. Eventually CoW committed to a more organised assault as expected and put the POS into reinforced. Word was spread discreetly to a few of CoW’s enemies, and when the CoW cap fleet entered siege the following day, they were annihilated by a hotdrop from Pandemic Legion. CoW ultimately returned to remove the POS with a cautious sub-capital fleet, but by this point the damage was done.<br />
<br />
Shortly afterwards, corp focus switched to the [[7th Alliance Tournament]]. Despite an excellent showing behind the scenes and an excellent first round, we suffered a significant loss in the second round and were unable to qualify for the finals.<br />
<br />
Due to a combination of factors, most notably the tournament, Agony activity in Wildlands had gradually died. Most of the corp had moved to lowsec, and gangs generally ignored Wildlands in favour of Etherium Reach. Morale and participation were at a significant low, as was combat efficiency, leading to GW commonly being considered as one of Agony's darker times. Rather than rebuild our Wildlands 0.0 presence, the corp chose to look forwards, with a number of options considered for our future direction including faction warfare and mercenary work. Ultimately though it was backwards, not forwards, that we chose to head.<br />
<br />
==Syndicate II and Agony 0.0==<br />
<br />
Date: October 09 to March 2010<br />
<br />
Base of operations : EZA-FM<br />
<br />
Tactical Devlelopments: Bombers become very popular in the corp, leading to some of Agony's first successful blackops drops as well as co-ordinated bombing tactica. Some move back towards short range roams and localised camping, with HSSR fleets becoming very popular, as well as the re-introduction of HSLR and some (mainly unsuccessful) experimentation with RR battleships.<br />
<br />
Syndicate is considered the birthplace of Old Agony, and in many ways this deployment was intended as a return to those roots in order to re-strengthen the corp.<br />
<br />
Geographically, Syndicate couldn’t be more different to Great Wildlands. A heavily stationed region, Syndicate has historically been a hotbed for small unaligned factions - a huge change to the quasi-sov situation in Wildlands at the time. It also differs in its lack of pipes, with most routes (other than the pipe between upper and lower Syndicate) having multiple viable paths.<br />
<br />
Agony made its new home in EZA-FM southern Syndicate. While not really an obvious through-system to anywhere, EZA is central enough to have numerous entrance and exit routes (and isn’t in a pocket), giving the corp a great deal of maneuvreability. Our most significant neighbours were the very large IT Alliance (mainly ex-Band of Brothers) just one system away in 6-C and Reblier (some of whom later based out of EZA) and long-time Syndicate residents Huzzah Federation in the nearby PC9 pocket. (After the Dominion expansion, most of IT Alliance moved on to sov warfare, and Huzzah ultimately disbanded, with numerous smaller factions moving in in their wakes).<br />
<br />
During this time, Agony also underwent a significant internal change – the replacement of the complex Agony 2.0 philosophy for the more streamlined Agony 0.0.<br />
<br />
The guiding ethos of the change was to focus on PvP rather than beurocracy. Under Agony 0.0, the complex military ranks were removed in exchange for a flat structure, with all Core members (other than directors) sharing equal responsibility. Many internal admin processes were simplified and/or delegated, most notably recruitment and trial periods, which underwent a complete rework. Agony’s previously rigid Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement were also modified in favour of a more simplified ‘common sense’ system.<br />
<br />
Syndicate proved to be far more suited to small gang and solo PvP than Wildlands had been, with activity, morale and effectiveness quickly rising to pre-Wildlands levels, and then beyond. An influx of new members and the return of many old ones breathed further life into the corp, and Agony began to flourish once again. Tactical development (inspired partly by our unused preparation work on the tourney) was once more a part of Agony life, initially with regular HSLR and HSSR and bomber gangs, and expanding to include RR battleships, Black Ops drops and Titan bridging.<br />
<br />
Other incidents of note include Agony being wardecced by long time Syndicate residents and local gankers Exquisite Malevolence, who proceeded to get their POS network torn down by Agony within the first few days of the war, and Agony's first Mothership kill courtesy of No Trademark.<br />
<br />
==Providence==<br />
<br />
Date: March 2010 to Dec 2010<br />
<br />
Base of operations : H6-CX8<br />
<br />
Tactical Development: First real encounter with Sovereignty. Prolification of logistics, including Agony's first forays into the use of the triage carrier. Blackops drops and Durka battleships become (or re-become) hallmark Agony tactics, with innovation on both. ArmourHAC gangs and later Drake swarms become flavour of the month throughout Eve, with Agony deploying both to great effect. Later parts of the stay saw Agony participating in and leading very large CTA fleets or operating as a subsidary 'ace in the sleeve' for these fleets, such as an autonomous bomber or ewar wing.<br />
<br />
In early 2010, Against All Authorities fell out with the long-time resident of Providence, CVA (and their various allies) and decided to remove them from the region. CVA had long held the region as an NRDS carebear's paradise, and had populated it with a huge number of outposts. However, the space itself was almost worthless in terms of moon income, and there had been little incentive for anyone to remove them.<br />
<br />
AAA approached Agony, along with a small number of other alliances, with the offer of a constellation in Providence with no strings attached - for AAA's part it gave them a non-sov-threatening neighbour on their border, as well as a target rich environment for PVP. For Agony, it gave the same target rich environment, as well as an opportunity to experiment with sovereignty without needing to get involved in the politics of 0.0 bloc warfare.<br />
<br />
CVA was removed fairly swiftly, and Agony moved in as one of the first Providence residents into the constellation around H6-CX8, a pipe constellation close to Providence's main highsec entrance, and a great location for targets. Neighbouring 9UY (the hub connecting all the pipes of Providence) became the home of Ushra'Khan, with the highsec border system of Y-M going to Atlas Alliance, providing significant numbers of targets on both sides.<br />
<br />
Other noteable initial residents included Paxton Federation (an old CVA ally who was initially kept in out of respect for their will to fight, but later removed when they attempted to help CVA reclaim the space), Daisho Syndicate, Sodalitas XX, and Opticon Alliance (who were also removed by Agony & Friends when CVA managed to psyops them into believing an invasion was imminent, at which point they promptly allied themselves with CVA and turned on the rest of Providence). Later additions include Important Internet Spaceship League and Flying Dangerous (both friends of Agony from Syndicate, with similar modus operandi to our own), Circle of Two (who we earlier fought in Venal II), Shock and Awe, Legio Astartes Arcanum, and the well known mercenary corp Noir who used a constellation primarily for renters. In addition to these, a great number of non-resident corps would roam into Providence for it's rich PVP environment, including Genos Occidere (for a time part of Hydra Reloaded), AAA and AAA Citizens, Initiative, and many others.<br />
<br />
Intially many of the Providence residents were relucant to un-blue either other after the invation, with Agony being the first to do so by a considerable period. This, along with Agony's increasing PVP success and reliability when it came to joint ops and regional leadership have a significant boost to Agony's public profile as well as securing a leadership role within the Providence community despite our small size.<br />
<br />
This period also included Agony's first (assisted) Titan kill, and a period of rapid tactical development, with many new tactics becoming commonplace in additon to an increasing (and increasingly expensive) range of ships at our disposal. Of particular note, ArmourHAC gangs (low-sig afterburning armour tanked HACs and guardians, especially Zealots) became incredibly popular throughout Eve, and Agony fielded them with much success.<br />
<br />
Due to the Sov nature of Providence as a region, this deployment was not without it's drama. Providence alliances would rattle their sovereignty sabres from time to time, and a number of Provi resident alliances collapsed (either effectively or entirely) during this period, leaving the membership and power-balance of Provi in almost constant flux.<br />
<br />
The biggest shakeup occurred when first Atlas and then Against ALL Authorities, both of whom had been major players in the taking of Providence, all but collapsed under attack from a number of alliances supported by Pandemic Legion. With the big boys gone, alliances within Provi began jostling for the leadership role, sparking a confrontation between Daisho and Ushra'Khan which saw Provi split into two warring factions in what became known as the 'Providence Civil War'. Agony, along with a number of other neutral alliances opted to stand by the initial agreement of non-invasion, and defend any alliance whose space was under attack - as the weaker of the two parties by a significant margin, this meant Ushra'Khan. Unable to gain any ground against the rest of Providence, Daisho soon began to back down and negotiate peace. However by this point eyes were on Providence from elsewhere, and in its fractured state it looked like a juicy target.<br />
<br />
The first to invade Providence was CVA, the previous residents who had retained much of their strength. All of Providence was soon blue-ed up for defence and CTA fleets of a few hundred a side became the norm, to the disappointment of many Agony pilots. While CVA was able to match or often surpass Provi numbers in Euro timezone, their number in US timezone were almost non-exitant, and the CVA push quickly stalled. However for whatever reason, a number of Provi alliances in the area managed to drop their sov, and CVA pounced on every opportunity, quickly securing themselves a handful of systems in southern Provi without having to fight through the timers. Due to Provi's lower numbers in Euro timezone and the significant defender advantage in Dominion sov mechanics, both sides were now unable to make significant inroads, and the war stagnated.<br />
<br />
After being evicted from Could Ring, the German alliance Ev0ke set their sites on northern Provi, as far from the CVA war as possible and the site of Provi's effectively largest alliance (Daisho had been fairly inactive since the civil war) - Sodalitas XX. With much of provi on the verge of collapse, it fell to Agony to hold the region together with Bamar assuming the leadership role of the coalition. Gradually, Provi began to form a cohesive fighting force. However Ev0ke were a strong and co-ordinated opponent, and this too became a timezone war with very little territorial change on either side.<br />
<br />
This war dragged on for months, with many in Agony tiring of the situation. The tipping point came when Ev0ke managed to bring in their friends from 'NC.' (formerly Triumvirate), eliminating Provi's US advantage. At this point, the majority of Provi quickly fell apart, with a number of alliances either collapsing or leaving. Agony morale and participation were beginning to suffer, and after much internal deliberation, Agony decided it was no longer worth trying to hold the region together. In the space of two days, agony's entire membership and asset base had been relocated to Curse. Agony's sov adventures were over - we were back in NPC 0.0, but far stronger for our experiences.<br />
<br />
==Curse II==<br />
<br />
Date: Dec 2010 onwards<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Hemin<br />
<br />
The future awaits!</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=The_History_of_AGONY&diff=17684The History of AGONY2011-09-07T20:23:49Z<p>Bamar: /* Origins of Agony */</p>
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<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
[[Category:Public]]<br />
<br />
<small>Early history (Origins - Pure Blind II) by Rells. Later history (Curse I Onwards) by Azual.</small><br />
<br />
In (Perpetual) Development!<br />
<br />
==Origins of Agony==<br />
<br />
Rells founded AGONY with a desire to break from big alliance warfare and teach the basics of frigate combat. The first ever PvP-Basic class was run soon after, with 12 students and an ad-hoc curriculum. It was an inauspicious start, but the message was there. New players can be effective in PvP, and that there's a world outside massive battleship sov. warfare.<br />
<br />
==The First Wolfpacks==<br />
<br />
Date: April 30th, 2006<br />
<br />
PVP-BASIC had been running quite regularly by spring of 2006. It was starting to become more well known, advertised by word of mouth and a bit of discreet system spamming. The classes were running 30 or so pilots per class. However many of our graduates wanted more and so did I.<br />
<br />
So several months later I am sitting in MHC-R3 with the first group of about 12 students for the pvp Wolfpacks class. We had intel that an enemy fleet was coming up the pipe from the far end near solitude and they were blasting everything in their path. Slightly ahead of the main fleet was a single Megathron and his tackling buddy. He was presumedly the bait for the main fleet. Once he got you engaged then he would call in his friends and they would finish you off. He certainly did not expect what happened.<br />
<br />
The Megathron jumped into MHC-R3 from 6E-578 and warped after the ship he saw there. He came out of warp 100km off the gate inside a small mobile warp disruptor. Immediately the destroyers on the bubble jumped him, tagging him with EWAR. "Point!!!" yelled an excited Sever Aldaria (nearly blowing my eardrums.) "Damp, Track, Web," the calls came in over Ventrilo. The intrepid mega pilot had been reduced to a paperweight in effectiveness and his valuable tank melted like butter on a hot sunny day. At the same time Rells noticed half the players in he gang were orbiting the mega and in the bubble. Local had already spiked and the relief fleet was in warp. I said over and over again, "get out of the bubble, get out of the damn bubble." As soon as the last destroyer was clear I engaged warp to a safespot, the parting shot from students popping both the pod and wreck. Right as the crew were warping out, the reinforcements were arriving. The landing fleet had to see us flying off grid as they arrived.<br />
<br />
What followed was smack talk like you had rarely seen in your life. Of course they blew up the bubble and told us how stupid we were that we couldn't fly a battleship like "real men." However, I was busily trying to calm down my crew who were suffering from the after effects of adrenaline rush. This was 2006 in Eve online. People just didn't PvP in destroyers. Destroyers were a piece of garbage that had no use whatsoever. However, this Megathron pilot learned what happens when people think out of the box and to the students involved, it served as a lesson that you don't have to have the biggest ship to win at pvp.<br />
<br />
After the fight we collected ourselves and roamed a bit. We caught a couple more ships and toasted them but then time ran out as the class evaporated to the pressure of duties outside Eve Online. After we broke up Choran posted his video of the incident (which used to be on our server) and I posted about the video to the main Eve forums in order to advertise our classes.<br />
<br />
You have to understand that our classes weren't well known and were almost universally condemned as being a scam to rip off newbies or at best devoid of value. Our videos of fights were claimed to have been staged with a throwaway ship in order to bilk players out of isk. You can see on the video post thread what the reaction of the players at the time was. When presented with video evidence they had to believe. However most thought that the Megathron was stupid. "I could kill 14 destroyers in my Ishtar no problem, especially 14 pilotted by relatively new players," claimed one pilot. The thread devolved into a flame war that kept it pinned to the top for a week and filled subsequent classes to the point that we had to upgrade our vent account.<br />
<br />
The next few basic classes were packed, Wolfpacks class was even more packed. We were up to 30 destroyers with two covops pilots flying recon. The hurt was put on syndicate. They started avoiding wolfpacks when Carenthor loon dropped us on two different eagles and they blew so fast not even all the cycled guns on the destroyers went off. Wolfpacks was now a bastion of the AGONY curriculum and strangely the laughter at the destroyers in local subsided. <br />
<br />
==Syndicate==<br />
<br />
Date: 2006<br />
<br />
Base of operations : UM-Q7F<br />
<br />
It was in 2006 that AGONY made its first real foray into 0.0 space for the purpose of living. Since Jump Freighters had not been introduced yet and capitals were restricted to massive alliances, the move resembled an old Battlestar Galactica episode with a train of haulers protected by several smaller ships via recon. The system UM-Q7F was the destination of the fleet. It took a bunch of haulers and runs back and forth with ships but the agony pilots finally got all of their gear a scant two jumps into what was known at the time as the most violent area in Eve.<br />
<br />
At this time PF-346 was a bright sun of a system on the "ships destroyed in last 24 hours" map. Anyone who wanted to prove their virtual manhood in Eve would go and try to hit PF and most of them ended up dead. The attraction of the system was more historical than anything else. PF-346 was the system where people in Beta would go to fight when there were few in the immense universe of Eve and after the start of the game PF-346 remained PVP central. Even to this day on the test server, PF-346 is the central location where people go to fight. In 2006 PF-346 was a nasty place and Syndicate was an extension of PF-346. No one could claim Syndicate for very long before they were crushed by the tide of resident and tourist PvPers. Into this violent soup I had thrown AGONY.<br />
<br />
It wasnt easy living in 0.0 for the first time for many of our pilots. You had to constantly watch your back and you were never able to relax. Some of our members couldn't handle the pressure and left. Other members thought that we should join up with larger alliances. The character Ezra from Brooklyn was one of those and despite being one of the first co-directors, he didnt get what I was trying to accomplish. The first crisis in the survival of AGONY occurred when Ezra took nearly half the corp and left to go join another alliance. I was determined to stick it out and to not have any blues unless there was something damn good in it for AGONY and there rarely was in those days.<br />
<br />
When Ezra left I was pissed to be sure. I felt betrayed by a friend and livid. Fortunately I still had another co-founder named Rasql with me and I adopted a bright young pilot who joined with a good percentage of his entire corp after their ex-ceo stole everything from the corp and left. Sever Aldaria became another director of AGONY as did Stein Vorhees. Despite the "MHC Incident" with a class, another pilot named Carenthor Loon promised to be a future expert in covert ops. AGONY continued to run its classes and build up but out main focus was getting together the class gangs and trying to figure out how to not get crushed like a grape by the feet of the enormous alliances around us.<br />
<br />
Necessity was the mother of invention and Knez Rex was sick of waiting for classes to go out and kick some butt. He fashioned together a Rifter, one of few ships he could fly at the time, and put on the biggest guns he could, then a small buffer tank with a plate. Then he put on two webs and a warp disruptor. At that time that is what you needed to stop an interceptor. The two webs would drop the inty by 90% each, stacking on each other and the point would keep him around -- the scrambler at the time only gave 2 points at 10km with no microwarp turnoff. Knez went out on the first fishing trip ever; he sat on the Harroule gate in MHC-R3 and just waited. His first customer was a Malediction interceptor and he destroyed it to the dismay of the inty pilot.<br />
<br />
By this time other inventions in AGONY were well under way. The safe spot was as old as beta but very few people had bookmarks spaced around a gate at 300km. Some sniper ships which were common at the time would have a couple but the majority of bookmarks in the game were to allow a pilot to warp to 0 on a gate. At that time you could only warp to 15km and so pilots would mark 15km behind a gate and warp to the bookmark -- they were called instas. Although instas went the way of the dodo when warp to 0 came about, through thick controversy, other types of tactical bookmarks came into being. When we discovered we could warp if the target was 150km or more away we knew we could use that to our advantage. Since we didnt have huge fleets to back us up, necessity forced us to innovate and tactical bookmarks started getting marked around gates. We had straight up, behind, all manner of bookmarks. We had bookmarks to drop us 5000km off a gate to scan and other bookmarks to warp up to those sniping battleships who liked to mark directly above the gate. Our covops pilot learned to anchor the fleet in tactical warps and many a sniper died to the fledgling upstarts in AGONY. The alliance 3FA amongst others declared all out war on AGONY in 0.0.<br />
<br />
The problem 3FA had with us was not that they couldn't out gun us; on the contrary they could crush us with firepower. Their problem was that we moved so quickly and with such agility that they couldn't catch us. We would pick off their tacklers, their lead ships and their stragglers and then vanish before they could get a hold of us. On one incident in particular a fleet of nearly 30 3FA ships were chasing the 15 man AGONY fleet through Syndicate. The race was on to get out and their tacklers and fast warping cruisers were trying to catch up to us. One rupture set up to do 4km/s was almost on top of us, being only 1/2 a jump back and 2 jumps ahead of the main 3FA fleet. AGONY went through the next gate and just stopped. As soon as the rupture came through he saw the waiting fleet and held cloak as long as he could. It wasn't long enough. The rupture was popped and podded, the wreck was destroyed and the AGONY pilots were warping off grid just as the gate was firing for the main 3FA fleet. Between the experience AGONY pilots were gaining with tacticals and the fast moving tactics, 3FA and other residents of Syndicate were stymied on how to deal with this pest of a corp.<br />
<br />
The one thing 3FA and other had to fend us off was their vastly superior firepower and 10 to 1 superiority in pilot count. They stopped sitting at 100km and sniping because they lost a lot of ships to AGONY doing that. They stopped running ahead of thier main force because too many got picked off. They stopped attacking AGONY frigs with interceptors because fishing had become commonplace and they lost a lot of valuable interceptors to AGONY. Fleet warfare had devolved into 3FA and others sitting in a tightly bunched ball, huddled under the protection of the main fleet. The laughter at the frig packs roaming once every week through syndicate had subsided and they tried their best to avoid the classes. They had learned that smartbombing BS didn't kill the pack of pesky noobs and they had lost a lot of equipment trying. The frig packs were so quick that the fleets they deployed to take them out couldn't catch the pack and when the pack did engage those fleets the pack would lose a few cheap frigs and typically pop the most expensive thing in the other fleet. Of course the smacktalk never ceased.<br />
<br />
AGONY wasn't content with that situation. Even though the puny corp of less than 20 active players had forced major changes in the behavior of large alliances, AGONY pilots were bloodthirsty and inventive. One day when Rells was sitting over the gate to Harroule watching the 3FA come and go, an interceptor decided to power out to his cormorant at high speed. This was not a good situation for fishing which required catching the inty at short range and pinning it to neutralize the speed tank. Rells was in an annoyed mood and had an up to date clone so he fired his tech 2 rails at the incoming interceptor. All of the shield and half the armor of the ceptor vanished in the first volley. The ceptor pressed on and ended up in orbit after closing the distance at 8km per second. But the tracking of the destroyer and the tech 2 125s was too much and the third voley finished the armor. The interceptor turned to run out of point range but the fourth volley turned the ceptor into plasma.<br />
<br />
It occurred to Rells how to annoy his opponent at that time and he asked people to train up tech 2 small weapons and destroyers. It only required six or seven to execute the plan but ten would be better. Once trained up bookmarks were set and the next 3FA huddled fleet was to get a nasty surprise. A couple days later 3FA was firmly entrenched on the Harroule gate with fast lock tacklers. They saw 12 AGONY come in local adding to what they assumed (correctly) was the covops pilot already there. They scanned and saw the group of destroyers on scan and their snipers salivated at the comming kills. The AGONY pilots appeared on overview and the fleet commander called the primary AGONY target. They didn't get the chance to lock. It took less than six seconds and one volley from all 10 agony destroyers and a malediction was rubble on the gate and the fleet was gone. The second pass blew up a Crow and the FC sent out tacklers to grab the fleet next time they appeared. The tacklers were ready to snare the nasty ships, but the destroyer pack appeared next another 100km further away and a tackler lost their ship to a single volley. Placing more tacklers strung out, they were detearmined to take the force out. The AGONY destroyers, however, didn't oblige and appeared on the other side of the gate and launched a volley at a tech 1 cruiser. Wounded but not dead, the cruiser powered up his repair mechanisms but the second pass blew it up. After 10 min and 10 kills all the light ships had enough of the AGONY guys. They jumped out as soon as they saw the AGONY guys on overview. Chasing at them was suicide, trying to warp was too slow. Now 3FA was to be denied tacklers as was the rest of their allies in the area.<br />
<br />
It didn't take much longer before 3FA had left the area and subsequently broke up. Over time more and more corps gained grudging respect for those pesky AGONY guys. The laughter had subsided and anyone that had locked horns with the tiny group in Syndicate came away with a healthy respect and the conclusion that they had to take a new look at tactics within Eve. Pilots had begun to fear AGONY and that made it harder to get targets for the bloodthirsty maniacs. Eventually they had to move to find more.<br />
<br />
==Great Wildlands I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Egbinger<br />
<br />
The second great crisis in AGONY happened when the targets began to run thin in the Syndicate area. The big alliances had begun to leave syndicate alone and soon you could run an Iteron 5 through PF-246 without a scout. To AGONY this was practically the kiss of death. Although the classes were still running, it became harder and harder to get new targets to give the students practical experience. On top fo that, the bored AGONY pilots were drifting off to low sec at their mission alts to make money. The weekends were times of possible fight but otherwise the fertile ground of combat that had been Syndicate was dry. The directors met and decided that it was time to move.<br />
<br />
Since Rells' old stomping ground with BSA was the Great Wildlands, and he knew the area well, that region was targeted for the move. Advance pilots were dispatched to map the area, prep instas and create tacticals for dissemination. A huge bookmark campaign was underway. Some weeks later the corp was more or less packed up and began to move -- at least partially. Some in AGONY did not want to go to Great Wildlands and for the first solid month in GW, the corp was split in half. People were reluctant to change where they fought and some were just plain lazy. Bickering had started to develop in AGONY on the forums and elsewhere. Once in Great Wildlands, the pilots there had a tough time. The NPC stations in GW were locked up tight by numerous massive and co-NAPed alliances and they were willing to camp for years if necessary. At that time AGONY lacked the moxy to take space or construct outposts so the situation developed where AGONY was now based out of lowsec and had to traverse gate camps to enter 0.0.<br />
<br />
There were some really spectacular fights on that entry gate, one in particular had agony pilots going back time and again for new ships to try to finish off the ships tackled and immobilized. Although the carnage was spectacular, agony continued to learn about intel, teamwork and tactics. The fledgling corp learned how to traverse hostile space and the value of good intel. The fleets became good at using a new concept called Skirmishers. A skirmisher was a tackler pilot racing sometimes several jumps ahead of the fleet to find targets. The skirmisher could move much faster than the fleet and skipped through empty systems in the route quickly, giving him time to look for targets in occupied systems while the main fleet caught up. The fleet movements became more fluid and deadly. Agony fleets could cover huge expanses of space quickly with very little stopping and waiting on gate. With several skirmishers the fleet could probe alternate branches and even pull rear guard to allow them to double back on hostile forces.<br />
<br />
However, times were tough in AGONY and antipathy was high. People hated living in lowsec and they hated even more dealing with opponents that seemed to only show up in fleets of 400 and were all NAPed together. People drifted off to mission agents to recover from combat losses and AGONY was spread out all over the universe. At this time AGONY was in mortal threat of becoming one of many corps that just didn't make it in the hostile world of Eve. Although Rells was trying to keep the corp together with the other leadership, the whole PvP situation simply sucked. Squadrons came into being in order to manage the issue and try to put people closer to their commanders and that had some good effects but it didn't recover things. Furthermore, the more problems the GW people had, the harder it was to get people still in Syndicate to move. AGONY was, quite simply, dieing slowly. People were peeling off AGONY to go elsewhere and Rells was pained at every departure. It was becoming clear that moving to GW was, well, dumb. It was time for another change.<br />
<br />
==Pure Blind I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : X-7OMU<br />
<br />
The second move was agreed to by leadership and was met with a howl of protest. After all the first one wasnt so fun so it was little wonder the membership was reluctant to embrace another. Many wanted to go back to syndicate and pick up the AGONY stragglers (some of which never left there to this day). Many were just not happy. So the question was, where do we move to. All sorts of 0.0 regions were out there but had problems. Curse was rich in rat loot but occupied by rats that were a pain to kill. The regions of Catch, Outer Ring and Venal were considered but discarded because of their relatively tight pipes which favored huge fleets because they allowed few alternate routes. Pure Blind turned out to have potential. It had NPC stations, it had many alternate routes to limit the amount of trapping that can be done by large fleets. Pure blind also had the ability to access other regions as well as a high-sec to 0.0 gate which was active.<br />
<br />
Torrinos was owned by ISS at the time. ISS was, at one time, the largest supplier of Tech 2 in the game at a time when tech 2 was made only by those with BPOs won out of a random chance lottery. ISS had collected dozens of BPOs but they were, in the end, carebears. Living in 0.0 was something they had to do, not something they wanted to do. At the same time x-70mu, the target system for the move, was owned by a shaky alliance. To facilitate the move, Rells negotiated the first blue alliance in AGONY's history. At the time Rells was training empire control 5 to establish his own alliance but Rells really needed the inhabitants of x-70mu to mostly stay off his back while he got his corp back into 0.0. The move commenced, advanced pilots plotted instas and tacticals. Agony scraped together a run of two freighters which contained 90% of the corp and player assets. The freighters docked back in x-70mu and AGONY was once again back in 0.0.<br />
<br />
Once in 0.0, AGONY based out of the only kick-out station in the system and warned pilots to spread their gear to other stations. That was a safe warning because the inhabitants of the north took on an instant air of hostility. AGONY's overtures of peace were rebuffed possibly because they set only one blue alliance and believed peace was best established by wiping out everyone else. Alliances and corps offered NAPs one after another but Rells had boiled down diplomacy to a single word, "No". The hostiles swarmed in and AGONY learned how to use a kick-out station to their advantage. Docking in Sisters of Eve Academy was pure suicide. AGONY pilots would log in to hit a kill in the system if necessary and they were quick. Some tried bubbles but met with Flyby snipers for their trouble. AGONY was starting to come back, like a vampire, fueled by blood lust.<br />
<br />
All things must come to an end and so did AGONY's first NAP. One corp in the NAPed alliance was especially hostile and some of their members were downright rubes. One day they took it in their head to fire on and destroy an agony pilot while he was still blue to them. The resulting political controversy ended up ripping apart the fragile alliance and the aggressive corp remained, set AGONY red and devoted their existence to wiping out AGONY. AGONY rather enjoyed the fights, taunting the opponent, executing flybys on the bubble camps and otherwise making their life miserable. At one point AGONY managed to catch a freighter in space and pilots appeared out of the woodwork for AGONY to take it down. It didn't take long before the aggressive corp in question was spewing obscenities daily in local. However, there were a few bright spots in the opponent. A pilot named Roccinante was very good at what he did and was pretty respectful. AGONY began to solicit him to drop his corp and come over to the dark side. Another pilot named Beef Hardslab was well regarded as a worthy opponent as well. When the other corp broke up, AGONY acquired Beef and Roc and several other pilots.<br />
<br />
In Pure Blind, AGONY acquired skills in using POSes, researching tons of tech 1 BPOs and created a logistical nightmare that was perpetuated by the desire to keep basic equipment on hand for pilots in the corp. The logistics consumed the playtime of many AGONY pilots including Rells and was massively boring as well. However, there were bright spots in the skills department. Flybys had been perfected and AGONY was more often the hunter than the hunted. Beef Hardslab, borrowing on ideas from Heikki (a well known player at the time) invented the modern durka trap and incinerated tons of unwary ships. The hunting was good and so was the fishing. After a while enemy interceptors refused to engage single agony pilots. Also Pure Blind was the heyday of PVP university classes with BASIC, WOLFPACKS and COVOPS beign refined and ADVANCED being invented. AGONY upgraded the Vent server and fielded massive packs of destroyers and frigs. The classes once scorned were filling literally within minutes of announcement. AGONY also began to get into heavier ships and complimented those with extremely well trained skirmishers.<br />
<br />
AGONY was well on the way to recovery.<br />
<br />
Pure blind was something of an idyllic time for AGONY in the middle of the corp's development. There were targets aplenty as anyone who wanted to traverse into the north needed to either go through pure blind or solidly held and camped alliance space. The alliances really didn't want Pure Blind that much because there was little there for the big crews to exploit. There were few moons of real value and the rats were of mediocre quality. Furthermore the NPC stations meant that it was impractical to dislodge any small corp that wished to take up residence. Sure the alliances had the manpower to infinitely camp the stations but that gets old fast for alliance pilots and since they couldn't take the stations, the area was left pretty much alone to act as a huge combat arena. That suited AGONY just fine. <br />
<br />
AGONY became the roaming pack of PVPers that could literally be anywhere in the North at a moment's notice. Ratters learned to straight dock or warp and cloak when a single AGONY came in system. It got to the point that AGONY was occasionally able to fly haulers right through empire chokes without escort because those camping the gates would be fearful, for good reason, of a trap. When they did come after AGONY, the opponents usually preferred to outnumber us 3 or 4 to 1 and then they felt better about it but mostly we managed to avoid serious wipe outs in combat. Our ships were relatively cheap and AGONY pilots had a nose for smelling the 250million isk caracal in the enemy formation. In fact AGONY had to be the king of roamers because people had begun to desert pure blind to escape the raving bunch of maniacs that could not be NAPed and would shoot anything. Even BOB, after a quick foray into pure blind, left to pursue more productive activities after loosing multiple interceptors to fishing and flybys and several battleships to basic classes. <br />
<br />
When it came to AGONY's combat development, we finally had the moxy to make a serious attempt at small POS warfare. The operations required a massive amount of battleship firepower at the time. There were no dread pilots in AGONY and dreads themselves were enormously expensive. AGONY under the FC and event leadership of Bamar took out several small POSes after putting them in reinforced. Now the farmers were evacuating Pure Blind as well. About this time NXT Level (Roc and Beef's old corp) got a carrier in trouble off the Sisters of Eve station in x-7omu. Unfortunately we simply didn't have the firepower to break the tank but the carrier pilot was scared out of his mind and Rells poked that fire a bit asking him where his backup from NXT was. It was only a week or two later that the carrier pilot in question dropped NXT and left the area. Rells had counted another psyops coup. <br />
<br />
Other developments in AGONY were seriously underway with the implementation of the PVP-ADVANCED class and the refinement of several other classes. The problem with the classes is that they had gotten so long and complicated that it took 12 hours to run them. Clearly this was not sustainable with 2 or 3 people running all of the classes week in and week out. Rells had formed AGONY to get paid for teaching PVP and now he had a bit more than he bargained for. Every week the class would fill in minutes and Rells would end up spending entire weekends at the mic. Some weekends Rells was insane enough to run two classes back to back. However, the classes were the core of the recruitment efforts. Although AGONY didn't recruit actively from the classes unless the pilot was in an NPC corp, many pilots decided on their own that they would like to join. The skills and discipline they were gaining through the classes was paying off in combat and many AGONY players, known today as a feircely lethal pilots, had their humble beginnings learning about tracking and orbiting in PVP-BASIC.<br />
<br />
Some class fights were particularly memorable. In one incident a wolfpacks class was jumped by a bait battleship while off gate in x-70mu. The class opened up on the bait but then quickly changed targets when the main fleet came in. EWAR was executed flawlessly and the smaller attacking ships blew like popcorn. When an interdictor warped in to pin us in a bubble, the students seamlessly switched to the interdictor and blew him up less than a second after he hit his bubble launcher. The opposition lost several ships in that fight, some really expesnive HACs and recons worth half a billion isk, and the losses to the class were only a couple of destroyers. <br />
<br />
Another fight that was particularly memorable occurred at the end of the first PVP advanced class when the class was headed back to Nonni to break up. A famous pirate named Lord Vodka decided he would attack the fleet with his command ship and a couple of friends while the fleet was in a safe spot. His command ship ended up blasted to pieces and the blinking pirate zipped his pod out to a station to regroup with his friends. The Advanced class warped to a planet to remote rep damage. Shortly after a group of well tanked battleships, all blinking red, jumped the AGONY formation. The pirates knew that usually when they warp into a group in lowsec, the group scatters and they can pick off targets as they wish. Unfortunately for the pirates they hadn't fought the combat psychotic known as Rells and they had no idea that the gang in question was actually a group of students looking for blood. No one scattered and Rells called primary targets. One ship went down and another was being worked on when two falcons showed up on the scene. Rells immediately burned out to the falcons in the company of two rapier pilots. Points were put on one of the falcons and the other ran scared, warping off. Rells was shortly jammed but the damage had been done, rells 5 drones were now eating away at the fragile recon and the two rapiers now had webs and disruptors on the falcon. The falcon fought valiantly but couldn't keep us all jammed and eventually caved to the mass of drones. His friend in the other falcon warped in to try to help him jam off the rest of us but the friend was caught by the rapier and stopped long enough to be the next victim. In the meantime the class had taken out 3 more ships with minimum losses, the blackbirds jamming the snot out of the opponent and the damps and tracks taking their toll. There was one battleship left, it was lord Vodka again in a heavily tanked BS trying to hold off destruction and loose. He was in 20% armor, 10%, 5% and in warps a Nidhoggur carrier to a planet in lowsec. The Nidhoggur caught the battleship with remote reps at half structure and we couldn't defeat the remote reps so we warped off. Of course the Nidhoggur was crazy and would subsequently lose that ship to another crew that had a waiting BS fleet. As we did not, we withdrew. <br />
<br />
It was at this time that Sever Aldaria, the default corporate videographer, completed his ground breaking video, the "Agony Phenomenon" and that video showed the magnificent corp that AGONY had become. Any ideas that we were a joke of a corp had been relegated to those in the Eve community that thought "Reason" was a dried fruit you get out of a Sun Maid box. The classes were well regarded and many corps began to require them for membership. It became increasingly harder to get into a class. Although many had threatened to compete with AGONY, anyone who tried realized just how much work it was and abandoned the idea. At this time it started to be known that if you wanted to learn about general aspects of eve and carebearing you went to Eve University but when you wanted to learn combat, you would come to AGONY. We were now the sharp point of the spear in pvp education and tactics thought Eve had begun to change. People abandoned monolithic fleets with huge firepower and started to work on ways of countering those wackos in AGONY. Through a combination of game balance changes and the spread of tactics from the thousands of pilots educated by agony, the sniping battleship was deprecated in favor of much more inventive strategies. Although a great portion of Eve still remains entrenched in firepower, much of eve actually thinks about tactics, traps, deceit and strategy. <br />
<br />
The only serious problem in pure blind was that AGONY pilots were outgrowing tech 1 ships of all kinds and even tech 2 frigs. They were reaching a wall whereby they would need much more financial backing to proceed into the next level of ship combat. Furthermore, as invention hadn't been ... well ... invented yet, tech 2 was still enormously expensive. Clearly AGONY pilots needed to spend more time gathering isk than ever before. Some went off to their mission agents and some went off to work on a POS farm in another area of space with alts that couldn't be associated with AGONY. The pilots couldn't do these things while being known as AGONY pilots because that would get their investments wrecked by any number of the organizations we had pissed off up to now. Sure, some organizations respected AGONY's teeth but few actually liked us. <br />
<br />
However the money issue couldn't be denied and AGONY started getting spread out in search of isk. Through the stupidity of CCP, making money in empire was significantly more productive than doing so in 0.0 at the time. In fact most of 0.0 was a barren wasteland that was there seemingly to be merely an impediment to travel. Agony pilots kept on their alts in far flung areas of empire to hoard some cash before the next big fight. This was becoming an ever more heavy draw on the combat resources of AGONY and an impediment to growth. <br />
<br />
Another problem was that AGONY was becoming too complacent and comfortable for Rells' taste. They had bordered on arrogance in their handling of opponents and that indicated that they needed much more of a challenge. Something to keep what Rells called "the crucible" going. A crucible is a container used for melting metal at thousands of degrees and Rells had always seen the corp as a crucible where the strong, adaptive, intelligent team players were the most likely to survive. With money pressing and the need for more challenge, Rells began to look North to Venal.<br />
<br />
<br />
==Venal I==<br />
<br />
Date: ?<br />
<br />
Base of operations : 6NJ8-V<br />
<br />
As the corp members began to need more and more funding, it was clear that they would have to disperse to their mission agents because the Pure Blind region simply couldn't support the needs of AGONY. As a result people were spread out all over the universe and often logging in just for scheduled gangs and for a quick gank in x-70mu. On top of that many in the corp had become complacent. Pure Blind had mostly cleared out of any serious threat and camping gates that didnt fire for 9 hours straight was not in the nature of AGONY pilots. However another mini-crisis was brewing as well. <br />
<br />
In the lead up to Venal, AGONY had recruited heavily and as a result had a large number of potential pilots in the corp that needed a bit of mentoring. All sorts of mistakes were being made that were, in the minds of leadership, stupid at the best. Haulers were jumped into 0.0 without waiting for recon reports, pilots were flying into obvious traps and being popped like pinyatas and the general quality of PvP had been watered down. Although it wasn't exactly the fault of the newer pilots, they needed training is all, but it was also a fault of leadership. Gone were the days when AGONY could simply assimilate new players and hope they picked up living in 0.0 by osmosis. AGONYs policy of recruiting newbie players (which in the long run turn out to be some of the best) contributed to the problem. <br />
<br />
There was a third and ultimately more devastating problem pending. At this time AGONY was trying to keep corp hangers full of tech 1 gear, frigs and destroyers and some cruisers for members to use. One problem that was that some people were appropriating ships from the hangars and then tossing them away in stupid maneuvers because they didn't have any vested interest in the ships themselves. This is a natural byproduct of being given things, people tend to value those things less. Combined with the increase in pilots, logistics had become a daily 6 hour job for about 10 people in the corp including Rells. Life was consisting of logging in and replacing things in hangars, starting jobs getting the over 200 blueprints researched and then logging out tired and unhappy from having done no killing. AGONY for many in logistics had become a job, not a game. Many logistics people drifted off to other corps and the load was increased to the point of ridiculous. At one point Rells tracked that he had been spending 52 hours in one week doing logistics and hadn't run a gang in weeks. <br />
<br />
Clearly this was an unsustainable situation and so Rells began to look for ways to make corp members more independent and fatten their wallets. he reasoned that if they had more money they would be more likely to buy thier own ship or module rather than wait for someone to fill the gap in inventory. Rells also hoped that making the pilots richer would give more desire to stay in 0.0 space and not be transient 0.0 arena folks. A move was in the planning with leadership and Venal was the target. It was rich, it was far into 0.0 space which discouraged transient pilots, it was hostile giving players more challenge and it had NPC stations, essential for a corp without the moxy to hold space. <br />
<br />
The move to Venal was received with lukewarm reception at best which really surprised Rells. Rells attributed this to apathy and the obvious challenge that pure blind meant and pushed forward eager to create a crucible once more. He didn't want the pilots happy and comfortable but rather fat with isk and raving maniacs with bloodlust. After some convincing carrier flights began to hop gear up to the Sisters of Eve station in 6NJ8-V, Venal. Pilots began to filter up to the new home base and get the lay of the land. It was a tense time in AGONY. Many felt that Rells had made an awful mistake and some thought he was being outright pretentious and arrogant but most of AGONY persevered. The locals, however, were not amused.<br />
<br />
Phalanx alliance had held that space with tacit approval from their friends for as long as they could remember. They were not happy with their new co-habitant and less with the flippant attitude the new corp seemed to have towards diplomacy. Dimplomatic efforts were rebuffed with "no, we don't want a NAP." Furthermore, threats to crush AGONY just seemed to make the CEO chuckle and say, "Bring it on." Rells was far to concerned with internal strife to care one whiff about Phalanx Alliance and their posturing. Phalanx did try to make good on their threat to destroy agony and tied to enlist their allies in the process. Now began the Phalanx Alliance campaign which had something of a bittersweet ending. <br />
<br />
Phalanx was aggressive but not too bright. Many agony tactics worked beautifully on them. In one event Beef Hardslab managed to kill several interceptors returning from a fight with only the help of Rells' interdictor. The smartbombs did the trick. AGONY was anywhere and everywhere. Station camps were treated with flybys and other demoralizing tactics. On top of that psyops was in full force. Rells had become a bit bummed about the reception to the Venal move and had resolved to take out his anger on Phalanx alliance. Rells left a number of clues to Phalanx which indicated that their closest ally had actually hired AGONY to get rid of Phalanx so that the ally could have the system. Rells refused to confirm the allegations saying that he could not discuss the business of AGONY with their clients. The resonances had been set up and now just needed to be nurtured and they would rupture Phalanx. Rells then ordered pilots to not attack their supposed client if Phalanx was present or to allow the other alliance to escape from fights. Intel from Phalanx began to report these things and an earthquake built up in phalanx. Under the combined pressure of killing Phalanx peaceful ratters and interrupting their lucrative one jump trade missions, Phalanx began to crack. Obscenities began to be common in space and AGONY delighted in getting them muted by devs for obscenities not necessarily because they cared about the obscenity (agony were all adults after all) but because it pestered Phalanx and Phalanx earned it with their mouth. Phalanx were bad sports, horrible at pvp in numbers less than 30 and couldn't take the pressure. Corps began to peel off phalanx, they cancelled their NAP with other alliances and the breakup had begun. <br />
<br />
However, at the same time AGONY had its own problems to deal with. For one thing, the European players were under far more pressure than the American ones and it was far too late before Rells realized the enormity of the problem and many euros unfortunately took that as a sign of indifference. Rells actually didn't understand until he took a day off work to see what the problem was. Phalanx had the euros camped in a lot and it was much tougher to implement the guerrilla war that was the hallmark of AGONY during that time frame. Rells, finally realizing the problem started to advise ways of countering it and stepped up his psyops that he was hopeful was about to crack phalanx in half, relieving the pressure on the euros. Unfortunately it wasn't enough and Rells felt he had let down his euro players. But his next mistake would be one that would almost kill AGONY.<br />
<br />
The AGONY directors had met and decided that PVP-BASIC and WOLFPACKS wasn't enough, that there needed to be more formalizzed training beyond that. Venal had exposed the weakness in training in some pilots and the leadership wanted to plug these holes. As a group they decided to introduce certifications and military rank (which had up to then been honorary) and to require certifications for rank. Furthermore they reasoned the seasoned experts in AGONY would quickly run their certs back to the requirements of their rank. It seemed fair at the time to require everyone have the same qualifications to reach a rank and all of the leadership agreed to set an example by knocking out the certs they needed themselves. Rells brought the new ranking system to the membership and the reaction was entirely unexpected. <br />
<br />
Long time players, friends of Rells, were extremely angry at the rank reset and the certification requirements. They didn't feel they needed to justify their ranks and were pissed at being asked to do so. Many apparently felt it a betrayal of trust which was certainly not the intention of Rells or anyone else in the corp leadership. Several people immediately announced they were leaving and Rells was the lightning rod of their ire. Rells hadn't anticipated this reaction but rather thought people would be happy to have a formal rank structure. The anger completely caught him off guard and depressed him. Between the combination of the move to Venal and the cert system, long time friends had decided they didnt want to be part of AGONY anymore and Rells hated every leaving thread. Leaving threads snowballed and gained momentum and soon a large contingent was leaving and a large contingent was just as intent on staying. A civil war had erupted in AGONY.<br />
<br />
One hazard of being a CEO is that people sometimes forget you are a real person. Rells was crushed at what was happening to the corp and didn't know how to fix it. Furthermore, long time friends of Rells that he had flown with for 2 or more years had started to issue epithets, and accusations that were incredibly hurtful. Rells passed it off as anger and frustration but in reality few knew that Rells was a basket case, depressed and upset on a daily basis. Twice Rells offered his resignation to be rejected and talked down by leadership. It got to the point where many of the ex agony pilots were not only being extremely nasty to their former CEO, but they were doing it very publicly. Rells didn't give a damn what strangers though of him, only people he cared for could hurt him and some of them did. He knew that they had some valid points and some legit complaints but when the insults and nastiness came out, Rells just disconnected and went into something of a zombie mode. <br />
<br />
The exodus had started to subside and AGONY was in a bit of a state of shock. Like a boxer stunned by a right hook, AGONY was on the floor and struggling to get up. Rells was in much worse condition having canceled and reactivated his account seven times in a month. However, things began to stabilize because of the resilience of the pilots and the fact that the rest of the AGONY leadership handled it far better than Rells. Phalanx, for their part coincidentally decided they wanted to evict AGONY for good and set up bubbles on the station and kept them there for days, manned 24 hours a day. The USA agony players were able to harass them and even get them to blow up their own bubbles on a number of occasions when no one in their corp could unanchor. However, the euros had a much harder time of it with fleets of 50 often in the system. Rells had made the mistake of not requiring enough diversification of where equipment should be put in several stations and even systems to allow options in the case of camping. Ultimately Phalanx ended up ending their own siege and giving up on driving AGONY out but at the same time AGONY was in a horrible state of affairs with a lot of animosity on both sides, the decision was made to withdraw agony first to h-pa and then back to pure blind. Coming back felt bad, as if AGONY had been defeated for the first time. The corp was in a bad state and Rells had just about had enough of Eve.<br />
<br />
==Pure Blind II==<br />
<br />
Date: April 08 to Nov 08<br />
<br />
Base of operations : X-7OMU<br />
<br />
Back in Pure Blind, AGONY began to recover some of its strength and added some new memberships. Dozens of posts that had exchanged nasty comments from both sides, Rells included among the transgressors, were moved to archive to facilitate the rebuilding and prevent recruits from seeing the carnage. Agony began to prosper again after a while but Rells had faded from the game for the most part, often not logging in for weeks at a time. It was time for new leadership of AGONY and it wasn't long after that when Rells finalized his resignation nominating Bamar as his successor, started to look at other games and having bad luck in them, quit MMOs for over a year. The corp that Rells had founded so that he could PvP without ever having to rat or mine again, was now honestly better off in other leadership and Rells was officially burned out on eve. <br />
<br />
However, AGONY began to take new directions. Bamar, began to put his own imprint upon the corp and the corp began to recover a lot of its former glory. Not too long after, Bamar would reverse out the horrible mistake of the certs and move the corp in his own direction and it has prospered under Bamar possibly more than it ever did or could have under Rells. <br />
<br />
So ends my personal recorded history of AGONY. Naturally it is recorded from my own point of view and others had different impressions of certain incidents. However, perhaps for the first time, some may know my view of things. Writing this has been an emotional experience.<br />
<br />
Today the pilots of AGONY are known Eve-wide as being lethal and innovative and under fantastic leadership with fantastic people staffing the fleets. Bigger organizations than AGONY have a healthy respect for the pilots of AGONY and you can see it in how they try and fight you. I hope that I had some part in starting the ride but it is for all of you, every one of you, to take that history, that fight for survival, that wonderful coalescence of tactics and keep the name high and honored among the corps of eve. In AGONY's beginning no one knew who AGONY was -- and many that were known before, are lost to be forgotten by history but AGONY remains. Now few dont know AGONY.<br />
<br />
==Curse I==<br />
<br />
Date: Nov 08 to Feb 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Hemin<br />
<br />
As the Great War reached its peak, the whole north began to NAP against Band of Brothers (the core of this would remain NAPed long after the war ended as the Northern Coalition), and the majority of PvP pilots flocked to the front lines in the south. This left the north, including Agony’s long time home of Pure Blind, a very quiet place. It was time for a ‘vacation’. <br />
<br />
Our destination was Curse, in the south. Like Syndicate, Curse is a heavily stationed region, and thus a popular area for smaller non-sov holding factions who are typically hostile to each other. It was also close enough to the main fighting that it was still well populated. <br />
<br />
Agony made its home in Hemin, a pipe system close to empire, making it excellent for bubble camping and bringing the targets to us, which indeed became a common and very successful tactic for Agony gangs during this deployment. The initial period in particular, before Agony had tamed the system, saw great deal of action right on our doorstep. At the time of this writing (roughly a year later) Hemin remains one of Agony’s most destructive systems in history. <br />
<br />
This deployment also saw an incident which is forever ingrained in Agony history as ‘Speedy’s balls’, during which a drunken Executive Outcomes carrier pilot hotdropped a small Agony sub-capital camp (back in the days when a carrier kill was kind of a big deal!) and was gradually torn apart, accompanied by vent recordings and all.<br />
<br />
Agony's Curse deployment culminated in our entry in the [[AT6 Summary of Matches|6th Alliance Tournament]], in which Agony succesfully made the final 8 teams.<br />
<br />
==Venal II==<br />
<br />
Date: Feb 09 to June 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : 6NJ8-V<br />
<br />
Tactial Developments: Partial move from localised camping and ad-hoc to more structured, longer range roaming gangs. Larger ship classes (especially Cruisers & BCs) are now the norm in Agony roams.<br />
<br />
Following the Alliance Tournament, Agony’s Curse deployment came to an end. With wallets running low, many members found their PvP time reduced by the need to earn isk. To counteract this, a plan was made to spend a short time, perhaps a month or so, on some hardcore isk making ready for a more challenging deployment afterwards.<br />
<br />
Venal seemed the perfect choice for such a venture. While still NPC space, Venal is deep into 0.0 and is considered quite a profitable region, with excellent ratting territory. It was also an old haunt of Agony, with Venal I often being considered one of Agony’s best deployments. Intel reported that the region was very quiet at the time, and the decision was made.<br />
<br />
What made Venal an interesting deployment was primarily the distance from high sec space, and the bearing of this upon logistics operations. Unlike most of our deployments, Venal as a region does not border empire space. Conventional travel requires around 25 jumps through Pure Blind and Tribute, and even carriers cannot reach Venal in a single cyno jump.<br />
<br />
Thankfully, Agony’s Pure Blind base in X-70MU was still maintained and relatively quiet, so the move was split into two phases; firstly a move to Pure Blind, followed by the final move to Venal. Due to the difficulty of the move, as well as the intended length of stay, ship transport was minimal, and mainly geared towards ratting.<br />
<br />
They say that no plan survives contact with the enemy, and this is exactly how things went. Upon arriving in 6NJ8-V, the same HQ Agony had used during our previous stay in the region, things were not so quiet after all. Our PvP habit rapidly replaced any intention to carebear, and Agony did what Agony does best - pewpew!<br />
<br />
Notable opponents during this stay were Circle of Two (a relatively minor alliance in the Northern Coalition who would later come to unexpected fame as runners up in the [[7th Alliance Tournament]]), Tau Ceti Federation (also NC, these guys moved right into 6NJ with us near the end of the deployment) and Morsus Mihi (that’s right, more NC) in Tribute to the south.<br />
<br />
In the end, Venal II lasted far longer than originally intended, and while it didn’t succeed in its original purpose as an isk raising venture, it did provide an interesting logistical challenge, and a limited amount of action with good a good environment for medium to long roams. Inevitably though, greener pastures soon began to beckon, and as rumours began to spread of a potentially interesting situation in Great Wildlands, it was time to pack up and move back to Pure Blind ready for our next deployment.<br />
<br />
==Great Wildlands II==<br />
<br />
Date: June 09 to October 09<br />
<br />
Base of operations : N-DQ0D<br />
<br />
Tactial Developments: Early GW - Experimenting with the use of POS, and living in a highly hostile environment. Late GW - More focus on solo and smaller gang, due to low activity; smaller ships such as AF become increasingly popular again.<br />
<br />
During the end of Agony’s stay in Venal, Great Wildlands had become a highly contested region due to the collapse of Foundation Alliance, who had previously controlled the area. After the relative quiet of Venal, it was hoped that a warzone like this would provide the kind of interesting tactical challenges that we were looking for.<br />
<br />
As it happened, we faced an entirely different set of challenges. By the time Agony finally deployed to Great Wildlands (via a short stay in Pure Blind), fighting in the region had ceased and the area was firmly in the grip of Cult of War, who had NAPed most other factions in the region (the most notable groups being Gentlemen’s Club and YARR & Co). Rote Kapelle remained neutral and occasionally roamed in from nearby lowsec, but the region was otherwise completely NAPed.<br />
<br />
Our choice of system was N-D, the least populous of the three station systems in Gread Wildlands (the majority of CoW based out of the nearby systems of E02-IK and M-MD3B, which acted as a chokepoint to all of southern GW). This left us with relatively free reign of the northernmost pipes such as the one to Etherium Reach, but effectively cut off from most of the southern Wildlands.<br />
<br />
Due to the station being kickout, we initially staged from a POS. This served the dual purpose of facilitating logistics and provoking a response from CoW.<br />
<br />
Initial operations began as expected. A number of CoW regulars kept the N-D station camped pretty much around the clock, usually with capital support. Roaming gangs encountered some success, but targets in Wildlands were sparse, and CoW & friends were quick to use their numbers advantage in most fights, with most trips into southern Wildlands being swiftly camped into the pipe once they passed the CoW home systems. Thus Etherium Reach to the north became the preferred destination.<br />
<br />
Before long, CoW began to take an interest in the POS. Initial attacks were mainly casual, and were repelled with a combination of POS gunners and bombing runs. Eventually CoW committed to a more organised assault as expected and put the POS into reinforced. Word was spread discreetly to a few of CoW’s enemies, and when the CoW cap fleet entered siege the following day, they were annihilated by a hotdrop from Pandemic Legion. CoW ultimately returned to remove the POS with a cautious sub-capital fleet, but by this point the damage was done.<br />
<br />
Shortly afterwards, corp focus switched to the [[7th Alliance Tournament]]. Despite an excellent showing behind the scenes and an excellent first round, we suffered a significant loss in the second round and were unable to qualify for the finals.<br />
<br />
Due to a combination of factors, most notably the tournament, Agony activity in Wildlands had gradually died. Most of the corp had moved to lowsec, and gangs generally ignored Wildlands in favour of Etherium Reach. Morale and participation were at a significant low, as was combat efficiency, leading to GW commonly being considered as one of Agony's darker times. Rather than rebuild our Wildlands 0.0 presence, the corp chose to look forwards, with a number of options considered for our future direction including faction warfare and mercenary work. Ultimately though it was backwards, not forwards, that we chose to head.<br />
<br />
==Syndicate II and Agony 0.0==<br />
<br />
Date: October 09 to March 2010<br />
<br />
Base of operations : EZA-FM<br />
<br />
Tactical Devlelopments: Bombers become very popular in the corp, leading to some of Agony's first successful blackops drops as well as co-ordinated bombing tactica. Some move back towards short range roams and localised camping, with HSSR fleets becoming very popular, as well as the re-introduction of HSLR and some (mainly unsuccessful) experimentation with RR battleships.<br />
<br />
Syndicate is considered the birthplace of Old Agony, and in many ways this deployment was intended as a return to those roots in order to re-strengthen the corp.<br />
<br />
Geographically, Syndicate couldn’t be more different to Great Wildlands. A heavily stationed region, Syndicate has historically been a hotbed for small unaligned factions - a huge change to the quasi-sov situation in Wildlands at the time. It also differs in its lack of pipes, with most routes (other than the pipe between upper and lower Syndicate) having multiple viable paths.<br />
<br />
Agony made its new home in EZA-FM southern Syndicate. While not really an obvious through-system to anywhere, EZA is central enough to have numerous entrance and exit routes (and isn’t in a pocket), giving the corp a great deal of maneuvreability. Our most significant neighbours were the very large IT Alliance (mainly ex-Band of Brothers) just one system away in 6-C and Reblier (some of whom later based out of EZA) and long-time Syndicate residents Huzzah Federation in the nearby PC9 pocket. (After the Dominion expansion, most of IT Alliance moved on to sov warfare, and Huzzah ultimately disbanded, with numerous smaller factions moving in in their wakes).<br />
<br />
During this time, Agony also underwent a significant internal change – the replacement of the complex Agony 2.0 philosophy for the more streamlined Agony 0.0.<br />
<br />
The guiding ethos of the change was to focus on PvP rather than beurocracy. Under Agony 0.0, the complex military ranks were removed in exchange for a flat structure, with all Core members (other than directors) sharing equal responsibility. Many internal admin processes were simplified and/or delegated, most notably recruitment and trial periods, which underwent a complete rework. Agony’s previously rigid Code of Conduct and Rules of Engagement were also modified in favour of a more simplified ‘common sense’ system.<br />
<br />
Syndicate proved to be far more suited to small gang and solo PvP than Wildlands had been, with activity, morale and effectiveness quickly rising to pre-Wildlands levels, and then beyond. An influx of new members and the return of many old ones breathed further life into the corp, and Agony began to flourish once again. Tactical development (inspired partly by our unused preparation work on the tourney) was once more a part of Agony life, initially with regular HSLR and HSSR and bomber gangs, and expanding to include RR battleships, Black Ops drops and Titan bridging.<br />
<br />
Other incidents of note include Agony being wardecced by long time Syndicate residents and local gankers Exquisite Malevolence, who proceeded to get their POS network torn down by Agony within the first few days of the war, and Agony's first Mothership kill courtesy of No Trademark.<br />
<br />
==Providence==<br />
<br />
Date: March 2010 to Dec 2010<br />
<br />
Base of operations : H6-CX8<br />
<br />
Tactical Development: First real encounter with Sovereignty. Prolification of logistics, including Agony's first forays into the use of the triage carrier. Blackops drops and Durka battleships become (or re-become) hallmark Agony tactics, with innovation on both. ArmourHAC gangs and later Drake swarms become flavour of the month throughout Eve, with Agony deploying both to great effect. Later parts of the stay saw Agony participating in and leading very large CTA fleets or operating as a subsidary 'ace in the sleeve' for these fleets, such as an autonomous bomber or ewar wing.<br />
<br />
In early 2010, Against All Authorities fell out with the long-time resident of Providence, CVA (and their various allies) and decided to remove them from the region. CVA had long held the region as an NRDS carebear's paradise, and had populated it with a huge number of outposts. However, the space itself was almost worthless in terms of moon income, and there had been little incentive for anyone to remove them.<br />
<br />
AAA approached Agony, along with a small number of other alliances, with the offer of a constellation in Providence with no strings attached - for AAA's part it gave them a non-sov-threatening neighbour on their border, as well as a target rich environment for PVP. For Agony, it gave the same target rich environment, as well as an opportunity to experiment with sovereignty without needing to get involved in the politics of 0.0 bloc warfare.<br />
<br />
CVA was removed fairly swiftly, and Agony moved in as one of the first Providence residents into the constellation around H6-CX8, a pipe constellation close to Providence's main highsec entrance, and a great location for targets. Neighbouring 9UY (the hub connecting all the pipes of Providence) became the home of Ushra'Khan, with the highsec border system of Y-M going to Atlas Alliance, providing significant numbers of targets on both sides.<br />
<br />
Other noteable initial residents included Paxton Federation (an old CVA ally who was initially kept in out of respect for their will to fight, but later removed when they attempted to help CVA reclaim the space), Daisho Syndicate, Sodalitas XX, and Opticon Alliance (who were also removed by Agony & Friends when CVA managed to psyops them into believing an invasion was imminent, at which point they promptly allied themselves with CVA and turned on the rest of Providence). Later additions include Important Internet Spaceship League and Flying Dangerous (both friends of Agony from Syndicate, with similar modus operandi to our own), Circle of Two (who we earlier fought in Venal II), Shock and Awe, Legio Astartes Arcanum, and the well known mercenary corp Noir who used a constellation primarily for renters. In addition to these, a great number of non-resident corps would roam into Providence for it's rich PVP environment, including Genos Occidere (for a time part of Hydra Reloaded), AAA and AAA Citizens, Initiative, and many others.<br />
<br />
Intially many of the Providence residents were relucant to un-blue either other after the invation, with Agony being the first to do so by a considerable period. This, along with Agony's increasing PVP success and reliability when it came to joint ops and regional leadership have a significant boost to Agony's public profile as well as securing a leadership role within the Providence community despite our small size.<br />
<br />
This period also included Agony's first (assisted) Titan kill, and a period of rapid tactical development, with many new tactics becoming commonplace in additon to an increasing (and increasingly expensive) range of ships at our disposal. Of particular note, ArmourHAC gangs (low-sig afterburning armour tanked HACs and guardians, especially Zealots) became incredibly popular throughout Eve, and Agony fielded them with much success.<br />
<br />
Due to the Sov nature of Providence as a region, this deployment was not without it's drama. Providence alliances would rattle their sovereignty sabres from time to time, and a number of Provi resident alliances collapsed (either effectively or entirely) during this period, leaving the membership and power-balance of Provi in almost constant flux.<br />
<br />
The biggest shakeup occurred when first Atlas and then Against ALL Authorities, both of whom had been major players in the taking of Providence, all but collapsed under attack from a number of alliances supported by Pandemic Legion. With the big boys gone, alliances within Provi began jostling for the leadership role, sparking a confrontation between Daisho and Ushra'Khan which saw Provi split into two warring factions in what became known as the 'Providence Civil War'. Agony, along with a number of other neutral alliances opted to stand by the initial agreement of non-invasion, and defend any alliance whose space was under attack - as the weaker of the two parties by a significant margin, this meant Ushra'Khan. Unable to gain any ground against the rest of Providence, Daisho soon began to back down and negotiate peace. However by this point eyes were on Providence from elsewhere, and in its fractured state it looked like a juicy target.<br />
<br />
The first to invade Providence was CVA, the previous residents who had retained much of their strength. All of Providence was soon blue-ed up for defence and CTA fleets of a few hundred a side became the norm, to the disappointment of many Agony pilots. While CVA was able to match or often surpass Provi numbers in Euro timezone, their number in US timezone were almost non-exitant, and the CVA push quickly stalled. However for whatever reason, a number of Provi alliances in the area managed to drop their sov, and CVA pounced on every opportunity, quickly securing themselves a handful of systems in southern Provi without having to fight through the timers. Due to Provi's lower numbers in Euro timezone and the significant defender advantage in Dominion sov mechanics, both sides were now unable to make significant inroads, and the war stagnated.<br />
<br />
After being evicted from Could Ring, the German alliance Ev0ke set their sites on northern Provi, as far from the CVA war as possible and the site of Provi's effectively largest alliance (Daisho had been fairly inactive since the civil war) - Sodalitas XX. With much of provi on the verge of collapse, it fell to Agony to hold the region together with Bamar assuming the leadership role of the coalition. Gradually, Provi began to form a cohesive fighting force. However Ev0ke were a strong and co-ordinated opponent, and this too became a timezone war with very little territorial change on either side.<br />
<br />
This war dragged on for months, with many in Agony tiring of the situation. The tipping point came when Ev0ke managed to bring in their friends from 'NC.' (formerly Triumvirate), eliminating Provi's US advantage. At this point, the majority of Provi quickly fell apart, with a number of alliances either collapsing or leaving. Agony morale and participation were beginning to suffer, and after much internal deliberation, Agony decided it was no longer worth trying to hold the region together. In the space of two days, agony's entire membership and asset base had been relocated to Curse. Agony's sov adventures were over - we were back in NPC 0.0, but far stronger for our experiences.<br />
<br />
==Curse II==<br />
<br />
Date: Dec 2010 onwards<br />
<br />
Base of operations : Hemin<br />
<br />
The future awaits!</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Agony_Empire_History&diff=17683Agony Empire History2011-09-07T20:15:46Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
<br />
[[Image:construction.gif]]<br />
<br />
<br />
[[AU_History_chapter_1|Chapter I: The beginning of Agony]]<br />
<br />
[[AU_History_chapter_2|Chapter II: The Fear Begins]]<br />
<br />
[[AU_History_chapter_3|Chapter III: A Crisis, Near Disaster and Recovery]]<br />
<br />
[[AU_History_chapter_4|Chapter IV: The Agony Phenomenon in Pure Blind]]<br />
<br />
[[AU_History_chapter_5|Chapter V: Venal, Errors in Leadership and the End of an Era]]</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Tactics_and_Techniques&diff=17659Tactics and Techniques2011-09-07T18:16:20Z<p>Bamar: /* General Articles */</p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
Click here to go back: [[Agony:Main Page]]<br />
<br />
==Alliance Tournaments==<br />
* [[Alliance Tournaments|Link to Alliance Tournament Page]]<br />
<br />
==General Articles==<br />
* [[Things YOU can do solo]]<br />
* [[Scanning & Skirmishing 101]]<br />
* [[An Introduction to Bookmarks in Eve]]<br />
* [[TACTICAL ASSISTED MINIWARP (TAM)|Tactical Assisted Miniwarp]]<br />
* [[Fleet Setup and Roles]]<br />
* [[Wolfpack Tactics]]<br />
* [[Advanced Flyby Maneuvers]]<br />
* [[Flyby Sniping Maneuvers in PvP]]<br />
* [[Precise navigation]]<br />
* [[Harassment Gangs]]<br />
* [[Fleet Support Team]]<br />
* [[Psychological PvP Using Asymmetrical Warfare]]<br />
* [[FCing the Soft Side]]<br />
<br />
==Interceptors==<br />
* [[Interceptor Fishing]]<br />
* [[The Concept of Fishing]]<br />
<br />
==Destroyers==<br />
* [[The Destroyer in PvP]]<br />
<br />
==Covert Ops and Scanning==<br />
* [[PVP COVOPS Required Reading|PVP COVOPS]]<br />
* [[PVP COVOPS Probing|COVOPS Probing]]<br />
* [[Advanced Covert Ops Tactics]]<br />
<br />
==Stealth Bombers==<br />
* [[The Stealth Bomber in Combat]]<br />
* [[Surviving in a Stealth Bomber]]<br />
* [[Advanced Stealth Bomber Tactics]]<br />
<br />
==Interdictors==<br />
* [[Interdictor Operations]]<br />
<br />
== Electronic Warfare==<br />
* [[ECM - Electronic Counter Measures]]<br />
* [[ECCM - Electronic Counter Counter Measures]]<br />
<br />
==Drones and Drone Ship Related Tactics==<br />
* [[Drone Tactics]]<br />
* [[Drone Love Battleships]]<br />
<br />
==Hit and Run Tactics==<br />
* [[High Speed Long Range Gang]]<br />
<br />
==Logistics & Remote Repair==<br />
* [[Dual Basilisk Gang]]<br />
* [[Dual Guardian Gang]]<br />
* [[Spider Tanking]]<br />
* [[HSSR]]<br />
* [[Armor HACs]]<br />
<br />
==Capital Ships==<br />
* [[Combat Capitals - Introduction]]<br />
<br />
==Hydra Fleets==<br />
* [[Frigate Hydra Fleet Sync'd to Hanger Inventory Named Mods]]<br />
* [[T1 Hydra Fleet, 2 Each Race|T1 Hydra Fleet, Two Frigs of Each Race]]<br />
* [[Destroyers Supplemental Fleet]]<br />
<br />
==Black Ops==<br />
* [[Black Ops Planning|Black Ops Planning and Pilot Roster]]<br />
<br />
==Baiting & Traps==<br />
* [[Bubble and Cyno Trap]]<br />
<br />
==Tactics in Development==<br />
* [[Tactics in Development]]</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Bamar%27s_The_Soft_Side_of_FCing&diff=17658Bamar's The Soft Side of FCing2011-09-07T18:15:39Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
I think a lot of times we talk a lot about tactics and procedures around FCing without really talking about the "soft" skills around it. How do you deal with people while FCing, how to phrase things, etc. This post is an attempt to lay out some of the things that I do and work for me. Keep in mind that everyone is different, and my way of doing things isn't necessarily the only way. This should be a reference point, not a bible.<br />
<br />
'''Confidence''' - You might not always do the right thing, but you always know the right thing to do. Being an FC is all about making calculated risks based off of incomplete information. Whenever you make a mistake it's probably because of one of the below. The one uniting theme though is that they're all mistakes. They're all things that you can recognize and fix. Don't get down on yourself over mistakes, just fix them and make yourself better.<br />
* You made the right move, it just didn't work out - In any reasonably close fight there's some chance that you'll lose. If you go into a fight knowing that there's a chance you'll lose, and you lose in the way you expected then that's just part of the game. These explanations tend to be the most comforting but the least satisfying. Even if you FC perfectly there's still a chance you'll lose, and if there isn't then you're not taking close enough fights. Sometimes you gamble, sometimes you lose.<br />
* You didn't know as much as you should have - For new FCs you're going to have incomplete knowledge for a while, sometimes that missing knowledge will bite you in the ass. Didn't know that the Eris is an interdictor? Whoops, so much for that fleet. Mistakes coming from ignorance tend to be the most aggravating, but are also the easiest to fix. Read up on the area that you're weak on and make sure you don't make the same mistake again.<br />
* You didn't think far enough ahead - Another common one for newer FCs. As an FC you always need to be thinking ahead. Sometimes it's one step ahead, sometimes it's six, but either way you need to be able to predict your opponents and respond accordingly. Sometimes your opponent does something you don't expect and you pay for it. Maybe you fall for bait, maybe they come in at range when you expected them to come short. Either way you need to look at why you thought what you did, why you were wrong, and think about how you'll identify it in the future. This is where the big nebulous "experience" comes in. A lot of these decisions just become ingrained habit/instinct after you deal with the same situation dozens of times. You won't entirely know why you think someone will do what they do, you just know that they will.<br />
* You made a mistake - You're just human, sometimes you goof up and do something stupid. Sometimes you'll realize how stupid your instruction was before it even leaves your lips, but you still say it anyway. As long as you know how dumb you were there's not much to do but kick yourself and vow never to do it again.<br />
* You didn't do anything - The absolute worst mistake an FC can make is doing nothing. Any action is better than no action. If the only thing you can think to do is monumentally stupid then be monumentally stupid, it's better than being silent. Mistakes tend to kill ships, silence kills entire fleets. These are the most demoralizing losses too. These are fights were you kill nothing and lose 20. NEVER STOP TALKING. If you go down or warp off grid then call on your backup FC, otherwise you should always be giving orders. If what you're doing isn't working then try something else, but never stop. This seems to be another common one with newer FCs, you freeze up because you're afraid of making the wrong decision and end up making the worst of all. This is also the only error that will actually keep you from being an FC. You can be an inexperienced FC, you can be a reckless FC, you can even be an unknowledgeable FC, but you can NOT be an FC who freezes or goes silent.<br />
<br />
'''Take responsibility''' - If you mess up then admit you messed up. You don't need to go on and on about it, but sometimes a simple "whoops, that didn't go quite how I expected it to" will lead to far less bitching down the line. When you mess up as an FC you'll know it, and everyone else in the fleet will know it. Trying to pretend like it wasn't your fault will only lower others' opinions of you. They'll either think that you're incompetent and don't realize that you skrewed up, or you'll think that you're too proud to admit it. In the end if you make a mistake, acknowledge it, learn from it, then move on. At first this might seem directly opposed to the prior point, but in reality it's a balancing act. If you have full confidence in your abilities then admiting a mistake isn't a big deal. You were doing the right thing, but you didn't have the right information, or something totally random happened, or whatever. Ultimately your decision-making process is always valid, it just might have had the wrong inputs (either lack of scouting, lack of experience, whatever). While you might make mistakes you are always in control, and it's important to not undermine yourself with self-effacing humor, which can be tempting especially as a newer FC. Saying something like "I'll probably get bored and suicide us" is way better than saying something like "We'll probably get wiped out." As an FC you should always be in control of things, and it's important to portray that in the way you talk about yourself. You might do stupid or wrong things from time to time, but it's always a conscious decision, not something that happened to you.<br />
<br />
'''Optimism''' - Always look on the brighter side. It's easy to get down on yourself as an FC, it happens to all of us. Sometimes a brutal fight just gets you down, and that's fine, but when talking to your fleet you need to be the eternal optimist. Sure you just got wiped out, but you learned something from it. Sure you lost a bunch of ships, but hey, look at that crazy-expensive Dramiel we killed. Sure you might have flown a frig blob into smartbomb destruction, but damn if it wasn't freaking hilarious. There is ALWAYS a bright side, and it's your job to focus on it. It's fine if you're pissed off that they just dropped 5:1 odds on you, but your job as FC is to brush it off and laugh at it. Sure you shouldn't just make stuff up to cover up for a horrible fight, but you can fix what went wrong and then focus on the future. Constructive criticism and optimism are always valuable, moping and whining never are. Remind your fleet members what's awsome about EVE and they'll keep coming back. Dwell in what you hate about EVE and you'll make them all bittervets.<br />
<br />
'''Yelling'''- Quite simply don't. I can count the number of times I've yelled at someone in a fleet over the past 5 years on one hand, and none of them were Agony members. Rather than freaking out at someone for making a mistake think about why they made that mistake. 99% of the time it's for one of the following reasons.<br />
* They just don't know - Luckily the easiest to fix, just explain to them what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and what to do differently. Even experienced players can have surprising gaps in their knowledge, and even if you're telling them what they already know it can be helpful to newer people in the fleet to understand what went wrong and why. It's almost always best to try to educate on the first mistake.<br />
* They weren't paying close enough attention - Another very common one. People sometimes have things going on in the background, they got distracted during a quiet moment, or whatever. Even the best PvPers sometimes get distracted and do stupid things. If someone in a key position seems to be distracted either shift other people to compensate or simply ask them if they'd like to stop doing such a central role (or remind them to wake up).<br />
* They simply screwed up - Sometimes people just make silly mistakes. Whether it's bombing themselves or losing a ratting Nightmare/Thanatos (ahem...), sometimes people just do things that they know are stupid and have no excuse for. With experienced players they'll almost always feel dumb enough on their own and really don't need you harping on them about it. If they're less experienced then this will likely fall under #1 or #2 and be an opportunity for learning.<br />
* They just don't care - This should never be the case for an Agony member (and if it is then you should bring it up with their mentor/director), but it can come up when dealing with allies or students. As long as they're not being disruptive it's usually best to just ignore them. Ultimately if they don't care there's not much you can do to make them care. Just put them in a role where they won't cause any damage and let them go on not caring.<br />
* They're an asshole - Sometimes people are just assholes. In my experience this is actually a surprisingly small group. Most people will respond well as long as you find the right way to approach them. Sometimes though things just don't work out and it's time to deal with them the hard way. Generally I find that an icy threat works much better than animated ranting. The important thing is the never lose control. Keep it so that you're the voice of reason trying to watch out for the fleet, and they're the douche who's keeping that from happening. An annoyed "X, please try to keep comms clear, we're trying to PvP here" will likely work better than "Goddamnit X, shut the hell up, god you're such an idiot." When you get to this point the person in question is a lost-cause, your main objective is to keep everyone else in the fleet on your side, so keep your cool. In the end you always have the "my way or the highway" card. If all else fails just boot them from the fleet and keep things moving.<br />
In the end the old adage "Speak softly but carry a big stick" applies. First try to educate, then remind, and finally punish if you need to, but yelling doesn't fit in anywhere in the process. The only times I've yelled as FC has been to clear comms because I couldn't find someone to mute them quickly. It might feel good to yell at some people, but in the end it doesn't help anything.<br />
<br />
'''The not-really-a-question question''' - When you actually sit down and look at it the vast majority of your time spent as an FC isn't giving orders, it's asking questions. Really the only direct orders you should be giving are fleet movement and target calling, everything else is questions of some sort or another. The trick is that there are a lot of things kind of in the middle that could be phrased as orders or questions. "Bamar, check EC-P8R" for example could also be phrased as "Bamar, could you check out EC-P8R for us?" The second phrasing accomplishes everything that the first does, but has two side benefits.<br />
* It requires a response. Granted, most experienced PvPers will acknowledge the first one and the second one equally, but by asking the question you remove any uncertainty. If they hear you they'll respond, and if they don't then they won't.<br />
* It strikes a better tone. Giving people the (illusion of) choice tends to make them happier to follow. Especially as a new FC flying with experienced members a lot of times tone can be tricky. How do you give orders to people you know know far more about PvP than you? By asking them to do things rather than telling them you come across as more collaberative and less of a know it all. It's not a huge deal in the end, but it can help a lot with some people.<br />
<br />
'''The hurry-the-hell-up question''' - Similar to the not-really-a-question question, this one is about setting the right tone. Inevitably while running a fleet you'll hit a spot where one of your scouts or skirmishers is hunting someone down. They're probably all caught up in directional scanner and probes and god knows what else, and probably aren't paying a lot of attention to the clock. It's your job as FC to keep them to a reasonable time frame. It's probably not worthwhile to keep a 50 man gang waiting for a cov-ops to probe down a Kestrel, and it's up to you to make this judgement call. When you're starting to hit the point where you think it's time to move on it's time to ask probably one of my most common questions, "So... how's it coming?" This question is important for a few different reasons.<br />
* It's non-accusatory - Asking something like "have you found him yet?" can come off as assigning blame to the scout for not finding him yet. In reality they're almost always doing the best they can (see section on yelling), and giving them the impression that you're blaming them is only going to piss them off or distract them.<br />
* It gives you an update - While working scouts tend to be tight-lipped. They're busy and the last thing on their mind is continually giving updates to the FC. Asking how it's going every once in a while gives you a better idea of how long it will likely take, and lets you adjust accordingly. Maybe you go roam a couple jumps while they're probing, maybe you tell them to just forget about it, but either way you have more information to make your decision.<br />
* It gives them a little kick in the ass - By no means the chief reason to ask (and if you overuse it it will bite you in the ass), but sometimes scouts just need a little reminder of "hey, you've got a couple dozen guys waiting for you." This tends to work best when you're waiting on a warp-in because it will turn a "I'll spend another 60 seconds getting the perfect spot" into "I'm close enough, just warp to me now." A lot of cov-ops pilots are perfectionists, and left to their own devices will spend more time to get a more perfect spot. In reality you don't need a perfect spot, you just need a good enough spot, and giving them a little reminder of the time constraints will help you get what you want in a more timely fashion. Again though, if you overuse it in this way you will piss people off, so think of it as a useful side-effect, not a purpose in itself.<br />
<br />
'''Aggression''' - How much aggression is good for an FC? How aggressive should a new FC be? There isn't any single right answer to this question, so I'll give three.<br />
* Aggression is good - You don't really learn anything from a fight you don't take. If you're not sure it's probably better to take the fight, let it go sideways, then learn from it. Obviously this doesn't mean you should just suicide in, but if you could go either way on the fight then take it. For one thing people tend to underestimate their capabilities more than overestimate, so chances are if you think it's a dead-even fight you probably have a slight advantage. Additionally even if it is iffy then that's the sort of fight that will actually test you and provide you with a challenge which will make you better. Finally if it is a charlie-foxtrot then at least you'll know it was, be able to look at why you thought it was an even fight and learn from it. In the end the worst-case is that you learned something and will be a better FC in the future. By never taking iffy fights you're freezing yourself at a certain level of competency, and keeping yourself from advancing beyond that.<br />
* Aggression is personal - Different FCs FC differently. Some people like to plan out every detail of a fight before they ever engage in it. By definition they'll be less aggressive because they don't like engaging in fights that they don't fully understand. Personally I tend to prefer to just jump right into a fight then rely on my ability to adapt better than my opponent in the heat of the battle. Neither approach is inherently better than the other, it's about what fits your personality best. The more cautious approach tends to work best for heavier gangs, and especially for capital warfare, while the second is more suited to hit and run tactics where you can engage and disengage at will.<br />
* Aggression is bad - Sometimes aggression can be used as a crutch to keep from actually thinking things through. It's usually not a good idea to suicide a T1 fleet just to suicide it. You don't really learn anything in the process and it's just an empty fight. Sure, sometimes you're just freaking bored and don't care, but as an FC you should always be purely rational. Once you have a lot of experience you can go off of instinct a lot more but at no point should you not really be thinking/caring about what will happen. Your aggression should always be calculated, never reckless. It should be the last step in your decision-making process, not a replacement for it.<br />
Notice that none of these issues relate to fear. Fear should never enter into the equation. A fight is either a good fight or a bad fight, and you should act accordingly. You shouldn't be nervous about getting people killed, because they're certainly going to be killed. Your job isn't to keep everyone from getting blown up, your job is to get into good fights and win. Good fights never occur without any losses on your side (ok, sometimes they do, but it's rare), and it's very hard to win if you're afraid of losing ships. Again, FCing should be purely rational, fear of losing ships shouldn't enter into the equation. Sometimes the best play is to lose a few ships, while it sucks it's just reality, and trying to avoid this reality is only going to cause more pain in the long-run.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Bamar%27s_The_Soft_Side_of_FCing&diff=17657Bamar's The Soft Side of FCing2011-09-07T18:15:18Z<p>Bamar: </p>
<hr />
<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
I think a lot of times we talk a lot about tactics and procedures around FCing without really talking about the "soft" skills around it. How do you deal with people while FCing, how to phrase things, etc. This post is an attempt to lay out some of the things that I do and work for me. Keep in mind that everyone is different, and my way of doing things isn't necessarily the only way. This should be a reference point, not a bible.<br />
<br />
'''Confidence''' - You might not always do the right thing, but you always know the right thing to do. Being an FC is all about making calculated risks based off of incomplete information. Whenever you make a mistake it's probably because of one of the below. The one uniting theme though is that they're all mistakes. They're all things that you can recognize and fix. Don't get down on yourself over mistakes, just fix them and make yourself better.<br />
* You made the right move, it just didn't work out - In any reasonably close fight there's some chance that you'll lose. If you go into a fight knowing that there's a chance you'll lose, and you lose in the way you expected then that's just part of the game. These explanations tend to be the most comforting but the least satisfying. Even if you FC perfectly there's still a chance you'll lose, and if there isn't then you're not taking close enough fights. Sometimes you gamble, sometimes you lose.<br />
* You didn't know as much as you should have - For new FCs you're going to have incomplete knowledge for a while, sometimes that missing knowledge will bite you in the ass. Didn't know that the Eris is an interdictor? Whoops, so much for that fleet. Mistakes coming from ignorance tend to be the most aggravating, but are also the easiest to fix. Read up on the area that you're weak on and make sure you don't make the same mistake again.<br />
* You didn't think far enough ahead - Another common one for newer FCs. As an FC you always need to be thinking ahead. Sometimes it's one step ahead, sometimes it's six, but either way you need to be able to predict your opponents and respond accordingly. Sometimes your opponent does something you don't expect and you pay for it. Maybe you fall for bait, maybe they come in at range when you expected them to come short. Either way you need to look at why you thought what you did, why you were wrong, and think about how you'll identify it in the future. This is where the big nebulous "experience" comes in. A lot of these decisions just become ingrained habit/instinct after you deal with the same situation dozens of times. You won't entirely know why you think someone will do what they do, you just know that they will.<br />
* You made a mistake - You're just human, sometimes you goof up and do something stupid. Sometimes you'll realize how stupid your instruction was before it even leaves your lips, but you still say it anyway. As long as you know how dumb you were there's not much to do but kick yourself and vow never to do it again.<br />
* You didn't do anything - The absolute worst mistake an FC can make is doing nothing. Any action is better than no action. If the only thing you can think to do is monumentally stupid then be monumentally stupid, it's better than being silent. Mistakes tend to kill ships, silence kills entire fleets. These are the most demoralizing losses too. These are fights were you kill nothing and lose 20. NEVER STOP TALKING. If you go down or warp off grid then call on your backup FC, otherwise you should always be giving orders. If what you're doing isn't working then try something else, but never stop. This seems to be another common one with newer FCs, you freeze up because you're afraid of making the wrong decision and end up making the worst of all. This is also the only error that will actually keep you from being an FC. You can be an inexperienced FC, you can be a reckless FC, you can even be an unknowledgeable FC, but you can NOT be an FC who freezes or goes silent.<br />
<br />
'''Take responsibility''' - If you mess up then admit you messed up. You don't need to go on and on about it, but sometimes a simple "whoops, that didn't go quite how I expected it to" will lead to far less bitching down the line. When you mess up as an FC you'll know it, and everyone else in the fleet will know it. Trying to pretend like it wasn't your fault will only lower others' opinions of you. They'll either think that you're incompetent and don't realize that you skrewed up, or you'll think that you're too proud to admit it. In the end if you make a mistake, acknowledge it, learn from it, then move on. At first this might seem directly opposed to the prior point, but in reality it's a balancing act. If you have full confidence in your abilities then admiting a mistake isn't a big deal. You were doing the right thing, but you didn't have the right information, or something totally random happened, or whatever. Ultimately your decision-making process is always valid, it just might have had the wrong inputs (either lack of scouting, lack of experience, whatever). While you might make mistakes you are always in control, and it's important to not undermine yourself with self-effacing humor, which can be tempting especially as a newer FC. Saying something like "I'll probably get bored and suicide us" is way better than saying something like "We'll probably get wiped out." As an FC you should always be in control of things, and it's important to portray that in the way you talk about yourself. You might do stupid or wrong things from time to time, but it's always a conscious decision, not something that happened to you.<br />
<br />
'''Optimism''' - Always look on the brighter side. It's easy to get down on yourself as an FC, it happens to all of us. Sometimes a brutal fight just gets you down, and that's fine, but when talking to your fleet you need to be the eternal optimist. Sure you just got wiped out, but you learned something from it. Sure you lost a bunch of ships, but hey, look at that crazy-expensive Dramiel we killed. Sure you might have flown a frig blob into smartbomb destruction, but damn if it wasn't freaking hilarious. There is ALWAYS a bright side, and it's your job to focus on it. It's fine if you're pissed off that they just dropped 5:1 odds on you, but your job as FC is to brush it off and laugh at it. Sure you shouldn't just make stuff up to cover up for a horrible fight, but you can fix what went wrong and then focus on the future. Constructive criticism and optimism are always valuable, moping and whining never are. Remind your fleet members what's awsome about EVE and they'll keep coming back. Dwell in what you hate about EVE and you'll make them all bittervets.<br />
<br />
'''Yelling'''- Quite simply don't. I can count the number of times I've yelled at someone in a fleet over the past 5 years on one hand, and none of them were Agony members. Rather than freaking out at someone for making a mistake think about why they made that mistake. 99% of the time it's for one of the following reasons.<br />
* They just don't know - Luckily the easiest to fix, just explain to them what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and what to do differently. Even experienced players can have surprising gaps in their knowledge, and even if you're telling them what they already know it can be helpful to newer people in the fleet to understand what went wrong and why. It's almost always best to try to educate on the first mistake.<br />
* They weren't paying close enough attention - Another very common one. People sometimes have things going on in the background, they got distracted during a quiet moment, or whatever. Even the best PvPers sometimes get distracted and do stupid things. If someone in a key position seems to be distracted either shift other people to compensate or simply ask them if they'd like to stop doing such a central role (or remind them to wake up).<br />
* They simply screwed up - Sometimes people just make silly mistakes. Whether it's bombing themselves or losing a ratting Nightmare/Thanatos (ahem...), sometimes people just do things that they know are stupid and have no excuse for. With experienced players they'll almost always feel dumb enough on their own and really don't need you harping on them about it. If they're less experienced then this will likely fall under #1 or #2 and be an opportunity for learning.<br />
* They just don't care - This should never be the case for an Agony member (and if it is then you should bring it up with their mentor/director), but it can come up when dealing with allies or students. As long as they're not being disruptive it's usually best to just ignore them. Ultimately if they don't care there's not much you can do to make them care. Just put them in a role where they won't cause any damage and let them go on not caring.<br />
* They're an asshole - Sometimes people are just assholes. In my experience this is actually a surprisingly small group. Most people will respond well as long as you find the right way to approach them. Sometimes though things just don't work out and it's time to deal with them the hard way. Generally I find that an icy threat works much better than animated ranting. The important thing is the never lose control. Keep it so that you're the voice of reason trying to watch out for the fleet, and they're the douche who's keeping that from happening. An annoyed "X, please try to keep comms clear, we're trying to PvP here" will likely work better than "Goddamnit X, shut the hell up, god you're such an idiot." When you get to this point the person in question is a lost-cause, your main objective is to keep everyone else in the fleet on your side, so keep your cool. In the end you always have the "my way or the highway" card. If all else fails just boot them from the fleet and keep things moving.<br />
In the end the old adage "Speak softly but carry a big stick" applies. First try to educate, then remind, and finally punish if you need to, but yelling doesn't fit in anywhere in the process. The only times I've yelled as FC has been to clear comms because I couldn't find someone to mute them quickly. It might feel good to yell at some people, but in the end it doesn't help anything.<br />
<br />
'''The not-really-a-question question''' - When you actually sit down and look at it the vast majority of your time spent as an FC isn't giving orders, it's asking questions. Really the only direct orders you should be giving are fleet movement and target calling, everything else is questions of some sort or another. The trick is that there are a lot of things kind of in the middle that could be phrased as orders or questions. "Bamar, check EC-P8R" for example could also be phrased as "Bamar, could you check out EC-P8R for us?" The second phrasing accomplishes everything that the first does, but has two side benefits.<br />
* It requires a response. Granted, most experienced PvPers will acknowledge the first one and the second one equally, but by asking the question you remove any uncertainty. If they hear you they'll respond, and if they don't then they won't.<br />
* It strikes a better tone. Giving people the (illusion of) choice tends to make them happier to follow. Especially as a new FC flying with experienced members a lot of times tone can be tricky. How do you give orders to people you know know far more about PvP than you? By asking them to do things rather than telling them you come across as more collaberative and less of a know it all. It's not a huge deal in the end, but it can help a lot with some people.<br />
<br />
'''The hurry-the-hell-up question''' - Similar to the not-really-a-question question, this one is about setting the right tone. Inevitably while running a fleet you'll hit a spot where one of your scouts or skirmishers is hunting someone down. They're probably all caught up in directional scanner and probes and god knows what else, and probably aren't paying a lot of attention to the clock. It's your job as FC to keep them to a reasonable time frame. It's probably not worthwhile to keep a 50 man gang waiting for a cov-ops to probe down a Kestrel, and it's up to you to make this judgement call. When you're starting to hit the point where you think it's time to move on it's time to ask probably one of my most common questions, "So... how's it coming?" This question is important for a few different reasons.<br />
* It's non-accusatory - Asking something like "have you found him yet?" can come off as assigning blame to the scout for not finding him yet. In reality they're almost always doing the best they can (see section on yelling), and giving them the impression that you're blaming them is only going to piss them off or distract them.<br />
* It gives you an update - While working scouts tend to be tight-lipped. They're busy and the last thing on their mind is continually giving updates to the FC. Asking how it's going every once in a while gives you a better idea of how long it will likely take, and lets you adjust accordingly. Maybe you go roam a couple jumps while they're probing, maybe you tell them to just forget about it, but either way you have more information to make your decision.<br />
* It gives them a little kick in the ass - By no means the chief reason to ask (and if you overuse it it will bite you in the ass), but sometimes scouts just need a little reminder of "hey, you've got a couple dozen guys waiting for you." This tends to work best when you're waiting on a warp-in because it will turn a "I'll spend another 60 seconds getting the perfect spot" into "I'm close enough, just warp to me now." A lot of cov-ops pilots are perfectionists, and left to their own devices will spend more time to get a more perfect spot. In reality you don't need a perfect spot, you just need a good enough spot, and giving them a little reminder of the time constraints will help you get what you want in a more timely fashion. Again though, if you overuse it in this way you will piss people off, so think of it as a useful side-effect, not a purpose in itself.<br />
<br />
Aggression - How much aggression is good for an FC? How aggressive should a new FC be? There isn't any single right answer to this question, so I'll give three.<br />
* Aggression is good - You don't really learn anything from a fight you don't take. If you're not sure it's probably better to take the fight, let it go sideways, then learn from it. Obviously this doesn't mean you should just suicide in, but if you could go either way on the fight then take it. For one thing people tend to underestimate their capabilities more than overestimate, so chances are if you think it's a dead-even fight you probably have a slight advantage. Additionally even if it is iffy then that's the sort of fight that will actually test you and provide you with a challenge which will make you better. Finally if it is a charlie-foxtrot then at least you'll know it was, be able to look at why you thought it was an even fight and learn from it. In the end the worst-case is that you learned something and will be a better FC in the future. By never taking iffy fights you're freezing yourself at a certain level of competency, and keeping yourself from advancing beyond that.<br />
* Aggression is personal - Different FCs FC differently. Some people like to plan out every detail of a fight before they ever engage in it. By definition they'll be less aggressive because they don't like engaging in fights that they don't fully understand. Personally I tend to prefer to just jump right into a fight then rely on my ability to adapt better than my opponent in the heat of the battle. Neither approach is inherently better than the other, it's about what fits your personality best. The more cautious approach tends to work best for heavier gangs, and especially for capital warfare, while the second is more suited to hit and run tactics where you can engage and disengage at will.<br />
* Aggression is bad - Sometimes aggression can be used as a crutch to keep from actually thinking things through. It's usually not a good idea to suicide a T1 fleet just to suicide it. You don't really learn anything in the process and it's just an empty fight. Sure, sometimes you're just freaking bored and don't care, but as an FC you should always be purely rational. Once you have a lot of experience you can go off of instinct a lot more but at no point should you not really be thinking/caring about what will happen. Your aggression should always be calculated, never reckless. It should be the last step in your decision-making process, not a replacement for it.<br />
Notice that none of these issues relate to fear. Fear should never enter into the equation. A fight is either a good fight or a bad fight, and you should act accordingly. You shouldn't be nervous about getting people killed, because they're certainly going to be killed. Your job isn't to keep everyone from getting blown up, your job is to get into good fights and win. Good fights never occur without any losses on your side (ok, sometimes they do, but it's rare), and it's very hard to win if you're afraid of losing ships. Again, FCing should be purely rational, fear of losing ships shouldn't enter into the equation. Sometimes the best play is to lose a few ships, while it sucks it's just reality, and trying to avoid this reality is only going to cause more pain in the long-run.</div>Bamarhttps://wiki.agony-unleashed.com/index.php?title=Bamar%27s_The_Soft_Side_of_FCing&diff=17656Bamar's The Soft Side of FCing2011-09-07T18:10:48Z<p>Bamar: New page: Category:Agony I think a lot of times we talk a lot about tactics and procedures around FCing without really talking about the "soft" skills around it. How do you deal with people whi...</p>
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<div>[[Category:Agony]]<br />
I think a lot of times we talk a lot about tactics and procedures around FCing without really talking about the "soft" skills around it. How do you deal with people while FCing, how to phrase things, etc. This post is an attempt to lay out some of the things that I do and work for me. Keep in mind that everyone is different, and my way of doing things isn't necessarily the only way. This should be a reference point, not a bible.<br />
<br />
[b]Confidence [/b]- You might not always do the right thing, but you always know the right thing to do. Being an FC is all about making calculated risks based off of incomplete information. Whenever you make a mistake it's probably because of one of the below. The one uniting theme though is that they're all mistakes. They're all things that you can recognize and fix. Don't get down on yourself over mistakes, just fix them and make yourself better.<br />
[list=1]<br />
[*] You made the right move, it just didn't work out - In any reasonably close fight there's some chance that you'll lose. If you go into a fight knowing that there's a chance you'll lose, and you lose in the way you expected then that's just part of the game. These explanations tend to be the most comforting but the least satisfying. Even if you FC perfectly there's still a chance you'll lose, and if there isn't then you're not taking close enough fights. Sometimes you gamble, sometimes you lose.<br />
[*] You didn't know as much as you should have - For new FCs you're going to have incomplete knowledge for a while, sometimes that missing knowledge will bite you in the ass. Didn't know that the Eris is an interdictor? Whoops, so much for that fleet. Mistakes coming from ignorance tend to be the most aggravating, but are also the easiest to fix. Read up on the area that you're weak on and make sure you don't make the same mistake again.<br />
[*] You didn't think far enough ahead - Another common one for newer FCs. As an FC you always need to be thinking ahead. Sometimes it's one step ahead, sometimes it's six, but either way you need to be able to predict your opponents and respond accordingly. Sometimes your opponent does something you don't expect and you pay for it. Maybe you fall for bait, maybe they come in at range when you expected them to come short. Either way you need to look at why you thought what you did, why you were wrong, and think about how you'll identify it in the future. This is where the big nebulous "experience" comes in. A lot of these decisions just become ingrained habit/instinct after you deal with the same situation dozens of times. You won't entirely know why you think someone will do what they do, you just know that they will.<br />
[*] You made a mistake - You're just human, sometimes you goof up and do something stupid. Sometimes you'll realize how stupid your instruction was before it even leaves your lips, but you still say it anyway. As long as you know how dumb you were there's not much to do but kick yourself and vow never to do it again.<br />
[*] You didn't do anything - The absolute worst mistake an FC can make is doing nothing. Any action is better than no action. If the only thing you can think to do is monumentally stupid then be monumentally stupid, it's better than being silent. Mistakes tend to kill ships, silence kills entire fleets. These are the most demoralizing losses too. These are fights were you kill nothing and lose 20. NEVER STOP TALKING. If you go down or warp off grid then call on your backup FC, otherwise you should always be giving orders. If what you're doing isn't working then try something else, but never stop. This seems to be another common one with newer FCs, you freeze up because you're afraid of making the wrong decision and end up making the worst of all. This is also the only error that will actually keep you from being an FC. You can be an inexperienced FC, you can be a reckless FC, you can even be an unknowledgeable FC, but you can NOT be an FC who freezes or goes silent.<br />
[/list]<br />
<br />
[b]Take responsibility[/b] - If you mess up then admit you messed up. You don't need to go on and on about it, but sometimes a simple "whoops, that didn't go quite how I expected it to" will lead to far less bitching down the line. When you mess up as an FC you'll know it, and everyone else in the fleet will know it. Trying to pretend like it wasn't your fault will only lower others' opinions of you. They'll either think that you're incompetent and don't realize that you skrewed up, or you'll think that you're too proud to admit it. In the end if you make a mistake, acknowledge it, learn from it, then move on. At first this might seem directly opposed to the prior point, but in reality it's a balancing act. If you have full confidence in your abilities then admiting a mistake isn't a big deal. You were doing the right thing, but you didn't have the right information, or something totally random happened, or whatever. Ultimately your decision-making process is always valid, it just might have had the wrong inputs (either lack of scouting, lack of experience, whatever). While you might make mistakes you are always in control, and it's important to not undermine yourself with self-effacing humor, which can be tempting especially as a newer FC. Saying something like "I'll probably get bored and suicide us" is way better than saying something like "We'll probably get wiped out." As an FC you should always be in control of things, and it's important to portray that in the way you talk about yourself. You might do stupid or wrong things from time to time, but it's always a conscious decision, not something that happened to you.<br />
<br />
[b]Optimism[/b] - Always look on the brighter side. It's easy to get down on yourself as an FC, it happens to all of us. Sometimes a brutal fight just gets you down, and that's fine, but when talking to your fleet you need to be the eternal optimist. Sure you just got wiped out, but you learned something from it. Sure you lost a bunch of ships, but hey, look at that crazy-expensive Dramiel we killed. Sure you might have flown a frig blob into smartbomb destruction, but damn if it wasn't freaking hilarious. There is ALWAYS a bright side, and it's your job to focus on it. It's fine if you're pissed off that they just dropped 5:1 odds on you, but your job as FC is to brush it off and laugh at it. Sure you shouldn't just make stuff up to cover up for a horrible fight, but you can fix what went wrong and then focus on the future. Constructive criticism and optimism are always valuable, moping and whining never are. Remind your fleet members what's awsome about EVE and they'll keep coming back. Dwell in what you hate about EVE and you'll make them all bittervets.<br />
<br />
[b]Yelling [/b]- Quite simply don't. I can count the number of times I've yelled at someone in a fleet over the past 5 years on one hand, and none of them were Agony members. Rather than freaking out at someone for making a mistake think about why they made that mistake. 99% of the time it's for one of the following reasons.<br />
[list=1]<br />
[*] They just don't know - Luckily the easiest to fix, just explain to them what they did wrong, why it was wrong, and what to do differently. Even experienced players can have surprising gaps in their knowledge, and even if you're telling them what they already know it can be helpful to newer people in the fleet to understand what went wrong and why. It's almost always best to try to educate on the first mistake.<br />
[*] They weren't paying close enough attention - Another very common one. People sometimes have things going on in the background, they got distracted during a quiet moment, or whatever. Even the best PvPers sometimes get distracted and do stupid things. If someone in a key position seems to be distracted either shift other people to compensate or simply ask them if they'd like to stop doing such a central role (or remind them to wake up).<br />
[*] They simply screwed up - Sometimes people just make silly mistakes. Whether it's bombing themselves or losing a ratting Nightmare/Thanatos (ahem...), sometimes people just do things that they know are stupid and have no excuse for. With experienced players they'll almost always feel dumb enough on their own and really don't need you harping on them about it. If they're less experienced then this will likely fall under #1 or #2 and be an opportunity for learning.<br />
[*] They just don't care - This should never be the case for an Agony member (and if it is then you should bring it up with their mentor/director), but it can come up when dealing with allies or students. As long as they're not being disruptive it's usually best to just ignore them. Ultimately if they don't care there's not much you can do to make them care. Just put them in a role where they won't cause any damage and let them go on not caring.<br />
[*] They're an asshole - Sometimes people are just assholes. In my experience this is actually a surprisingly small group. Most people will respond well as long as you find the right way to approach them. Sometimes though things just don't work out and it's time to deal with them the hard way. Generally I find that an icy threat works much better than animated ranting. The important thing is the never lose control. Keep it so that you're the voice of reason trying to watch out for the fleet, and they're the douche who's keeping that from happening. An annoyed "X, please try to keep comms clear, we're trying to PvP here" will likely work better than "Goddamnit X, shut the hell up, god you're such an idiot." When you get to this point the person in question is a lost-cause, your main objective is to keep everyone else in the fleet on your side, so keep your cool. In the end you always have the "my way or the highway" card. If all else fails just boot them from the fleet and keep things moving.<br />
[/list] In the end the old adage "Speak softly but carry a big stick" applies. First try to educate, then remind, and finally punish if you need to, but yelling doesn't fit in anywhere in the process. The only times I've yelled as FC has been to clear comms because I couldn't find someone to mute them quickly. It might feel good to yell at some people, but in the end it doesn't help anything.<br />
<br />
[b]The not-really-a-question question[/b] - When you actually sit down and look at it the vast majority of your time spent as an FC isn't giving orders, it's asking questions. Really the only direct orders you should be giving are fleet movement and target calling, everything else is questions of some sort or another. The trick is that there are a lot of things kind of in the middle that could be phrased as orders or questions. "Bamar, check EC-P8R" for example could also be phrased as "Bamar, could you check out EC-P8R for us?" The second phrasing accomplishes everything that the first does, but has two side benefits.<br />
[list=1]<br />
[*] It requires a response. Granted, most experienced PvPers will acknowledge the first one and the second one equally, but by asking the question you remove any uncertainty. If they hear you they'll respond, and if they don't then they won't.<br />
[*] It strikes a better tone. Giving people the (illusion of) choice tends to make them happier to follow. Especially as a new FC flying with experienced members a lot of times tone can be tricky. How do you give orders to people you know know far more about PvP than you? By asking them to do things rather than telling them you come across as more collaberative and less of a know it all. It's not a huge deal in the end, but it can help a lot with some people.<br />
[/list]<br />
[b]The hurry-the-hell-up question[/b] - Similar to the not-really-a-question question, this one is about setting the right tone. Inevitably while running a fleet you'll hit a spot where one of your scouts or skirmishers is hunting someone down. They're probably all caught up in directional scanner and probes and god knows what else, and probably aren't paying a lot of attention to the clock. It's your job as FC to keep them to a reasonable time frame. It's probably not worthwhile to keep a 50 man gang waiting for a cov-ops to probe down a Kestrel, and it's up to you to make this judgement call. When you're starting to hit the point where you think it's time to move on it's time to ask probably one of my most common questions, "So... how's it coming?" This question is important for a few different reasons.<br />
[list=1]<br />
[*] It's non-accusatory - Asking something like "have you found him yet?" can come off as assigning blame to the scout for not finding him yet. In reality they're almost always doing the best they can (see section on yelling), and giving them the impression that you're blaming them is only going to piss them off or distract them.<br />
[*] It gives you an update - While working scouts tend to be tight-lipped. They're busy and the last thing on their mind is continually giving updates to the FC. Asking how it's going every once in a while gives you a better idea of how long it will likely take, and lets you adjust accordingly. Maybe you go roam a couple jumps while they're probing, maybe you tell them to just forget about it, but either way you have more information to make your decision.<br />
[*] It gives them a little kick in the ass - By no means the chief reason to ask (and if you overuse it it will bite you in the ass), but sometimes scouts just need a little reminder of "hey, you've got a couple dozen guys waiting for you." This tends to work best when you're waiting on a warp-in because it will turn a "I'll spend another 60 seconds getting the perfect spot" into "I'm close enough, just warp to me now." A lot of cov-ops pilots are perfectionists, and left to their own devices will spend more time to get a more perfect spot. In reality you don't need a perfect spot, you just need a good enough spot, and giving them a little reminder of the time constraints will help you get what you want in a more timely fashion. Again though, if you overuse it in this way you will piss people off, so think of it as a useful side-effect, not a purpose in itself.<br />
[/list]<br />
<br />
[b]Aggression[/b] - How much aggression is good for an FC? How aggressive should a new FC be? There isn't any single right answer to this question, so I'll give three.<br />
[list=1]<br />
[*] Aggression is good - You don't really learn anything from a fight you don't take. If you're not sure it's probably better to take the fight, let it go sideways, then learn from it. Obviously this doesn't mean you should just suicide in, but if you could go either way on the fight then take it. For one thing people tend to underestimate their capabilities more than overestimate, so chances are if you think it's a dead-even fight you probably have a slight advantage. Additionally even if it is iffy then that's the sort of fight that will actually test you and provide you with a challenge which will make you better. Finally if it is a charlie-foxtrot then at least you'll know it was, be able to look at why you thought it was an even fight and learn from it. In the end the worst-case is that you learned something and will be a better FC in the future. By never taking iffy fights you're freezing yourself at a certain level of competency, and keeping yourself from advancing beyond that.<br />
[*] Aggression is personal - Different FCs FC differently. Some people like to plan out every detail of a fight before they ever engage in it. By definition they'll be less aggressive because they don't like engaging in fights that they don't fully understand. Personally I tend to prefer to just jump right into a fight then rely on my ability to adapt better than my opponent in the heat of the battle. Neither approach is inherently better than the other, it's about what fits your personality best. The more cautious approach tends to work best for heavier gangs, and especially for capital warfare, while the second is more suited to hit and run tactics where you can engage and disengage at will.<br />
[*] Aggression is bad - Sometimes aggression can be used as a crutch to keep from actually thinking things through. It's usually not a good idea to suicide a T1 fleet just to suicide it. You don't really learn anything in the process and it's just an empty fight. Sure, sometimes you're just freaking bored and don't care, but as an FC you should always be purely rational. Once you have a lot of experience you can go off of instinct a lot more but at no point should you not really be thinking/caring about what will happen. Your aggression should always be calculated, never reckless. It should be the last step in your decision-making process, not a replacement for it.<br />
[/list]<br />
Notice that none of these issues relate to fear. Fear should never enter into the equation. A fight is either a good fight or a bad fight, and you should act accordingly. You shouldn't be nervous about getting people killed, because they're certainly going to be killed. Your job isn't to keep everyone from getting blown up, your job is to get into good fights and win. Good fights never occur without any losses on your side (ok, sometimes they do, but it's rare), and it's very hard to win if you're afraid of losing ships. Again, FCing should be purely rational, fear of losing ships shouldn't enter into the equation. Sometimes the best play is to lose a few ships, while it sucks it's just reality, and trying to avoid this reality is only going to cause more pain in the long-run.</div>Bamar