Carebear Tears sustain me, and makes me remember why I play this game.  In making my argument for fairness towards all, when a Mission Runner successfully petitions for a “reset” to their Mission when a Ninja Looter successfully steals the Mission Item, I was given this gem by Drake Draconis.

Don’t get me wrong here - Drake has a lot of really, really intelligent posts that I usually tend to agree with…  It wasn’t intentional for me to extract tears from him, but hey - I’m not proud - I’ll take them wherever I can get them.

In this post on the EvE-O Forums, after I compared myself to God himself (heh), Mr. Draconis was kind enough to post the following response:

“Sorry to burst your bubble tchell… but your stuffed up pride is making you stupid.

The Voice I speak is one of rationality and reason…. unbiased with the fact that I’m not really interested in the greed or ego of EVE… I seek to play the game to be constructive and to further my corporation…. the games too large for self indulgence.

Your trying to make the bank robber look like the victim in this sad little tale of your so called “exploit” complaint.

While you have valid points… the underlining agenda is a little too obvious.. and that is why you will be ignored.

As I’ve said a thousand times… until there is risk… you will not get your wish.

All you have to do is scan probe out the mission area… show up… salvage..and leave with a ton of ISK.

One would call that ISK farming…

Zero effort…. very little time involved.. and you make out like a bandit.

Someone war decs you.. you go hide in your little hole and wait it out… or run off…. even if you did fight you’d have better finances than anyone else combined.

Ninja Salvaging at the time of its first inception may look like a valid tactic… but any tactic overused/abused would quickly change that opinion…

Case and point: Ghost training.

And that’s undeniable.

Whats going to happen if you salvage a wreck and you get aggro? How about taking a security hit for interfering with empire mission’s? After all you are interfering in the affairs of the said sovereign empires that hand out these missions.

You may think I’m just rattling my gums for the sake of the carebears you oh so hate with a passion.

But in reallity its because of those carebears your making millions if not billions…. with very very little effort.

Even then…. this so called mission reset exploit is actually in your favor… so it gets reset… that means more wrecks to clean up.

Guess you didn’t think of that did you?

Don’t want double the trit bars tchell? Lost your way have you?

Everyone knows that mission payouts are worthless…. salvage is what makes the ISK.

And your little business of taking advantage of that… daresay “Exploiting” that fact is going to get a little negative attention… because you are not getting any danger or risk from doing it to begin with… until you decide to get even more greedy and steal the loot and then hold mission items for ransom.

this is why this topic falls under a controversial category…. and one that will not be paid attention too until CCP finds the time to bother listening… they have other things to take care of…

Until there is a defense against invasion of missions… I’m not going to sit here at let people be blinded by your “holier than thou” attitude.

Your excuse of “Shooting back when they take loot” is completely unreasonable unless the mission runner is smart enough to use tactics to wait out the aggro timer… and even then its destructive to the mission runners environment.

Which in turn leads to the age old argument of eliminate the mission runners and send them packing to low-sec or endless war-decs.

At that rate I might as well go get a copy of Warhammer online and say frak it.

But we aren’t there yet… and I’m hopefull CCP won’t fall prey to such things.”

He makes some good points, I’ll give him that.  But, of course, being who I am, that’s about all I’ll give him at the moment.

In the end, I believe that the ‘rules’ in-game are for everyone, whether they suit your personal tastes or not.  If you don’t like Ninja Salvagers and Looters, that’s fine, but you cannot deny that they exist.  You also can not give one subset of players one set of rules and say, “you don’t get the same playbook, because you’re a griefer.”  That’s not the way this works.

If you’re a Mission Runner, and someone steals your Mission Item, you have every option available to you to combat this.  If you’re in a Corporation - which I recommend - have some backup ready, as the Ninja Looter is now flashing red to you and your Corp, should you choose to engage him.  If you want to pay him off, pay him off.  If you want, check the local Market, because chances are, the Mission Item is there, for a reasonable price.

If none of these solution suits you, then you always have the opportunity of ‘failing’ the Mission, or allow for a ‘natural’ reset after downtime.

To Drake and the others out there who disagree with my methods, or to those who continually cry “no risk!” and “salvage theft!”, I say that we are here, we are active, and we enjoy what we do.  It’s all legal, it’s all using in-game mechanics, and it’s all a hell of a lot of fun.

All part of playing the game.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Tear Extraction And Reclamation Services
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

It’s been a while since I’ve been as active as I’ve been lately on the Blog, but I’m hoping that this will change with some of the recent posts that the CCP Devs and Mods have been making on the EvE Online Forums.  I can honestly say that I’m happy with what I’ve read, overall, as it would seem that the influence of Suddenly Ninjas and TEARS has had some effect over what’s been transpiring in EvE over the past few months.

It really all started in May of 2008, when GM Ytterbium posted the following, located here:

“Greetings,

This is caution for all players currently engaged in mission running activities. The wreck ownership mechanism has recently been changed, and as such will not belong to the character doing most damage to the NPC anymore, but to the pilot who first accepted the mission.

The EVE Online Customer Support Team advises extra wariness when doing missions in a fleet with members, as doing any kind of damage to a wreck not belonging to your corporation will result in CONCORD intervention. Since this remains within normal game-play, Game Masters will remain of little assistance regarding vessels lost in such a fashion.

Also, this change has nothing to do with salvaging rights themselves as they remain untouched. Players are still completely free to salvage other pilot wrecks at will, no matter if they belong to the same corporation or not and doing so is not considered as an exploit.

Many thanks for your understanding,

Best regards,
Senior GM Ytterbium
EVE Customer Support Team”

The statement, “Players are still completely free to salvage other pilot wrecks at will, no matter if they belong to the same corporation or not and doing so is not considered as an exploit” was one of the first real confirmations that CCP recognized that Ninja Salvaging was a completely legal and recognized profession in New Eden, and that Mission Runners must be aware that they are not the sole owners of everything contained within the wrecks.

In November of 2008, CCP Prism X mentioned that changes were in the works, so that broken salvage components might be convertible, in the future, to T2 salvage components, which would be a huge boon to the Ninja Salvaging Profession, as a whole.  His post is located here, and stated the following:

“There are a few changes in the pipes which help in this regard. Firstly we want to introduce size variant rigs and secondly salvage conversion so some quantity of broken salvage can be converted to intact T2 salvage. Beyond that the spring expansion will have rather a lot of content in it so it would not be unimaginable that other changes will be made there as well but certainly salvage conversion is something we have wanted for a long time.”

As you can see, if this ever comes to pass, the T2 Rig Market will finally become viable, as many of us have been frustrated to find that it is nearly impossible to find, and certainly isn’t worth the time and risk to seek out.

I, for one, look forward to the day when I can finally fly my CovOps and Faction Frigates into Missions, fully fit out with Gravity Capacitor II and Salvage Tackle II rigs.

To answer the almost daily crying of the Mission Runners, with their “it’s not fair” attitude, CCP Prism X responded here, to tell them that this was not, in fact, the case.

“Why is stealing salvage OK?
It’s not.
It shouldn’t even be possible to move an item from your cargo-hold / hanger to another persons cargo-hold / hanger without opening a trade window. Before the salvage enters those containers it is not considered your stuff by the server code. Hence it’s not stealing.If you’re surprised as to why the server does not consider it your stuff, it’s because it’s a mini profession designed for people who want to roam and look for salvage, not to further increase the revenue from mission grinding.. I doubt anyone with a perspective thinks we need to high-sec increase mission grinding any further.

Simple solution to the non-issue.
Please don’t take this as any bashing just for suggesting ideas. I have nothing against brainstorming on the forums. However, I’m going to let you in on a little CCP non-secret which is: “NPE”.
EVE is a really hostile game. We love how hostile it is.. we never meant for it to be a breeze. However, it’s also accepted that, on top of the intended complexity, the tools and rules you play with/by aren’t highly intuative. You are suggesting a dual functionality.. one for newbies and another for vets (of course you did not say that, however just because some people chill in newb corps and ain’t newbs doesn’t mean we should punish the new players) and to compound the inherent confusion in that the newbie functionality is more hostile and more open to griefing than the veteran functionality. It shouldn’t be much different.. and if it had to be it should be the other way around.

~ Prism X
EvE Database Developer
Relocating your character to a cozy, secure container since 2006.
Relocating your cozy, secure container to the EVE cemetery since 2008.”

Now, I realize that I’ve already posted this in my most recent Blog entry, but it bears repeating here.  It really goes to show that CCP has their eye on the Big Picture that is EvE Online.  It’s a harsh, harsh universe out there, and Ninja Salvagers are making their way through it…  …one crying Carebear at a time.

I’ve been in New Eden for almost a year now, and it still surprises me that those in the game are still complaining about salvage ‘theft’, when in fact, they should be applauding the creators for going against the grain of standard MMO’s.  Sure, there’s a Mission Grind that you can choose to take, and if that’s your cup of tea, then more power to you.  If all you want to do in EvE is run Missions, then so be it.  If you want to do more, then there are many, many more options available to you.

As it is, I’ve chosen Ninja Salvaging to be my calling, as have many, many others who have joined the ranks of Suddenly Ninjas.  I’m proud to say that we’re respected in the EvE Community, both by those who love what we do, and hate what we do, and it’s really great to see CCP coming out to support the option to do something different.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Tear Extraction And Reclamation Service
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

CONFIRMED!

In this post written by CCP Prism X, one of the CCP Developers, he confirms (as we’ve known all along) that Ninja Salvaging is NOT THEFT! Rather, it is a Profession (ok, he said “mini”) that people can partake in, instead of (ugh) Mission Running. (Damn, I said those words. Now, I feel dirty.)

So here, for all to see, is yet another of the “Official Word”, directly from CCP, on the issue (or non-issue, heh) of Ninja Salvaging:

Why is stealing salvage OK?

It’s not.

It shouldn’t even be possible to move an item from your cargo-hold / hanger to another persons cargo-hold / hanger without opening a trade window. Before the salvage enters those containers it is not considered your stuff by the server code. Hence it’s not stealing.

If you’re surprised as to why the server does not consider it your stuff, it’s because it’s a mini profession designed for people who want to roam and look for salvage, not to further increase the revenue from mission grinding.. I doubt anyone with a perspective thinks we need to high-sec increase mission grinding any further.

Simple solution to the non-issue.

Please don’t take this as any bashing just for suggesting ideas. I have nothing against brainstorming on the forums. However, I’m going to let you in on a little CCP non-secret which is: “NPE”.

EVE is a really hostile game. We love how hostile it is.. we never meant for it to be a breeze. However, it’s also accepted that, on top of the intended complexity, the tools and rules you play with/by aren’t highly intuative. You are suggesting a dual functionality.. one for newbies and another for vets (of course you did not say that, however just because some people chill in newb corps and ain’t newbs doesn’t mean we should punish the new players) and to compound the inherent confusion in that the newbie functionality is more hostile and more open to griefing than the veteran functionality. It shouldn’t be much different.. and if it had to be it should be the other way around.

CCP Prism X - EvE Dev Team

I think that my favourite quote from the above is, “I doubt anyone with a perspective thinks we need to high-sec increase mission grinding any further”, which, to me, means, “hey, if you’re a smart individual, then even you know that Mission Running is already too easy”…

My hat is off to CCP Prism X, for coming out against Mission Runners in a big way.  (If CCP had a Corp in the game, we might cut them in on some of the Protection Payments we’re getting…  …but I digress.)  I personally LOVE when CCP comes out and takes the wind out of the sails of those who choose to think that EvE is their personal sandbox.  It’s a cold, dark place, as the following sentiment seems to echo.

My second favourite quote is, “EVE is a really hostile game. We love how hostile it is.. we never meant for it to be a breeze.” So, to all of you Mission Runners out there, take heed.  We’re busy taking Dodixie down a notch, and we’re coming for you, next.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Tear Extraction And Reclamation Service
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

Yes, friends.  It’s happening.

I have unofficially tipped my hand early, to propose my Candidacy for a position in the EvE Online Council of Stellar Management.  That’s right, there might soon be a Ninja holding a position of influence within the ranks of those who have a voice for Players of the EvE Community.

Here is my post in the Crime & Punishment section on the EvE Online Forums:

Ever since the new CSM Term was announced, I have been approached by numerous Players, both from inside our Alliance and out, telling me that I should run for the CSM.

As I knew that my ‘platform’ would be impossible to successfully define and create in the short time frame, I declined to ‘throw my hat in the ring’, however, I am considering running in the next term, and because C&P is my unofficial ‘Home’, the opinions here matter most to me, and I wanted to post to get thoughts on the matter.

I have always been a proponent that Empire Space is much too safe, and that the path that CCP has taken (especially recently) has only served to strengthen the Carebear Regime that is their ‘bread and butter’. I fully understand that if you have a majority of players who perform certain activities, and pay the majority of the bills, that you tend to cater to that group more than others. There is simply no excuse for this type of thinking, because I’m sure that if everybody else in the game left, Mining, Mission Running and Market play would soon take a significant downturn, and New Eden would become an increasingly bleak place.

This is one of the reasons that has given rise to the increased security penalties to the act of Suicide Ganking and the like, and why we consistently have no comment provided by CCP when they’re consistently bombarded with questions from the Carebear Community about “instanced Missions”, “Salvage Aggro” and thoughts like that, to make Empire even safer for those who want to play EvE Offline. Quite honestly, they’re afraid of the backlash that other Players will give, if they provide a response, and go back on their word. It’s not simply the amount of questions being directed their way that causes this lack of communication.

I, for one, am interested in Full Disclosure, as it pertains to the communication of position. I’m tired of the “It’s currently working as intended, but this might change in the future” responses that we seem to receive. If someone is working on changing a certain mechanic in someone’s favour, we need information on exactly what is going to change, how it’s going to affect everybody, and we need to have a say in how it’s going to change!

Who here has been active in communicating their votes in the “Assembly Hall”? If so, do you feel that the current CSM’s have effectively communicated your wishes to CCP? Do the CSM’s ever come here, to C&P, to see how many Players are interested in voicing their opinions on the proposed changes? I say no.

Communication is the key, and as Pirates, Ninjas, Brigands all, our say is still just as important as the Carebears that inhabit Empire Space. If you’re a Liberal, Pro-Choice -10, you have as much right as the Conservative, Pro-Life Carebear to these discussion sas anyone else. Until now, I don’t believe that ANY CSM has been effective in including the denizens who inhabit C&P in communicating the information that they are privy to. Some of us don’t get out of our hole that often to check, and we certainly aren’t as active as we should be, but that’s no excuse for not coming to each section of the Forums to take your information to the people.

I ask you this, C&P, what do you want to see from your CSM during the Third Term? Are you happy with what you have seen so far from your CSM, or do you want something more?

Do our opinions count? I say HELL, YES! If I run for Candidacy during the Third Term, I shall be running on the “HELL, YES!” ballot, and I urge you to join me in making New Eden tremble with our resolve.

I will be working on making our views more public in the coming weeks, opening up discussion on both the EvE Online Forums as well as the Suddenly Ninjas Forums, so that no opinion goes unregistered.  Let’s make New Eden the place you want to fly in!

Your Candidate for CSM III,

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Tear Extraction And Reclamation Service
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

My friends,

Our Corporation has a Monthly Competition in which we pay our Members 25M ISK for the Best Carebear Tears (basically, who can make another Pilot angry enough to spout off in local, or in a private convo) and I’m going to start posting the “Winning Entries” here, each month.

In July, our winner was Paul Clavet, who (with another Member, Arik Van Claw) managed to bring our hapless victims to start fighting others in Local… …all started because we entered their mission and were actively salvaging the wrecks.

GRIMREAPER 01 > wow you guys cant find anything better to do
Sonargod > it happens when school is out and they can’t get a gf
Arik VanClaw > lol
Leeta Saviere > Leave them alone Sonargod - They still have each other.
Arik VanClaw > I just like to warp into missions for the cool music
Sonargod > lol
GRIMREAPER 01 > yea sure

Nothing beats a good comeback like, “I just like to warp into missions for the cool music.”

I do find it interesting whenever a Mission Runner has to validate their own inability to deal with others in New Eden by trying to sell you on the fact that actually doing Missions is a viable alternative.

GRIMREAPER 01 > you would make more by doin ur own
GRIMREAPER 01 > umm yea you obvisily havent soloed a lvl 4
Arik VanClaw > normally I don’t salvage merc wrecks, but imma make an exception in this case
TheStarman > This is more fun and more profitable
GRIMREAPER 01 > you make more soloing a lvl 4 then wasteing time scanning and salvageing o wow
Arik VanClaw > hehe even better when you get them to shoot their own wrecks
GRIMREAPER 01 > lol
GRIMREAPER 01 > there junk wrecks
FrFrmPukin > doesn’t matter when we are making bounties
TheStarman > lol who cares
TheStarman > Its funner to see guys whine
Sonargod > waht a bitch

For some, it’s all about the almighty ISK.  For others, it’s all about the interaction between people.  I prefer to be counted amongst the latter.

GRIMREAPER 01 > no i just wonder why you guys waste ur time lol

Oh no, he did NOT just say we “waste our time”…  Had I been there, I would have reminded him that while we play against other people, Mission Runners, in essence, are playing with themselves.  Ah, well.  Some people just can’t be taught.

Arik VanClaw > lol, 450k rail gun in that one, couldn’t pass it up
TheStarman > hurrr ur wasteing ur time leve lolololol
GRIMREAPER 01 > newb lmao
TheStarman > Whatever dude. Why dont you go grind some more

Hats off to TheStarman, one of the pilots who actually “gets it”…

GRIMREAPER 01 > take somethin then warp out LOL diddnt wanna fight all of us awwww
TheStarman > I’ll come in there. What, you going to lose your shit over a ship with less than 100k of shit in it?
GRIMREAPER 01 > lol you take me on you newb i see how long youve been playn
TheStarman > I dont care how long I’ve been playing. I’m not going to stick my neck out and attack you. I’m new, not retarded
GRIMREAPER 01 > lol both man if you come into my mish
Arik VanClaw > ah sweet sweet tears, please keep crying
TheStarman > Seriously

Whenever pilots feel like they’ve been set upon by those who use their brains to do something more original, they always seem to revert back to schoolyard mentality, and like to threaten…  “Meet me out back, where Concord won’t see…  We’ll settle this…”

I mean, Ninja please.  If I wanted to have an ePeen swinging competition, I already know you’ll be at a disadvantage.

Noidzz > whats all the drama about?
Arik VanClaw > some carebears had their mission party crashed
TheStarman > GRIMREAPER complaining about Ninja salvaging

There’s never a dull moment, and people new to the scene are always asking what’s going on…  Of course, we’re more than happy to oblige.  I’m sure you’ll note that there were very few quotes from our members in any of the local convos above.  We’re more than happy to watch the festivities as pissed off Mission Runners and the locals have it out.

FrFrmPukin > lol.. these carebears have teeth.. meet us in parts
FrFrmPukin > come on.. lets do it..
FrFrmPukin > goto parts or old man star .. I down for it
Arik VanClaw > just war dec, then you can have a week of fun
Paul Clavet > But Arik, usually that means WE have the fun
FrFrmPukin > screw that… lets take it out of high sec.. or are you scared
Sonargod > until your mom takes away your comp, then you get a week of you and yourself
FrFrmPukin > screw that 24 hour wait war dec crap.. common… meet us in parts so we can get on
FrFrmPukin > screw the war dec crap.. its man to man..

“It’s Man to Man…”  Yet another way to say, “I’m afraid of fighting your entire Corp, but hey, I think I might be able to beat you alone…  Maybe…  Just to be on the safe side, I’ll invite you there, and call in a few buddies.”

Right.

Aidan Columb > the easiest way to piss these guys off is simple……
Aidan Columb > blow your wrecks up
Aidan Columb > you get the bounties….they get to waste thieir time scanning u down

Wow, I’ve never heard of this tactic.  What a genius!  Obviously, this guy has figured out the solution!  Oh my God, I’m just going to go quit, and start running Missions if this ever gets out!

/sarcasm

FrFrmPukin > well if you going to piss somebody off.. be prepared to be bitch slapped

Right here, I thought, “Alright, this guy is going to Wardec us anyway.  After all, his honor has been called into question, and he tells us all - right here - we’re going to pay for our indiscretions!”

FrFrmPukin > lets goto parts .. right now.. you and I..
Sonargod > with my pimp cane
FrFrmPukin > I am calling you out
FrFrmPukin > lets go

Nope.  Sorry, I was wrong.  He’s still hiding behind his gigantic (*giggle*) ePeen, and not interested in backing it up using the best methods at his disposal.  Sad, really.

Arik VanClaw > lol, man, this guys pretty ballsy when he has several corp mates backing him up
Paul Clavet > heh
Sonargod > I won’t back him up it’s one on one, unles you wannna bring your corp in too, only fair fights

Riiiiiiiigggghhhhht.  You’re not planning on backing him up in any way.  I know how this would have gone, had our guys actually taken them up on the “Fair Fight” of which they called for.  They would have all been on the killmail, dishonoring the 1v1, and then they would have gladhanded each other into the next millenium at how stupid the ‘noob salvager’ was in believing them.

Those who play EvE Offline are all the same.

FrFrmPukin > who’s the carebear now… hide behind your monitor you little bitch
Paul Clavet > rofl
FrFrmPukin > common starman and arik.. come to parts
Arik VanClaw > later pukin, busy salvaging people who aren’t so whiney
FrFrmPukin > you want to pvp … then go
FrFrmPukin > oh.. that’ right. .you are only good at stealing..FrFrmPukin > whatever.. you don’t have to steal.. I will give you a whole station container full of shit
Arik VanClaw > hehe, this is good stuff

Sooner or later, you just have to move on, as our young adventurers did in this case…  Sure, they weren’t driving the conversation as much as the Mission Runners did, but please.  Have you ever seen any pilots so sad in their style that they just have to smack and moan about every little ISK they’ve lost?

“I will give you a whole station container full of shit.”

Sure you will.  If you had so much stuff to just ‘give away’, you wouldn’t be pissing and moaning about the loss of a few million ISK in salvage parts.  Maybe it’s about something bigger.  Maybe your e-honor has been tarnished, and you feel small… …insignificant.

Well then, I guess our job here is done.

Dras Sun > man ninjas i love you
Dras Sun > this place has been like this all day

I think this closing comment from Dras Sun is the best conclusion we could have to our little adventure.  It’s always nice to be able to provide a bit of ‘entertainment’ to those pilots who grace our Space with their presence, and even moreso when you have a former War Target singing your praises.

Hats off to Paul Clavet and Arik Van Claw for the extraction of carebear tears…  …and here’s to many more to come!

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

As a Ninja Salvager, you have days where you yearn to do interesting things…  Days where your Mission Running victims just don’t provide the level of quality in their smack, or any smack at all.  It’s at times like this, that you learn that your chosen profession has more to provide by way of enjoyment than any “ride the rails” Mission Runner could ever dream of.

This is one such story from Velocity Prime, who found that his Mission Runner had neglected to bring in his Drones during his Mission:

“I was scanning for missions last night when I picked up a hit on the ol’ scanner. Hobgoblin II it said. Now as we all know, where there are drone hits, there are mission runners, salvage, or forgotten drones. Spotting tech II drones is just a giant beacon in the vastness of space yelling, “Here I am! I’m running a level 4 mission! There are riches waiting to be had!”

So I warp to the location and discover a gate. I do a quick directional scan at 2,000,000 km and see 5 Hobgoblin II’s, a Drake, and lots of wrecks. I bookmark the gate, and because of the amount of wrecks on the scan, I activate the warp gate and zoom into first room.

Inside I find nothing. What it looked like I had on my hands was one of those wily mission runners. You know, the ones who try to be smart and salvage each room as they go before they go onto clear the next room. Anyway, the second gate was very far away, so I hit the afterburners and start heading toward it.

When I got to the gate, I did another directional scan to check on the status of my Drake friend, but I was a little surprised when he didn’t show up on the scan. Panicked, and thinking that I might lose the gate if the mission runner suddenly turns in the mission, I quickly activate the gate, catapulting myself into the second room.

To my surprise, I find that there are two NPC’s left in the room. The mission runner must have warped out. I spot the 5 Hobgoblin II’s in the distance, a juicy and tempting find, but there is an NPC battleship near them, so I think better of it and decide that I should just get to salvaging instead of picking up the drones. I bookmark the room and warp off to the station to pick up my salvaging frigate.

When I arrived back at the first mission gate, I did a quick scan to check up on the mission runner’s status. Yep, he made it back in alright, time to extract some tears. I activate the gate.

I come out of warp into the first room to find the the Drake slugging its way across the expanse of the first room toward the far gate. Hitting the afterburners, I quickly pass him, leaving him far in the distance as I activate the second gate into the final room where my salvage awaited its liberation.

I come out of warp and immediately target the closest large wreck and head for it. While orbiting the wreck however, I noticed that the NPC battleship that had originally been guarding the Hobgoblin II’s had moved away from them, allowing enough distance for me to safely free the drones from their soon-to-be former master.

I get the “There’s no salvage to be had” message from the large wreck that I was working on, utter a small curse about Mordu wrecks under my breath, and make a bee-line for the Hobgoblins, the blood beginning to pound through my veins as I realize that the Drake could be nearing the gate and warping in on me. The race was on!

Time was of the essence. I pushed my little Slasher to its limits in order to reach my prize. “To hell with this crappy salvage and loot I thought, these drones are mine!”

As I was nearing the drones, I did a quick scan through my overview to see if the Drake was in sight. He wasn’t. What i should have done was drop a can by the gate in the last room. That way, with the use of the directional scanner, I could have figured out how close the mission runner was to coming in the room. Lesson learned. I would just have to be fast in order to not get caught now.

With the first drone in range, I scoop it into my cargo hold with glee and a rush of excitement that I haven’t felt in a while. I proceeded to each drone in turn and scooped them in alongside the others.

I knew that the mission runner was going to be really mad that his drones suddenly missing and that he would feel stupid for letting them sit there when he warped out, and I knew that he was probably going to have to buy them right back from me in a few minutes on the market. Oh, sweet irony! Unfortunately I had to go AFK and was unable to finish salvaging the mission, knowing that the tears that would have followed had I shown my face back in that mission would have been tears for the ages. Ah well. There will be other missions to salvage.

I warped off to the station and put the drones up for sale. They sold shortly thereafter.

- Velocity Prime”

It’s a fine day indeed, when you can clean up space of misplaced drones, jetcans and the like.  This is accentuated by the fact that you know that the careless Mission Runner is probably going to be the one purchasing his own drones back…  …and one can only hope that he or she is not as careless in the future.

Mission Runners, take note.  If you leave it, we’re more than happy to pick it up.  Perhaps if you took better care of your equipment, our services wouldn’t be required.  But, of course, we’re happy to provide you with the best service possible.  If we were all as conscientious, perhaps New Eden space would be a lot cleaner.

Suddenly Ninjas - cleaning up space, one expensive, Tech II drone at a time.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

I was fitting up a new Harby in a War Target’s System, making for a quick exit, since, while I was all alone, there were increasing numbers of them growing in local. I was pretty lucky that most of the parts I wanted were grouped in one or two stations, but there were the last remaining parts one jump out in the adjoining system.

I figured, “Nice. I’ll just finish up here, and leave the system, dock up for the last parts, and head home. Piece o’ cake.”

So, with a half-fit Harby with 3x 1600mm plates, 2x EANM II’s, DC II, three Trimark I’s, a dronebay full of Vespa ECM drones and a pocket full of dreams, I undocked from the last station in the system to warp out. It was then that I saw the MALLER!

(Insert dramatic music here)

Wait a goddamn second. A Maller Cruiser isn’t going to take my tank-heavy Harby out! What the hell am I worried about? So, I’m being watched by one WT. Big whoop. I’ll be out of the system in a second or so, and they’ll be none the wiser. I warp to the gate, jump through and start aligning to the next station. It’s then that I notice the Maller decloak behind me, and puts a point on me.

I’m thinking, “FFS, he must have passively scanned me and figured out I had no guns fit. I’ll make a run back to the gate and jump through… I’m closer and he’s not following me yet. Maybe I can align on the other side and jump to dock up.”

As I reach the gate to jump through, I’m not certain if he dropped his point, of if I’d clicked the “jump” button, but I noticed for a second that I wasn’t targetted any longer. Once on the other side, I came to realize my mistake.

A Thorax, Rupture, Harbinger and a Blackbird all sat on the other side, blinking and ready, drones deployed. Sitting, cloaked, I considered my options. One of the items that was waiting for pickup outside of this system was my Cloaking Device, so no chance for the cloak-warp trick. I can’t fight my way out with no guns. I guess it’s time to align and try to warp, before they get to me, if I can.

No chance. I was sufficiently scrammed and jammed, getting a quick lock on most of the ships (and one drone, before I noticed my key-click error) and let fly the five ECM drones, attempting to target the ship that had me scrammed. No such luck, either.

So, I watched my ship go quickly through sheilds, sloooooowly through armor (heh) and then quickly through structure as I thought to myself, “Hmm. Had I aligned and deployed these drones on the OTHER side of the gate, I probably would have managed to escape in time.”

The good thing to remember, of course, is to fly what you can afford to lose, and try and learn from your mistakes.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

A while back, I submitted a news story in regards to the activities of Suddenly Ninjas, and I was pleasantly surprised when I received an EvEMail from ISD Magnus Balteus, who is responsible for reporting on newsworthy stories that occur in New Eden.

Here is the News Article that was posted on the EvE Forums:

“Morality and Legality
reported by ISD Magnus Balteus

Two of the main professions pod pilots engage in are mission running and mining. With these occupations attracting such large numbers, it is of little surprise to most that there are other more shady lines of work that thrive off the efforts of these pilots, namely ore theft and “ninja” salvaging. Although victims of these two activities question the morality of what they consider stealing, they also begrudgingly admit that the “thieves” are well within the bounds of current law.

Ore Theft

Almost as old as the act of mining itself, ore theft has evolved significantly since its first days. Originally undertaken as a quick way to grab ore without the drudgery of mining it, ore thieves could at one point “acquire” as much raw material as their ships could hold, all with complete impunity. Pressure from the mining community eventually forced CONCORD to rule that stealing ore was indeed a crime. From that moment, retaliation by the victim was sanctioned.Within only days of the new ruling, opportunistic ore thieves discovered they could work the new laws to their own favor. Often they would perform a “reverse aggression” tactic to legally destroy the miner’s ship, letting them not only take all the ore mined but also any surviving modules. In a reverse aggression tactic, the ore thief would steal the ore from a miner’s jettison container and replace the container with his own. If the miner then reclaimed the ore from the “flipped” container, he would incur the aggression charge of the ore thief. Buoyed by CONCORD intervention, many novice miners fell victim to this “loophole” in the new legislation.

With the advent of Hulks and salvage abilities, incidents of reverse aggression escalated into a new profession. Pod pilot Elthen estimates that there are now “80% ‘flippers’ [and] 20% looking for ore”. Espejo Roto said, “I know of a [new pod pilot] who took out a Retriever, Exequror, and Scythe [in] solo [combat]. Aside from having a ball, he got more money from the few minutes of conflict than he could have hoped for from days missions. A Retriever drops a million or two, and Hulks are juicy, so when it takes less than a minute to kill the miner… it’s much better than mission boredom.” “Saying it’s a full faction hulk, maybe 500 million ISK if his booster drops”, added SkippyTheWonderTard.

One anonymous “flipper” tells us that “it’s near impossible to lose your pod in empire, so we can fly top end faction implants…with relative safety for the implants at least”

Defense against this type of thievery is possible, but costly in either time or manpower. One pilot, DuPuy, has gone so far as to keep friends nearby to move the ore immediately and provide combat and logistic support to protect his mining ship.

Ninja Salvaging

As detailed in an article earlier this year, “ninja” salvagers are pilots that salvage wrecks of mission contractees; commonly at times when the mission pilot is still in battle. Tchell Dahhn, CEO of Suddenly Ninjas, claims that “I don’t have an issue with those running missions for their agents per se, but when I fly into a deadspace zone, only to find the wrecks created by some headstrong pilot floating, broken, and left to rot, it angers me… if they would only clear up after their battles, cleaning my space, we wouldn’t really have an issue, now, would we?”Despite tongue-in-cheek claims of only cleaning up abandoned wrecks, Tchell was observed making this comment: “I’ve rigged up three salvage tackles to make the job fast and efficient. Sure, they cost more than 40 million ISK, but they were worth it! Ask the mission runner who’s busy tractoring a wreck towards them, and I salvage the wreck right from within their grasp!”

Ownership of the salvage is what seems to be the key argument from both sides. M’ing Pai stated that: “I firmly believe that the idea that the wrecks aren’t owned by the mission runner or his corp is completely shaky… If you aren’t a member of that runner’s corp or gang, you can’t tractor it… If you shoot it, and you’re not a member of the runner’s corporation or the runner himself, CONCORD comes to defend against an aggressive act against someone else’s property.”

Tchell is quick to point out that: “If this was some type of theft, I’m certain the CONCORD Constabulary would come knocking on my door!”

Despite the frustration of mission runners throughout New Eden, salvage has so far been deemed to have no ownership; thus legitimizing Ninja Salvage as a profession that some deem “even lower” than ore thievery. With the recent rise of battlefield wrecks due to Militia activities, ninja salvagers have even been known to follow militia fleets around in the hopes of grabbing some scraps. This activity has added even more confusion to militia fights as overview settings become filled with “neutral” ships mixed in with hostiles.”

I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

I’m happy to report that we have received our first ‘Official’ Surrender, in the war against Buggers’ Interstellar Transport, and the voice of their Member, AnonyTerrorNinja.

In a Corporation of three Members, it’s never the smartest to smacktalk in Local about how the Members of a significantly larger Corporation are all ‘noobs’, nor to speak ill of their CEO in the same ilk, so I was honor bound to declare war on the Members of Buggers’, on behalf of the many fine Members of Suddenly Ninjas.

This was actually our first Wardec where we initiated it, so I am very proud to say that receiving the surrender feels fantastic, even though we did not receive the ISK payment that was demanded, it was never, really, about the ISK.

To that end, here is the apology we received on the EvE Forums:

“I hereby apologize to Tchell Dahn and his/her corporation for saying that they are as nubby as their CEO.

I see now that I was wrong, and should have instead said that some of them are not nubby.

Is it can be hugz tiem now pleez? “

As you can see, the threat of war humbles even the most stalwart spirit.  If you’ve never received Corp Mail from Concord in regards to a surrender, it is extremely awe-inspiring:

“The war between Buggers’ Advanced Interstellar Transport and Suddenly Ninjas is coming to an end. Buggers’ Advanced Interstellar Transport has surrendered to Suddenly Ninjas. The war will be declared as being over after approximately 24 hours.”

I, for one, am happy to accept this surrender on behalf of the Best Ninja Salvaging and Looting Corp in New Eden.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas

This post was a long time coming, however, I felt compelled to note the story of how we seem to continually receive Declarations of War from small men who like to hide behind other Corporations’ strength. The EvEMail I received, below, shows how this all began.

In the EvEMail, Amastat recounts how *my* ego caused his actions, yet fails to tell how he was smacking in local about how our Members were all “noobs”, and he also failed to mention that I was defending our Corporation against his constant barrage of BS.

“As promised I - you have a war. Try not to misjudge too many people and their abilities - your corporation suffer unendingly for that ego of yours.

I’ve also taken the liberty to employ Malum Crusis to make sure you and your members remain fully entertained for the next 2+ weeks. Try not to disappoint - camping your corporation to the point where the attrition destroys works, but we’d also like to scoop up some bodies as well.

I’m well versed in war well prepared to inflict all forms of damage - but if you can swallow your pride, maybe we can talk later; I can be reasonable and willing to engage in diplomacy, but I’m strict with vassals.

I believe you’ll think you won’t talk over anything, and will stand strong - but I’m not sure; not when your members are out of morale, ISK, and work - the line of thought may change. If you care for the corp for as much as I hear, you’ll have to make a choice. Either way works for me - mind you -)

-Amastat”

We rallied against his attacks, and while he made a small dent in our ships, to make the point that we do not bow to anyone with a bigger mouth than they could back up, we employed Mercs to counter his Mercs. He quickly decided that playing the docking game, smacking us from the protection of his station, would be a better course of action.

A few short weeks later, we noted that the smack subsided, and his Membership slowly disappeared. About a week ago, he closed his Corporation, and ran to the protective teat of the Lords of Kaos. I guess that when little men with big mouths find they can’t back up their words, they quickly fall back on what they know - running.

The only ’saving grace’ Amastat has, is that he hasn’t threatened us with his new Corpmates… …yet.

Tchell Dahhn
CEO, Suddenly Ninjas