No one ever undocks intending to become a notable killmail.
Occasionally, we get reports of players who just came back into the game, and are in the process of getting some quick ISK while training some alts. This is the case of voodoobob, a player who, according to his employment history and his own personal testimony, has been on and off in Eve since 2008. Voodoobob recently lose a Gallente Shuttle with six PLEX to gankers, and was willing to talk to us about his experience.
While some players who either just came to Eve or are coming back to it fit shiny, bling ships for their first day back, voodoobob was more humble. He obtained a shuttle and decided to fly out to Jita to sell his PLEX and get started anew in New Eden.
Alas, his shot at fortune was not meant to be. He was summarily demolished by a lone thrasher in Uedama, a system in highsec known for being a pirate haven due to essentially being a bottleneck to Jita. TMC got a hold of him, and this is what he had to say:
TMC: I was wondering if you would be willing to answer some questions I had regarding a shuttle you lost recently.
voodoobob: OK
TMC: So I noticed you had some PLEX on board. What was up with that?
voodoobob: I was headed to sell them.
TMC: In Jita, I assume?
voodoobob: Yes. Didnt figure anyone would bother a shuttle.
TMC: I make that mistake a lot too. Where did you buy the plex at?
voodoobob: From CCP. I haven’t played in a while, and didnt think I had any funds. I also thought about using them alt training.
TMC: Ah, okay. Nothing wrong with that! I am sorry to hear that happened, though.
voodoobob: Thanks. Lesson learned, right?
TMC: Yeah man. Anything else interesting happen while this went down?
voodoobob: Well, the ganker tried to rub it in, of course. At least they didnt pod kill me too.
TMC: Yikes. Poor sports there. Were they messaging you constantly as well?
voodoobob: No. I ignored them after they mentioned “my sore ass.”
TMC: I am sorry to hear that.
The killer, on the other hand, was a somewhat new player, having started shortly before Halloween. We attempted to contact them in regards to their side of the story and will update it as more information comes along.
Of course, one would expect a lot of finger wagging at the player for flying with six PLEX in the cargo bay, and they are right. This is a common mistake that is made by new players, and even old players who are transporting it, much like voodoobob was. These high-value haulers just happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. But things like this drive home the first, and oldest, lesson of Eve: don’t fly what you cannot afford to lose.
Unfortunately, the method to avoid this in the first place was simply not redeem the PLEX until they reached a station. However, it may have been new player ignorance of the ways that Eve has changed that caused this ALOD more than anything else. Pouring salt on the injury, the stinging loss of six PLEX didn’t help much either.
In short, voodoobob is an example of bad luck and lack of knowledge about certain mechanics in Eve coupled with the amnesia that a hiatus brings. We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavours.
Overheated Betrayal
Our next ALOD that we received came in the form of a Bowhead wreck, and a very peculiar killmail. I contacted the victim, Ramzious, who regarded the incident as a case of betrayal.
Ramzious is an incursion runner, one of the Eve players who make their ISK in a traveling circus of sorts, going from system to system. They also tend to have shiny ships that are fit specifically for the incursions, and tend to incorporate officer and deadspace mods. In this case, he had three ships in his hold. He mailed TMC about the incident, saying,
“[I] Jumped into system with a Machariel bumper that would not let me align and jump out,” further adding how he was invited to a duel “for webs to get out”. It was a trap however, and it led to him being targeted by a lone Thrasher.
The lone Thrasher was able to apply over 120,000 damage to the Bowhead until it was destroyed, but not before the Bowhead pilot was able to eject himself and a Vindicator, and wreck the destroyer. In the end, Ramzious was somewhat angry at the turn of events, lamenting how he would never buy another Bowhead. “Lesson learned,” he says.
While this loss was juicy kill for sure, it could have easily been avoided had the victim kept their cool. While it is frustrating that this happens, it would have helped if the victim had done a safe log-off while keeping the gankers busy with small talk. Ejecting a ship earlier would have also helped in this case as it would have provided more time for the victim to retaliate. Either way, this loss was more of a product of annoyance and social engineering, two things which gankers and many Eve players excel at.
Full Circle
And our final ALOD comes from the Goons.
Normally, we don’t get many PLEX-tanked ALODs from people who should know better, but when we do, we have to know what happened. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, the victim, Berics, was not available to comment on exactly what the hell was going on here. We here at TMC can only presume that he purchased the PLEX in Jita, and was in the process of hauling it somewhere else to sell before he met his untimely demise.
Judging from the use of high-alpha-damage artillery, this seems to be an undock gank. The aggressors’ alliance was engaged in a war against many nullsec entities, including Goonswarm Federation and many other members of the Imperium. It is worth remembering that suicide ganks are not the only source of danger when taking a trip around highsec – low-cost wardecs against a larger organisation can sometimes cost its members dearly.
As with all things in this game, the stories that come out of EVE are what make for an interesting and enjoying article. ALODs are no exception to the rule.
UPDATE: The original text of this article assumed that the last PLEX-related kill was due to social engineering, when in fact there was a war on between the attacker’s corporation, and GSF. TMC apologises for this oversight, and thanks the commentor who brought this to our attention.
This article originally appeared on TheMittani.com, written by Vos.
