Saturday, January 16, 2010

Eve Online: Roaming through nullsec

I rarely leave highsec. Lowsec is definitely not appealing; it's dangerous and not very rewarding to visit. Why even bother? Nullsec however is different, and I've wanted to visit it for a long time. I first went there a few months ago, and I made it a few jumps in, until I ran into Wensley who quickly ridded me of my vessel, pod and clone. He did, however, give me some advice on how to avoid warp bubbles the next time!

A few days ago I decided it was time for another go. I bought an Incursus, fitted it with cheap T1 stuff and set sail for Poitot, where Wensley killed me before. The first few jumps through lowsec and 0.0 were somewhat exiting as I had to dodge a few pirates, but pretty soon space became almost empty. Very few people in local, no chat, nothing. At one jumpgate a disabled mobile warp disruptor hung idle in space. In another system I got caught in a warp bubble again but there was no one to shoot at me; I drifted out of the bubble and jumped safely. Jump after jump, and nothing happens! Along the way I pick up some loot in an abandoned NPC wreck, which I put up for sale.

I stayed overnight at a station in A-SJ8X, at the edge of Syndicate, not certain whether to push for Cloud Ring or Outer Ring. Knowing I wouldn't be able to dock anywhere in Cloud Ring, which is currently owned by Ev0ke alliance, I opted for Outer Ring, which is an NPC region; anyone can dock there. But still, it was quite a trip as I had to do eleven jumps to get to the nearest Outer Ring station with a medical bay.

Leaving the station in A-SJ8X, I quickly jumped to the first Ev0ke owned system, 1-3HWZ in Cloud Ring. Most systems here are deserted; I noticed a few miners and an IT alliance pilot in local, but that was it. A few uneventful jumps brought me quickly and safely to IZ-AOB, the entry to Outer Ring. A few uneventful jumps. I pick up a few abandoned drones at a jumpgate. Then another series of uneventful jumps. Finally I am at my destination, 4C-B7X. This system seems to be quite busy; 26 in local, which is the most I've seen so far.

Frankly, I've been a bit disappointed by the lack of excitement. Most of the systems in Syndicate and Outer Ring I've visited, are more or less empty and there's just not that much going on there. Perhaps this is different in the other nullsec regions, but I haven't seen it yet..

3 comments:

Wensley said...

Ahoy there! Nullsec is a funny beast. Sometimes its full of life, sometimes its dead. If you wander around idly the odds are you will find nothing for ages and then suddenly a huge blob. I find that hanging around one area for a while is the best way to get some action. The area around 4C-B7X is probably the most busy in Outer Ring and if you potter around the area you will soon stir the locals up a bit. Another good idea is to do what I did and find a busy pipeline (Outer Ring has three main highways) and set up shop on it. Good luck getting some fights, I had fun out there last month.

Hildebrand en Lotte said...

Nice read, keep us up to date ;)

Anonymous said...

I like ratting the belts in nullsec, if theres noone around and u can tank a little bit you can make good money from bounties or the rats there.