Signal Cartel Blog Annual Review 2019

Since introducing Signal Cartel’s Blog site on June 19, 2017 we’ve had a total of 68 post. For 2019, we saw a increase in post from 25 in 2017, and 6 in 2018, to 37 for this year! We introduced a new series called “Signaleers” which seems to have gone over well. I thought for this last post of the year, I would review and index our post by category and by authors.

It’s been a great year and I’m looking forward to seeing what content we can do in 2020. I would love to see us break 37 post in the new year. Thanks everyone for reading! Please take time and comment on those post you like and we’d welcome any suggestions for content you’d like to see. What was your favorite post from 2019?

Post by Category 2017 – 2019

Announcements

[1420.] Life

Art

EvE-Scout Rescue (ESR)

Guides

In Character – Roleplay

Poems

Signal Cartel Fiction Competition

Signaleers

State of the Signal

Post by Author 2017 – 2019

A Dead Parrot

Alan Mathison

Ancestral Respawn

Angel Lafisques

Auds Lennelluc

Bako Cherry

Bob N’Weave

Cassandra Habalu

Charles Aucie

Dagmar Maulerant

Dravik Zinmar

Este DeStirr

Felippe en Distel

Gaston Charante

Igaze

Joshua Ballard

Kamiti Arcamer

Katherine Skysong

Katia Sae

Lucas Ballard

Meroveus Deveran

Mynxee

Null Flare

Saladiin

Shiro Karagi

Sky Diamond

Sloopy Noopers

Soup Atross

Sydney Selket

System Baud

Tephra Solette

Thanaella

Theana Gaterau

Thrice Hapus

Tolgaard Asanari

Tom Servonaut

Void Raven

Signaleer Katherine Skysong

Editor’s Note: Continuing our Signaleer Series and this is another one done in character which as a roleplayer I really enjoy. Well, I enjoy all of them!

Katherine Skysong

Katherine Skysong

Orbiting above Zoohen III, I look out the view wall of one of the bars on Theology Counsel Tribunal station, wondering at the sight. It’s still all so very new. If someone were to look at me, I mean really look, they would see the boot just graduated from the Naval Academy and still not used to wearing a clone body. I self-consciously smooth out my jacket as I wait for Katia Sae. Why I volunteered for this interview I still don’t know. I guess it had more to do with meeting an explorer’s explorer than anything I might have to say about myself.

I see Katia enter from across the bar. At first I could hardly recognize her, dressed much more casual than she appears on the holovids and with her hair free from the ponytail she’s normally seen wearing. It wasn’t until she smiled and waved on seeing me that gave her away. After ordering some drinks and some polite conversation, Katia began the interview. “Why did you become a capsuleer?”

Why did I become a capsuleer? Simple answer: That was the only way to get into a position where I could explore. I don’t think I want to go too deep into all the reasons so let it suffice that I grew up in a family with two brothers and two sisters. Very early on the passions of my parents had been sown in my twin sisters and I. Oh, that’s right, you probably haven’t met my sisters. Autumn is my older sister by a few minutes and Kristine is my younger sister by a few minutes. All three of us became capsuleers about the same time. Fortunately for Signal Cartel, the corp only has to put up with me.

Katia smiled at my last remark then asked, “Tell me about your background as a pilot? Did you jump right into exploration?”

If you hand me a square of paper about two by two centimeters then I can give you my entire portfolio! Once I became a capsuleer and went through the intensive clone training, I went right into academy training and graduated. I worked with the Federal Naval Academy for seven days then found my first corporation. I lasted just four days with BSC before finding, and being accepted by, Signal Cartel. I’m proud to say that I’ve been with Signal Cartel for 181 days now and have no desire to go anywhere else. The opportunities here are boundless. The learning curve to survive deep space is immense and the crew here are ever helpful. I’ve been slowly making friends and gaining responsibilities beyond my wildest dreams.

“Do you have a goal, have you achieved it?”

Space has always been my goal. Having the freedom to explore space and its many wonders. My long term goal is to eventually find our birth place. It’s something my sisters and I share very deeply. I mean, who doesn’t want to know where they came from?! And no, we didn’t expect to find it in our first few months in space. We’re already of the mindset that this will be a lifelong endeavor.

As I’m forever reminded of by my sisters, I’m ankle deep, having dived in head first with Signal Cartel. I’m somewhat active with Search and Rescue as well as Rescue Cache Tending along with helping to get our internal Signal Cartel Academy up and running, and have joined the staff of our internal Fleet School. Some would accuse me of being spread too thin – I’m looking at you my older sis – but I say you rise up to the challenges set before you. But always first and foremost is my goal, our goal, of finally completing the family quest and that might be another story someday.

“I’ve got an older brother, I know just how you feel.” Katia chuckled. “You mentioned only being in your first corp for four days? That’s a little surprising, if I’m being honest. So tell me, what made you… jump ship, no pun intended, to Signal Cartel?”

Exploration and their Credo! Unequivocally. To quote from part of our Credo: “We embrace the attitude of a true explorer: we are friendly to others in our travels, neutral and never initiating aggression, and endeavoring at all times be perceived by the New Eden community as a non-threat. Although we never intentionally seek to harm, we may defend our friends and our ships. In suffering losses, we respond with good cheer and shed no tears. In this way, we aim to be recognized and respected by all across the cluster and left in peace to do our work.”

Having been on a few SARs to rescue lost pilots in J-Space I find the task supremely satisfying to the soul. Having stepped in to help mentor brand new capsuleers who join our ranks, I feel a sense of serving. Again, very satisfying. Stepping up to lead fleets leaves me feeling like I’m inspiring others to also step up. I have long embraced the philosophy of “All it takes for evil to conquer is enough good people to do nothing.”

“I couldn’t agree with you more, I immediately jumped ship when I read the Credo for the first time.” Katia winked at me then went on to explain her own experience, “It just resonated with my soul and it was how I always tried to fly throughout the cluster, but I had never put it into words. Seeing it in writing was liberating and I knew I had to join right away. So, speaking of flying and jumping ships, what ship do you enjoy flying the most while exploring?”

I love the Sisters of Eve ships! I can’t say that enough. I was flying a Stratios, ‘Sky Dreamer’, until it got shot out from under me. So, back to one of my Asteros, ‘Sky Seeker’, for more flying. I almost forgot how personal the Astero is, and how agile. Don’t get me wrong. I started in an Imicus and loved that little beauty. But nothing compares to the clean lines of a SoE ship.

I still fly several other ships. It takes quite a while to get to a point where you can sit in any particular ship larger than a Cruiser. In my collection I have a Badger, Omen, Harbinger, several Catalysts, a Heron, an Imicus, and a few others. I’m budgeting towards another Stratios and soon, a nice T3 Strategic Destroyer.

“Tengu best goo, I always say, but I do love my Astero. So, during your travels, what has been the most interesting fact, amazing sight, or other aspect of New Eden that has surprised you?”

Wormholes and J-Space. The corp I joined right out of the Academy cautioned strongly about going into wormholes. Until I joined Signal Cartel I had never been in one. In fact, I remember the first time I scanned down a wormhole. I warped to 100 kilometers to see it and stayed there hoping it would not suck me in. That’s when I found out from other corp members that they never go into them and they would not say anything further.

Now, I can’t wait to find a wormhole and dive into the splendor of J-Space. Yes, most of them have planetary systems. Some have nebula. Some are shattered by some long forgotten force. And all of them are worth parking for an hour or more, sitting back and just taking in the vistas.

“I love hearing that!”, Katia smiled. “I hope others find encouragement from your words. What other advice would you give to someone interested in exploring New Eden?”

It’s not about the ships. It’s not about the ISK. It certainly isn’t about the skills. It’s about the thirst to see what’s around the next bend. The drive to reset your budget with every setback. The will to keep going even when you don’t feel like you know what you’re doing. Enjoy the successes and learn from your mistakes.

“So true and thanks so much for doing this interview. One last thing, do you have a favorite image that you wouldn’t mind sharing?” Katia asked.

As far as a favorite picture? I guess I need to work on putting an album together. I did find this planet wonderful and mesmerizing, quite soothing actually to watch. Seeing storms like this from above just reminds me of the grandeur of some of the simpler things in life.

I also managed to snap this image in one of my last fleet actions in the DPS wing. We were on a mission to clean a J-Space system of those nasty Sleepers. How we ended up so close to a star was just one of the many serendipities I’ve experienced.

SpaceMom Hiatus in 5… 4… 3…

Editor’s Note: From our SpaceMom as posted on our forums and shared here. We wish Mynxee well in her new adventure. o7

SpaceMom Mynxee

So… I’m embarking upon a long hiatus from all things EVE, and it is probably permanent. I’ve been drifting in this direction for some time, as many of you realize. Although I love our community and am proud of my part in things here, I have little interest or energy for EVE stuff these days.

Mostly, this is due to RL becoming much more demanding. Besides my existing portrait commissions (I’m an artist in RL), an opportunity to open a teaching studio in an ideal location recently presented itself. This is something I’ve wanted to do for a long time — experience has demonstrated that teaching art classes and workshops can be both fun and lucrative! So, I’ve co-signed a lease with an artist friend for the space (she’ll run a gallery; I’ll run the teaching studio) and now we have to make good on our considerable investment. I’ve been working on a lot of stuff already but OMG there is So Much To Do to prep for a Feb 1 launch. It’s all very exciting though!

Anyway, almost 13 years in the game and nearly 5 since Signal Cartel launched is a good run! Mynxee will remain in the corp but I’m stepping down from the leadership team and away from EVE activity entirely, effectively as of now. And nope, you can’t have my stuff. There’s not that much of it anyway. I’m keeping my Pacifier, one Astero, and a billion ISK. The rest is getting donated to the corp for Thrice to do with as he sees fit.

I <3 you all and thank everyone for bringing their own magic to the mix that makes Signal Cartel an amazing community–especially Thrice Hapus for CEOing (it ain’t easy!) and Johnny Splunk for starting it all. I treasure their friendship and all other friendships I’ve made through EVE — all of which most definitely transcend the game.

So that’s all there is to say about that, then. Fly clever, spacekids!

SpaceMom Mynxee

Signaleer Null Flare

Editor’s Note: Another in our Signaleer Series! Hope folks are enjoying these. It’s my hope that seeing ship fits, learning experiences, good stories, and screen shots will encourage others to get out there and explore!

Null Flare

What attracted you to EVE Online and how long have you played?

I started playing EvE because I found an advertisement on Steam. After a little research, it looked like a fun game to try. I didn’t realize how big it actually is and on discovering there is no end game, made it even more interesting. It will take YEARS to get all the skills, and I’m slowly on my way.

What is your background as a pilot? Did you jump right into exploration, start in the military, hired by a corporation, or something else?

From day one, I was all about PvE combat. I joined a Null Sec corp early on, after discovering how mind numbingly missions are which taught me a lot about the sites, resistances, ships I could use, etc. That’s also where I started my love for fitting! I like tweaking my ships, seeing if I could just a little more DPS/Tank/Cap to make it more agreeable with my play style. It also gave me a huge wallet and I ended up getting my character (REDACTED) into carriers and super carriers, which started a whole different aspect of gameplay.

What attracted you to explore New Eden? What is your goal and have you achieved it?

As stated, I was mostly a combat pilot. I had ventured into wormholes, but was only really there to see how they worked. When I quit the Null Sec corp I decided to give my alt (Null Flare) a try as he wasn’t so focused on skills (I had made him for a Tengu to use as a cyno alt, so he had some of the requirements for covert ops and such).

What attracted you to Signal Cartel? Any corp related experiences you’d like to share and/or any Credo related stories that would be of interest?

First and foremost, it was the Credo. After reading it and finding out there were corps not interested in mass murder, but instead of helping fellow pilots and that they were banded together by a few words that effectively stopped them killing other players, I was in! It was only after joining I discovered how great a corp it actually was. Corp related experiences always has to be my first Rescue and my first Fleet! Unfortunately mine were not very much worth it for a story, but they were memorable to me. My real interest though is playing with ships (fittings). I spend a lot of time in station, with the fitting window open, doing random searches and seeing what I can make.

What is the name of your favorite ship that you enjoy flying the most while exploring?

Hmm, probably the Legion Tech 3 Amarr cruiser. I can fly all the cruisers (cruiser 5 for all factions) and out of all my experiences, the Legion has been the most fun. It’s setup nicely for both wormhole exploration and combat. The main fit I use is a little blingy (2.5 billion isk) on top of a clone with High-Grade Asklepians. I can easily swap between a laser or ham setup, but I prefer the lasers myself.

[Legion, Doom Eagle]
C3-X ‘Hivaa Saitsuo’ Ballistic Control System
C3-X ‘Hivaa Saitsuo’ Ballistic Control System
Centii A-Type Adaptive Nano Plating
Corpum A-Type Medium Armor Repairer
Centii A-Type Adaptive Nano Plating
Corpum A-Type Medium Armor Repairer

Republic Fleet 10MN Afterburner
Thukker Large Cap Battery
Zeugma Integrated Analyzer

Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Heavy Assault Missile Launcher II
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
Auto Targeting System II

Medium Gravity Capacitor Upgrade II
Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I
Medium Hyperspatial Velocity Optimizer I

Legion Core – Augmented Antimatter Reactor
Legion Defensive – Covert Reconfiguration
Legion Offensive – Assault Optimization
Legion Propulsion – Wake Limiter

Hornet EC-300 x10
Acolyte II x10
Infiltrator II x10

Sisters Core Scanner Probe x44
Caldari Navy Inferno Heavy Assault Missile x15396
Sisters Combat Scanner Probe x24
Medium Capacitor Control Circuit II x1
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump II x1
Missile Guidance Computer II x1
Medium Auxiliary Nano Pump I x1

During your travels, what has been the most interesting fact, amazing sight, or other aspect of New Eden that has surprised you?

Hmm, again that’s a difficult one. I loved seeing the Titan fights in Null Sec. I got to witness a pipe bomb and a starburst happen. I find the general High Sec battles boring. When you have 100+ ships deep in Null and blowing bits out of each other’s hulls, sitting in a cloaked frigate and watching the action can be a lot of fun!

Possibly my most interesting time was when I was travelling through our Null Sec systems and found an abandoned super carrier. I pinged it on dscan and thought, hmm. ‘Not a lot of combat sites, what the heck’? So, I went to investigate. And lo and behold, an empty Hel with no pilot and nobody in local. I was in a cheap clone, in a cheap travel ship, so I thought why not? Jumped out of my ship and got into the Hel. Full ratting set up, estimated cost 22 billion isk with fighters. So, I aligned and jumped it to our local market and picked up the isk! This was long before Signal Cartel and the Credo, when making ISK was my main goal. 🙂

What have you learned or what advice would you give to someone interested in exploring New Eden?

Get out there and do it! You don’t need a 2 billion isk Legion and you don’t need a lot skills. Get into a cheap frigate and go to Molea, go to see the statue, get lost in a drifter wormhole and find the Sisters of EvE fleet. You will get blown up, you will get podded by other players, but you’ll quickly learn it’s a game and meant to be enjoyed. I’ve lost enough ships over my characters that ships are ammo, meant to be used and abused, lost and repaired. It always amuses me when folks get into chat and go ‘I lost my …’ It happens! Don’t be so surprised. Have a few million isk and go buy another one.

Do you have a favorite image from your explorations?

I’m not one for screenshots, I don’t usually take them, but there was one a few days ago with both my characters out in Zoohen doing some combat sites for the Skilling Sprees Event where I nabbed a nice picture. A Machariel and a Paladin. ‘The Beauty’ and ‘The Beast’ as I have them called.

‘The Beauty’ and ‘The Beast’

See what I mean? Not a great photo, not great angles, but it works.

Null Flare (aka the fitting-master (in corp joke, I enjoy it really)).