Apples in the Orchard

Apples in the Orchard, Part 4

Previously on James 315.Space… Gripen ANM was a vegetable, fruit, or other such consumable object. This loot pinata dropped his Orca, several drones, an interceptor, some random spaceship, a frigate, and a pod full of illegal implants. TheInternet TweepsOnline TheInternet thus declared a harvest festival.

While they waited for teleport to my Crystal Palace, Tweeps and Gripen enjoyed a polite chat. Contrary to allegations, the mighty CODE. alliance is polite and professional, routinely purging itself of space bullies and griefer bots.

Finally, Gripen was ushered into the lofty chambers of our Space Princess, and her loyal advisors Rabid Raccoon and Salty Tortoise. In a state of nature, it is important to blend in with your environment. Indeed, our heroes were fittingly attired in the drab greys and browns of eternal victory, while Gripen stood out like a shiny apple.

Over the past decade, a lot of people have wondered about the key to our success. How did a Highsec alliance with no industrial or mining division manage to become the most powerful organization in New Eden? Was it the venerated blog, the dank Venture hunting contests, or the dusty MinerBumping channel? All these elements played a role, but the secret ingredient is elite voice PvP. Inevitably, miners begin singing joyfully and praising Princess Olga’s punishment of the naughty Drevlians, whilst smearing peanut butter and mayonnaise across their nude face. They thus learn to have full faith in the process, and voluntarily move all assets to our tropical resort in northwestern Guyana.

After a quick API security scan, it was revealed that Gripen attempted to join Goonswarm, but was rejected by Karmafleet’s Pari Shana. Pari missed her chance to win, but my elite CODE. agents knew exactly how to proceed. Gripen was delighted to learn that I have an alt in GoonWaffe, who would be happy to reverse Pari’s hasty decision. No problem friend! Let’s start moving your stuff to Jamestown!

Some people claim that we are space vampires, who psychologically torment and humiliate miners, laughing gleefully as they cry in despair. The reality is we simply want to eat. Why would we taunt a mere apple?

To be continued…

Apples in the Orchard, Part 3

Apples in the Orchard, Part 1

Previously on James315.Space… Highsec miner Gripen ANM lost his Orca, and his drones. Inside the confiscated vessel, agents of the mighty CODE. alliance found an illegally modified Stiletto, which could only be piloted by a bot aspirant with an illegally modified brain. Gripen returned in an illegal Condor, which suffered a fatal malfunction, exploding in a brilliant flash of light. Could Gripen trust the most loyal agents of James 315?

Gripen hesitated to return for a thorough pod inspection, but CODE. hero TheInternet TweepsOnline TheInternet solemnly promised that Gripen would be featured on an award-winning blog. Now that sounds legit!

Gripen arrived for his inspection, demanding the interceptor. However, access was restricted to citizens, and greedy Gripen finally purchased a mining permit. This was great news, as Kalorned alts Keraina and Kiberra were cleared for takeoff. Kalorned wanted to thoroughly examine that pod, dispatching not one but TWO minions.

Gripen was thus vaporized by multifrequency neutrons.

Gripen was hemorrhaging isk, and sharks could smell blood in the water. Normally, at this point, even the most oblivious miners would suspect something amiss. However, Gripen continued to splash around, and spooky people began whispering his name in a mysterious palace known only as Crystal Castle IV-3. Meanwhile, the population of AAAAAYYYYY LMAO was steadily increasing.

Fool you once, shame on you. Fool you twice, shame on you. Fool you thrice, how is this even happening? Gripen accepted an apology for the zealous K-names, and brought his pod back. This time, nobody bothered to shoot him. Instead, Gripen was merely allowed to examine the Stiletto, and verify that he definitely wasn’t getting it back. Never ever.

Tweeps was starting to feel a little bad for Gripen, and wanted to make things right.

When you need to give a sincere apology, always do it in comms. Always!

To be continued…

Apples in the Orchard, Part 2

Previously on James315.Space… Highsec miner Gripen ANM was disturbed by Torgo Tahn bumping his Orca, demonstrating best practice techniques for Zopiclone. Gripen panicked, abandoning his Orca, five augmented mining drones, and an illegally modified interceptor. Although Gripen didn’t want that Orca anyways, he needed his Stiletto, in order to escape Highsec. When Torgo deduced that Gripen must have a blingy capacitor implant, Kalorned and Tweeps decided it was time for a formal pod inspection.

Gripen was alarmed when a Tweeps alt, Cultural Center, explained that the interceptor had already been offered as tribute unto Princess Aiko, the official heiress to James 315. However, if Gripen didn’t get the Stiletto back, then it would be impossible to dodge gatecamps and warp bubbles. How would he escape Highsec? Fortunately, Aiko graciously offered to return the Stiletto. Therefore, Gripen hurried back in a Condor, but Cultural Center was alarmed by Gripen’s failure to purchase a mining permit. As Gripen’s pod warbled unsteadily in orbit around the interceptor, Kalorned sent a K-name to investigate.

Gripen kept trying to scam Cultural Center, attempting to board his interceptor, before paying his taxes. Eventually, the frustrated Gripenbear clambered aboard his Condor, and prepared to depart. At this very moment, Krominal suddenly appeared in a gold-plated Amarrian destroyer. With a holy blaze of multifrequency photons, the Condor’s sins melted away , once again revealing Gripen’s naked pod. Alas, CONCORD bots quickly arrived, and Krominal was unable to conduct a closer inspection of the pod. Gripen warped off, amplifying everyone’s curiosity about just what exactly was hidden inside.

For any normal individual, none of this would have happened, because normal people don’t mine (especially not in Highsec). In the rare instance, when someone is foolish enough to mine in Highsec, they don’t usually abandon their own Orca (which typically does not contain an overclocked interceptor). Even in such a case, a sensible person doesn’t subsequently return, in a desperate attempt to recover lost assets. However, Gripen was rather abnormal, which meant he was perfectly normal in Highsec. Therefore, he once again tried to scam Tweeps.

Would Tweeps fall for Gripen’s trick? Would he trade an interceptor for just 15’000’000 isk? It was a tempting deal, but Tweeps had an even better idea. Perhaps Gripen would return for a photoshoot, and Tweeps solemnly promised that Gripen would be the focus of a multipart blog post. Gripen was flattered, and decided to turn his pod around and come back. Another apple, drawn by gravity, was about to fall.

To be continued…

***

As you know, the official state funeral for James 315 will be in Halaima, on Thursday July 23, at 23:00. Zaenis Desef started crying when he heard that James was dead, but he finally pulled himself together. Our leadership will lead us, and we will be fine. Always!

Well, let’s ask a random Highsec miner, what do the miners think about the death of their beloved Saviour?

Thank you Ruth! You know, some miners have been questioning my legitimacy, and I’ve been told it’s important to demonstrate my borthersome tendency for shameless self-promotion. Indeed, check out this ringing endorsement from EVE Online’s top twitch streamer, brought to you by the Coca-Cola Foundation!

Wow, these are some big shoes to fill, but I’ve got some big feet! James couldn’t have done any better than to pick me as his one true Saviourette. He saved a lot of people, but who saved James? That’s right, that’s right!

***

Anyways, I wanted to make sure that James knew he was dead, so I went and tracked him down on my livethot stream. He confirmed that he IS dead, and he will be attending his own funeral! Awesome!

Speaking of funerals, there has been some concern that Barry-Jean “Bert-Jay” Smithlesmoor (the man behind James 315) has actually died in real life. Don’t worry friends, Bert-Jay is just fine, and has merely moved on to a more lucrative and respectable hobby.

As James 315 observed, the galaxy was initially formed within a Hobbesian state of nature. The early capsuleers were divided between those who recognized the inherent nature of power, and those who would be inevitably subjugated by powers beyond their reckoning. I often encounter bears who fall into the latter category, such as Gripen ANM, whom we will learn about in this article. Gripen failed to understand that we make our own destiny. Which fate do you weave?

In my daily life, I spend more on coffee, than ganking. Indeed, a McDonald’s McChicken has more McValue than a fleet of Catalysts. This reality makes me spacerich. I’m a legit princess, and I’m Lovin’ it. Consequently, I am generally perplexed at the panic stricken isk-grubbing of the typical gankbear. Come now, friend, read the Code and rejoice. If you see a miner, and want his isk, then you need but merely reach out and take it. If this isn’t super easy, then you are definitely doing something wrong.

Torgo Tahn > Have any of you ever bumped an Orca so hard he ejected and warped off?

Torgo Tahn is a friend of Krig Povelli, and one day Torgo witnessed the unimaginable. This was not the result of any convoluted plot, or intricate metagaming scheme, but simply the result of Zopiclone asking a straightforward question about basic game mechanics. Instead of wasting time on the EVE University wiki, Zopi consulted an expert.

Theorycrafting, my friend, is for silly bears. Carpe diem! Therefore, Zopiclone and Torgo decided to find a local miner and test the effectiveness of ECM jammers. Naturally, they didn’t ask the miner for permission. Indeed, ancient samurai would often test their swords upon the peasantry. Likewise, when a farmer decides to prune his orchard, he doesn’t seek consent. This is the natural state of nature, and how any self-respecting ganker would behave. Whyfore wouldst thou negotiate with yonder tree?

Long story short, Torgo bumped the apple tree, and out fell the fruits of his labour: five mining drones and an industrial command ship. Inside the Orca, Torgo found yet another augmented mining drone, along with a Stiletto and some other random spaceship! This is not unusual, as New Order agents routinely acquire isk without effort. Mother James will provide!

Torgo didn’t grind, he just did what James taught us to do – he minerbumped. If you have full faith, great things will happen! If you want a similar story, check out the Halaima Miracle, one of many such case studies. The moral lesson is clear. If you treat the miner as an adversary, you will struggle against inane carebear mechanics. However, if you recognize that the miner is a subhuman bot, then you will be victorious beyond your wildest dreams. Attitude is everything! Always!

If you are an incompetent and creatively challenged whiteknight, you probably feel bad for poor Gripen. However, Gripen didn’t even feel bad for himself. This isn’t surprising, because inanimate objects rarely feel bad, and Gripen actually saw this as an opportunity. Now that his Orca had been confiscated, he could finally get out of Highsec and move to Null, where he would surely get rich quick. Nothing excites a miner more than calculating his potential sweatshop wages.

There was only one problem. Gripen’s sole means of transportation was locked up inside the Orca. Without his fancy Stiletto, he had no means of even reaching Nullsec. Gripen wrote Torgo to ask if he could possibly get the interceptor returned, and Torgo decided to check it out. At this point, Torgo noticed that the ship’s capacitor system was highly modified, and t’was illegal. There was only one place the Stiletto could derive sufficient power, and that was from the brain of a bot.

Word spread of the illegal Stiletto, and a Tweeps alt named Cultural Center decided to invite Gripen for a FREE pod inspection, courtesy of Kalorned. Gripen eagerly accepted, as he was beginning to change his mind about not wanting those ships anyways.

To be continued….

***

SPECIAL REPORT, JAMES IS DEAD: The news has been spreading like wildfire. Our venerated Saviour has passed away, and gobloks are verily distraught. I have been told that a public funeral is currently scheduled for Thursday, July 23, at 23:00 in Halaima. Make sure to set your autopilot, and get ready for fireworks, lamentations, and a surprise appearance from the Saviourette herself! WoW! I am sure, if James were still with us, he would be most pleased with these festivities.

Any new gankers, who wish to express their condolences, should immediately send one or twenty billion isk to the imperial quaestor of Goonswarm, Whadda Badasaz. He will ensure this money is used for the benefit of everyone. It has always been CODE. tradition that new gankers liquidate their assets as a sign of loyalty, and the funeral of James 315 is a perfect time to show full faith. Amen to that, and thank you Whadda!

Let us now hear from a miner:

That’s right! All miners are encouraged to begin moving their assets to Perimeter’s Tranquility Trading Tower, and bring their pods to Halaima. This is the event of the millennia, and you don’t want to miss it!

BONUS NEWS: When James 315 decided to relinquish all authority and lifeforce unto Princess Aiko, it was pretty clear he meant business. This wasn’t up for debate, and he issued an official memorandum.

For years, the succession was planned in meticulous detail, but it wasn’t merely a matter of bureaucratic reshuffling and the transfer of skill injectors, Overmind’s Orca, and a very special Stabber Fleet Issue. James wanted to ensure the peaceful transition of power. For this reason, he commissioned Alt 00 to paint an intimate portrait of the Princess Aiko, on the eve of her Ascendancy. In the classical Khanid style, this woodblock print shows the lovely Lady in her spidersilk kimono, contemplating the future of Highsec.