Vocal Local 11

December 16, 2020 by Pix Severus

One thing I have noticed during my travels throughout highsec space is just how quiet it is, there could be over 100 people in local, and not a single word is uttered between those players. This makes me sad, so I like to encourage discourse where possible.

Sometimes, however, an MTU hunter can be rather pleased that the locals still remember him, even after returning from a very lengthy break.

I had just returned to EVE after a year and a half away, and I was in the process of replenishing my network of named containers across New Eden when I received this nice message in local. Thanks Firlefranz!

Sometimes people see me travelling around the quiet backwater systems in a Hecate, and assume I’m doing exploration/site running. If only they knew!

I missed this salute from Dace Cad as I was travelling through Iidoken. I remembered his name from somewhere, but couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I decided to send him a mail regardless, as I usually do when I miss someone greeting me in local.

This response made me remember why I recognised his name.

Here’s a link to the post I mentioned in the above mail. Thanks for being a good sport about it all, Dace!

Here we have a pleasant exchange with Mylee Rose, a member of CODE.

I do enjoy talking with CODE. agents as they tend to be a lot more vocal than most pilots in highsec, on average.

I popped into Umokka one evening to find local chat buzzing, and as is usual, the locals were talking about The Code. In this instance, they were discussing the merits of owning a mining permit.

It seems that Omah had bought a mining permit, and was defending his purchase to some other locals who had objected to it. Shortly after this, some of them started talking about putting tanks on Ventures to make them ungankable, I told them that this wasn’t a good idea, but was ultimately ignored.

Here we have a nice chat with Brin Eventine, who mentioned the containers I tend to leave strewn across highsec.

In the same system, J Abysser joined the chat after I commented on the system’s name (I just had to!) Unfortunately Nani is now a ghost town after it was invaded by the Triglavians, who took it into Final Liminality.

It is a rather good name if I do say so myself. Thanks Aesir!

That’s all for this edition of Vocal Local, but there is plenty more to come. If you see me in local, don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with me, even a simple wave can go a long way. Who knows, you might find yourself featured in a future edition of this series.

Vocal Local 10

October 4, 2020 by Pix Severus

Sometimes, however, an MTU hunter can feel a little blog-famous.

It’s always nice to know that people are enjoying the blog, thanks Admiral!

Having just passed through multiple empty systems, I was delighted to finally see someone in local while passing through Eddar, a system in a very quiet region. With just the two of us in local, I left a comment about his ship’s name (which I can’t actually remember now, it was “metal” something) before moving on.

Having explored the surrounding systems fully, I then passed back through Eddar a few minutes later on my way to another region, and I’m glad I did!

This screenshot might look familiar to you, as it is the full version of an encounter with a named MTU featured in this post. After Orvom scooped his MTU, I decided to leave him to his mission running in peace.

Upon entering the system of Arnon I noticed a pilot named Rosaline plying her trade in local.

Rosaline Ramsey > Im back again, selling the infamous route to JIta. send me 10mil isk (tips welcome) and I will get you to JIta in 6 jumps from here.
Evi Polevhia > Earlier you said three. Get your story straight.
Deucey D > seems legit
Rosaline Ramsey > three was to forge
Rosaline Ramsey > customer told me it was three from exit point. 3plus three and all

At this point I’d left system, but after becoming intrigued with the conversation going on, I headed back in.

Maiali Aurgnet > no prob. thanks for the help
Deucey D > Maiali Aurgnet Account is 2 days old, wtf you have business in Jita for?
Rosaline Ramsey > :)

The locals seemed skeptical of the legitimacy of Rosaline’s business, which was selling fast routes to Jita. I saw no problem with it, and so I gave Rosaline my endorsement.

Shortly afterwards, I was contacted by Rosaline.

Let us hope she got herself a few more customers!

Here we have an encounter with another owner of a named MTU. Remember to tidy away your MTU after usage, folks, unless you want me to come and clean it up for you.

It’s always nice to return to Hek, where everybody knows your name, and they’re always glad you came.. Hek is a great place to spot well-known highsec players, some even say that if you visit Hek during a moonlit night you might just be blessed with an appearance of James 315 himself.

Yes, still going strong after all these years, an MTU hunter’s work is never done.

This fellow spoke-up in local after seeing me go suspect, I always reward those who do with a killmail to read.

Kill: Tindale (Mobile Tractor Unit)

Kill: Andas Cardian (Mobile Tractor Unit)

After poking around the system of Atonder for a few minutes, one of the locals spoke up, perhaps after becoming perturbed at my usage of combat probes.

Kill: lace Firn (Mobile Tractor Unit)
Kill: GySgt Kossori (Mobile Tractor Unit) (Ouch!)

We ended up having a nice chat about MTUs, which funnily enough is one of my favourite topics!

Vocal Local 9

September 6, 2020 by Pix Severus

Sometimes, however, an MTU hunter can feel rather appreciated in the rare cases where people choose to speak up.

Here are those killmails for you:

Kill: John Vynneve (Mobile Tractor Unit) (Sweet drop!)
Kill: DeathRiderIsComing (Mobile Tractor Unit)

Thank you for the kind words, Kathamar, it makes cleaning-up highsec feel much more worthwhile.

It’s always nice to receive a little recognition when I’m travelling around, thanks Stephanie! Eagle-eyed viewers might have spotted one PARTOK TOMPSON in the local list there, check out this post for more info.

Whilst making a quick pit-stop in Amarr for some Small Secure Containers, I was spotted in local by medsouz.

I will continue to spread my name throughout New Eden, thank you medsouz. If you’re a new reader, I spread my name throughout space by leaving containers at stargates, this activity is detailed in this post.

Thank you, Crni, I’m glad you think so!

Here we have an encounter with a fellow named Zima Surovaya, who immediately spoke-up in local after I blew up his MTU.

Kill: Zima Surovaya (Mobile Tractor Unit)

He first attempted to speak to me in French, but then immediately switched to Russian afterwards. Let us use an online translator to see what he had to say for himself!

French: bocoupe trouve77???0
Translates to: bocoupe found77 ??? 0

Hmm, I’m still none the wiser as to what he’s trying to say here..

Russian: лысая тупая бошка)
Translates to: bald stupid boss)

Ah.. Well, as far as insults go, it’s rather creative! Here was my reply to him:

Russian: я могу быть лысым, но я не глупый, друг
Translates to: i may be bald but i’m not stupid, friend

A couple of weeks later, Zima lost yet another MTU, this time to my corpmate Oylpann Kumamato.
Kill: Zima Surovaya (Mobile Tractor Unit)

Bonus!
Sargon Of Amerish recently uploaded a new song to his Youtube channel. I really enjoyed it, and I hope you will too, check it out here: EVE Online: Shadow Fleet

Vocal Local 8

MTU Hunting Chat Channel

August 26, 2020 by Pix Severus

The MTU Hunting chat channel is the place to hang out if you enjoy hunting MTUs, especially if you want to share some of the more interesting MTU-related killmails you generate to a receptive audience. We are very welcoming no matter what your profession in New Eden may be, so why not pop by sometime? Even just a wave is very much appreciated. o/

The following are some screenshots and other excerpts from the channel, chosen at random from my EVE backup folder, which at this point is nearing the digital equivalent of a neutron star.

First up, we have a short chat with Tyrambo, who joined the channel after I had popped his MTU.

Kill: Tyrambo (Mobile Tractor Unit)

After this chat he kindly sent me a donation of 5m ISK!

Thanks Tyrambo!

Khaza Elliott > o/
Khaza Elliott > Pix Severus oh you’re the guy with the blog
Khaza Elliott > read that a while ago. mad props
Khaza Elliott > knew that name sounded familiar

Unfortunately, I wasn’t around when Khaza dropped these nice comments in the channel for me. Khaza did become somewhat of a regular in the channel for a while though. Thanks Khaza! Drop by again sometime!

Sometimes my language can become quite colourful, please excuse me. After 4 years of running level 4 security missions, my attitude towards them has soured somewhat. I don’t regret the knowledge I’ve gained from it though, as it has proven very useful in my MTU hunting career on numerous occasions.

Grande Castora > o7
Grande Castora > got question – killing mtu makes you suspect or not? trigger concord?
Pix Severus > o/
Pix Severus > makes you suspect, doesnt trigger concord, doesnt give kill rights
Grande Castora > aha.. but with suspec can i dock stations?
Grande Castora > or better just stay in safe spot?
Pix Severus > you can dock as suspect, yes, but you get a 1min weapon timer after the MTU dies, you have to wait for that first minute before you can dock or use a gate
Pix Severus > if you want to dock safely, fly to a station, get close to it, and create a bookmark/location, then warp to that, you will be at 0 on the station and can dock immediately
Pix Severus > can just stay in the safe spot too, but watch out for others probing you down :)
Grande Castora > heh:)
Grande Castora > du i need much dps to kill mtu?
Grande Castora > do*
Pix Severus > the more dps the better, they can take a while to go down, takes a couple of mins in my svipul (500dps)
Pix Severus > 2-3 mins
Grande Castora > but owner of mtu got any notification that this mtu is under attack?
Pix Severus > im not entirely sure, but ive never had an mtu owner come back
Pix Severus > they get the killmail message after it pops
Grande Castora > aha…so u just sit and kill. looking for d sacn for probing down
Pix Severus > keep an eye on dscan when shooting the mtu, yes
Pix Severus > dont do what i did once, i forgot to recall my combat probes, saw them on dscan when i was killing an mtu, and scared myself!
Grande Castora > xD
Pix Severus > lol
Grande Castora > cool. thx for all answers. ill try that:) gl in your journey
Grande Castora > cu
Grande Castora > o7
Pix Severus > cheers, seeya o/

Here we have a pleasant and educational chat with Grande Castora, who was looking for more information on how to go about hunting MTUs. If you ever have any questions regarding it, I am always here to help.

Edit: In regards to the question above about the MTU’s owner getting a norification that it’s under attack or not, I can now answer this question. Huge thanks to Purgo, who just went out and shot his out-of-corp alt’s MTU to test this theory, we can confirm that the MTU’s owner does NOT get a notification when it is under attack. They will only get the lossmail notification after the MTU dies.

You heard it here first, folks. Get to hunting! You’d better know your MTU-fu though.

Some of the old memes are still the best, here is the one I referenced in this screenshot.

There are more of these to come, so stick around, or better yet join the channel in-game by clicking on the big E in the top-left of your game window, go to Social > Chat Channels, then type ‘MTU Hunting’ in the search box and click Join. The channel’s MOTD is updated whenever I upload a new blog post, so it’s a great way to stay up to date. Please do bear in mind the channel isn’t always active, depending on timezones, etc.

Bonus!
Speaking of the MTU Hunting chat channel, I recently met Ax’l Thorne, a master of MTU hunting and highsec shenanigans, in that very channel. He expressed a desire to start a blog of his own, to tell some of the crazy stories he has accumulated in his time in New Eden, and I encouraged him to do so. Here it is: The Thorne in Your Side
(I came up with the name, hehe).

I also recently came into contact with a fellow named Rami Taredi, an accomplished MTU hunter, suspect baiter, and PvPer, who just so happens to have an alt in my corp. He has had quite the adventure in his time in New Eden, and he has great style and wit to boot. All of this makes his blog a must-read: Barry’s Piracy
(Look out for the epic 5-parter in which he actually gets someone banned from the game!)

Conversation of an MTU Hunter

May 31, 2016 by Pix Severus

In my previous post, I talked about how I ended up in a system called Ahmak, and the lengths I went to in order to pop the single MTU I had found there. This post will detail my conversation with the Ahmak locals after this event, and the social experiences that followed thereafter.

In my opinion, a good MTU Hunter shouldn’t be afraid to converse with those around him while he is out on a hunt. Many new roads are opened up just by talking to people in this game, which can ultimately lead to more fun.

The first person to talk to me that night was notme7, a man with scary eyes who contacted my mission running alt in local to tell her that she looked cool.

..and people say I look creepy!

It wasn’t until after the MTU had been killed, and I’d returned to the station to stash the loot, that I was contacted by another local.

Symion Del’Vari > o/ Pix Severus
Pix Severus > Symion Del’Vari o/
Symion Del’Vari > Looking for structures today?
Pix Severus > yes, just popped an mtu in this system Kill: Akza Agittain (Mobile Tractor Unit)
Symion Del’Vari > Ah stray MTU, just lazy.
Pix Severus > i got some really nice stuff from the mtu before that though Kill: Febelstragen (Mobile Tractor Unit)
Symion Del’Vari > Damn.
Pix Severus > poor fellow must have died during his mission, and got sucked into his own mtu
Pix Severus > his mission was long despawned, couldve been weeks ago
Symion Del’Vari > yup, looks like it, thats a full fit and Defective Current Pump Armor Plates from the salvage
Pix Severus > yup, some of the crystals were used too
Symion Del’Vari > You get a lot of MTU work?
Pix Severus > i stopped ganking for a while because it got boring, repaired my sec status with tags, and pretty much all i do now is mtu popping
Pix Severus > keeps me busy

Symion Del’Vari seemed like a nice enough fellow, and I was more than happy to chat with him, especially as I’d had a couple of beers at this point.

Pix Severus > oh, ill show you the best mtu i ever found Kill: Wulfgar WarHammer (Mobile Tractor Unit)
Pix Severus > similar story to the other one i think, sucked into his own mtu after dying in his mission
Symion Del’Vari > Imperial Navy Heat Sink True Sansha Tachyon Beam Laser oh that hurts. lol
Pix Severus > yup, loot fairy was kind too
Symion Del’Vari > got thosse?
Symion Del’Vari > -s
Pix Severus > got the three guns and 1 heat sink
Pix Severus > made around 300m
Symion Del’Vari > oh, close to plexing for the month!
Pix Severus > aye not too bad, kills like those come around rarely though
Symion Del’Vari > I am surprised mission runners dont return for their MTUs though.
Pix Severus > i was too, but i had an interesting convo with a fellow whose mtu i popped that cleared things up for me
Pix Severus > he didnt know how to scan, and none of his characters had any scanning skills
Pix Severus > so they die in the mission, or hand the mission in to the npc prematurely, then they simply cannot find their mtu again
Symion Del’Vari > Ouch, I always mark mine, not that I leave MTUs laying about,.
Pix Severus > i mark every mtu i find too, makes for nice safespots
Pix Severus > lived as -10 in highsec for a while, kinda need all the bms all you can get
Pix Severus > -all, im drinking
Symion Del’Vari > drinking and MTUs killing, a combo! lol
Pix Severus > haha

We talked about a lot more than just MTU Hunting that night, from POS bashing, to manufacturing, to ganking, and beyond. I won’t post the entire thing, however, as this post would become far too long. After a while, notme7 joined the conversation.

Pix Severus > went for smoke
Pix Severus > yeah, but im supplementing it with skill injectors, and im trying to fix this char because his skills are a total mess
notme7 > yay another smoker o/
Pix Severus > o/ notme7
Pix Severus > so im just making a nuisance of myself, popping mtus in highsec while running missions, earning isk for those sweet skill injectors
notme7 > im odd i really like to mine lol
Pix Severus > i used to mine, but i stopped a few years back during hulkageddon when my alt lost some sweet hulks to gankers
Pix Severus > this was before CODE. and all that stuff
Symion Del’Vari > Yup, now it Macks or Skiffs
notme7 > ya i remeber hulk days, i just did missions during that time
Pix Severus > its crazy to think that more mining ships die now, after all exhumers/barges were buffed
notme7 > ya seeing alot of kills lately
Pix Severus > back in the day you could sneeze in the direction of a retriever and it would explode
notme7 > looool
Pix Severus > ive got to say, i should come out to the sticks more often, i never get to chat like this in the systems closer to jita/dodixie
Symion Del’Vari > notme7 owns this sytem, I just rent off him ;)

The conversation took many twists and turns that night, but ended up with us all setting each other blue.

Pix Severus > im adding you guys to blue btw, so rare to find people willing to chat in local these days, im not getting sentimental or anything, im just quite drunk
Symion Del’Vari > lol, earns us a blue! hehe
notme7 > to be honest u were red-orange- and now blue, sorry this is eve lol

The following day, I left Ahmak to continue hunting, but notme7 caught-up with me via EVE Mail later that day.

He has his own chat channel?

I joined his chat channel, and over the next few days I chatted with notme7, and his friends, and got to know them. Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, and I eventually found that rarely a day went by when I wasn’t chatting with notme7 in EVE.

His channel has grown a lot lately, with many of the locals from the area eventually finding their way to it after speaking with notme7 in local. One of the biggest impacts on the channel’s popularity was the introduction of Madenofpain, CEO of the corporation Gunsmith Kats [GNKT], who were operating out of the system next-door, Jarshitsan, at the time. Many of her corp members use the channel now which has resulted in it being much more active. Furthermore, they now operate out of a Citadel in Ahmak itself.

I still use the channel to this day, I post my MTU killmails in there at times when the chat has died down, to help stimulate further discourse. If you wish to join the channel, notme7 has assured me you will be most welcome, no matter what your chosen activities are in-game.

I’ve made a lot of friends in Ahmak, and I’ve had a lot of fun talking with them over the last few months, and to think it all started with finding an MTU on D-Scan in a quiet little system in the middle of nowhere.