Hokkaido Run Event - after-action report.

[Slartibartfast]

Couldn't make it either. It was too early.

[aerelm]

Man of the match: DSE)Tech-2.
A Repair Ship is absolutely invaluable for extended combat. He helped a Mammoth escape combined fire from two bombers and a vhf, while under attack from those ships too, and even managed to find time for idle chatter while he thrustered to safety. Eventually the oponents just broke off.

Sorry for being a buzzkill, but the repair ship pilot didn't know what he was doing, at all. The only reason he survived was because of poor group work on unlawful side (i.e. Me shouting in group for 5 whole minutes, asking for one single bomber to come and finish the RS off, but getting no reply because our bombers were busy dueling other side's fighter escorts while 2 Katanas had to shoot down a repair ship and a Mammoth... Or when the RS jumps to NT, and after a minute or two I notice I'm the only one pursuing, because rest had decided to jump the lone USI escort back in Hokkaido), so really no need to try and make a hero out of him, cause it looks kinda silly. Also, it wasn't "two bombers and a vhf", it was only 2 Katanas.

In terms of roleplay, the corporate side won. We successfully delivered our cargo to its destination with only two transports lost.

Wasn't that already set before the event? I thought the corp side was meant to win, when they had 30 free slots for their transports/escorts -and- a repair ship, while unlawful side had only 8 total. So I don't really see what's there to debate, it was a "meant to win" event from the very beginning, 30v8, no?

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That aside, I've already passed this to ]bd[ leadership, but gonna post it here as well just for the record:

To me, this event was nothing more than a silly mess that felt more like a waste of time than anything else. Because the unlawful side wasn't organized at all. I warned the group of 3 things before the event started, and I told them not following even one of these might mess the whole event up. No one took me seriously, either because people were too busy pvping each other, or because what I was saying got lost in "))))" spam in group chat.

1. I told the whole group multiple times to move away from Sapporo (KSP station near NT gate) and try to catch the convoy near the sun instead. No one listened, and in the end, the whole group came in and engaged when the convoy was right next to Sapporo... Resulting in half the transports docking before we were even in weap range!
   
2. Before we started, I told the the supposedly leaders of the group to assign one person to call target for fighters, and one person to call target for bombers. When the fight started, most of the targets were called by something along the line with "shoot transport!", like I have sixth sense and can tell which of the 15 transports they mean! So, the fight turned into a couple of smaller fights, where each of us picked on a random target pointlessly while many of the transports escaped.
   
3. Just like the other two points, before we had started I pointed out that the key move of this event should be taking out the repair ship as soon as possible. Insta-ing a RS is not really that hard, it just needs good teamwork and timing between 2 bombers... And when the RS finally arrived alongside a Mammoth, all our bombers were shooting random fighters and refused to break off and actually come and shoot what they're supposed to shoot. At one point, it got so silly that it wasn't even funny. Whoever flying the RS wanted to jump back to NT, but NPCs were blocking the gate, so he was literally sitting in front of the gate for 5 whole minutes, while bashing regen keys. Why didn't he die? Cause only 2 Katanas were shooting him, bombers were too busy being l33t and trying to SN fighters instead.
   

Another issue was the spam in group chat, which made it nearly unreadable, and I got accused of "raging cause people didn't play my way" in the end, and getting the usual "Oh c'mon it's just a game" B.S. when I pointed that out somewhere in middle of German, ))))) and badgerbadgerbadger spam. Sure it's a game, but if I want to play this game, I want to play it right. Not flying around pointlessly like a retard and wasting time doing nothing while I could have done something constructive and fun on another char during the time I wasted on this event (Roughly 2.5 hours). My definition of "playing right" is not playing my way. My definition of "playing right" is getting whatever needs to be done, done. A 30v8 was going to be a huge mess no matter how well-organized it was, that was unavoidable, but the way it turned out, was stupid at best. So I don't say "I didn't enjoy it" because people "didn't play my way" - what I was accused of -, I didn't enjoy it because people technically did nothing. This is not what I expect from an event. There are different ways of getting something done right, which may or may not be the way I propose for each event or group activity, I don't care if people "play my way" or not, but I do care about people getting things done right, not jumping on a single fighter with 3 bombers, while a transport is running from 2 fighters not 5k away.

Hopefully, there will be a similar event sometime in near future where both sides try to run it better-organized and turn it into what an event should look like, not a random encounter between 2 groups.

In the end, I didn't take a lot of screens, but I think the very few I took are worth posting.

[Echo 7-7]

Wasn't that already set before the event? I thought the corp side was meant to win, when they had 30 free slots for their transports/escorts -and- a repair ship, while unlawful side had only 8 total. So I don't really see what's there to debate, it was a "meant to win" event from the very beginning, 30v8, no?

In no way was I expecting the corporate side to win. Infact, it was less than 20 ships on our side, not 30, and I don't even know how many you guys had - more than those who signed up formally.
We had so few escorts per transport I'm surprised your bombers didn't just pick them off one at a time and achieve your desired objective. Hell, two of those Herons were nearly unarmoured.

Also, it wasn't "two bombers and a vhf", it was only 2 Katanas.

Well, whoops, I got it wrong in the heat of combat. I didn't bother to get the Pirates to list their ship types beforehand.

I told the whole group multiple times to move away from Sapporo (KSP station near NT gate) and try to catch the convoy near the sun instead.

So much for the ambush I was expecting, it was more like a roadblock.

Basically, there were a bunch of problems, including ... a general lack of obeying the attendance list and aforementioned regulations.

I'm going to be enforcing this like hell next time. If I don't get ganked first while typing.

Edit:
I learned plenty of things from how this whole event turned out, and have plenty of changes to implement.
Next time, I'm sure it will all be a much more positive experience.

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There was a sig here, once.

[Charcoal]

Hello!
I would like to extend a thank you to all who participated in the event.

Aerelm:

Sorry for being a buzzkill, but the repair ship pilot didn't know what he was doing, at all.

I was the pilot of the repair ship DSE)Tech-2. This was my first time flying the repair ship in a large group fight. I understand that I am by no means a skilled repair ship pilot and whilst I made quite a few tactical errors in the event, I do believe I have SOME idea of what a repair ship sopposed to do. There is a difference between knowing what to do and having the skill and ability to carry it out. Unfortunatly for me I have troubble with the latter part, nothing a bit of practice and training woulddn't fix.

Just like the other two points, before we had started I pointed out that the key move of this event should be taking out the repair ship as soon as possible. Insta-ing a RS is not really that hard, it just needs good teamwork and timing between 2 bombers... And when the RS finally arrived alongside a Mammoth, all our bombers were shooting random fighters and refused to break off and actually come and shoot what they're supposed to shoot. At one point, it got so silly that it wasn't even funny. Whoever flying the RS wanted to jump back to NT, but NPCs were blocking the gate, so he was literally sitting in front of the gate for 5 whole minutes, while bashing regen keys. Why didn't he die? Cause only 2 Katanas were shooting him, bombers were too busy being l33t and trying to SN fighters instead.

This was one of those tactical errors I was talking about. I shoulddn't have been anywhere near the gate on the return trip. I missed the group chat that instructed all transports to divert to the Kyushu jump hole. As you pointed out that mistake to wait at the gate should have been the death of me.
Remember that every shot thats fired at my repair ship is one less shot being fired at the transports. Even If I use up all the regens on that thing I'd rather it be me that dies then the transports.
Still the fact that I was unable to transfer regens to any of the transports is somewhat distressing to me, and something I will have to work on.

Hopefully, there will be a similar event sometime in near future where both sides try to run it better-organized and turn it into what an event should look like, not a random encounter between 2 groups.

Like many things, practice makes perfect. The more events we have the better everybody gets at playing their role. I believe that we have all learned something from this and that both sides will be better prepared for future events. Please don't let any sour experiences on this event dampen your apetite for future events.

I personally had fun on this event. There was some shooting, a lot of running and a bit of teamwork. I look foreward to the next one.

[Echo 7-7]

I missed the group chat that instructed all transports to divert to the Kyushu jump hole.

I am not happy with whoever ordered that. An Ageira convoy going through a Jump Hole that inRP we probably shouldn't know about?

Though it seems in all the confusion, the pirates misinterpreted my intentions. They were supposed to engage once in Hokkaido, that being before the Parts arrived at the Construction Site. Not after that had happened. They should have gone through that Jump Hole to prepare for an attack in Kyushu or Shikoku, and the convoy should have gone back through the gate.

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There was a sig here, once.