29 replies to this topic

[Lakitel]

Just a quick question: Is it normal to have 30 alumni attend a PvP-Basic course? And furthermore, won't this large amount impact the learning of the students? Is it possible with the extra 30 alumni the attention would be divided to thin? Just to clarify: I'm not doubting your ability to lead and teach, I'm just curious if having 30 alumni tagging along significantly impacts the student.

[dzu]

Hey Lakitel -

Yeah, it's pretty common for PVP-Basic to have 30+ alumni attending. Most of these pilots will not sit in on the class materials Friday, they'll only attend the roam Saturday. That's not to say that alumni are not welcome to participate in the class portion again! But Agony has a lot of multiple-repeat alumni who know the material and just want to come along and shoot stuff. The instructors make it a point to NOT neglect the new students during the lecture and roam.

And having an additional 30+ frigs along on the roam - including some experienced EWAR and T2 frig pilots - provides additional support and lets us engage more challenging opponents. One complaint we have heard about large frig fleets is that targets can go down fast . . . so fit your frig for range and don't be slow to engage when targets are called!

New alumni, please read here about supporting Agony and the students during the class and roam.

See you all Friday.

[Vjorn]

Hehehe, instead of starting a new thread, I thought I'd just post in here; A couple months ago I had one of "those comp crashes" in which i lost all and had to reformat as a result I lost my vent info. After searching the forums/wiki a bit, all I see is TS3 info. Did AU switch back to TS3? or am I a blind old man who cant find the Vent info? Vj

[Kerzack]

TS3 for now - vent was giving us lots of headaches...

[Vjorn]

Ty Kerzack hmmmm missing ur wild-a**ed posts

[Kerzack]

been busy watching crops fail... too damn busy in fact... I will schedule a good o'l-piss-up soon!™ and provide ya'll some good entertaining stuff soon! ™

[Lakitel]

Well, yeah it was more about the roam that I was worried about than the "class materials" . Either way its no biggie .

[Othran]

Are alumni still restricted to ships that are unlikely to hotdrop/bubble the class/etc ? I just ask as I have a EAS fit and I can't think where else it'd work other than either an Agony class or an Eve-Uni class. Keres obviously but might be fun. Just wondering what the regs are now. Bit of guidance ? Edit - I hear you on that Kerz, we had 4mm of precipitation between February and May.

[AkJon Ferguson]

Othran afaik alumni can't fly interdictors and I've never seen a student light a (hostile) cyno (would that even be feasible?) But I'm not sure that will make your Keres survive much longer. If I were gonna bring an EAS, I'd bring a Kitsune, but gl trying to make a Keres work.

[Othran]

I don't really expect the Keres to survive long. I just have a (probably dumb) idea that I want to try out before I completely lose the will to login - although I'm perhaps past that point already. I don't see any reason why a student/alumni couldn't light a hostile cyno - there's little to no point in doing it to a PvP-Basic class but some of the other classes would make tempting hotdrop targets. I presume someone from Agony does a quick ship scan on relevant classes anyway.

[Carenthor Loon]

You can bring a Keres if you like Othran.

[Othran]

You can bring a Keres if you like Othran.

The restrictions (apart from being in a shipclass appropriate for class roam) are basically no cyno, no bubble capability yes?

My weekends these days seem to be taken up with unpaid taxi work (two teenage daughters) so I doubt it'll ever happen anyway....

[Carenthor Loon]

The restrictions (apart from being in a shipclass appropriate for class roam) are basically no cyno, no bubble capability yes?

Yeah, no bubblers and something relevant to the class - we also (sometimes) allow covops graduates to fly those.

[Nibblet99]

Out of curiousity, would it be frowned upon to bring an odd setup that I'd like to try out in a group PvP environment (Such as a Vigil built for placing Tracks from 50km)? I can't help but feel that large fleet operations are rare and I'd like to use the opportunity to learn what does and doesn't work. As well as finding a play style I enjoy (Assuming of course I stick to builds that will not negatively impact the group) ***Edit*** I should mention that is of course as an Alumnus

[Carenthor Loon]

It might be difficult to measure how effective a particular set up is in such a large gang, where targets are often completely overwhelmed, but if you think you can learn from bringing an unusual set up, and so long as it doesn't (as you say) detract from the gang, feel free to give it a go. If you're worried your set up may be too off the wall, you can always post on here and get feedback from an instructor / the FC.

[Othran]

Yeah, no bubblers and something relevant to the class - we also (sometimes) allow covops graduates to fly those.

Sorry - you mean bubblers or covert cynos (or even normal cynos)? I'm assuming covert cynos? I didn't realise you did BOPs on class but given my experiences with BOPs in game I wouldn't be wanting to light any covert cynos. In short I am confused.

Bubblers are fun enough but it gets old real fast when you're primary every time YMMV.

Looks like your revamped support (couple of dictors/etc) on PvP-Basic works well - I got rave reviews from the students I know for the roam last night (6 Aug 2011). Well done looks like they all had fun.

[AkJon Ferguson]

How did the Keres setup work? (I don't think Othran joined us, but I'm sure I saw at least one Keres in fleet.) How did the students feel about the alumni post-roam? I didn't do my best. I was pretty hungover but we would have killed a lot less without the alums along.

[Othran]

How did the Keres setup work? (I don't think Othran joined us, but I'm sure I saw at least one Keres in fleet.)

How did the students feel about the alumni post-roam?

I didn't do my best. I was pretty hungover but we would have killed a lot less without the alums along.

I didn't go on that one as there were people I knew attending as students. I figured that they might start chatting to me on "breaks" and disrupt stuff.

Anyway I wasn't aware Agony made such extensive use of dictors on basic classes - they sort of make my previous questions null & void. They make the fit pointless (no pun intended) too

[AkJon Ferguson]

How did the Keres setup work? (I don't think Othran joined us, but I'm sure I saw at least one Keres in fleet.)

How did the students feel about the alumni post-roam?

I didn't do my best. I was pretty hungover but we would have killed a lot less without the alums along.

I didn't go on that one as there were people I knew attending as students. I figured that they might start chatting to me on "breaks" and disrupt stuff.

Anyway I wasn't aware Agony made such extensive use of dictors on basic classes - they sort of make my previous questions null & void. They make the fit pointless (no pun intended) too

Hmmm, I might be mistaken about the Keres. We had Oli in an Eris and Mayssa in an Ares, but seemingly no Keres after all (that I can see.) Glory Hound was in a Kitsune, though. Props to him.

I'm trying to figure out what you're getting at with 'bubbles make my damp-boat useless' and I don't really get it. I guess you planned to range damp whoever had you pointed and warp off? As Dos Equis guy says "I don't often die, but when I do it's in a friendly bubble." They get us lots of kills but yeah sometimes you wish they weren't there.

[Othran]

I'm trying to figure out what you're getting at with 'bubbles make my damp-boat useless' and I don't really get it.

You been watching too much alliance tourney stuff They're not just "damp-boats" and do have other uses - or they did last time I used one. Not a solo ship so not one I'm ever going to use, hence musing over where to try something. Dictors negate much of what its capable of in the context of a PvP-Basic class anyway so its not really worth taking along.

[glepp]

We also have so many fleet inties that a Keres' point rarely has any use...

[Othran]

Yeah I wasn't thinking point anyway - well not specifically, although it'd have one. Makes no odds anyway given that you're using dictors on basic class now - dictors get you plenty more kill chances so they work better for class

[Gavin]

They've used dictors on Basic roams in the past, I seem to recall. They just restrict them to Agony members and don't allow alumni to bring them.

[Othran]

They've used dictors on Basic roams in the past, I seem to recall. They just restrict them to Agony members and don't allow alumni to bring them.

I've never seen them before although I haven't been on a basic class in over 2 years so I'm hardly current

From memory of wolfpacks classes, a dictor would do wonders for kills. I just sort of assumed it wasn't the right ship class for Basic.

[glepp]

Yeah, we bring dictors on all basic roams, they just add so many options. Of course, I haven't been in Agony for more than almost two years, so it might have been different before