Getting old is not all that it’s cracked up to be. Sure there’s wisdom that comes with age and the desire that if only you could go back in time with what you know now and there’s the added aches and pains as well, but the one that really gets me is not remembering things. Ah, to be young again. Such as it is, I’ve been trying to remember how I discovered this particular capsuleer that held an explorer’s heart. I do remember being surprised by the discovery. Perhaps she made a tweet, or someone told me, but I knew before she made this particular post on her blog.

But I guess I really shouldn’t have been surprised as she’s a great supporter of the community and the person behind and responsible for the Angel Project, an Eve Online charity since 2012, that provides aid to new players. I certainly admire her efforts behind this monumental task of maintaining such a charity. I can’t imagine keeping up with the donations and then being able to weed out those who are trying to scam for assistance from those who are truly new and need help.

Thanks Sindel for all you do for the community and new players of Eve Online. I’m thrilled to include you in the New Eden Explorer’s series. (One day, I’ve got to find that named WH planet… 🙂 )

Sindel Pellion

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

I started playing Eve Online at the behest of my then-boyfriend-now-husband. When we first started dating, we traded MMOs. I don’t think he ever would have imagined that I’d take to Eve as well as I did. I loved how there were no rules, no boundaries. I loved the freedom. Above all ,though, I loved how beautiful the game was. It’s been three years, and I have no intention of quitting.

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

It was immediately decided that I’d move to null sec. By whom, I have no idea. I trained for 4 and a half months to fly a cloaky Loki, completing the SoE Epic Arc in the meantime, then met my corp in Omist. I’ve been out there ever since, with brief forays into low sec every now and then.

As far as my career path goes, two-thirds of my SP are in Spaceship Command, Navigation and Gunnery. I am very much a trained killer.

What attracted you to explore New Eden? What is your goal and have you achieved it? If not, are you still working towards your goal, do plan to continue, or what are you currently doing?

I’d always been interested in exploring New Eden, but there was just one problem: probing. I didn’t understand it and I got ridiculously frustrated every time I tried. Probing tutorials– both the videos and the written ones– didn’t help me at all. I learn by doing. Luckily, a very nice member of #tweetfleet sat down with me for an hour and walked me through the basics of probing. It only took an hour.

My goal is nowhere near as ambitious as yours! I just like seeing things that not a lot of people bother to look for. I also LOVE screenshots. The only real exploration goal I’ve ever had is finding Eyjafjallajökull, the only named planet in a wormhole. This goal was achieved six weeks after I started looking, with the help of No Holes Barred.

 

What is the name of your favorite ship that you enjoy flying the most while exploring? Why is it your favorite? Would you mind sharing your fit?

I can usually be found flying a Cheetah when I’m exploring. It has gone through a number of name changes, so right now its name is “Shhhhhhhhhhhhh!”. I also use a Tengu when exploring, but the Cheetah is more practical for someone like me because it’s cheaper to replace and people tend to shoot at me. My current fit is:

Cheetah

[Cheetah, Poke Around]
Sisters Expanded Probe Launcher, Sisters Combat Scanner Probe
Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
150mm Light Autocannon II
Scan Pinpointing Array I
Scan Acquisition Array I
Scan Rangefinding Array I
Limited 1MN Microwarpdrive
Nanofiber Internal Structure II (2)
Damage Control II
Small Ancillary Current Router 1 (2)

Is it a perfect fit? No. But it works for me. I can strike out alone and just explore, or I can assist my fleet when they need a strong prober (and whore on KMs).

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

The thing that constantly surprises me is the attention to detail that CCP gives to even the most little things. The flames at The Bonfire move. The clouds blow across planets. The satellites rotate. The drones have moving parts. When you take the time to actually look– like Ctrl+F9 and LOOK– you see all kinds of intricate details. You fully appreciate the effort behind the game.

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

The greatest advice I can give is to do your research and make sure you have the right tools for the job. I’d NEVER take the Cheetah into a Sleeper site, that’d be suicide. On the other hand, if I were going to see something like Titanomachy, I wouldn’t bring a Tech III ship; the chance of dying is too high to risk something so valuable, and a Cov Ops ship will work just fine. Adjust your fits and your ships based on what kind of exploration you’re doing.

Also, don’t be afraid to take risks. If you’re scared to lose your ship, or to venture into low/null, you’re missing out on some of the most beautiful things in Eve. Sure, you might die. But, at the end of the day, they’re just pixels, and they are worth risking.

Do you have a favorite image that you wouldn’t mind me posting and sharing from your explorations?

Here is a shot of my trusty Tengu (named Not a Tengu) and the planet Eyjafjallajökull:

Eyjafjallajökull

Niven Nalliery

“Games people play, You take take it or you leave it, Things that they say, Just don’t make it right.” – “Games People Play”, The Alan Parsons Project

14.09.yc116 QETZ-W < U-JTBT Constellation < Catch

Of course there’s no guarantee that members of the same alliance will act in a similar fashion. Most often they are from different corporations which have their own ways of doing things. This fact was most clear in Querious. A fair amount of the region belonged to The Initiative which is comprised of 25 different corporations. I found travelling the region to be rather quiet until there were only 3 constellations left to explore.

3BK-O7 VIII

Constellation 8ET-D1 offered my first contact with a member corp of the Initiative. Niven Nalliery of SPANI welcomed me as I entered system 3BK-O7. As I explored the constellation, I had found clusters of capsuleers going about their daily task, and I had wondered why the gates were not actively camped as I had grown accustomed to when exploring a dead end constellation such as theirs. My conversation with Niven seemed to answer that question as we had a friendly talk and it seemed they didn’t mind my flying about. I left the area freely with a smile on my face, knowing I had left a good group of folks behind. Thanks for the break from the monotony and the friendly conversation.

Chrisdoc79

The next constellation, MPJW-6, had a few pockets of folks which left me alone and I wasn’t challenged on the gates until the last few systems, where I played cat and mouse for a couple of locals before I finally managed to make my way into the last constellation of XLL-Z7. The corp of this dead end constellation, Dawn of a new Empire, played a good game. I entered the area quietly enough, then on my second system in, ES-Q0W, I was welcomed in local by Chrisdoc79. We had a friendly conversation and I started to feel a little more comfortable. My thinking at the time was perhaps the Initiative as a whole, contained member corps that followed a similar code. Maybe even a NRDS policy. (Not Red Don’t Shoot). In my research, I wasn’t able to confirm or deny that, but with my precious friendly encounter, the precedence seemed to be set.

C-9RRR I, L-6W1J Gate

So, I carried on with my exploration, but then they made a couple of minor mistakes. Perhaps mistake is the wrong word, but they had to do what they had to do and likewise, so did I, but it was those minor mishaps that quickly raised my red flags and I was back on my cautious, slow, and steady approach to exploration. First up, upon entering system H74-B0, there were two ships on the gate. No bubbles, but drones were deployed, so I quickly aligned and made for a point in system. No more trouble there, so I went on around until I reached the dead end system of NU4-2G. When I finished my exploration of that system, I fully expected a bubbled gate camp in F-NXLQ, but I made for it anyway. Landing on the grid in system, I didn’t find the camp, but I wasn’t completely wrong, as there was a scout ship on the gate that quickly warped off. That was their second mistake.

LS-V29 I

It was their second mistake, because now I knew for a fact, my exit was being monitored and I was confident a camp was coming up. Here’s where they made for a good game of cat and mouse, because my expectation was the camp would be in ZXJ-71, but if I had truly thought about it, it made more sense where they eventually did have the camp, which was in system N-M1A3. Fortunately for me, and I’m sure, sadly for them, since I was on high alert and expecting something on my way out, I did manage to evade the bubble camp and safely found a spot in the system to hide and chill. One by one, they slowly exited out of the system with no words spoken between us, each side knowing we did our best, but luckily for me, I won the day.

Well played Dawn of a new Empire, well played. If the initial two ships that missed me on the one gate had not been there and if that scout had not been on the dead end system gate, I probably would have been much more relaxed with my guard down and the post I’m writing today may have been far different. You’re earned my respect. Fly smart, fly safe.

W-IIYI IX, 3-JCJT Gate

“Oh now can’t you wait, run run away.” – “Run Runaway”, Slade

31.08.yc116 UVHO-F < K-JO26 Constellation < Querious

YZ9-F6 V, Blood Raiders Assembly Plant

OOC: Lately it seems I’ve been having some website difficulties. Last week I was hit by something that wiped out all of my blog images. At first it seemed like an attack, but later through some troubleshooting saw there was a plugin update on my site that may have caused the issue. Either way, with a partial restore from the hosting provider, I was able to get back most of what I had lost recovered. Unfortunately, I lost my page of supporters where I highlighted those that have encouraged me on my journey and I didn’t have the notes to put it back together. So, I’ve removed the page for now. My apologies.

Malia Katain

On the exploration front, I’ve finished up Delve and have continued my trip in Querious. Delve has certainly been the most thrilling so far. I entered the region at 1-2J4P with little activity in the area, but that quickly changed as I approached 1DH-SX. Each day as I drew closer to the system, the Ship/Pod kills grew with some days being in the hundreds. Seemed there was a huge conflict in the area. Fortunately, I managed to survey the system and move along with the combatants mostly interested in each other than me.

Continuing my exploration of the region I ran into Malia Katain of Ashrum Core, Greater Western Co-Prosperity Sphere. I was pleasantly surprised when I was welcomed to the area and allowed to explore freely. That was certainly a first in Null Sec and a welcomed change to actually relax a little. Great group of folks as they provided some local intel and I wished I could have stayed a little longer, but sadly I had to move on. Thanks Malia!

FM-JK5 VI, Petyr Baelich Appreciation Station

The next constellation over, however, provided the balance of the warm hospitality I had just left to the unwelcomed, get out of our space, cat and mouse game when I ran into the Graduates in the O-EIMK Constellation. I had to inch my way, system by system, to work my way through the constellation. I know that the chances are, some time, during my journey I’ll be caught, and more than once I thought that was going to be the case here. Luckily, and that’s all it was, I managed to fully explore the constellation and moved on into Querious.

Y-OMTZ VII, The Anvil Station

It was in Querious that I found the other side of the raging battle of 1DH-SX, as the neighboring system of F2OY-X was on my flight path and this time, oddly enough, if I stuck to the plan, I would have to fly back through 1DH-SX in Delve to continue on with Querious. Seems two constellations in Querious are split off from the rest of the Region with several systems in Delve separating them. Fortunately, the battle on this side was lighter, but I didn’t want to take a chance passing through 1DH-SX. So, I took a 20+ jump detour back through Delve to UHKL-N and continued my Querious exploration in A-B04V.

With the one exception, Delve kept me on the run.

With the completion of Delve, that puts me at 28 Regions explored, 5 of those in Null Sec, for a total of 2,346 Systems at 43.2% of Empire/Null completed. So far, no ship losses.

T-IPZB XI, T-M0FA Graveyard