Stormdancer
Dominant
- Joined
- Jul 29, 2013
- Posts
- 436
- Location
- Under the third rock east of 8 Coins
- Society
- Bravo Three-Nil
- Avatar Name
- Tarcoula Stormdancer Uluru
If you are reading this it is most likely because you have expressed interest in piloting for theViper's weekly repair skilling events on the Varyag.
Over time I intend to use this thread to communicate more fully with the pilot corps about how this event is organized and what will be expected of pilots as their part in the overall scheme.
There are a few changes (not huge) that returning pilots need to be aware of as we get rolling again. And this can perhaps serve as a "central" source of information for training new pilots as they are selected. I will be working on this thread for some time to come and eventually hope that it will become a "handbook" for new pilots to learn basic tactics for piloting for repair skillers.
For now, let me speak mainly to the returning pilots who will be manning the roster mostly in the first few voyages of this re-started effort.
The main change you guys need to be aware of is the fact that pilots have now become a more important element in managing repairs. As you will discover very soon, managing repairs on a Mothership with four repair points instead of two is a more complex task than managing repairs for two points as encountered with a Privateer.
The division of the skilling day into 3 discreet 8 hour shifts will remain the same, but what must change is the level of attention you will have to apply to your "off piloting" hours during your shift. As before, two pilots will be assigned to each 8 hour shift and each pilot will be flying and repair skilling in alternating 2 hour blocks, just like before.
The main difference will be that it will be necessary for pilots to be "awake" and actively balancing repairs, which on an MS means you may have to run back and forth to get to repair points that are getting dangerously low and out of balance with the other repair points. Failure to actively manage repairs will make it very difficult for your fellow pilot on shift to maximize his skill gains. So, more than ever this effort is dependent on a "teamwork" mindset with mutually supporting parts.
theViper is also going to need more help from pilots managing the ship's priorities than was demanded in the past. I will be outlining what those priorities are in more detail in the near future.
Also, the pilot's share of the rental cost has risen due to the fact we now have an MS and higher rental costs than before. The new cost share for each pilot is 20.00 ped per 8 hour shift (4hrs of piloting) or 10.00 ped per 2 hr piloting shift if you serve as "fill-in" for an unscheduled shift left open by another pilot.
That's the bad news The good news is that with greater SI depth to work with, pilot skilling is going to be faster on a "skills per hour" basis than it was. Preliminary tests I have made piloting for the Kronan indicate that after a very short period of getting used to the small differences between piloting an MS and piloting a Privateer, your skill gains should increase well over and above the higher cost structure. On a per hour basis your income potential, after expenses will almost certainly be greater even with the higher rental cost share.
The Pathfinder IX was a ship with very respectable SI of ~12K per repair point. But, as you know even with that we were struggling to maintain a good balance between maintaining stable afk repair skilling and pilot skilling. As the number of repairers increased we began to struggle to keep pilot skilling at a high level and still maintain a beneficial repair skilling situation.
The Varyag is a ship with SI of ~18K per repair point and 4 points to take damage instead of 2. The amount of damage you can take with the Varyag is several times what it was with Ganzo's ship, which means several things. Perhaps number one is the amount of time you have to return to TG after turreting before repairs fill up and cease for skillers. Smooth turnarounds that keep repairs going are much easier to do with the Varyag. IF the ship's health bars are balanced.
When its working the way it should, as pilot you will be able to gather mobs quickly and make more frequent turnarounds without sacrificing good repair skilling because your health bars fill up. It will take a bit of experience to discern the minor adjustments in tactics you use to pilot, but not a lot. Most of you will quickly pick up the differences and make the needed adjustments. As you do, you will be able to keep a greater proportion of "wet" mobs in your train a greater percentage of the time which will make very noticeable improvements in your "skills per hour" accumulation rates.
On this first voyage there will be much we need to accomplish. You guys who have pilot experience but have never been on an MS will need to plan to spend some time learning where the different repair points are and how to get from one to another quickly.
You will need to pay attention to, understand and provide direction to repair skillers who want to go afk. In most cases if a repair skiller lets you know they want to go afk you should direct them to HH (hangar) or PP (propulsion) and keep RR (reactor) and CC (command center) repair points available for more active skillers.
CC is MOST important to keep active skillers on because that is the repair point most accessible to the pilot if he ever needs to "hop the seat" and top up repairs in the middle of a run. It will be up to you "off" pilots to know what needs doing and be constantly informing repair skillers how best to set up for everyone's best interest.
I hope you guys can understand why a more active role for pilots is now necessary. If not I think the need will become clear once you have seen the ship in operation.
This is a bit "rough and ready" at this point but over time I expect this thread to be the touchpoint for communicating with pilots, both old and new and a place we can outline in detail exactly how all the moving parts are designed to work together to provide a good result for all concerned.
For now, returning pilots, welcome back. Thank you for all the effort you guys put into getting this started when risks were high and we didn't even know what we didn't know yet
We've learned a lot and now its time to make the adjustments necessary to ensure this project can go forward on a regular, sustainable basis with a "win" in it for everyone involved. I sincerely hope the new level of effort and commitment we are now asking for from returning pilots is not too onerous, but if you feel it is then we do understand and sincerely appreciate all the effort you shared with us getting this far.
And, we're off and running again! The main thing I need at this point is for all to be aware that there are new responsibilities and skills/experience to obtain before this can work to its full potential for all concerned. Here is a list of the priorities you, the pilot must develop the ability to manage as we go forward....in order of importance:
1. Your first and primary responsibility is to provide uninterrupted repairs for repair skillers, and seek first and foremost to apply your piloting skills to keeping repairs constant, unceasing and continuous for the maximum amount of time possible and constantly be seeking to reduce and if possible eliminate ever having any repair point fill up at all.
2. Be available to manage/balance repairs for your fellow pilot during the "off piloting" hours of your 8 hour shift. As "Chief Engineer" your duties will not only be to balance repairs but to also be monitoring force chat, answering questions that skillers may have quickly and accurately, being aware of which points need what and directing any "awake" repair skillers that may be available to the repair point they should be on. During these times the ship's reputation as a "friendly" place to be will be in your hands and your responsibility to maintain. I expect pilots to be aware of who is aboard, what their needs are and most especially who is new. New players who are repair skilling for the first time will need a guided tour of the ship and instructions on how to quickly get from one repair point to another for "emergency balancing". It is the "off pilot's" responsibility to be aware of that need and provide that tour of the ship as needed for new skillers. Don't leave our skillers lost, floundering and confused about what they need to be doing. Please be generous enough to take the time to welcome skillers aboard as they log on or join the ship and bid them farewell when they are ready to leave.
3. In concert with your "off pilot" assistant, maximize your own skilling and profit when its your turn to pilot.
_________________________________________________________________________
A word to new pilots:
Welcome aboard guys, this is an opportunity that is not easy to obtain in EU. Piloting opportunities for MS and Privateers are limited and valuable. You very likely will not get a seat this week or next. Its not going to happen overnight.
One thing you need to be aware of is that senior pilots who were a part of the previous project will be given priority when it comes to pilot scheduling. Exact methods of managing the pilot roster are still being tweaked, but those who took the risks and dared to try and suffered through the learning process we endured to get this project off the ground will have precedence and preference over those who are now entering into the benefit of the sacrifices the senior pilots made to get us this far.
I am one who believes that those who suffer and take risks when nothing is guaranteed should be able to benefit when their effort and risks begin to bear good fruit.
That may sound disappointing to some but rest assured that your effort when the time comes for you will be respected and appreciated in exactly the same way.
_________________________________________________________________________
More to come over time....and looking forward to seeing any and all of you aboard the Varyag this coming weekend.
Very soon I will have posted here some information about what is involved in getting started as a trainee pilot. I am imagining some piloting "theory" that can be outlined here and very soon we will institute a new pilot training system that will get you into a co-pilot's seat to observe the techniques used by an experienced pilot and finally into the pilot's seat yourself for a run with an experienced pilot observing from the co-pilot's seat and giving advice on how you can maximize and balance the various priorities you will be responsible for maintaining as a pilot.
________________________________________________________________________
Stay tuned
Storm
Over time I intend to use this thread to communicate more fully with the pilot corps about how this event is organized and what will be expected of pilots as their part in the overall scheme.
There are a few changes (not huge) that returning pilots need to be aware of as we get rolling again. And this can perhaps serve as a "central" source of information for training new pilots as they are selected. I will be working on this thread for some time to come and eventually hope that it will become a "handbook" for new pilots to learn basic tactics for piloting for repair skillers.
For now, let me speak mainly to the returning pilots who will be manning the roster mostly in the first few voyages of this re-started effort.
The main change you guys need to be aware of is the fact that pilots have now become a more important element in managing repairs. As you will discover very soon, managing repairs on a Mothership with four repair points instead of two is a more complex task than managing repairs for two points as encountered with a Privateer.
The division of the skilling day into 3 discreet 8 hour shifts will remain the same, but what must change is the level of attention you will have to apply to your "off piloting" hours during your shift. As before, two pilots will be assigned to each 8 hour shift and each pilot will be flying and repair skilling in alternating 2 hour blocks, just like before.
The main difference will be that it will be necessary for pilots to be "awake" and actively balancing repairs, which on an MS means you may have to run back and forth to get to repair points that are getting dangerously low and out of balance with the other repair points. Failure to actively manage repairs will make it very difficult for your fellow pilot on shift to maximize his skill gains. So, more than ever this effort is dependent on a "teamwork" mindset with mutually supporting parts.
theViper is also going to need more help from pilots managing the ship's priorities than was demanded in the past. I will be outlining what those priorities are in more detail in the near future.
Also, the pilot's share of the rental cost has risen due to the fact we now have an MS and higher rental costs than before. The new cost share for each pilot is 20.00 ped per 8 hour shift (4hrs of piloting) or 10.00 ped per 2 hr piloting shift if you serve as "fill-in" for an unscheduled shift left open by another pilot.
That's the bad news The good news is that with greater SI depth to work with, pilot skilling is going to be faster on a "skills per hour" basis than it was. Preliminary tests I have made piloting for the Kronan indicate that after a very short period of getting used to the small differences between piloting an MS and piloting a Privateer, your skill gains should increase well over and above the higher cost structure. On a per hour basis your income potential, after expenses will almost certainly be greater even with the higher rental cost share.
The Pathfinder IX was a ship with very respectable SI of ~12K per repair point. But, as you know even with that we were struggling to maintain a good balance between maintaining stable afk repair skilling and pilot skilling. As the number of repairers increased we began to struggle to keep pilot skilling at a high level and still maintain a beneficial repair skilling situation.
The Varyag is a ship with SI of ~18K per repair point and 4 points to take damage instead of 2. The amount of damage you can take with the Varyag is several times what it was with Ganzo's ship, which means several things. Perhaps number one is the amount of time you have to return to TG after turreting before repairs fill up and cease for skillers. Smooth turnarounds that keep repairs going are much easier to do with the Varyag. IF the ship's health bars are balanced.
When its working the way it should, as pilot you will be able to gather mobs quickly and make more frequent turnarounds without sacrificing good repair skilling because your health bars fill up. It will take a bit of experience to discern the minor adjustments in tactics you use to pilot, but not a lot. Most of you will quickly pick up the differences and make the needed adjustments. As you do, you will be able to keep a greater proportion of "wet" mobs in your train a greater percentage of the time which will make very noticeable improvements in your "skills per hour" accumulation rates.
On this first voyage there will be much we need to accomplish. You guys who have pilot experience but have never been on an MS will need to plan to spend some time learning where the different repair points are and how to get from one to another quickly.
You will need to pay attention to, understand and provide direction to repair skillers who want to go afk. In most cases if a repair skiller lets you know they want to go afk you should direct them to HH (hangar) or PP (propulsion) and keep RR (reactor) and CC (command center) repair points available for more active skillers.
CC is MOST important to keep active skillers on because that is the repair point most accessible to the pilot if he ever needs to "hop the seat" and top up repairs in the middle of a run. It will be up to you "off" pilots to know what needs doing and be constantly informing repair skillers how best to set up for everyone's best interest.
I hope you guys can understand why a more active role for pilots is now necessary. If not I think the need will become clear once you have seen the ship in operation.
This is a bit "rough and ready" at this point but over time I expect this thread to be the touchpoint for communicating with pilots, both old and new and a place we can outline in detail exactly how all the moving parts are designed to work together to provide a good result for all concerned.
For now, returning pilots, welcome back. Thank you for all the effort you guys put into getting this started when risks were high and we didn't even know what we didn't know yet
We've learned a lot and now its time to make the adjustments necessary to ensure this project can go forward on a regular, sustainable basis with a "win" in it for everyone involved. I sincerely hope the new level of effort and commitment we are now asking for from returning pilots is not too onerous, but if you feel it is then we do understand and sincerely appreciate all the effort you shared with us getting this far.
And, we're off and running again! The main thing I need at this point is for all to be aware that there are new responsibilities and skills/experience to obtain before this can work to its full potential for all concerned. Here is a list of the priorities you, the pilot must develop the ability to manage as we go forward....in order of importance:
1. Your first and primary responsibility is to provide uninterrupted repairs for repair skillers, and seek first and foremost to apply your piloting skills to keeping repairs constant, unceasing and continuous for the maximum amount of time possible and constantly be seeking to reduce and if possible eliminate ever having any repair point fill up at all.
2. Be available to manage/balance repairs for your fellow pilot during the "off piloting" hours of your 8 hour shift. As "Chief Engineer" your duties will not only be to balance repairs but to also be monitoring force chat, answering questions that skillers may have quickly and accurately, being aware of which points need what and directing any "awake" repair skillers that may be available to the repair point they should be on. During these times the ship's reputation as a "friendly" place to be will be in your hands and your responsibility to maintain. I expect pilots to be aware of who is aboard, what their needs are and most especially who is new. New players who are repair skilling for the first time will need a guided tour of the ship and instructions on how to quickly get from one repair point to another for "emergency balancing". It is the "off pilot's" responsibility to be aware of that need and provide that tour of the ship as needed for new skillers. Don't leave our skillers lost, floundering and confused about what they need to be doing. Please be generous enough to take the time to welcome skillers aboard as they log on or join the ship and bid them farewell when they are ready to leave.
3. In concert with your "off pilot" assistant, maximize your own skilling and profit when its your turn to pilot.
_________________________________________________________________________
A word to new pilots:
Welcome aboard guys, this is an opportunity that is not easy to obtain in EU. Piloting opportunities for MS and Privateers are limited and valuable. You very likely will not get a seat this week or next. Its not going to happen overnight.
One thing you need to be aware of is that senior pilots who were a part of the previous project will be given priority when it comes to pilot scheduling. Exact methods of managing the pilot roster are still being tweaked, but those who took the risks and dared to try and suffered through the learning process we endured to get this project off the ground will have precedence and preference over those who are now entering into the benefit of the sacrifices the senior pilots made to get us this far.
I am one who believes that those who suffer and take risks when nothing is guaranteed should be able to benefit when their effort and risks begin to bear good fruit.
That may sound disappointing to some but rest assured that your effort when the time comes for you will be respected and appreciated in exactly the same way.
_________________________________________________________________________
More to come over time....and looking forward to seeing any and all of you aboard the Varyag this coming weekend.
Very soon I will have posted here some information about what is involved in getting started as a trainee pilot. I am imagining some piloting "theory" that can be outlined here and very soon we will institute a new pilot training system that will get you into a co-pilot's seat to observe the techniques used by an experienced pilot and finally into the pilot's seat yourself for a run with an experienced pilot observing from the co-pilot's seat and giving advice on how you can maximize and balance the various priorities you will be responsible for maintaining as a pilot.
________________________________________________________________________
Stay tuned
Storm
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