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[FAQ] Class Preparation / Attending the Class


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#1 Azual

Azual

Posted 24 February 2009 - 01:33 PM

Preparing for Class

Please Note: Full access to reading materials will be granted 1 week before the class. Make sure you are familiar with all the required reading before the class, since this will not be covered in the theory section and both your instructor and your FC will assume you have learnt it!

For any class, there is a checklist you should follow to prepare.

1. Enrollment - Make sure have correctly enrolled in the class, that you know when it is, and that your payment has been made (either by yourself, or through a corporate account on your behalf). Make sure you are aware that times advertised for classes are in EVE time, which is GMT (Greenwich Mean Time). This is the time shown in the lower lefthand corner of your screen when docked in EVE (by default). EVEMon also has a feature that will show the current EVE time in the lower left corner, on the status bar.

2. Connect to the "Agony Public" channel - Click the speech bubble icon in the top right of any chat window to open the Join Channel window. Type "Agony Public", and click 'Join'.

3. Connect to the Teamspeak server - Once you gain access to the class materials, visit the Voice Communications in PVP article and follow the instructions there on connecting to our Teamspeak server. This gives you even more options when it comes to asking us for help. NOTE: If you don't have a microphone, you still need to connect to Teamspeak so you can listen to the class. There is no point in attending if you can't hear the instructor!

4. Check your skills - The skills you need to have before the class starts are listed on that classes wiki page. They vary by class type but they are the minimum skills you MUST have trained to attend that class. Generally they aren't that steep at all, being after all minimum requirements.

5. (Optional) Prepare your jump clone - You're going to want a jump clone at the meeting location of the class. The pod survival rate in our Basic classes is around 95% - most people don't lose any ships, and most people who lose their ship don't lose their pod. But losing all your implants is something we'd prefer you didn't risk. If you are unable to secure jumpclones without Agony's help, we will attempt to get you to a station in 0.0 where you can set up a jump clone. To do this, you will need Infomorph Psychology I and a shuttle. Ask in the Agony Public channel and we can arrange an armed escort for you.

6. Set your autopilot for the class meeting location - Most classes are held reasonably near a trade center such as Jita, Rens, Oursulaert, Amarr or Tash-Murkon Prime. It is recommended that you buy your firgates and modules locally so you don't end up having to haul your stuff across empire, especially if you don't have a top-end industrial with cargo extenders. If you do happen to have a top-tier industrial and the extenders, you can easily fit 4 giant secure cans in your cargo hold, with one packaged ship and fittings inside each.

7. Start reading the rest of the articles, browse the PVP-Basic forum - The PVP-Basic articles can be found HERE. The PvP-Basic forum is HERE.

8. Buy your ships - In the case of BASIC, choose one type of frigate that you think you'll enjoy for the duration of the class. Having your class frigates in different types seems like a really good idea in theory, but in practice it tends to be frustrating and annoying. Don't choose a frigate with a mining laser bonus. Don't choose a frigate with an astrometrics bonus. Don't choose an assault frigate, interceptor, or stealth frigate - they require different techniques to fly than a tech 1 frigate, and we won't be covering those techniques in this class. We usually don't use target painters in the BASIC class, so don't choose a Vigil. Once you've chosen a type of ship, buy at least two of them, three if you can afford it. Five if you're planning on making a regular habit of travelling into 0.0 or lowsec with the classes.

9. Buy afterburners - Each of your ships is going to need an afterburner. For certain ships, this doesn't give optimal combat performance, but it's the right choice for most. There are a number of training exercises where the instructor will say "turn on your afterburner" - not having one means you miss out on some of the educational value. Don't buy or fit microwarp drives, when we say 'afterburner' we mean 'afterburner'. If you feel like fitting named, t2 or faction afterburners, then go for it. Just remember that in 0.0, the real question is not 'if' you lose your ship, but 'when'.

10. Buy midslot and lowslot items - Have a look at the recommended modules and try to collect the full set. If you've chosen a ship that gets a bonus to ewar modules (Crucifier, Griffin, or Maulus) make sure you have all the modules from the collection that you get a bonus to using. (Tracking disruptors, ECM varieties, or sensor damps, respectively.) As with the afterburners, feel free to get expensive kit if you can afford to lose it.

11. Buy highslot items - The midslot items are vitally important to a hydra fleet, so you buy those and make sure you can fit them before you look at fitting weapons. Be aware that different midslot items require different amounts of CPU - don't be afraid to use lighter-caliber guns to make sure you can equip your ewar. (If you're loaded with cash, consider buying a mixture of gun calibers so that you can maximise your punch once the ewar is finalized during the class. Similarly, named modules can help, if you can afford to lose them.)

12. Buy ammunition - 400 rounds per weapon should see you through nicely. If possible, bring an ammunition type that gives you an optimal range around 9km, and as an ammunition type that gives an optimal range roughly equal to your frigate's fastest circular orbit.

13. Gather everything at the class location - Gather your ships and modules at the class location. This location varies depending on where Agony is operating at the time, make sure you read the class description to find out where it starts! Some classes are held on the test server. If your class is based on the test server it will plainly say so in the booking thread.

14. Fit out your ships and insure them - Set up your ships with identical fittings in every slot and get the platinum insurance on each. During the class, you're reasonably likely to be asked to change your fittings around, but you may as well make certain that there's at least one configuration that works.

15. Set your medical clone to the class location - In the unfortunate event that you do get podded, waking up 50 jumps away from the class would ruin your evening.

16. (Optional) Finalize your jumpclone arrangements - You're going to want the clone with all your implants to be in some other station, so you can use an implant-less clone for class.

17. Configure your overview and your graphics settings - Follow the configuration instructions that are a part of the BASIC course material. Yes, you really do need to turn off your sound and effects, and you really do need to set up your overview so that you can't see anything beyond the essentials. If you don't do this and you're lucky, your overview will be cluttered and you might cause a friendly fire incident. If you're unlucky, your client will crash when you jump into a system full of hostiles.


Attending Class

Ok, it says the class is at 0200 Eve Time on Sunday... when the heck is that?!

You know the little clock on your EVE UI ingame when you're docked (usually lower left)? That's Eve Time, Icelandic local time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The easiest way to figure out what time the class is in your time is to figure out how you're offset from GMT and then count back (or forward) from the planned classtime.

For instance, if you're in US Central time zone in winter time (non-daylight savings time), GMT is +6 hours. So, count back 6 hours from the class time. The class starts at 2000 hours US Central, which is 8 PM. We passed midnight, so it's 8 PM Saturday, not Sunday.

An alternative method is to set up a second clock on the Vista desktop to show Icelandic GMT OR simply look in the lower left corner of EVEMon for the current EVE Time. This website may also be useful for converting time!

In any case, make sure you adjust the announced class time for your time zone. Classes are ALWAYS announced in EVE Time.

I'm here! Now what do I do?!

Just make sure you're in the Agony Public channel and connected to Teamspeak on time. Stay docked and follow the instructions of the instructor and class administrator. Class will start on time, and we'll pick up stragglers until it's time to undock and start practical exercises. At that point anyone left behind gets to come back for the next class.

Let's start shooting people!

Wait! We at Agony love shooting people, but make sure you're familiar with our Rules of Engagement, which you can find HERE!

In particular, note that you MAY NOT FIRE on another student on the course whatever the circumstances! Get this one wrong and bad things will happen.

The Caldari/Gallente Hate Me! Or I'm a Criminal and can't get to High-Sec!

If you can't safely get into the Class High-Sec Start System, then there are ways around this. Training Diplomacy is highly recommended if your problem is factional police chasing you. You need to get your Faction Standing above -5 to get them to stop shooting you.

Doing the theory with an alt is another common strategy. Use one of your alt character slots (or another account if you have one). Let your instructor/class admin know beforehand. The theory section in high-sec is brief, but important and practices some basic manouvring. Most of this can be done in a basic ship with minimal skills. Fitting an afterburner is probably the most vital of the skills. You can change to your main when the class enters low-sec.

Keep your main in a nearby low-sec system, with all your combat ships and your medical clone. That way if you lose your ship or pod, you can easily regroup from there. There will be some differences in your alt's skills and ship handling abilities, so you may need to adjust your orbit distances a little when you change to your main.
Ex-Director of PVP-Uni, Eve Blogger and author of The Altruist
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#2 Azual

Azual

Posted 24 February 2009 - 09:16 PM

If you have any questions, or there's something missing from this FAQ that you feel should be there, please ask your questions in the Q&A thread HERE.
Ex-Director of PVP-Uni, Eve Blogger and author of The Altruist
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