38 replies to this topic

[Caldak]

Hope you enjoyed the split class format.

Feed back positive and negative will help us improve class for future students.

High lights, lots and Lots  and Lots

Thanks to the Uni guys for bringing it to us for the fleet battle.

And to the Flying Dangerous for the last fight...

[NewbieFromHell]

Great time again, will deff be back for another roam, and as soon as you open wolfpacks, i'll be signing up

Learnt loads again, and just generally have a great time

keep it going

[Solborne]

Was a good and informative class. I learned a lot in the lecture part. I just hope that it all sinks in as I fly PvP more and more. The roam was the most fun I've had in a long time in EVE. The EVE Uni fight was fantastic, as was the Flying Dangerous fight. I'm looking forward to attending the up and coming Wolfpacks class.

[dzu]

Fun, fun, and more fun - even though we didn't go home via clone! Lots of different kinds of fights.


Highlight #1: "Barf Recon"

Highlight #2: Taking down a 97-ship frigate gang with a 78-ship gang

Biggest highlight: Caldak always keeps the energy up and makes it feel that there's some exciting adventure right around the corner.


Thanks so much for the explanations of *why* targets are called in different circumstances. Also, for some reason the fleet really stayed together this evening, I don't know if that was the command or the students or both. Either way, it was great. Thanks to the leadership crew for great comms.


Any chance for a Covert Ops or Advanced class any time soon? Raring for more.

[AkJon Ferguson]

Was absolutely fantastic.  I learned as much in the lecture portion as I did the first lecture.  I wish I'd known that ahead of time because I wasn't really prepared for new info, thought it would all be review so didn't take notes.  (I kept thinking, 'Ok surely that's all the new info they'll present.')

The roam was pure win.  I had 2 Dramiels fitted and a Rifter I'd named 2DeadDramiels.  My Dramiel went into armor twice (I was relying purely on speed tank, I didn't even have DCII) but emerged unscathed.  I missed the epic finale when the recon reports were 'holy shit that's a lot of ships (cruisers)' and Caldak said 'if you don't want to lose your frigate, drop fleet'.  The ladies (and gents) were triumphant without me.  Still, 9 killmails (ok, 1 was a noobship) and my first stealth bomber kill (and podded the little bastard for good measure) were way more than I expected.

Wish I could do Wolfpacks but will be at the NABC in Reno.  Hope you have one more available.

[bluelynx]

I learned WAY more and had WAY more fun than I ever expected.
The fleet battle with EVE-U was fantastic. Slightly pre-setup matches could be a good idea for future roams too, I'm sure there are plenty of corps out there that would love to come play with you guys on your roams.
Caldak's fleet comms were excellent, I only got lost once and that was my own damn fault, but due to good communications I was able to catch the fleet up quickly and safely.
Suggestions - on day one, maybe get roll call and fleeting done as ppl show up, because a lot of ppl do show up early. Also, on day one, if alumni are along... let the new class members do the answering of questions and volunteering for exercises.
Maybe also add the "on exiting a station, always ctrl-space while loading" tip to your wiki, and the info on day one, might prevent future stealth bomb massacres, or at least mitigate them somewhat.
I heard someone on vent say there had to be a faster way of fleeting than x-ing up... I know you can link a fleet into corp chat and just have everyone click it. Not sure if there's some reason that method is not used.
To bring my wall of text to a close, many many thanks to Caldak and all the AU pilots that came along, also the alumni that helped out with stuff, and to all other class members for helping to make this weekend's class awesome  :D

[Saelyre]

Caldak's FC-ing was great, keeping the right level of tension and camaraderie at all times. The bits of Q&A were also interesting, and as he said, 'Is there such a thing as a stupid question?' I learned so much because people asked questions which I'm sure everyone wanted to ask too.
The Recon pilots and the Alumni did a phenomenal job keeping everyone in line and helping out those of us not used to such strict fleet comms (myself included).

All in all I was surprised at how coherent a fleet we wound up with, since most of us hadn't flown together before, I (mistakenly) expected us to be more rag tag than it turned out. Thank you everyone who took part.

PS The AEther is awesome, that is all.

[Varius]

I know you said I'd say this, Caldak, but here it is: I can't believe I had to go to work before the Eve University engagement.

[Beanard]

Great!!! Fun!!!

I hope I remember it all.

Split format is great, because of RL doubt I could have ever done one of the regular marathon classes.

[Kis Imuk]

The split lecture and roam setup work great. I can't imagine what it was like before the split course format. There's a lot of material for a new pilot to take in but nothing overwhelming. Caldak and the other Agony members did a great job breaking down the material during the lecture. I know a few were complaining about the pace of the course but I felt it was just right. But that all boils down to how much people went over and understood the reading material pre-lecture.

It was nice of Caldak to join some of the students after the lecture in a few sparring sessions. Don't think a single one of us came close to beating him and it shows how much actual PvP experience comes into play in small fights like that. Thanks for the opportunity!

The roam seems like it started late as Agony tried to organize everyone and get the fleet manager updated. Maybe a good idea to have the early comers take care of that before the class starts. I know the majority of the students appeared to be on vent and in game within 30 minutes of class time. If Agony resources are available than setting up pre-class leaves more time for roaming and spending in 0.0.

The FCing was great. Calm and professional. All the Agony, alumni, recons, scouts and tackler did a great job in providing intel and showing us how it's done. Our second engagement against the various cruisers, BCs and BSs was heart pounding and fun. The stealth bomber station camp was a nice surprise and good to experience. And of course the fleet vs fleet fight against E-Uni was just some of the best PvP I've been involved in. Did not expect us to take as few losses as we did. I had to leave after it but overall this was some of the most fun I've had in Eve in awhile.

Going to take this feedback to my alliance and suggest they send all pilots who want to learn over to take courses. The info and service you provide is must have for any budding combat pilot. Looking forward to coming back as an alumni and taking future courses with you.

~ Kis  

[Aether]

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Maybe also add the "on exiting a station, always ctrl-space while loading" tip to your wiki, and the info on day one, might prevent future stealth bomb massacres, or at least mitigate them somewhat.

i think FC or somebody else punting people to an undock bookmark (which an inty pilot can make at any station class is taking a break at) is best solution to prevent bombers bombing the undock

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I heard someone on vent say there had to be a faster way of fleeting than x-ing up... I know you can link a fleet into corp chat and just have everyone click it. Not sure if there's some reason that method is not used.

individual fleeting was used for roll call pretty much - we don't want to fleet people who did not pay for class and are coming to it with a smartbombing geddon instead of a punisher or crucifier like the Wiki material instructs to do ;)

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PS The AEther is awesome, that is all.

\o/

[Joe North]

Even though I saw most of them through a haze of sleep deprivation, the class and roam were the most fun things I've done in quite a while. (With my clothes on, that is.)

Major kudos to Caldak for keeping the entire thing together, handling normal FCing, keeping us all blood-thirsty, and somehow finding the time to explain why he gave the orders he did, imparting about a long ton of very practical information.

Thanks once more! I'm off to commit seppuku for that one time I jumped a gate early.

[Benson Twenty]

Well what can I say that hasn't already been said. Kudos to Caldak and all the 'unseen' recons and scouts who helped shepherd us to the correct place. I got lost once or twice but as a previous poster said - it was my own damn fault lol.

The frigate fight against Eve Uni was just about the best rush in Eve for a while although I need to get used to the correct use of the overview. Lots of practice needed so I will definitely be accompanying on future roams, space permitting.

Looking forward to the next one.

PS - I love the way Caldak calls you an arse but still comes out looking like a great guy lol - way to go Caldak - you have the perfect mix of skills for FC'ng and I for one cannot wait to fly with you again.

[voetius]

thanks Caldak and the recon / tacklers. I made more mistakes than I like to think about but the lessons are starting to be learned.

I look forward to wolfpacks.

[Kilmoor Valor]

that is the most fun i've ever had in a frigate.  thanks for the introduction to fleet mechanics and the tour of nullsec.  it was my first time in 0.0 and i had a lot of false assumptions beforehand.  with a jump clone and some cheap ships, there's no reason not to see what's out there.  the class was well-run and the time put in is a generous effort on agony's part.  i'll be happy to join up as an alum on future classes and continue working on fleet tactics.  bravo.

[Greygal]

This class was BEYOND awesome!!  I had so much fun, my brain hurts from all that I learned, and I can't remember the last time my heart beat so fast!!  Caldak did a fantastic job both as instructor and FC, his patience with us newbs was never-ending (even when he lost patience with us, he was still patient!)  Special thanks to the fabulous Agony scouts who kept feeding new targets to us :)

Kudos to Eve-Uni for simply the most fun I've had in ages - the fleet fight against you guys is the highlight of my Eve career to date :)  The last fleet fight was heart-thumping madness :)  

The class as a whole was well-organized, it was a testament to the entire Agony corp's experience at running these classes just how smooth and integrated ya'll made this fleet of newbies and strangers into a massive killing machine (wow - 170 kills in a single day by a frigate fleet!)  

I made a lot less mistakes than I expected to make - although I made plenty!  It is so nice to FINALLY be on a killmail where I am NOT the victim! :)  I'm so much more confident in facing engagements now thanks to the experience I gained this weekend.  I can't wait till next week's wolfpack class!

Cheers and applause for all of Agony!  :)  

Greygal

[Costomojin]

I thought the class was quite informative.

Most of the reading material was informative, I was already familiar with most of it but the implantation of it was quite different in a large fleet set up so that was an excellent learning experience. The demonstrations of exactly HOW bookmarking works was informative, I knew how to make safe spots but didn't know exactly how the mechanics of it worked, that was good. I knew about making an emergency warp out book mark for a station, but it never dawned on me that it could be applied to an entire fleet warp. Learning bubble mechanics first hand was great, I'd never experienced them first hand. I had no idea they could suck you into them beyond a gate.

The roam day was great. First hand experience in a larger fleet fight was great (Referring to the fight with E-UNI).  Getting Bombed at the station wasn't that great but it was an excellent learning experience...Control + Space is your friend.

My corp is a start up for New Minmatar Faction Warfare members. Once I start recruiting I will definitely be sponsoring them to come to the PvP basic classes the next time they are available.

- Costo


P.S.  I will pay good money just to sit and listen to The AEther say anything over vent!  :heart:

[Sinotron]

I have great fun. It was hard for me to imagine the power of 70 frigates. It is almost invicible. Caldak was great in FC, and the whole Agony team supported well. Agony is really a great organization. Hope to do Wolfpack next week!!!

Thanks again for the Agony team.

[Bravins]

Thanks to Caldak and all the Agony members who helped with the roam. Especially thanks for the replacement ship after the stealth bombing.  Much better than running back to Stacmon.

As a new player with not-so-great skills, it was great to fly in a fleet for the first time, and I made a couple of mistakes trying to keep up. Learning... Got on a bunch of the killmails, so I was definitely in the fights. Got targeted a few times, but never into structure.

Fleet vs. blob seems to be all about the organization, more than even ship fittings. Having intel coming in from several systems away, and keeping coordinated makes the thing really work. And of course talking your targets into coming to you. Thanks for that!

Got to put some good damage on the Domi and a few others. I'll definitely recommend this to my corpmates.

Bravins

[Vora]

Oh how I've missed the Caldak roams! Epic on all proportions... epic amount of Red Bull needed not to fall off the chair, epic bladder !lol ... and thanks to EVE-Uni an epic harvest.
Going to bed at 5 a.m. without being drunk only happens after a Caldak roam...

This class of students was remarkably good as well: good discipline, fast reactions, few stragglers, few misjumps.
The only criticism I have was this single Stabber guy who slowed down the fleet warps... more than once a tackled target got away because we came a tad too late.  

The squad-wise target calling was a premiere even for veteran alumni. I guess that's because we didn't encounter other frig gangs so far. Very effective as E-Uni can attest to. Thanks to E-Uni for that new experience (no irony here).

I'm sure this fleet left a good impression on the first-time roamers and will bring a further horde of bloodthirsty fellas into PvP (although I still think that the professionalism of Agony pilots spoils them for their corps  !lol )

See y'all on Wolfpacks  8)

[Alathus]

The class was informative, and ran well.

Now, let's get on to my favorite part - the roam.

Again, thank you to the Agony +1's, -1's, scouts, recons, skirmishers, and anyone else I've forgotten.

But, I have to give a huge thank you to the other students who flew with me. It was an honor to fly with all of you, and I would do so again (and will). You all showed that sometimes a fleet full of frigates can be SRS BSNS, and for the most part did an excellent job of listening to your amazing FC. The results of the engagement with Ivy League were to say the least - awe inspiring.

A great job to all involved, and more good fights than I can shake a stick at..

Now, I'm going to shut up, before I go all emotional up in hurr.

(P.S. - Caldak.. Thanks for teaching me to be a more efficient FC. Also, "Barf In " is potentially the best recon call ever.)

(P.P.S. - Page Two Snipah)

[Luccul]

This is a bit long - I'm a wordy sob.  :p

I want to add my voice to the commendations to Caldak and the other Agony members who put together the PVP Basic course the last two days. The course was well run, informative, interesting, and fun. What's most important to me was to come away with a much better understanding of fleet PVP, and inspiration to do more. 100% on both. Kudos to Agony for putting on these classes.

One of the things I learned from this class was of the wide variety of roles to play in a fleet, even in frigate fleets. There's more variety and dynamics there than I'd realized, and more room to contribute beyond just laying on the DPS. Add to that the roles of fleet/wing/squad leader plus recon, and I can see that there's a lot more to learn and do. It really opened my eyes in ways I'd not anticipated.

The balancing of modules through the fleet manager was very interesting. The smaller gangs I'd flown with prior hadn't done this (afaik), and I can see how they'd have benefited from it (even a spreadsheet or pen and paper exercise for smaller fleets).

Some amount of practice on day 1 with squad/wing/fleet leaders calling targets so that students can see what these look like on overview before the roam would be good. I missed that during the roam and was looking in the wrong place (fleet window broadcasts, not overview) for the targets. I also suggest an article in the wiki on the fleet window and the options you have to set it up. Include protocols for fleet chat too. Also how you can use fleet finder to rejoin a fleet if you disco (I guess that can't work for the class because the students aren't in the Agony corp/alliance, but it's good to learn anyway).

After the class I listened in on vent as the Agony pilots continued the roam. Thanks for not kicking us out of the channel. That was when you got to hear how well a fleet can work together. And also how they banter back and forth while maintaining a fleet discipline. I heard them kill again some of the same guys we'd already killed in class, but with smaller numbers. Consider inviting students to do listen in after class, regularly. Or record some of it for the wiki. Actually hearing good voice comms in action is better than the examples in class.

I recommend the split class approach. I appreciated the time to review the material from day 1 and I felt I was better prepared for the roam the next day.

Caldak sounded quite annoyed at the students who rushed the smart bombing BS. While they deserved their fate, I think they likely learned a good lesson. To most of us this experience is very new and there's a lot to keep straight in the brain - it's real easy to forget an important point, and once you make the wrong move it's likely too late. Been there, done that, got the loss mail. And there's the adrenaline rush, which I'm thinking has a negative bonus to common sense at times.

Things I'd suggest covering (my apologies if these were covered and I missed them):
- Ways to keep the overview least cluttered during a fight. I had a problem finding targets in the overview. Too much clutter plus small font sizes. Drones on the overview really clutter it up. Also using a sort by distance makes it hard to find the called target and then click it before it shuffles up or down - a name/type sort might help. (Is there a way to freeze the overview momentarily so you can scan/click?)
- More on organizing your client. Which chat windows to be open and on top always. Where to put your HUD, overview, selected item box, drone command window, current targets. I find the default locations means I'm forever looking and clicking all across the screen. Very inefficient. I've developed my own organization (everything starts in the upper right and moves across or down from there - keeps my eyes and mouse focused in a tighter area when things get busy), but suggestions from experienced players are helpful.

Very well done! Well worth it. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I'll recommend the class to everyone who's interested.

[mjuad]

Seriously awesome job with the roam, Caldak.  Lots of action & different types of engagements....it was really enjoyable!  I'm looking forward to Wolfpacks next weekend =D

[Kerzack]

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Caldak sounded quite annoyed at the students who rushed the smart bombing BS. While they deserved their fate, I think they likely learned a good lesson.

When Agony yells at you or gets annoyed it's because we love you and all of our little T1 frigates.    :grr:  

Dying in glorious battle is good fun - dying to an identified Smart Bombing Battleship - well it makes us a little sad.  :sad:

It's ok though we are quick to forgive and move on - just please please please setup your orbits correctly and pay attention.   ;)

It's the passion for the game and PVP that keeps agony focussed and running at 110% for so many years.   !lol  

It's also this passion that can lead to a few tempers.   ~:(

It's all for the betterment of pod-pilots everywhere.  8)

[Azual]

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I heard someone on vent say there had to be a faster way of fleeting than x-ing up... I know you can link a fleet into corp chat and just have everyone click it. Not sure if there's some reason that method is not used.

Unfortunately the auto-join function can only be set to corp-wide, alliance-wide, or positive standings. Outside of manually setting standing for each student (which would be a LOT of admin) there's not really a way you can work it.