Unto the Breach

I’m doing something now that I haven’t done for three years: starting over.

I always kept tight control over my assets, so I’m not one to leave things spread across the galaxy.  But last week, I had 36 ships in Tenal and Curse, combining PvE, small-gang, and large fleet purposes.

But I’ve got an inkling wormhole space requires a different set of ships all together.  So my duplicate fits have been sold.  My fleet-fits have all gone via Razor contracts.  My PvE ships (all measly 3 of them, for two characters) are put in mothballs along with my boot carrier.  And each of my small-gang fits have gotten a third degree grilling as to whether they’ll serve me well. 

Jaguar, Cynabal, Rapier… you’re safe.  Gnosis, Hurricane… we need to have a little chat.

Yes, my hangar summary post next year will no doubt look quite different.

The preparation for leaving my current corporation has taken about four days, between arranging cynos, collecting assets in central locations, and shuttling unnecessary ships to Jita to sell.  The last time I changed alliances, I brought all my ships with me.  But back then, I was leaving one null-sec alliance for a more PvP-focused null-sec alliance.  All my fits were PvP (poor excuses, as they turned out, but I didn’t know any better), and I felt comfortable bringing them along.  But now, very few of my ships have probe launchers fit to them.

And I’m finally ready… to wait.  Because, once you’ve collected your assets, you need to find a way into your new home.  It’s not as simple as waiting for a suitable wormhole to empire and making your way there.

If you’re bringing a carrier in, it’s a matter of waiting for an NPC null-sec or low-sec hole, judging how long of a chain of both cynos and wormholes you’re comfortable with, and moving everything into position.  After all, you can’t prepare your cyno alts beforehand, since you don’t know where they’ll need to guide you.

If you’re moving ships one-by-one, you probably want a WH near either a trade hub, or one very close to the system where you gathered your assets. That may prove even harder to find.

It’s frustrating to see so many operations and wormholes going up on the tracker, and being unable to participate.  But scouting a route from k-space system is all but impossible… the odds of finding a single WH system from a single k-space system are infinitesimal.  So I need to wait for my corp mates to find a good route, which I can then follow.

As it turns out, I’ve had plenty of time to make my wormhole purchases and think about how I can make my 1 million m³ of carrier space stretch as far as possible – covering all doctrines, a ratting ship, plenty of probing ships, and a few “fun” roaming ships, all within the mass limit.  I also need plenty of ammo, nanite repair paste, mobile depots, tractor units, and the myriad other things I’ll need to bring to a system with no market and spotty access to empire.  And let’s not forget spare hull, armor, and shield repair modules… no repair facilities in w-space.  It’s a lot of equipment to purchase, and I’m sure I’m forgetting something along the way.

So, for the moment, I’m checking siggy (wormhole tracking program that works well with the in-game browser) on my phone to jump on an available route the moment it opens up, and trying to stay patient.  Fortunately, the character who will be lighting my cynos is coming with me, so both of them can all go through together.  But it’s frustrating to see so much activity and have to sit on the sidelines.

Moving sucks, but based on the routes I’ve seen through w-space, it’ll all be worth it in the end.

If you contemplate making a move to w-space, try not to let yourself judge the experience by the first week’s activity.  Logistics are necessary, even if it’s not your cup of tea.  Give it a little time before you make a judgment.  Once the kills start flowing, it’ll all be worth it.