Vyzion Eyri wrote:31.12.12
I've resolved to spend the countdown to 2013 flying more dropships.
I'll probably need the practice. Recently, in a spate of 1v1 or 2v1 skirmishes, I've basically had the whole map to myself. The enemies, usually, don't try to shoot down my dropships and I can practice basic maneuvers to my heart's content. So far I think I've got turning down. Accelerating, check. Decelerating, not so much. This I have to work on.
Throughout though, and I think I've mentioned this before, I'm keeping Skihid's phrase in my head: a dropship is 'a brick balanced on thrust'. That single line is what I find,by far, the most helpful. That image just works.
I also decided, in one of these empty ghost-town-like games, splash out and buy a Gallente... uh, I forgot the name, (220k one... my wallet wishes to express its great disproval) dropship, fitted with basic blaster turrets and some armor. Many prefer the Caldari and I can see why; shield modules don't reduce speed. I'm actually slightly regretting my choice to spec. for Gallente DS' now.
But only slightly.
Armor means I can land and repair most of any damage with my trusty repper gun, as well as have my shields regenerate while I do so. That's how I reason to myself for not going down the Caldari skill line, anyway.
However, when I tried to land to do just that, out of nowhere I spy what seems to be a lamppost which, due to its diminutive size, I totally overlooked while finding a nice clear landing zone, and notice I'm sliding right towards it. Hoping my speed would be low enough by the time I hit it, I did not try avoid and reattempt the landing.
Boom.
WHAT THE HELL IS THIS MADNESS FFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-
A lamppost, ladies and gentlemen. Like the one in Narnia. Comparing its stature against my majestic dropship, it was positively puny.
BUT NO. It must've been made out of titanium. Diamonds. Shielded by the force of a thousands minds willing it to remain rooted to the ground when a half-fitted Gallente dropship, weight even greater due to its armor plating, hits it with considerable force (my inner pilot is ashamed to admit I miscalculated that) it does not budge. Instead, suddenly all the armor drains out of the dropship and I am forced to hop out and feel the heat wave of the explosion sear my backside and turn around with my repper to watch helplessly as my dropship disintegrates.
Eventually, all that was left to light my tear-stained helmet was the glow of my repper, my finger still holding the trigger into the air, hoping against hope that since the law of conservation of mass didn't hold true for destroying atoms, since I see no pile of ash on the ground where my beloved dropship just was, nor dust blown away in the wind, that perhaps the creation of atoms would be viable and my repper would spawn a DS out of thin air.
Didn't happen. I should've died with my ship like a true captain.