First Milestone Memories Part 2

I make no secret of the fact I enjoy mining in EVE Online. I find the logistics and time spent actually mining relaxing. People scoff or laugh at me for this but we all find joy in different aspects, just so happens Mining/Production is mine.

Mining Fleet Assemble

It took me about 8 months to get an Orca and I used that became a huge support to my mining in high sec. It was very profitable, I could easily make a billion ISK every couple of days but in late 2011 I was starting to find my feet in null sec and I did not fancy moving an Orca into Null sec via gates. I'd moved to Providence and the ores and ice available there was far richer than what I was used to.

Getting an Orca into Providence was possible but I really didn't want to do it but I saw the opportunity to really upgrade my mining fleet and I set my sights on the Rorqual.

Thar She Blows! Except she doesn't, if you're a miner this is the "ship to have"

Designed to support and sustain large-scale mining operations in null sec (like other non-Freighter capital ships it cannot go into high sec) the Rorqual and it's special Industrial Core module allow ores and ice to be compressed to save space and allow these to be transported easier and in high quantities.

The Rorqual is unique among Capital Ships in that when the Industrial Core is active it causes the ship to transform into a static facility. 

If you're using the Rorqual, you will activate the Industrial Core and you certainly don't want to be doing this in open space. So the normal habitat that a Rorqual's would be found is safely within a POS.

I always was safe in a POS, never did I leave with red's in system or visit a belt to collect ore but I did once have a scare after activating the Industrial Module. I would usually activate the Industrial Core after I had stopped but one day I didn't and I didn't notice myself, slowly, inching out of the POS over the course of my fleet. When I finally DID check on my Rorqual it was 70km off the POS in transformed mode and totally defenseless. Suffice to say that day on I made sure I was not moving when I activated the core.

I did have issue within some people who would warp their Rorqual to collect Ore or Ice products from cans in space but only because they were painting a big target on the rest of us, they only had to be caught once and it would result in a lot of camping of our pocket. They never were in Providence but I did take pleasure in seeing the killmail of the Rorqual several months later after they left.

Preparation and Training

Originally I was to get my Main character as the Rorqual pilot but this very quickly had to be revised when I did not join my other alts in the same corporation. 

Assembly of the Rorqual would take nearly 3 weeks (20 days 19 hours to be precise) so I didn't have time to rush and waste training points, I was able to plan what I needed (thanks to EVE Mon) and then stick to the plan. So I trained two characters almost side-by-side to use the Rorqual. One, with the best Jump skills would move it to it's new Providence home and the other would actually be using it.

Both characters were able to fly the ship within hours of each other on the 9th September 2011 and then the training diverged. I can't remember exactly what my main started training but the Rorqual pilot started with getting all support skills (Spaceship Command, Industrial Core and Support base skills) to Level 4 minimum, he would get Level 5 eventually but my plan was Level 4 everything then start Level 5.

It took a long time to get the skills to Level 4 which required at least 6 days training just for Level 4 (with optimum mapping). Level 5 skills were 30+ days and I literary forgot about them so I didn't stew in EVEMon watching what they were doing.. Still at least I didn't have to do the Warfare skills, I already had them at 5 after months of previous training.

Production

I was ready to use (that have the basic skills needed) the Rorqual from September 2011 but it wasn't until mid-October 2011 that we started assembly. I had no characters that could make the ship at the time (I have 3 now that can build Rorqual's) but I had a friend who could and he assembled it for me.

I spent a lot of enjoyable time mining (with my Orca) the minerals to create the components needed, then I had to move those to high sec and then to the low sec system of Iesa where we made the ship.

Each one is 10,000m3 and I needed three escorted Freighter trips to move it all

On the 13th November 2011 it was finally assembled and delivered.

I remember getting my main into the station and seeing the ship for the first time. I was smitten, she was beautiful and I undocked her immediately so I could see her in space.

New Home

Once assembled I packed the fit inside the ship, added fuel for jumping and setup a cyno in my new home.

This was well before jump engines were nerfed so I was able to make the journey in one jump, it would be two now but I'd have to travel through the Hive of Scum and Villainy known as Mai. And we don't travel through there unless we, no we don't travel through there at all. Period.

So I jumped, arrived docked and gave the ship to my new pilot. I fit the ship and undocked and started work. Where I was in Providence gave me several good mining systems within a short distance and this included Ice and Ore.

Times were very good for me at first as I was usually alone during my game-time and I only had to watch out for reds (enemies) and I'd safe up if any did come past. But over time more people were online when i was and we had regular camps from visiting reds that made mining quite frustrating, of course we never let them know that, but when times were lean in Providence I was able to continue with my Orca in high sec.

New Opportunities

I can remember Arkonor and Bisot sites that you had to scan down provided so much ore for my infant Manufacturing empire.

The Ore Arrays in the systems I had access to gave us a couple of different types of ore belts and I will never forget that 200,000m3 Spodumain asteroid that was always left until everything else was mined out. It was truly massive (at least a titan or two in size) and something that always was present, most people ignored it and if it was the only rock left it was left alone.

Eventually I learnt to mine Mercoxit, so much Mercoxit in fact that to this day I still have Morphite I mined in Providence that I use in my production runs when needed.

It was common at the time to share your boosts with, trusted, others in the same corporation/alliance in Providence and I was no different. Others charged a small fee (to cover fuel costs for the Industrial Core) but I never did as I'd always mine enough in 30 minutes to cover fuel for several days but everyone was welcome to join.

Never would they be able to access my POS but they would have access to my boosts and anti-NPC security (a cruiser I used to deal with rats that was kept near any active fleet). I can remember running fleets with only my characters active or at times ten or fifteen members. It was always different and there was always someone to speak to and pass the time, plus the extra eyes on Local were always welcome.

Expanding my Empire

The Rorqual allowed me to harvest what Providence had and through this and fund my burgeoning Empire. The Reaction Towers I had later in my time in Providence would never have been possible had I not had the ISK available to risk thanks to my Rorqual.

I'd mine ores and ice and then either refine and use what they gave me or I shipped them out for sale in the trade hubs. Dark Glitter for a period in 2012 was a massive profit for me, I could mine 10,000 blocks a week quite easily with the Rorqual and then I'd compress them and use a Jump Freighter to move them to high sec and then off to the trade hubs.

A lot of my initial income came from doing this and without the Orca it would have not been as profitable as it was. Without the Rorqual I think it would be fair to say I would not be where I am, a Net Worth of over six hundred billion in assets and ISK.

When Ice fields were changed in 2013 (Odyssey release) I had been been stockpiling Ice blocks like a madman. Most friends and fellow miners had a few hundred to a couple of thousand at the time Ice fields were changed I had a tad over 40,000 blocks in one system in Providence. After Odyssey was released I moved these to Jita and sold them for an extremely good profit (a couple of billion if memory serves), after all each ice field had a finite amount of Dark Glitter now but someone still needed a lot of it.

After Providence

I still love my Rorqual and she moved to Curse with me when I left Providence. She doesn't often have a run these days, passive income from Towers and Manufacturing has been more than enough for my activities but I have done mining just because I enjoy it. I really do.

I've been hopeful for changes to the Rorqual for a couple of years now, we've had some information but nothing confirmed but shes still my second favourite ship I own and I'm still proud I created her from scratch myself (with a little help to assemble).