I eat crows for breakfast!

Wait--wrong idiom. What I should have said is, "I've been eating crow!" (For those of you who don't speak English as a first language, the title of this post is an English idiom that means it is easy for me to handle crows; "eating crow" is another idiom that serves as an admission of being wrong after taking a strong position.)

For all my pontificating here in my journal and on the public forums at http://myeve.eve-online.com, and after my recent solo victories over a Drake and then a Rupture, it is perhaps fitting (my victims might call it karma) that I've lately been in a real slump--suffering a string of painful losses. I've lost three Taranis-class interceptors in the past week--to a Rupture, a Thorax, and most recently to a Caracal.

In all three cases, I was fairly confident (though not at all certain of victory), and it was I who was the aggressor. I've killed similar cruisers before, even back in my days as an Incursus pilot. So when I spot something tempting at an asteroid belt, or flashing red on my computer overview at a jump gate, I may be forgiven for succumbing.

These last three losses were decisive; none of my supposed targets ever seemed in any real danger of destruction, according to my sensor readings, while my own defenses just evaporated. I can't say I was unlucky, either--in all three scenarios, I jumped in at optimal range, got a quick lock on my target, and even had a few seconds' advantage in dealing dps. The Thorax came back at me with simple T1 drones, the Caracal with T1 light missiles; only the Rupture had high-tech weapons to counter my own.

I may have grown overconfident. In the past, I was very careful to assess the experience of a cruiser pilot before risking my frigate. Now, made careless by success, increasingly skilled, and flying high-tech interceptors with state-of-the-art weapons systems, I need this reminder that not every other pilot out there is flying under the influence of consciousness alterers with one arm around an ambitious crew-member. There are experienced combat veterans sharing space with me, and I owe them more respect. To the friends and families of the crews that were lost due to my callous disregard for danger, I apologize.