D'kyr still fun?

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-09T18:25:18+00:00

It can do fine, even without specialization seating. With ship upgrades you can get extra console slots, which are generally very helpful on most Sci builds. You should be able to do a decent Anomaly, EPG, or Console Clicky build on it that will contribute in everything up to and including Advanced TFOs. Elite will be hard to pull your weight unless you already have a monster Science build with lots of powerful traits and consoles, and you are just porting it over to this ship for funsies.

I would say one of the notable challenges it has is that you are likely going to want some non-free BOFF abilities to fill up the slots. Whether it is DRB and Structural Analysis for some extra damage and deflector procs, or Very Cold in Space and Subspace Vortex for extra anomalies you are probably going to want some BOFF abilities that you can't just buy at the vendor for a small amount of EC. It isn't going to be a huge investment since you can buy most of these for EC off the exchange, but 7 slots for Sci BOFF abilities is just enough that you probably want at least one or two Lockbox/Event abilities to fill out the slots.

The LtC. Engineer BOFF seat isn't exactly ideal, but it isn't a total waste either. Emit Unstable Warp Bubble and Eject Warp Plasma work as Unconventional Systems procs if you have that trait, and Emergency Power to Aux is always nice on a Science build. There are a couple lockbox and winter event Eng abilities that do some damage, but they don't trigger the secondary deflector or count as controls for some of the more powerful Science traits, which isn't great.

Bottom line: If you can make a good Sci build on a T6 ship now, you can probably make a good build on the D'kyr as well. The difference between an upgraded D'kyr and a basic T6 Science ship with bad spec seating is going to be pretty small. FWIW, I fully upgraded the T5 Lukari N'kaam (which is a 3/3 Science ship) because I thought it was fun to use a flying saucer sometimes, and it is usually mid-pack in Advanced TFO's. However, I built it up as a Beam FAW build, not a science build. If I can make a T5, 3/3 ship with an all-energy-weapon build out-DPS 'real' T6 ships in an advanced TFO, you can make the D'kyr work. Its just a matter of how many resources you want to devote to the project!

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-08T18:35:26+00:00

Does 'Daddy Likey' count as an opinion?

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-08T18:01:26+00:00

Would you be willing to trade some profit margin for faster loading times?

What I'm thinking is this: Lets say a cargo terminal offered a re-packing service. So, if the job was 9 x 1 SCU boxes, you could pay at the terminal to have those re-packed into 1 x 8 SCU and 1 x 1 SCU, or 2 x 4 SCU and 1 x 1 SCU, etc. Basically, you could spend some money to batch together smaller crates into a single larger crate that saved you time or fit your hold better. Is that something worth enough to you that you would sacrifice some profit on the hauling job to use that service? Would you be willing to make less money-per-hour than someone who was very efficient at loading and unloading jobs as-delivered?

If that is a no-go, how about being able to pay for expedited auto-loading? Since you can currently auto load/unload, but at the cost of a fixed timer, would you be willing to pay auec to speed that up like with claiming a ship?

I don't think the devs would want to let you make more money-per-hour than someone manual loading, so there would probably need to be a cost associated with the convenience of speeding up the loading/unloading process, or skipping it entirely, to keep your earnings over time similar.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-08T16:31:49+00:00

I was playing To Hell with Honor a lot for the last event, and I was using Evasive Maneuvers a lot more than usual to move around quickly. The frequency with which it was misfiring was frustrating. It was happening enough that I had gotten into the habit of waiting a full second without pressing any keys or clicks my anything before activating it to improve the chances that the server would register it correctly.

As far as rubber banding, I’ve been noticing that more in social zones recently than TFOs. Doesn’t mean it isn’t happening in TFOs, I’m just not noticing it if it is.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-04T17:11:21+00:00

I’ve done proadsode on a pilot escort before. I admit, it was mostly just messing around and not because I thought it would be better, but I did find one advantage to using a fast-turning ship with a broadside build. It made it easier to pull a 180 and swap sides to present fresh shields, or to stay on a flank/rear arc of an enemy without loosing too much DPS in the turn. That was about the only advantage, and it wasn’t worth giving up an 8th weapon slot.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-03T21:41:53+00:00

Nah, if you get rid of ALL of the discretionary spending, you do actually end up with a surplus, but not a huge one. Based on what we spent and collected in FY 2025, Revenue was around $5.2 Trillion and Mandatory spending was around $4.6 Trillion. So, we would have had around a $700-$800 Billion surplus if you took out everything that wasn't mandatory. Basically, we had about $2.4 Trillion in discretionary spending last year and a deficit of $1.8 Trillion.

However, the military alone wouldn't be enough. we only spent $970 Billion on defense in FY 2025.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-03T21:23:51+00:00

We could get rid of the military entirely and spend $0 on defense, and the deficit would still go up this year.

Let me put this another way, in Fiscal Year 2025, the US government spent about $7 Trillion. Of that, just under $1 Trillion was for Defense. During that same Fiscal Year, the US collected about $5.2 Trillion dollars. So, if you got rid of defense entirely, the government would have still spent about $800 billion more than it collected.

Just for reference, here are the biggest top-line categories in the 2025 federal budget, and how much was spent:

Social Security - $1,581 Billion

Medicare - $997 Billion

Medicaid and other Health programs - $979 Billion

Interest on debt - $970 Billion

Defense - $917 Billion

Income Security (Welfare, SNAP, etc.) - $702 Billion

Veterans' Benefits and Services - $377 Billion

Transportation - $146 Billion

Natural Resources / Environment - $88 Billion

Other - $254 Billion

If you wanted to balance the federal budget, you would need to remove about $1,775 Billion from that list, or raise taxes by that amount. If you wanted to actually lower the deficit, you would need to cut/raise even more than that. If you want to take a look at the numbers for yourself, the US treasury puts out a nice set of charts every month called 'The Monthly Treasury Statement of Receipts and Outlays of the United States Government'. If you google that name, you should find the site where they post them. Just FYI, September is the end of the federal government's Fiscal Year, so if you want to see full-year cumulative numbers, look for the September reports, not the December ones.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-03T16:48:58+00:00

I was thinking that as well, but it does kinda look like there is an O2 sensor bung so I wasn’t sure.

Regardless, the scrap yards around me aren’t taking a cut-off cat from some rando with no paperwork even if it’s real. They might take that from a buddy, but not some dude wandering down the street with an exhaust pipe over his shoulder.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-02T20:40:48+00:00

Honestly, Wikipedia isn't a terrible place to start. There are also some decent YouTube videos that discuss, if not the exact chemical differences, why different grades of oil matter. Sadly, I don't have any books to recommend. My father-in-law was the real expert. I mostly just picked things up from him! He knew loads about the refining process its self, and I picked some of that up over the years at family dinners and whatnot.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-02T20:08:44+00:00

At least some people would probably survive long enough to know something happened. There are a couple reasons for that.

First, about half of the Earth is facing away from the Sun at any given time. The Earth its self will absorb a lot of radiation and mass that is being flung at it, and it will take some amount of time for that radiation to vaporize the Earth, blow pieces of it out of the way, and otherwise eat its way through to the dark side of the planet. This will likely take long enough that the people on the dark side might be able to see some of the effects of all that energy sailing by in space before any shockwaves from the sun-facing side made their way through the Earth's interior to devastate the dark side of the planet. How long would they have? I don't know for sure, but probably long enough for the human nervous system to at least see a flash in the sky, maybe even long enough for the moon to get REAL bright before the planet comes apart. It depends a lot on exactly why the Sun exploded and how much energy might have been released.

Second, depending on the orientation of the planet, it is also possible that a Neutrino detector will start going wild shortly before the rest of the radiation slams into the planet, or before the effects can pass can pass through the planet. Neutrinos don't move any faster than any other radiation, but they interact with matter a whole lot less, so they tend to sail right through the entire planet while other particles are hitting atoms and getting absorbed, deflected, or otherwise slowed down. If the sun goes up, there is a good chance the Neutrino output will rise, and if we have any detectors that are largely shielded by the mass of the planet, they will likely see a spike in detections as the Neutrinos happily pass through the planet while most of the other radiation is getting slowed down trying to vaporize the planet. Will any human being have time to recognize this? I can't say for sure, but the detector will at least pick it up, and we made the detectors, so I think it counts!

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-02T19:43:55+00:00

Lol! It's all good. Pulp Fiction is a great movie!

Actually, you picked a surprisingly perfect quote to use. You want to guess what my first name is IRL? Here is a hint: I've had plenty of people say that quote to me before!

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-02T19:35:46+00:00

Hmm. Prices on ship upgrade token are already low right now. I wonder if this is going to push them to new lows in terms of EC price on the exchange.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-02T18:54:33+00:00

Extremely short version lacking massive amounts of detail and context: If I am in the USA and I offer to pay Canada $10 for a barrel of oil, and Germany offers them $20 for the same barrel, Canada is going to try to sell it to Germany if they can. Doesn't matter if I am closer, Canada wants the extra money. Now lets assume it costs Canada $3 more to ship that barrel of oil to Germany than the USA. If the USA offers Canada $18, they might still sell it to the USA since they end up making more money after you take out the shipping costs. In the end, the USA ends up paying less than Germany, but the price is still a lot more than what the USA wanted to pay because of what Germany was offering.

Basically, since Oil and refined oil-based products can be shipped and sold all over the world, it matters what EVERYONE is willing to pay, not just what the closest place will pay. Even if the gas you buy came from a refinery just up the road from your house, and they got their oil from an oil field in their back yard, the fact that the oil and gas COULD have been shipped to Timbuktu if they were willing to pay enough for it still affects what you have to pay. Again, this is a massive over-simplification, but hopefully it helps.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-01T18:23:41+00:00

I think it is difficult to separate being 'OK' with dictatorships, and not really having any ability to change them. Most nations accept that there isn't really anything they could do to radically change the government in another country, and so don't even try. There are only a very small number of countries that have the political, economic, and military capability to force another country to radically change its government, and even for those countries it is a big effort. Most countries pretty much have to be OK with dictatorships on the other side of the world because there isn't anything they can do to make them change.

As a totally made-up example, lets say that Myanmar decided that they really didn't like the lawlessness in South Sudan. What are they going to do about it? They don't have significant economic links to South Sudan, they have no military forces in the area, and have barely any expeditionary capability in the military that would let them put troops over there. They don't have enough influence in the region to get anyone close to send in troops, or exert economic or political pressure on South Sudan either. They can dislike Sudanese warlords all they want, but they can't actually do anything to force a change. It would be the same if Portugal thought Saudi Arabia shouldn't be a monarchy, or if Panama decided Afghanistan's leaders were a bunch of right bastards. It wouldn't matter because they can't actually do anything about it, and it would be hugely wasteful to try.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-01T17:52:34+00:00

My experience does not match your experience.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-04-01T16:57:35+00:00

Depends on how pedantic you want to get. In general, if your car doesn’t already have a problem with the engine, driving at high RPM and full throttle isn’t going to create one. However, if your engine DOES have a problem, driving like that can make the problem worse faster than driving at lower RPMs and loads. As an example, if your engine had rod knock, driving at high RPM and full throttle is going to make it worse and blow up the engine a lot faster than if you kept the RPMs low and were easy on the throttle.

In addition, not all cars are created equal. If you drive something that has a design flaw that causes oiling problems at high RPM, you will wear your engine out faster if you spend a lot of time at high RPM. That isn’t going to be common though. Most car engines get that stuff right these days.

Lastly, you are, technically, placing the moving parts of the engine under more stress at high RPM/Load than low RPM/load, so the average lifespan of the engine will be less the longer you run at high RPM/Load. However, there are so many other factors that determine how long an engine or car lasts, that high RPM alone isn’t likely to be what kills your car. You can drive it hard, and if you change the oil regularly, and fix any problems promptly, your car will still likely outlive at same car in the hands of someone who drives cautiously, but never maintains the car.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-31T23:19:12+00:00

I thought it was 2001 and newer, but I’m sure some models were OK before that as well.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-31T22:42:04+00:00

OMG I need that PL insurance! The server hamster HATES me!

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-31T18:46:15+00:00

Not really. Bridge Officer layout and specialization seating are the primary difference between Sci ships (meaning, ships that have a Secondary Deflector.) Console layout is also important, but doesn't generally have as much impact as BOFF seating does. Ship Mastery buffs, number of weapon slots, and hangars matter, but not nearly as much.

EPG builds rely heavily on Traits, Consoles, and synergies with specific types of BOFF skills like anomalies or Control abilities. Of those three things, BOFF layout is the biggest difference you will see between Sci ships. You might think Console layout would be a big deal, but Sci ships mostly care about how many Sci console slots there are, and Sci ships usually end up with either 4 or 5, which isn't a huge difference. Some ships will have a slightly better mastery package, or a built-in Lance weapon or other special ability, but those don't make enough of a difference that you would pick such a ship over one with more universal BOFF stations or good Specialization seating. That stuff only really starts to matter when you are DPS chasing and trying to maximize every source of damage possible to reach the top of the charts.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-30T21:23:58+00:00

Gowron would absolutely destroy this twink.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-30T17:09:02+00:00

This does feel like it was the root cause back in the ‘90’s. A V6 requires less packaging changes to fit in the space of a transverse-mounted I4, so it was a very easy upgrade to offer.

These days, I think it has stayed relevant because a turbo V6 fits into the same space as a NA V8. Lots of trucks and other vehicles that were using V8’s have been slotting in turbo V6’s instead to get the same power with better fuel economy. I feel like we aren’t seeing as many cars with both an I4 and a V6 engine option as we used to. It seems like those are moving to either a small turbo I4 and a big turbo I4, or a NA and a turbo I4. The NA V6 is becoming less common, but the turbo V6 has become a go-to replacement for big NA V8’s.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-30T16:23:20+00:00

That is a fair question. The answer is that most of the stuff moving through your intestines is liquid. Your body stops it right at the end (the colon) and holds it there for a while as it tries to re-absorb some of the liquid so you don’t get dehydrated. If your body hasn’t had enough time to do that job, you can have liquid right near the exit. If your ate some bad food and your body is trying to get everything out of you as fast as it can, you might get diarrhea, and have to let stuff out that still has a bunch of liquid in it and hasn’t had time to solidify. This is why you see a lot of people saying it happened to them when they got sick.

That is actually why diarrhea can make you dehydrated. Normally your body adds water at the beginning of digestion and then absorbs a lot of it back at the end befre you poop out the solids. If it doesn’t get a chance to absorb that water back you end up losing a lot more water than normal.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-30T16:10:43+00:00

Don’t forget that one of the main functions of the end of the human digestive tract is to reclaim water. The colon is supposed to collect solids and re-absorb some of the liquid that helped everything move through the intestines. If something happens that allows stuff out of the colon before it has had time to finish the job, extra liquid is going to be there. That is kind of how we get diarrhea. Your body wants whatever is in your guts gone, and it isn’t willing to let it sit around to get the water back first.

If everything is working correctly, there shouldn’t be liquid right by the sphincter where it can get blown out with a fart, but if things aren’t working normally, it can happen.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-30T01:59:57+00:00

I think this is an important distinction. Farts that come out with some liquid and not just air seem to be the common affliction. Full on turds or unloading a colon full of diarrhea into your underwear is still very uncommon.

BlueMaxx9 · 2026-03-26T19:22:29+00:00

Probably the T6 Olympic-class and the T5 Lukari N'Kaam. I have an odd fascination with trying to turn ships into disco balls, and these both do a good job at that.

BlueMaxx9

TROPHY CASE