Minmatar V3 Debate – Where will the vision of CCP be?
Aaaaaarrrrrrrrrreeee Yyyyyyooooouuuuuu rrrready TO RUMBLE!!!!
A few days ago I put up my post regarding how I think the V3 update for Minmatar ships should be handled. You can read it here: http://2ndanomalyfromtheleft.wordpress.com/2012/05/21/the-new-hound-is-how-minmatar-should-look/
Rixx Javix also took up the opinion on what concepts the new V3 should be based off of. That can be read here: http://eveoganda.blogspot.com/2012/05/minmatar-v3.html
While we do share some of the same viewpoints, there are some that we differ on drastically.
First off, let’s look at the background for our viewpoints. Let’s start off with Rixx Javix’s:
This is purely from a design standpoint, “Trust in the Rust” is not just a random slogan, but an important key to the Minmatar “mythos” which is extremely important when considering re-design. Unlike the other three races, the Minmatar ships have a certain horribleness to them that is built deeply into the cultural background of both the race itself and the pilots that fly them. If you need more explanation than that, then I fear you’ve never flown a rust-bucket, tied together with duct tape, with your internal atmosphere slowly leaking into the vacuum.
The “Trust in the Rust” concept dates back pretty far.. in fact, even before I started playing the game myself the first time. It is part of the player mythos mixed in with the game lore of a slave race just trying to hold on by throwing whatever it could at the enemy.. and beating them despite insurmountable odds. Because of their need, anything that worked would not be changed because there would be no point. Why fix something that isn’t broke, even if its ugly?
Like this:
My viewpoint, is based on something else, as I wrote here:
The Minmatar, according to game lore, were once a very advanced race of humans. In fact, here is what is said, “At one time they had a flourishing empire with a level of mechanical excellence never before or since seen anywhere.” So, here you have a culture that apparently is second to none in their capacity to build and do mechanical work. On top of that, their resources were limited because of being under slavery. This would lend itself to be a culture that required maximizing functionality, using the least amount of materials to get the job done.
In other words, they were “minimalists”.
The game lore indicates that the minmatar weren’t just throwing crap together just willy-nilly, but that their raw skill and talent was only hampered by the resources they had available. It would only be natural that the more organized they got, the more stable they got, the more resources they would be able to get and so the more cohesive and specific their ship designs would become. Older models would also be upgraded to make them more reliable, more uniform, and more modular.
Like this:
And therein lies the problem. Should the revamped Minmatar models be just a clearer, more hodge-podge collection of parts with engines or should they show off a race that is more confident in their abilities, more fearless in design and function, with ships that not just function well, but look fearsome doing it? Both have good arguments behind them. Nothing feels better to a Minmatar pilot than to see his leaking, duct tape ridden Stabber beat the pants off of some shiny and immaculately clean Amarr cruiser. But on the other hand, I’d rather have pride in both the function of my ship AND the way it looks too.
That isn’t to say that there aren’t things we don’t agree upon.. for example, both of us think “wingy bits” are critical to the lore, motiff, and design of Minmatar ships. We also agree that their distinctive edgeiness, their sharp corners, their aggressive looks and the overall feel should stay. Curves though.. the Amarr and Gallente can keep their curves, and Caldari can keep their right angles.
In the end, however, we’ll have our sharp, pointy, very non-child safe edges and massive radiator wings thank you very much.
5-Alarm my shiny backside – Another Failure in Advertising
This kinda ticked me off and, I think I have to say something on it.. so..
Alright Taco Time.. time to pay up.. and sit your pansy Arizona tails down and listen up.
FIRE THE PEOPLE WHO ARE TELLING YOU THAT YOUR 5-ALARM BURRITO IS HOT.
Your customer research people are idiots. And clearly if any of your executive staff thought that the 5-Alarm burrito was even “mild” ought to quit because of their pure failure to understand food.
Am I looking for a free taco, or a free burrito?
NO. I’m looking for the cowardly lawyers who clearly have your gonads by their teeth. My guess is that they are part of your staff and that you, haha, actually pay money to them.
I had this.. ahem “5-alarm” burrito this last week, and while I knew it wouldn’t truly be ”5-Alarm” hot like my heart desired, I figured at least it would be reasonably warm. Especially after I asked the counter clerk to make it even hotter. He dutifully tried to make it hotter. One would think that it would at least be reasonably hot enough that I would require, maybe, a few drinks of water.
Silly me. I only required one to push that tasty, albeit quite timid, morsel of burrito down my very disappointed throat.
So, who was your test group, Taco Time? A bunch of weenies? I’d almost bet that if you gave the same “test group” an ice cube, they’d all say, “Ooo.. that was spicy!”.
So I, as a consumer who actually likes hot (truly hot food), am putting you on report.
Taco Time’s 5-Alarm burrito, couldn’t even light a match. I am personally offended that you even dared to call this burrito, “hot”.
The Tax Collector.. she is MINE!!
Ah, I miss the sound of those guns...
Today I will take possession of a ship that has seen quite a bit of combat at my hands. The Naglfar Dreadnaught named, “Tax Collector”. It was a ship purchased by m3 Corp back in the day when we as a corporation were trying to get into 0.0, and back then, the best way to do that was to have a capital fleet. Let me say that again. It was purchased back when the best way to get into a 0.0 alliance was to have a “CAPITAL” ship fleet.. not a supercapital ship fleet. I used it nearly exclusively because I was the only Naglfar pilot in the corp for a very long time.
The “Tax Collector” managed to survive the CVA/UK war, the downfall of IRC, the fall of the NC, and the CVA/Ev0ke/NC. Conflict. It lived through CCP’s constant changing, where it went from being a somewhat useful Dread to be a near worthless Dread back to being an awesome Dread then to being about average. The vertical lines, the roar of its massive guns, the wonder about what the AC version might do..
The ship almost has too much history behind it..
Maybe..
2012 – Starting the new year.. without the sandbox…
Pretty much the only thing I did in Eve these past couple weeks is..
FINISH GALLENTE CRUISER V!!!
and started Large Lasers V too.
So now, Orakkus can fly all T2 Cruisers and Battlecruiser hulls… though I still need to work out my Heavy Dictor.
That being said, the rest of my free time, aside from keeping the wife happy and the kids moderately happy, was spent playing Star Wars The Old Republic and watching Jersey Shore. Sad to say, it was hard not to notice the difference between the “having to play” feeling I get when I play Eve Online, verses the ”wanting to play” addiction that is currently pushing SWTOR. Anyone who says that SWTOR is a bad or poorly written game has no idea what they are talking about. Bioware did a great job in many aspects to make a really fun game. I spent the last week plowing through missions (btw, every mission is voice acted.. EVERY, SINGLE, ONE) and while there was some repeition, it was well disquised under a somewhat personal plot that you felt very involved in.
*ahem*
That last sentence is probably the real problem for me right now with Eve Online. It is for most MMOs too. And don’t get me wrong, Bioware got off VERY easily using the most popular Sci-Fi genre that ever existed. But why would anyone want to continue playing a game.. an MMO of all things.. if they don’t feel connected somehow. I’ll be honest, the only thing that connects me to Eve Online is the community. It is far more fun to write about the problems, the tactics, the setups, the fittings in Eve Online, than it is to play the game much of the time. It is the reason I still play.
And as far as “player-made” lore.. well, that only goes so far. True, I felt connected to Eve the most during our time protecting CVA from it’s enemies -A- and Ursha’khan. Back when Aralis had constructed an empire under the old Sov rules (whoever had the most POSes in a system, owned the system). Aralis and CVA had taken a lowly region and through NRDS policy, made it into both a pirate and PVPer’s paradise. I was in Paxton Federation at the time and we were the first line of defense.. just a few jumps away from HED-GP, a major pathway from high-sec space to null-sec, and a major -A- system. While I didn’t go for the ‘wizardhattery” that was being pushed, it did feel like I was there for a reason. If I didn’t log on, I couldn’t be with guys who were my buds, defending a place we called home, and maybe allowing other folks the chance to get a leg into 0.0 space. It did mean something, because there was always traffic, good and bad, and we had plenty of PVP nearby.
After the fall of Providence 1.0, the reasons for hanging in game slowly faded away. We tried other null-sec alliances and locations.. but it really didn’t feel like were were doing anything noteworthy. Particularly if you spend 3 hours waiting for a fleet to form, 2 hours flying to the far off location.. only to turn around because either the threat had already finished what it came there to do, or their spy in your fleet gave them the heads up and they left before you arrived. Soon enough, even my beloved m3 Corp faded into the night.
What will cause that to change…
Blah-de Blah blah blah – Do you Dance?
So, do you dance?
Really. Is it a little happy dance you do while your backside is firmly glued to the seat lest someone see you and make fun of you (despite the fact that no one is in the house, much less your room)? Or do you still do an insanely violent, scream out loud dance that makes onlookers wonder if you’ve just won a million dollars.. or need to be tasered NOW.
And what makes that happen? Is it spontaneous, like you found a faction spawn or is it somewhat planned, like when you managed to pull off a really good scam? Or perhaps it’s not in game at all, perhaps no matter what you are doing the background music just charges your mojo (For me, it’s any music that sounds like the beat came from a motorcycle) and your are compelled to dance.
So, what makes you dance.. does anything in Eve make you Dance?
Refining Orakkus..
Every so often, I am put in a position where I am just not sure what I should train next. Do I train more passive income skills? How about active income skills? What about support skills? Maybe new ship skills instead?
Here’s my dilemma. Right now, M3 Corp is operating in Providence, doing the small gang thing when we get around to it. It’s not much but we were able to secure some small benefits there while still having fun. We do have to dance around the elephants in the room, -A- and friends as well as White Noise and their buddies.. but all in all, they both seem pretty content to leave CVA alone.. kinda like how you try to ignore your annoying little brother while you are making out with the prom queen. Such a situation means we aren’t doing Capital ops any time soon. I will soon be operating my isk making operations out of there, but I know I won’t be able to make them the center form of isk either. So do I…?
- Work on my Drone skills? All my critical drone skills are at IV, but I don’t have the ability to use Tech 2 Heavy Drones. Not sure if this is a big deal as I very rarely use a ship that needs these. Kind of a tough sell to spend 20+ days training. Sentry Drones are at II. However, this may change if I choose one of the paths below also.
- Work on my Passive Isk skills? I have one R&D agent grinding me Minmatar Starship cores. I am tempted to skill up my lab and social skills to get more R&D agents and more LP per day. I could probably get this improved greatly by the end of a month. It’s a bonus, but not a central form of isk either. This would also include social skills that could use a boost.
- Work on my Active Isk skills? Well, signature scouting is pretty decent with all skills but Astrometic Pinpointing at IV or greater (AP is at III). I have raised my Negotiation skill to IV, and am tempted to go to V, since missioning will still be a big isk income driver. Also, this would mean I need to improve Security Connections to V as well.
- Missile Throwers unite? I have all my small to medium missile skills up to V, with the exception of HAMs, and all my missile support skills are at IV. I can fly all the T2 Caldari Cruisers and also the Battlecruisers.. and I would like to see more effective Cyclone, Sacriledge, and Huginn fits to boot. Not sure if Tech 2 missile launchers would really give me any real world improvement over Meta 4s.
- T2 Frigate goodness? I have skipped trying to get Amarr, Caldari, or even Gallente T2 frigates because Minmatar Tech 2 frigates are either exceptional, or at the very least, good enough. Maybe I should look into that?
- Gallente becoming the new FOTM? Perhaps I should get ahead of a possible boost to Gallente that I keep hearing from the shadows (note: These shadows also though Ashley Simpson was a good singer). Nevertheless, Gallente do have a pretty solid collection of bruisers and a boost to Hybrids would make them the next FOTM.
- Amarr Victor? While I do have T2 Cruisers in the Amarr lineup, being in Providence and having fought with Hellcat fleets, it might be a good idea to finish up Amarr Large Lasers to specialization and also getting Amarr Battleship to V as well.
Well, what do you think? Leave your comments below as well as your reasoning too.
Incarna – Following the Pack, to Lead it.
Kirith Kodachi wrote up a post here on his blog: http://www.ninveah.com/2011/01/incarna-razors-edge.html, and as always his posts are recommended reading for anyone who plays Eve Online.
So, after reading his viewpoint on Incarna, its pretty easy to wonder what CCP has in mind when they finally roll it out next week. You don’t exactly spend time and money developing the best character render system on the market without a plan to use it more than walking around a station. And I don’t personally believe that its just a nice little present from the developers of CCP’s other projects.
I agree with Kirith that is pretty brave to introduce something like this, that has no “declared” use into a Space Simulation game, however I disagree that they are walking a “razor’s edge”. At worse, it will be an inconvience, though I could see them making it a fun and useful inconvience if they were clever. The problem I see is CCP making it really good.
Think of it this way: If CCP makes the “Walking in Stations” part really fun by having distracting Mini-games, pilots may not get out of station as much. True, Incarna will likely bring in more new players as well as more female players.. but Eve Online doesn’t exactly have a lot of content. If new players come in, they may be less inclined to move from the fun-loving mini-games found at a station to the deep, dark recesses of Eve Space.
On the flipside, Incarna really has the opportunity to bring to life some aspects of this game, to give it a more “real” feel (yeah, I know the irony). Even if some of those options take a while.. and perhaps even feel like Eve is stealing some “ideas” from other games, it would definately allow for some interesting aspects to the game, as well as some interesting options later (task-specific clones anyone?)
Now, what do I want from Incarna? How do I think it would work best in the game?
First off, I want housing.. a place to call my own. And I want options for housing, not just one size fits all. If I’m rich, I should be able to afford a huge place.. if I’m starting out, a smaller place is in order. Or if I am dead broke.. guess I live in my ship for now, until my fortunes change. I also want to loot possible house decorum from rats I kill, build art/furniture from things like rigs, invite friends over, buy decorations from LP store, etc. And because it needs to be an isk sink.. the rent needs to be appropriate.
Second, Missions should be available there, and maybe not just from Agents. I know this will tick off quite a few players, but I think it is entirely appropriate that I should have to get out of my pod, and physically walk and talk to my agent.. until they get to know me well enough that they have no problems offering missions over comms. However, I am in agreement that I shouldn’t have to run half way across the station just to find my agent.
Third, Stations should feel big and appropriate.. and random. There should aways be certain things in station.. big conference rooms, HUGE waiting lobbies, storefronts (player owned), seedy areas, religous places, etc. I want to see what a huge, curving ceiling would look like on a Gallente station, how strong the columns look in an Amarr station, the chaotic placement of windows in a Minmatar station, and the pure functionality of a Caldari station. Those are things I not only want to see, but FEEL as well.
Some other things I would like to see expanded through Incarna too: Better Markets.. I want to go to a face and a place to buy. If my trade skills are high enough, then sure, it can be delivered to the hanger.. but sometimes I want to paruse.
In the end, I would hope that CCP has a pretty extensive plan they want to impliment with Incarna bringing alot of color, lore, and personalization to Eve.
My NPC Pirate Conundrum – Intentional or a Whoops?
I’m sure most of you have seen it. Or at least pondered it some. And it is something that has bothered me ever since I started playing Eve.
The Sansha – A mix of Amarr and Caldari technology, with the Amarr side bringing in Laser and Armor technology, while the Caldari side bringing enhanced weapon configuration and damage.
The Guristas – A mix of Caldari and Gallente technology, with the Caldari bringing improved shield resistances to the table, while the Gallente brought improved drone specifications.
The Serpentis – A mix of Gallente and Minmatar technology, with Gallente bringing improvements to Hybrid weaponry and the Minmatar adding their knowledge of Stasis Webifiers to their ships.
The Angels – Another mix of Gallente and Minmatar Technology, this time with both Minmatar and Gallente bringing improvements to the Projectile gunnery systems.
The Blood Raiders – A mix of Amarr and Minmatar Technology, with Minmatar again bringing their knowledge of Stasis Webifiers to the table, while Vamps and Neut technology is brought in by the Amarr side.
So..what’s missing? Well, it seems odd that there isn’t a pirate faction that has mixed Gallente and Amarr technology or a pirate faction that has mixed Minmatar and Caldari technology. Why are there TWO pirate factions that use Minmatar and Gallente?
Now, some of the mixes make sense, especially considering their lore. The Blood Raiders, a faction bent on a religous fervor for blood, needs to have ships capable of capturing and holding their prey. The Sansha, recently promoted by CCP in their Incursion expansion, also makes sense in that the Amarr carried with them powerful weapons, and the Caldari bring with them a willingness to sacrifice self in advancing a larger goal, something clearly in line with Sansha lore. Their ship designs and what bonuses they get clearly enforce both the lore, and their goals. Goals that are clear from the moment you finish reading their dossier.
The rest of the ship building pirates.. well, not so much.
Let’s start with the easy one first, The Guristas. Now, their ship bonuses make sense, in that they are bonuses that could have reasonably come from the races they are combining. However, the lore behind the pirates.. needs to be fleshed out. True, the book, “The Burning Life”, did do some fleshing out.. but realistically, are you going to have an entire nation of people sick of the Caldari way of life whose only purpose is to stick it to Caldari State without any real plan or goal? Are they going to try and liberate more Caldari nationals?
Now, the Angels.. again, how could the use of Gallente technology in tracking improve Projectile weapons.. which already have the best tracking in the game? Or how can Gallente technology improve falloff, when Gallente Hybrid weapons technology is second best to Minmatar weapons? Really, those improvements don’t make sense in any lore sort of way. I sorta get the tracking bonus the Dramiel gets.. but there’s no way Gallente technology should be able to improve features like falloff. It would actually be better to switch who credits the bonus because it makes more sense that the higher damaging Gallente could improve Projectile weapons damage. And the reason why they exist? Eh, nothing in particular. No goals, no vision..
The Serpentis is the next one on my list. These have a somewhat reasonable set of bonuses that make sense from a shared technology point of view. Stasis Webifiers are a Minmatar breakthrough, and their skill in developing them would be unmatched. Gallente Hybrid technology would certainly be a their side.. though it gets a bit iffy in that regard. Improved tracking and falloff bonuses pulled from the Gallente side.. when its the Minmatar Projectile weapons that have the best tracking and falloff in the game? Again, not likely. The backstory of the Serpentis flows a little better I think than the Guristas and Angels, because all they want to do is manufacture and sell drugs and need to have an army/fleet to do that effectively.
So, why did I bring this all up. A few reasons.
First, I think CCP could have done a bit better setting up the lore and backstory to fit Incursions. The histor-fiction listed in the earlier Eve Chronicles lists the Sansha as a dying faction, slowly disappearing as Capsuleers slaughter the last of the True Slaves. The book, “The Burning Life”, has us believe that Sansha has seen the error of his ways, and is merely taking the scraps of humanity as well as those looking for redemption from themselves. However, the Incursion trailer and the subsequent Chronicles relating to the Sansha’s Nation shows them as a group alive, well, and driven to universal domination… including Sansha himself. So, a few Chronicles detailing changes between then and now would have been nice to help flesh things out.
Second, it would be interesting to see if all the current pirate factions have an “Incursion” of sorts. The Sansha Incrusion is reasonable considering their lore, but it would be interesting to see more direct pirate interactions.. interactions unique to the pirate factions’ style and their operations. Like Guristas manipulating regional markets, increasing or decreasing prices at will.. a sort of Market PVE.
Third, there isn’t a lot of explanation regarding why the Amarr/Gallente or the Minmatar/Caldari pairing have been left out. Considering that each of these nations border the other, it seems reasonable that some pirate operators would have found some use for these to combine. The current situation unfairly favors those pilots who fly Minmatar and Gallente, giving them more ships that they can choose from.
Fourth, I really think it would be nice to have CCP start developping some more.. faction specific ships. Why shouldn’t there be a Sisters of Eve logistics ship, or a Interbus hauler, or a Mordu’s Legion Frigate, or a Syndicate Blockade Runner. By lore standards, some of these factions could have easily designed and built their own ships as well.
Anyways, I don’t have any impressive way to wrap this up.. but I just thought it would be interesting to flesh out things that appear to have been left by the wayside.
Micro-Transactions – The CCP way?
Well.. looks like me and the CSM are of the same mind… and the answer is a respectful, “HELL NO!” While there is a clift notes version of the CSM meetings that happened recently in Iceland, I think everyone should review the full summary here: http://www.eveonline.com/council/transcripts/2010/CSM_CCP_Meetings_11-12_10_2010.pdf
For those unfamiliar with what Micro-transactions are, it essentially is the process of buying either items or services for very, very small amounts of real money. If you have ever played any Facebook or Myspace games.. particularly those from Zunga, then you have seen the essence of a micro-transaction model. The concept appears to originally been formed back in the 1990s, and Wikipedia has a nice little write up on it here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micropayment
That being said, aside from the fixes to the Minmatar projectiles, this top has me most proud of the CSM and how well they are representing having a good (balanced) Eve. CCP seems to have gotten it in their heads that micro-transactions is FOTM and they gotta have it. From the sounds of what happened in those meetings, the CSM asked them good reasonable questions regarding it. And while CCP was (and still sorta seems in love with the idea), they could not come up with any good answers as to how it would benefit Eve or even CCP. The thing that worries me is the phrase:
“CCP responds that it needs to be tapping into everything, CCP needs to do new things to survive in the business.”
This is what I like to call a “bullsh*t” phrase. The “needs” word is the clincher. That is especially true since they weren’t able to qualify this and even directly said it wasn’t about the money. So, why introduce anything like this at all? Well, CCP hinted at providing more “services” for Eve players. You can already pay to have your portrait changed. It would be game breaking to change your name. “Vanity” items, if introduced with micro-transactions will form another economy and this could potentially be game breaking as well. There isn’t anything beneficial to this, and having played online games for years in various genres, I cannot think of anytime in the past where something like this would NOT be hazardous to an MMO game in the long term, and it is usually game breaking in the short term.
Hopefully either a CSM or a CCP higher up might be looking at this, so I am going to provide for them a real example of not understanding your own game:
A few years ago, Sony Online Entertainment got the rights from LucasArts to make the first Star Wars MMO. You may have heard of it.. Star Wars Galaxies. I personally played that game religously. Like with any MMO game, it had glitches, and they were constantly working on improving the content, and always had issues with balancing, but the game itself was amazing. It was huge, it felt like Star Wars, it had a good PVP/Faction warfare aspect to it, it had a crafting system that was excellent, you had a wide variety of combat and non-combat professions, a strong sense of community, and most of all.. it was fun. It also was making money.
However, one day, Mr. George Lucas saw his son playing WoW instead of Star Wars Galaxies and decided what he had wasn’t good enough. So he directed.. well, DEMANDED that Star Wars Galaxies follow the World of Warcraft model. The New Game Experience was unleashed and sure enough.. it felt, played and looked just like World of Warcraft..
.. which is what no one who played Star Wars Galaxies wanted.
Now, Star Wars Galaxies, several years after NGE, still has not recovered from the fiasco and many players like myself (who would probably have never played Eve Online had NGE not happen) will never go back. SWG had to merge servers and and even with the Hoth expansion and the additional additions to the game have not brought back very many players. In fact, when people compare Star Wars Galaxies to other games, they usually as for features that Eve Online already has or gameplay that Eve Online already does.
CCP has made a GREAT and UNIQUE game that has been around long enough that it can no longer be duplicated. True, it does need bug fixes, new content, etc. But no other game even comes close to the fact that only CCP has been able to make a sci-fi online game that sits at nearly the perfect balance between real life and a game life. It has an online community that is mature and has a vested interest in keeping the game on the cutting edge.
CCP, you need to do QUALITY things to survive in the business because, in the MMO business, “Quality” is the true “new”.
Day Twenty-Two of my Hiatus from Eve..
So.. 22 days since I last played Eve.. and last had my own PC.
Things are better now.. I don’t have any strange counter habits going on like excessively playing Monopoly on my phone or texting people who at best, barely know my name. I still plan on coming back to the game, that’s a no brainer.
Its just nice to.. well.. breathe, ya know?
Yeah, hitting the gym still (legs are hurting as I write this..), diet is MUCH better (but I miss my jalapeno poppers).
And I absolutely miss my corp, M3.. so shout out to you guys.. 38 more days.. maybe less.
Day Eight – Phone Monopoly
Day Eight -
Feels like I should get some sort of medal. Eight days without my own computer. Quite a feat considering this was during Labor Day weekend in the United States. Fifty-two days left to go…
Saw all my episodes of Battlestar Galactica, Serenity, and parts of Brisco County, Jr. as well as some movies. Also managed to get off my duff and try some local resturants and hit the gym more times this week than I have in the last couple months. My travelling car is clean too.
However, there have been sad moments too. Like going through game after game of *shivers* phone-based Monopoly. Or driving from one end of the town I live in to the other end just to get things off my mind. Or texting acquaintances (not friends) to see how they are doing.
Well, at least I don’t have visions of spinning ships anymore while I sleep..
Day Three of my Hiatus from Eve..
It has come to be day Three of my hiatus from Eve.. and my own personal computer.
Spent a good amount of time the last couple days catching up on things, like house cleaning (ooo.. the floor CAN shine!), laundry (so THAT’s what fresh mountain air smells like..), movie watching (new Starbuck is HAWT!!.. and lesbian.. awww.. ), and the gym (some participants there clearly work their chests alot.. and smell alot like flowers. I believe I may have found the near mythical “female” of my species).
I haven’t had much time to devote to Russian yet, but that will come as I will have plenty of time this weekend (Labor Day weekend in the United States) to get myself back on a working (and habitual) schedule, and I probably be able to get into a study group on Mondays, so that will be sweet.
Still catching up on the local Eve politics.. and as usual, whenever I take a break, cool and exciting things happen. Atlas breaking up, Pandemic Legion showing off its usual strategic skill, the Northern Coalition fighting the Russians.. the Russian fighting back, etc. The new http://www.evenews24.com/ channel is definately impressive so far. Haven’t heard many complaints about the quality of the news. Kinda makes me wonder if we’re seeing the start of Eve Tribune being relegated to “Newsweek” or “Time” status.
ZOMG!! – 50mil SP!! plus Day One of my Hiatus
WOOT!! WTFOMGBBQ!!
Yes, my character has 50mil SP!! As of last night, my character reached 50 million SP, and looking back it certainly didn’t feel as long as it did. I still remember the 12mil SP milestone because for Minmatar that was the minimum you seriously needed to be effective in all three battleships. The rest, well, was just a nice frosting.
So, this is a good time to review my character, and see where I should make improvements when I return from my Hiatus..
Corporation Management (1,085,034 SP) – Status: Acceptable. I am not really that much of a leader. I just follow and anticipate fairly good. So, all I needed is the POS Gunnery aspect.. which is right where I and the corporation like it to be.
Drones (2,419,723 SP) – Status: Needs Work. Of all the skillsets, I will admit that I dislike training drones the most, despite how effective and useful they are. Plus, aside from the Typhoon and the Capital class ships, Minmatar ships don’t have all that much drone space, so generally you are better with the smaller and faster drones. So, no Ogre IIs here yet, and considering that I do have the possibility of flying carriers, I definately need to force myself to train these… later.
Electronics (3,152,857 SP) – Status: Acceptable. My current skillset in Electronics is good for Minmatar and Caldari ships and those specialized ships in their relevant races. However, if I plan to expand into other Recons as well as become a serious Black Ops pilot, then I will need to spend more time here.
Engineering (5,352,387 SP) – Status: Superior. Although some of the skills here could be improved, my engineering skillset is quite strong, giving me a better than average defense and maximum capacitor and powergrid control.
Gunnery (11,450,404 SP) – Status: Superior. Aside from specialization skills being at IV, as well as trajectory analysis, I have maxed out my Minmatar Gunnery skills and have gotten most of Amarr, and a smiggin of Hybrids as well.
Industry (69,558 SP) – Status: Non-existant. I played around a bit with invention as well as manufacturing my own ammo. I still kinda wonder what it might have been like had I chosen to go down this path. Aw well, shooting stuffs is much more funz!
Leadership (743, 598 SP) – Status: Needs work. Considering that I can fly two races command ships, one would think I would have been wise enough to skill at least some of these up more. Nope.. It’s even more ironic because of how important I view being a team player.
Learning (1,900,096 SP) – Status: Acceptable. Again, my charisma skills are lacking, but everything else is IV or higher.
Mechanic (1,627,000 SP) – Status: Acceptable. All critical skills are level V, all compensation skills are at least IV. Rigging skills though I should work on down the road.
Missile Launcher Operation (2,151,280 SP) – Status: Needs Work. This has always been another tough one.. right along with Drones. Sure, they are useful.. but they aren’t CRITICALLY useful until you get into the Typhoon, or Naglfar, or Huginn, or Hound, or Loki… or even the Bellicose and Breacher.. And just when I think I should train them.. something that is more shiny catches my eye. Go figure.
Navigation (3,616,393 SP) – Status: Acceptable (sort of). This is one of those skills that, as a Minmatar pilot, I sort of feel embarrassed about. Are they good? Absolutely. But are they MINMATAR good. Well, no. Some of those skills I should have at level V, just to keep my honor as a Minmatar pilot. oh, the shame.. the shame.
Planetary Interaction (620,057 SP) – Status: Acceptable. Yeah, it makes me an easy 7 to 8 mil a day, however, its just a so-so proposition now and I’m not so sure it will ever improve even if I put more skills into it.
Science (1,602,563 SP) – Status: Acceptable. It still needs work, but the skills that are critical are at level V, the skills are useful are at level IV.
Social (377,634 SP) – Status: Acceptable. Since I don’t run missions any more, the social skills aren’t all that useful as a PVP player. Supposedly, there might be some use for Criminal Connections out here in the 0.0 environ, but I have yet to figure that out.
Starship Command (13,620,324 SP) – Status: Superior. Outside of the Supercaps, there isn’t a Minmatar that I cannot fly, and I can fly most Amarr ships as well. If all goes according to plan, when I return I will have both Recon V and Logistics V as well.
Strategic Cruiser Skills (226,775 SP) – Status: Superior. While not Elite, I now have strong Loki skills.
Trade (31,322 SP) – Status: Acceptable. While most PVP players out there would pass this by, I think its good to have this skillset setup some, especially if you plan on selling Meta 3 and Meta 4 modules. If you don’t, you might be at the mercy of buyers who only want to pay pennies on the dollar for your hard earned loot. A solid Trade skillset can be had in just a couple days.
So, onto other things. How was my first day of my Hiatus? So far.. pretty good. I went to bed on time and got in some guitar practice. I was able to do some studying as well (while watching the rest of Dune, and most of Rundown). But, the first day is always the easiest.
Hiatus – A Rest from Eve
Most of us gamers have done this: You’ve blown an entire weekend, living on pizza and Mountain Dew or beer (for those of the age), playing a particular video game. I suppose it could be considered alot like camping, or hunting, etc.. besides the fact that we don’t get anything tangible except a really good time.
.. course, we still brag about it.
However, there comes a point where you blow too many weekends, where whole seasons come and go and you barely notice it outside the fact that everything around the house is looks dirtier than before, and the pets look thinner. You’re sleep patterns went from 8 to 9 hours of sleep to 3 to 4. And food, well, you don’t cook because it takes you away from the game for too long.
I am not at that point yet.. but I am getting uncomfortably close.
So, I am taking a serious break from Eve.. which at this time means physically disconnecting my PC and giving to a friend for a month or so, while I actually spend my time learning Russian, playing guitar, visiting friends, having actual social interaction (in other words, developing more useful habits). I will still read up about various Eve activities, and I’ll probably be allowed to stay in M3 (this isn’t the first time I’ve had to take a break, but it will probably be the longest). I will also blog from time to time, linking various blogs that I think deserve some consideration, so I won’t be out of the loop.. just out of the game.
Being the Solid Pilot
Solid – noun – a body, or object having three dimensions (length, breath, and thickness)
What does being a solid pilot mean in Eve Online? Just as a solid object has three aspects, the truly solid pilot also has three predominate aspects. Those aspects are Reliability, Capability, and Sustainability. Why is it important to be a solid pilot as versus, say, a really good interceptor pilot, or a really good HAC pilot? Because a solid pilot is the core of any good combat force. A solid pilot improves the status quo. A solid pilot adds to the strength of the group, be that a corporation or an alliance.
How so?
Well, let’s breakdown the three aspects of the solid pilot.
First, a solid pilot is Reliable. What does that mean? It means simply that they will bring what is needed, not what they want to bring, to the best of their ability. It also means they have their ship fitted in a reasonable manner as well as have it appropriately stocked with ammo and charges. A Reliable pilot is someone you can depend upon to bring the correct ship, the correct ammo, the correct skillset, and the natural maturity not to make major combat mistakes.
Second, a solid pilot is Capable. What does being Capable mean? It means that while they may have some strong skills in a particular area, they haven’t neglected others. While yes, they can fly a bomber, they can also fly a battleship, a HAC, and a Recon, etc and are willing to use them in battle. They also are aware of what to do, and what NOT to do. And if they don’t, they ask and listen.
Third, a solid pilot is Sustainable. How so? Being sustainable means that they not only don’t overspend themselves, but also are not a drag on the finances or morale of the corporation. They aren’t the ones causing trouble just for LOLs, but they are also making others aware of what might be serious potential problems with things either at a Corporate or Alliance level. A sustainable pilot also has a working isk-making operation (be that Plexing, or Ratting, or Trading, whatever) that they can do on their own because without ISK, you can’t PVP very well or effectively.
So, how does this work in the real Eve world?
Let’s take the example of an interceptor pilot. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be a really good interceptor pilot. The task is a critical one, and very important to the proper operation of a fleet. However, a pilot isn’t of much use if he can’t let go of being an interceptor pilot and get into something more meaty like a Recon or Battleship, especially if the fleet needs those ships and the leadership is trying to get other newer pilots to have tackling experience.
Eventually, if the pilot can’t let go, he will become a detriment. His “needs” will limit the training of other pilots and will be a drag on the morale of a corporation. Other pilots will begin to ask reasonably, “Why should I risk a 150 million isk ship, when he can get away with running around in a 15 million isk ship all the time?” By this time, the offending pilot usually has an undeserved sense of entitlement and will have no end of excuses for what they do. Usually they won’t even acknowledge the fact that the rest of the corporation/alliance is doing and risking alot more than they are.
Now, I want to re-iterate that there is a difference between someone who is good with a particular ship or class of ships and thus prefers to use those when given the opportunity, and those who are obsessed with who they are that they expect compromises to be made for them specifically. Usually the first group are willing, though maybe grudgingly, to fly something appropriate in fleet. The second group will often do whatever it takes, use any justification, demanding special consideration, and even completely ignore direct orders so that they can do what they want.
So, how does being a “Solid” Pilot benefit you personally? Well, think about what its like to have a reliable friend or co-worker or schoolmate. When people are able to rely upon you.. you personally make your corporation and alliance stronger as well as contribute greatly to its success. And don’t worry.. the perks will come too.
Until next time, keep your guns loaded and your enemies running.
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