Saturday, December 27, 2008

Iron Maiden....

... have a mascot, which they call Eddie, or "Ed" for short sometimes. 

This is important for two reasons...
  1. I am finally going to see them live, after listening to their music for 20+ years, next year 
  2. The alliance I'm member of uses ED as it's Tag.....  
In other words, to cut a long story short; my two mains are 'Gormn' and 'Mollernak', who both are  members of the Etherium Dawn alliance, and therefore reside in the Drone Region.

After originally choosing to keep my mains out of my blog, and instead trying to focus on blogging about my Faction War experiment, I have found it harder and harder to find topics to write about...

Also finding myself in system on an op with X1376, having just mentioned with Kahamahl in the blogger channel, yet then not being able to say anything  to him, let alone blog about it later - just started to get a bit frustrating.

I've had enough of not being to say much about most of my time in-game (or even out of game), so as they say, 'I am coming in from the cold....'.

PS - the fact I am going to Iron Maiden, was simply a way of leading into this blog, but it's still true and boy am I looking forward to it (as this is their first time to NZ in 16 years)

Thursday, December 25, 2008

Merry Christmas to all of Eve

Well Christmas day is finally here (to be exact it's 9.29am Christmas morning), and as normal despite it being summer here, it's raining.

Here's wishing you (as well as your families and friends) all have a great Christmas, or which ever holiday you do choose to celebrate.

As we all start to see the impact of the economic downturn (seriously the shops were like ghost towns two days before Xmas here), it's important to remember that stuff is exactly that; stuff; and that is people that are what's important.

Fly safe and enjoy the holiday season....

....oh for a real life snow ball launcher (heh heh heh).

Monday, December 22, 2008

My hero......

...... [insert puking noise here]

(just kidding)

In all serious, it's time for CK's Blog Banter #3.

"This month's EVE Blog Banter idea comes to us by Roc Wieler of Roc's Ramblings. Roc's asks us to "write a story about a fellow EVE Blogger, or an EVE player whom has inspired you or affected you in some tangible way. After your story, describe why you chose them, and any Holiday wish you have specifically for them".

This is a hard one to be honest.....  To pick "any" player from my time in Eve would be disrespectful of all those other people that I have flown with and that are also fully deserving of my respect.

Instead I am going to pick someone who I can not name, or identify, simply due to the time passed since that event.

The person that has most inspired me in Eve, was the first person to shoot me down, and then as instantly chose to pod me in short order.

That person inspired me to review my goals in the game, and indeed what I valued within the game.  Until that time I had flown perpetually in fear of losing my "ship", and as such had fearfully lived in high sec, for fear of the danger that would await me in low sec, let alone 0.0.

By destroying my Badger Mark II, at a low sec gate camp (in the time before warp to zero), i was suddenly reset back to nothing, by the sudden and complete destruction of nearly everything I owned in game at that time.

For many, this would be the moment that leads to them pushing away the keyboard in disgust and walking away.  The sudden loss of everything, was instead the kick up the "proverbial" that I needed!!!

From this point, I had an objective, get out and experience everything that Eve offers, PvP, fleet warfare, territory control in 0.0, etc.

My 2nd main, originally intended to become a pirate, was soon rolled, but instead the life of an 0.0 pilot called...  and so within 3 months I found myself in 0.0 where I learnt to PvP, and to enjoy the camaraderie of my fellow pilots.

..... so what do I wish for my "saviour" that showed me the true way of Eve???

I hope he gets podded again real soon.


Other Participants in the Blog Banter:

Saturday, December 20, 2008

Snow.....

Well this is the closest I am ever going to get to seeing snow at Christmas where I live....  (south hemisphere ftw).

I'm guessing that across my various accounts and characters I should have a fair pile of these things...

As I commented on Kirith's blog It should be interesting to see if these can indeed be used as a means to bait some newer and less experienced players, but given that was what happened last time, I'm guessing it won't be necessarily possible this time.

As for myself, well I am going to get all the balls into one big pile, and go Alliance leader hunting....

heh heh heh

Friday, November 28, 2008

RL > Eve....

.... as well as both > Eve blogging.

As is immediately obvious from the blog archive to the right of this post, I have not written a single blog for the entire of November.

A major event occurred for me during the month, so I had little time free to blog about Eve.

I came close to blogging about some events during the month, but each time I ran out of time, and the topic became too old or out of context.

At the end of the day RL is more important than Eve....

In my personal opinion that "view" is a primary attribute I like to see in all my fellow players...

After all, Eve is only a game, and the moment you start to take it to seriously, and let it impact on your real life, is the moment to "step away from the keyboard"...

However, that responsibility should not only fall to the individual player, but to also their corp, alliance, CEO, and fellow space pilots...

So for me, next time a fellow pilot seems to have gone to far,
  • Should have logged off 12 hours ago (i.e. 11pm the previous night), 
  • Blown off a piece of work so that they could play Eve
  • Not done something with their wife/girfriend/family to play Eve
  • Too have taken something too heart that really doesn't matter in game
  • Get too worked up and forgotten it's a game.
Do me a favour...... Tell them to log off and go have a break for a few days... 

Tell them to talk to family, loved ones, RL friends, and focus on their work (be it their job, or education).

Eve is only a game, a beautiful and fantastic game.... but still ONLY a game.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Saturday Night Fever

Welcome to the first installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month's topic comes to us from
PsycheDiver: Ambulation: What are your hopes for your avatar and new functionality of stations?

What do I hope??

To be honest I don't know what to hope for... and in all likelihood will not be disappointed whatever we may get.

On the other hand, do I know what I don't hope for??
  • Everyone running around like they're jacked into the mains
  • People feeling the need to stand in a spot and jump, jump, jump, jump........
  • The dreaded "/dance" being used just about EVERYWHERE
  • ...continued frothing at the mouth
My greatest concern for ambulation is not that it will not meet the community's (and mine) expectations, but rather that it will live up to our worse fears.

Although the RP element in Eve is small, and that most people talk "Out Of Character"; it is safe to say that most of us do enjoy the immersive nature of Eve.

In an odd way the lack of avatar control allowed, and indeed forced, players to imagine a world that their characters could inhabit, either through the Eve's art, trailers, written lore, or even just through the aesthetic nature of stations/ships/etc.

With ambulation comes the chance that we may individually find that our view of the Eve characters life does not match that of CCPs, or indeed the rest of the community....

Will this risk breaking some players investment into the game? Possibly, however CCP have stated it will be an optional aspect of Eve, and that everything you can do from your ship now, will still be possible from your ship after ambulation.

The problem is that this will likely result in empire space stations being empty, with no reason to talk to each other directly or to leave the ship, most people will likely stay inside their ships. While ironically in 0.0, where Alliances can have a strong sense of community, there will already be good reason to interact outside of the ships.

The obvious solution would be to "make" people use ambulation, however that is likely to be counter productive and could result in a "Star Wars: NGE" like drama; which is likely why it will remain optional.

Instead, following the most logical course, CCP have indicated that they will add new game play, that provides a reason for people to leave their ships... Shops, "Saloons" with "in-game" games of chance, and the such like.

Again, this simply adds to the reasons why I believe ambulation will end up being quite popular in the depths of 0.0, despite all the likely protestations that we'd rather CCP just focused on lag instead.
  • The ability to have briefing sessions to communicate to a gang (prior to setting out); where they are going, why, and how they could get back if it went wrong.
  • Provide a means for players to just congregate in an area, without looking like the morning commute traffic jam.
  • Customisation of avatars, without the risk of impacting on the main combat game engine.
  • Morale building, and non-ship entertainment - i.e. gaming and the such like.
The benefits will be huge to 0.0 alliances trying to coordinate pilots and build their morale. Though just how ambulation will work in conjunction to the external 3rd party voice applications, does remain a concern.

However, for all these possible benefits and best intentions, CCP can not control the human element.

So the risk remains; that having provided the tools, it will be only a matter of time until some one goes and organises a massive zombie like conga line through the Jita 4-4 station while singing the BeeGees....... or something like that.

Participants:

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Myers-Briggs for Eve......

Reading Black Claw's Blog, I saw his post about the "Eve personality test" (ironically referencing Super Gamer Housewife's post about the same test).  I had read or heard of the test before, but had never made the effort to complete the test.  

However, given that I had a spare quarter of an hour, and nothing else to do, I decided to give it a go. Fully expecting to get the usual "Industrialist with teeth" result, I was somewhat surprised to see.....



Gunslinger

Eve is a PvP game. The PvE parts of the game are there to drive the economy in order to produce more PvP. Multiplayer is key, and even though solo-play can be fun, the game should be balanced as a multiplayer game. High-sec is as much of a warzone as low- and nul-sec. It's just a matter of finding ways to get at the people living there. You usually play with other people, because when the going gets tough, the tough get some backup.

I guess I really do belong in 0.0.....


Monday, October 20, 2008

I came, I saw...... but I didn't get the T-Shirt.


After 2 years and 8 months of playing Eve, 3 accounts,  and untold ships, I finally made the trip out to the "Eve Gate".

I had initially planned to log Kahamahl on to change skills, before swapping to my other characters to settle down to a stint of ratting to refill the wallets of my various characters. However I quickly realised that I couldn't be bothered ratting....

.... actually I was just too tired to contemplate it.

The thought of zipping out into Black Rise to try some solo hunting in the new Taranis popped into my mind, but was quickly ended by the report of an enemy fleet camping the Villore gate in Old Man Star.

Some discussion on CrazyKinux's blog several weeks back had left in mind the seed of an idea, and suddenly it fell due.

So instead I brought up the map, clicked search and entered 'New Eden'.  Followed quickly by a click of 'set destination' and a glance at the left to see how many jumps I was looking at.

21 jumps - through Amarr space (ah well why not fly through enemy high sec for the first time as well) - making a total of 42 jumps return from Villore to the Gate and back.

The Taranis was the obvious ship to choose for this journey, especially given that the other options were a old shuttle and an unfitted Brutix

The Taranis is a fantastic interceptor, it may feel like a sluggish assault frigate after flying other interceptors such as the Stiletto or Crow (my other favourites), but boy does it have a bite that no other interceptor can match.  Three tech 2 Blasters, combined with two Hobgoblin IIs, providing a substantial level of DPS from such as small hull.

The trip to the gate, to the amarr space, and indeed right to the gate and back passed quite uneventfully.

Entering Amarr space generated the expected notification that Amarr Navy vessels will engage me upon site.  Which given that I never saw an Amarr Navy vessel, was really false and deceptive advertising.....   

Passing into the low-sec surrounding the gate proved to be no more successful in generating any possible content. Indeed the locals seemed well trained to warp and log upon an unidentified individual entering system.

Reaching New Eden, I admittedly felt a bit like the Penguins in the movie "Madagascar" upon reaching the Antarctic.  In short, a bit underwhelmed!

The Eve Gate itself looks pretty, but somehow I had expected there to be something a bit more. Perhaps I know too little of the lore, but I would have imagined a site such as the Eve Gate would have attracted a little bit more attention, i.e. scientific vessels, tourism, etc...

Instead, there was just me, and one other in local, and a big bright gate....

I took quite a few screenshots, as any good tourist should, but as per the above comment, there was no where to get the obligatory "My Cousin/Uncle/Granddad/etc went to the Eve Gate, and all I got was this..." T-shirt.

The trip back to Villore gave me time (to be exact, 21 gates and systems worth) to think, especially about the fact that I had on short notice willingly gone on a 42 jump round trip just to "see" something.  

I blame that on living on 0.0 and the distances you sometimes have to travel to get anywhere.

I came to realise  that I had been underwhelmed because it had just not felt like much of an adventure.  

I can imagine for a 'newish' pilot, a trip out into an old empty, uninhabited bit of space, where we are meant to have come through from the old world, would seem exciting.   However to a 2+ year player, it just feels like just another jaunt to the corner dairy for a paper and a pack of cigarettes.....

That all said, I am glad I finally went and can say that I have been.  

Indeed it is something every long term player should do at least once while they play Eve.

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Mutter mutter....

There's good news and there's bad news....

First the bad news...

I haven't been playing eve very much recently..... actually I haven't been playing very many games at all. The ol' bugbear of RL, and the various stresses that encapsulates has been holding me hostage, and not allowing me any time to game.

Little gaming makes WTM a very grumpy person...

That said, I have been playing some Advance Wars on the DS, and it has to be said that for some turn based strategy on the go, it's hard to beat. there's just something satisfying about building a pile of tanks and rolling them into the enemies downtown....

Now the good news - Taranis

As of 2-3 days ago, Kahamahl finally trained the Interceptor skill, and climbed into his first Taranis.

Though I haven't yet had the chance to take it out for a spin in Black Rise and the surrounding areas, I am gleefully looking forward to using it in anger. Whether that will be as part of a militia fleet, or for piracy purposes, I'm not sure yet....

Kahamahl is now up to just under 4m skill points, and it shows that he is still 25+ million behind my other interceptor pilot
- He's slower
- Can't fit his ships as easily as my other mains

However, the fact remains he can hop into the Taranis with T2 guns and t2 fittings in all bar two slots...

It should be fun (probably short, but still fun).

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

I'm broke (again)....

No, I didn't lose any ships, a POS, etc...

Instead I made a couple of significant in game purchases (namely skills), and as a result have found my isk (and high end mineral stockpiles) reserves heavily depleted.

I still have a stock pile of ships for my 0.0 PvP, but only have the one ship now for Kahamahl, so I guess it's time for me to get stuck in and make some isk.

I have to admit, that my income is actively generated (i.e. I have no passive income), so this means I need to either actively rat/mine. Or in other words...

"Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to work I go"...

I hate ratting, it's honestly one of the most mind-numbing activities in this game, but in my current location it is the best/fastest way to make isk from primary production. I personally would rather mine (pick your jaw up, you're catching flies) than rat.

Ratting involves a random element of chance, i.e. will you get a rubbish/bad/good/excellent spawn. Too many times I have sat down for a ratting session, to only quit in frustration at the spawns an hour later.

Also residing in 0.0, there are many rules/regulations/protocols for determining where/when/if you can rat in a certain system. So it is not unknown to log in, and yet still not be able to rat, even though you have allowed yourself 2-3 hours spare to do it.

No, for guaranteed income, you can not beat mining (if you are well setup, two accounts and they both have the skills required).

Now it is not something many people will admit to, but I am one of those "sick" individuals that enjoy mining...

Why do I enjoy it? Well actually for the same reason most people hate it, it requires you to repeat the same basic task, over and over... Which I find quite relaxing after a long stressful day at the RL office...

It does me make me wonder however, am I alone in this view, or whether other people also carry out tasks in game that others would consider boring, but yet that they find a good way to get some stress relief?

Any who, I better get earning isk, and setting up Kahamahl for his life on the wrong side of the law.

Thursday, September 25, 2008

11d11h35m46s....

.... until Evasive Maneuvering V is complete. I'm training Kahamahl for interceptors after all. Truth is, as I see it I have four broad options going forward for this character...
  1. Mission running
  2. Out with my mains in 0.0
  3. Continue with faction warfare
  4. Piracy
Mission running, although a regular income, really holds not interest for me, and to be honest my cap pilot would be suited for the job (using JC's). Also, running more than two clients (as well as Teamspeak/Ventrillo, etc) on a single machine is not the best of ideas. So option two is out of the question as well. So this only leaves two options to be considered.

Continuing with Faction warfare for the time being is the most likely course for me, it gives me a good way to get some small gang fights when my 0.0 home is quiet, and I don't want to rat/mine.

Long term though, well to quote Mynxee I think I may be Pi-curious.... Ironically my 2nd main was originally intended for a life of piracy, but at that time I was still new to PvP and a second character working with my other main was of more use.

Also, another reason for wanting to take up piracy with Kahamahl is that my 0.0 home has become largely quiet (atm), and this would allow me to fly weapons free, without fear of sparking a diplomatic incident or flying 50 jumps just in hope of finding a target.

So how does this tie in to training interceptors you ask, well the simple reality is that they have been for a long time my favourite PvP ship, and for tackling purposes you just can't beat them.

That is not to say I am not training other ships, indeed I am also training for assault ships, and T2 modules for Gallente Battleships. But to quote my RL boss, I decided to go for a quick win, and train for Tarnis and Ares.

On a side note, if any pirates are willing to take a pirate noob (but not PvP noob ) under their wing to show the ropes for surviving a life of piracy give me a yell.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

.... I stay.

Of course I do.....

My problem is that I just unfortunately live in a TZ that has too low an Eve population. The only solution to my issue, would be to move to either the States or Europe in the real world. Which is just not something I plan to do for a game.

If I were to seriously consider leaving, I would definitely do as Shalkis suggests and go "public" within my corporation. In fact I have pretty much done that (or there was a merger) every time previously bar one....

The simple reality is that I stay because the people are good, the rats are worth the effort to kill, the money is okay, and you know what....... there is always someone to PvP with (eventually).

The question is..... what to do about Kahamahl?

Do I stay or do I go.....

I once again find myself considering whether it is time to move on from my current corp (and hence alliance).

My current corp is undoubtedly one of the most enjoyable groups of people that I have had the pleasure of flying with, and indeed if I do leave it will be with much regret.

However it is becoming apparent that my RL geographic location (i.e. New Zealand) is diametrically opposed to the heavy EU nature of my current alliance, and so I find myself often reading up about fights that were while I was sitting at work.

After all, I didn't train to fly capitals, just to just use them for 0.0 logistics only....

So the thought... "should I leave?" has once again popped up in my mind.

However, it is easy to not think this through, and make a leap into the fire from the pan (been there and done that before - ended up stuck in high sec for a while). Instead, one should think about the three questions that need to be considered when joining/leaving a corp/alliance

1) What do I want from a new corp (compared to the last corp)?
- more activity in my TZ
- more PvP
- more Capital PvP
- 0.0 access with all that it entails (stations, sovereignty, etc)

2) What do I offer a possible new corp/alliance?
- Two mains (combined 60+M sp)
- Capital pilot (Carrier/Dread) with a Carrier
- Sub-Capital pilot (3 races ships up to T2 cruisers incl. T2 modules)
- I am self-sufficient (I have my own empire logistics etc)

3) Who would actually want me, or be interested?

...and there is the crunch. I have only ever twice gone out to find a new corp, and since then have relied on contacts made in the first two corps to find myself a new home. The idea of going out to try and solicit a new home, when in fact I actually enjoy being part of the group I am already in, is hard.

No doubt, if I disliked the corp it would be easy, but in fact the opposite is true.

To top that off, there are RL friends in my current corp, that I brought out to 0.0, and leaving them behind to fend for themselves, does leave a bad taste in my mouth (a bit too loyal for my own good I guess).

Ah well, in the end I will probably happily stay where I am, but the frustration at the lack of PvP in my time zone will continue to annoy.

...or maybe I will actually do something, and get out there....

~wtm

Friday, September 12, 2008

I see a Square..... (reposted)

Flashcards..... yup those things. You probably like me remember them from long ago when you were at school, and developed a hatred for that way of learning "times tables" "elements tables" etc...

However, an Eve player has developed a tool (still in a beta stage I believe) using this method of learning to assist people with putting names to ships.

http://www.phase.org/journal/parsingphase/post/23085

After all, it is important to know the difference between a Rupture v Broadsword, Blackbird v Falcon, etc. The difference being the difference between life and death in some cases.

Usually most people learn ships over time, however any tool like this that will help people clamber up the cliff that is the Eve learning curve is a big plus to the community.

I know I could have used a tool like this, when I first moved out to 0.0, and into PvP. The ability to quickly identify threats, the risk level they pose, and prioritise.... is not only a required skill of FCs, but of every PvPer.

Also Zero Punctuation has reviewed Eve..... (oh dear)

Now to be honest, I have laugh at his review... because to a large degree it is true. Oh and also I just love his sense of humour

However, he has unfortunately completely missed the point of Eve - THE COMMUNITY, indeed from the moment he stated he was avoiding Player Corporations, I knew the review was doomed.

.... and personally, any corp that makes it always feel like you're logging on to your second job, is not a corp I'd want to join or stay in.

(reposted due to issues with the date of the post not matching when it was actually posted)

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Sorry for the lack of posts

To anyone that may be following my blog, apologies for the lack of posts over the last week or so.

Real Life has unfortunately once again taken over all of my spare time, and so time available to log into Eve has just disappeared.

That is not to say I haven't been playing any games (trust me I require it for my sanity).

Instead I have been playing Team Fortress as an ideal way to let of stress... there's something so therapeutic about imagining the other team being people you work for, and with. It is a bit harder to imagine a ship as a person you work with..... unfortunately.

While I've been away from Eve, my three characters have continued to train, and indeed one reached a milestone of being able to now fly three races up to T2 cruisers, as well as the appropriate T2 weapon systems.

It is interesting, the longer you play, and the more SP you have, it gets harder and harder to just pick a skill to train... indeed for my two mains I now find that the next skill i usually need, is a 10+ day skill, or in many cases 20+ days.

Anyhow, hopefully RL will quieten down soon, and I will be able to set aside the time you need for a decent Eve session or two....

~W

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Old dog and new tricks

Eve is the deepest, and most complex, MMO currently available.

I think it's safe to assume that most Eve players would agree with the above statement, and for many new players (or non-players) this can be the factor that either stops them playing, or from even trying the game. However, for myself and many (if not most) Eve players it is that depth that keeps us playing.

Even after 2.5 years of playing, I still find myself learning new things, for example I only recently learnt to set drone aggression, instead of manually updating their targets every minute to avoid them attacking the wrong rats. More importantly though, it was the fact I learnt this from a player who is both half my RL and character age.

Also there is also entire areas of industry that I have never attempted, such as research, invention, reactions, boosters, etc. Also I have not tried exploration, and amazingly only ever run one (non-mission) Plex.

Factional warfare provides both high sec dwellers an opportunity to try out PvP, and for 0.0 pilots a way to do some PvP, without the huge risks.

Yet still, you sometimes find yourself listening to some idiot who says "I've done it all, there's nothing left to do....". Now admittedly a comment like this out of the mouth of a 5 year veteran would possibly be accurate, but in truth they wouldn't say it. No, the individual that normally claims to have done anything is usually only a year or so old...

There is simply no way anyone with only one character can have done it all, and to claim you have just shows how little you know.

Ah well, if they leave, at least if they leave that's one less idiot to fly with.

There is always something else in Eve to try, and that is what keeps so many players playing. Proof of that is as clear as the near constant increase in player numbers since Eve was released.

The only thing I have become more sure of, the longer I've played Eve, is that there is so much more to experience in Eve, than I probably will ever get to try...... and that is a good thing!

It allows specialisation and in particular it allows the possibility that a younger player may be able to "teach an old dog new tricks", just like one did with me.

~WTM

PS I still haven't had the chance to fly Kahamahl in FW again, instead RL, my 0.0 alliance, and Guitar Hero (a new non-mmo addition) have conspired to keep him on ice. However the training continues....

Monday, August 11, 2008

Weeeeeeeeeee

The hiatus is now officially over.

In the space of two short days my addiction is back, and I'm mainlining as much PvP as I can.

My alliance has once again let lose the dogs of war (someone REALLY annoyed the leader of my alliance), and once again I find myself in a carrier in a hostile system (or jumping back and forth to get stront for the sieging dreads).

When the first days hostilities came to a temporary stop (damn Dread pilots needing to sleep, where's your commitment?), I found myself sitting thinking... "but... but I need more PvP?!"

5 minutes later..... Kahamahl was x'd up and heading out for the first time into the field of war called "Black Rise" in a Thorax.

The first Thorax didn't last long, and I was quickly back in Villore, buying a new ship to replace the one I just lost (congrats Victoria Ehr), before heading back out.

I quickly got the hang of using the Thorax (damn it seems slow after my Stiletto/Crow/Taranis), and indeed got to have a lot of fun over the following hours either chasing (or running from) our enemy, the Caldari scum (the irony being that over half my characters are Caldari).

Even taking breaks (to go back to the alliance war), I still managed to get a total of four kills over the 6 hours on that first day; two battleships, and two battle cruisers. I was pretty happy with my first attempt.

So what did I learn from my first experience in FW:
  1. It's fun, there's no sovereignty to worry about (no, faction sov does not count)
  2. There are good FCs leading FW fleets, and there are bad ones as well.
  3. People signed up with factions aren't as homogeneous as you'd expect (I saw a lot of drakes, Crows, Ravens, and even a vulture for example, in the Gallente fleet).
  4. It's fun, there is always something happening it seems, and 'nearly' everyone has the right attitude.
  5. Fleets seem to be light on Battleships (at least when I was trying it out).
  6. Plenty of experienced pilots participating -I flew with people that I have flown with (and against) before on both sides.
  7. The scale of the "battle field" is nice and small (no 100 jump journeys)
  8. It's as cheap, or as expensive as you want to make it (you will lose ships, but who cares, you can control how much you spend).
  9. Caldari Faction pilots are too rich for their own good - I mean seriously Faction ships in PvP???? - Hookbill pilot, I'm looking at you....
  10. Did I mention it's fun??

As for the Thorax... well I am enjoying it, it is a good fun ship, very capable in small gangs (as I'd read/heard before), and is a good choice "so far" for FW, for me. However I am already starting to look into my next choice, and using Evemon are planning for a Brutix before moving on to the Gallente Battleships...

As a small aside, boy is it a pain to fit a ship when your fitting skills are rubbish, compared to what you are used to.

Unfortunately, after that first stint, the war back in 0.0 ramped up, and I had to concentrate back on that for the rest of the weekend (at least it felt like that). Though on a positive note I did get 20 kills in my carrier in a single lag free engagement on a POS over an hour - which was a blast.

I really do need to make some isk over the next day or so, I have ships to buy/replace, new fighters (damn manned POS guns), POS to fuel, etc...

But my trade alt does have 300m spare, and that could buy a bunch of Thorax's, and some Brutix's...... hmmmmmmm

~WTM

Friday, July 11, 2008

Oh dear....

... my factional warfare experiment appears to be going nowhere, fast.

The character continues to skill up, and already has some ships fitted and ready to go, but I just haven't got into it yet.

To be fair though, this is not a reflection on FW, but more a reflection on me suffering one of those "periods". You know, when you suddenly just seem to find it hard to log in and play, when your other non-MMO games suddenly seem more appealing, or god forbid tv seems more watchable.

Obviously family, friends, pets, and RL in general is always more important, than Eve, and indeed some variation in ones gaming is always good. However, there comes a point when you realise you are only logging into Eve for the purpose of changing skills, adjusting market orders, and to check eve-mail in hope of an alliance op.

This is not to say that I am going to quit Eve (so cancel any "Can I have your stuff?" requests), but more that I have been on a hiatus for a wee bit

As for the this lack motivation, all that I can deduce is that it is due to my main alliance being in what is essentially a period on consolidation after a long period of open hostility, and then outright war.

Peace is boring.....

Why this has stopped me from getting into FW I don't know, indeed it makes no sense. All I can deduce is that this is due to a sense of guilt that if I do log in, I should be doing alliance stuff, or helping my in-game friends.

Hmmmm

I think I will make a point of logging in to play FW tonight.... but then... that movie sitting there is looking mighty interesting.


Tuesday, July 8, 2008

Hey this ain't the same......

I have to admit something

Something that I am somewhat embarrassed about.


Kahamahl: "Hi...., my name is Kahamahl"

Everyone: "Hi Kahamahl"

Kahamahl:"I'm here, because I have a problem!"

Kahamahl: "I almost lost my Tristan today, doing a level one mission!!!"



Everyone: "NOOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"


Well okay, not really.... But I am finding that getting standings for Kahamahl, so that he can join a Factional Warfare corp, has proven to take longer than expected due to not spending much time online.

Kahamahl is now sitting at 0.48 with the Gallente Federation, having followed Van Hemlock's advice in Path to Acceptance. So following the path of least resistance, I am now running missions for a level one agent; in a Tristan.

This is where I have to admit there is some truth behind the earlier mention of a particular ship.

First some background. My two regular mains, fly mostly either small fast movers (speed tanking) or Caldari (shield tanking). As such my experience with armour tanking is somewhat less impressive.

During a recent mission, I had got right into the middle of the rats I was fighting, and although I was popping them left, right, and centre, I was also starting to take some damage.

"No worries" I thought, giggling at their pathetic damage. But eventually, down went the shield. Then they started to chew into the armour itself, but still I was not even vaguely concerned.

My finger hovering over the repair button, ready to click, just waiting for the armour to get low enough to warrant using the repair (after all no point wasting cap). Sure enough the moment came, with the armour nearly all gone, I clicked and waited to laugh at them as my armour climbed back up.

However I had forgotten a fundamental difference between active tanking shields and armour, namely that the HP boost comes at the end of the module cycle for armour (not the beginning like shields).

So though the repairer was now active, the armour just kept falling for the duration of the cycle, right through the last of the armour and into the hull itself - gulp.

Then suddenly the first cycle finished, and up shoots the armour... Ship intact, but pride damaged.

This little event, though never really getting out of hand, has made me reevaluate my plan for this character. The original plan of skilling straight for Interceptors, is essentially just repeating what I have done with my other mains. Instead, I'm considering whether I should skill for cruisers first? After all, the skill training time is pretty minimal for Kahamahl at this stage (only a few days).

Indeed was not my aim with this character to try something new, to try stuff differently??

That's not to say that I will not still skill for the fantastic Taranis and Ares, but I think I owe it to myself to try out not only a race I have limited experience with (Gallente) but also a hull size that I had skipped over, and an entire method of tanking.

Thorax! Here I come....

Friday, July 4, 2008

War.... What is it good for?

...absolutely everything!!

Lets be honest, Eve is driven in all it's forms through warfare. From the dedicated pvper, to the solitary new player just finding their way in the game, to the hardcore industrialist, to the miner mining Veldspar or Ice. In Eve every player contributes to the economy, and hence to the supply or demand of ships/equipment/ammo that is the lifeblood of war in this game.

The more we fight, the richer the game is for everyone, both in isk and fun. It is in this light that I personally view the advent of Factional warfare as a great development for the game.

Factional warfare provides both new and old players an opportunity to engage in some pvp with the sole intention of having "fun". Now that's not to say the pvp experienced elsewhere in Eve is not fun (though people involved in POS sieging may dispute that), but there is a distinct difference.

Factional Warfare is low risk, you can participate at a low cost, and can have a lot of fun, without the real risk of losing your home (in comparison to 0.0 where the cost of loss can be an enforced loss of assets and your 0.0 home).

It is this risk of losing your home that sometimes restricts 0.0 life to long periods of preparation and short explosive stints of all out war. In short the risk of war, often outweighs the benefits in the minds of many alliance leaders..

Factional Warfare so far appears to encourage constant all-out warfare, with people readily feeding ships, equipment, and clones into what is a massive meat grinder....

....and this is good. This constant loss of equipment will lead to an invigorated eve economy, and indeed the faction standing loss for Gallente and Minmatar should help long term to reduce the dependency on Jita. At the very least, my hope is that the position of the minor trading hubs is strengthened...

Indeed, all this opportunity for fun, and listening to WDA and TDB, has convinced me to give Factional Warfare a go...

As such two weeks ago, a new Gallente pilot was born on my third account (yes I am that addicted to eve), and the other character put on a training hiatus. Currently my intention is to train this new character towards a Taranis and Ares (interceptors are a favourite of mine on my other mains), or potentialy some gank/tank cruisers.

Currently Kahamahl is training the base skills he needs to be able to participate in PvP, and so far can now fit T2 blasters and MWDs. Warp jammers and Webs should be finished by tomorrow...

Currently I am doing the Data Center missions, to build my standings with Gallente.... but I should be in the fight by the end of this weekend.

Meanwhile my 0.0 alliance is probably wondering where I have disappeared off to...

Friday, May 23, 2008

So what is the point....

Although unlikely, there is a chance that this blog may actually be read by someone other than myself. As such I probably should give some context to this blog, i.e. what is the purpose of the blog, why am I writing it, and lastly who am I?

The what and the why, are essentially two sides of the same coin. The purpose of this blog is to provide me with a means to put in writing any opinion I may have on something within the context Eve. Why I am doing this is because I am an opinionated person, but despite that I normally try to control my urges in order to fit in with my corp/team/etc. This blog henceforth is my way of venting, or to have a "mad rant" about whatever is of interest to me, and I admit to finding writing my thoughts quite a good way to get them off my chest.

As for who am I, I have played Eve for over two years, and have experienced many parts of the game, but as of now am an avowed 0.0 resident. I love to pvp, but am under no illusion of grandeur... I have two mains currently, and have skilled them to allow me too experience both small and cap combat.

Friday, May 16, 2008

So it begins....

When I first created this blog, I couldn't think of what to first write about...

Which is, in many ways, quite ironic for me as usually the one thing I am usually not lacking is some topic that has pushed my button.

However recent events within Eve, have given me something to "rant" about...

"Forum Spying"

Now don't get me wrong, I fully accept spying is part of the game in Eve, and don't take issue with spying in the general sense of the word.

Indeed, the meta-game of trying to work out who the spy is within your ranks, is quite an interesting addition to the game.

No, I'm referring to the retards who give Spies a bad name! The type that gets it's jollies by posting excerpts from your forums, or fleet chats, into local or CAOD.

The main benefit of spying, is that you know information about them, that they don't know you know. By posting it in local or in the COAD forums, you confirm to the enemy what they probably suspected, i.e. a spy amongst them. Also you give them more information to track you down, i.e. who used the forum within x<->y time, or who was in the fleet....

What happened to the good old days of honourable spying...

You know, when no spy gave themselves away, when each side only had it's paranoia and no evidence to confirm it's suspicions. When the enemy would keep it's carefully gathered information to itself, when counter espionage was a valid opportunity to the spy (i.e. your spy in the enemies fleet trying to determine who the enemy spy was in yours).

Showing the world that you have managed to infiltrate your enemy shows nothing. It is easy in a game of multiple accounts and alts, to achieve that, no the achievement is to use that information meaningfully.. You know, to achieve a tactical advantage in-game and in-battle.