Category Archives: Community

Tripping in Rifters

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I put a frigate pilot in RvB recently, and this was a good choice.  A few highlights of the whole RvB experience: People tend to pay attention to comms and be somewhat focused.  This is a great change of pace from some small groups I have previously flown through hostile space with. The PvP ON button.  As long as I get on between lunch and midnight (US TZ), there is usually a 30-40 man fleet cruising around, looking to find the other fleet and make some fun happen. Cheap ships are fun.  I fly T1 fit Rifters, because if I loot one wreck every few fights, I pay for all the ships I lose and then some without really trying. RvB communication.  They tend to try and balance fleets against each other to make the fights at least interesting.  This is not to say there is not some blobbing, or stragglers caught out, but it is generally attempted to make things fair-ish. 89-9 kill ratio, at this point, with 99.5% efficiency.  That’s just sick, and more indicative of how the other fleets call primaries as compared to my skills in a Rifter.  And the fact that my Rifters cost about Continue Reading →

Mass Effect 3: A Lesson in Player Investment

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I don’t often post about other games here, but I wanted to take a look at the uproar over Mass Effect 3 and the endings, and something it says about games and gamers in general.  I promise there is a tie in to Eve at the end, but to explain the ME3 situation will require a lot of background. <There are ME spoilers here, so be warned.  Also I have always played a paragon female Shepard, so I refer to Shep as “her”, and may have only directly experienced portions of the game available to a paragon.> If you have been living under a rock for the last few weeks you may not have noticed the anger amongst players of ME3 over the various endings available.  There are a few complaints, briefly: The ending is illogical, employing a dues ex machina once the Crucible is activated. The behaviors of the team mates are illogical, with them all teleporting to the Normandy, as is the consequence of the Mass Relays being destroyed. The sudden change of the nature of the synthetic-organic conflict does not take into account anything the player has done. The 3 endings are, aside from colors and types Continue Reading →

Homogeneity

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Over at Jester’s, there was an interesting post highlighting what I think is a common view in multiplayer games.  A commenter posted that Eve doesn’t have smarter players, it has less players doing more with alts, and also that CCP has failed to deliver on the “Dream of Eve”.  The poster seems to imply that because players are using alts, and focusing on optimized play-styles, Eve is dead to him.  Ripard seems to take that same premise and draw the opposite conclusion, that optimization is good.  I think both slightly miss a larger function of Multiplayer gaming in general.  The older a game gets, the more people learn the “right” ways to work, and many players will gravitate towards this. Take WoW as an example.  I played a hunter for some time, and during each expansion, there came a point where the optimal gear for each build was known, and if you didn’t use that build and gear, finding a raid spot was tough.  This took some creativity and trial to learn, but once it was found, most groups with progression on their minds demanded you work towards the optimal.  This holds true across classes. Look at TF2.  Each map Continue Reading →

Blog Banter 33: More Options

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Blog Banter 33: The Capsuleer Experience Like mana from Valhalla (yes I know I’m mixing my religious metaphors), the latest Dev Blog by CCP Legion asks questions which make for perfect Blog Bantering. To quote him “…we want to make the first days, weeks and months in EVE enjoyable and not just something ‘you have to plough through in order to get to the good stuff’” and the newly formed Player Experience team will focus on “…where and why people lose interest in EVE…”. “We invite you to pour your heart (or guts) out and tell us what you think is good or bad with the current new player experience and what you think could be done about the problems.” So let’s get self-eviscerating. Banter on.  Cheers, Seismic Stan Response  I started trying to come up with targets tied to the “first days/weeks/months”, but as I wrote this became more of a list of features I would like to see in Eve that would improve not only new player experience, but all player experience.  Without further ado, here is a list of changes I think would benefit all players. Skillbooks Get rid of skillbooks.  Completely remove them from the game.  Having Continue Reading →

Blog Banter 32: Mechanics and Education

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Seismic Stan occasionally posts questions to the Eve blogging community.  His most recent is: “A quick view of the Eve Online forums can always find someone complaining about being suicide ganked, whining about some scam they fell for or other such tears. With the Goons’ Ice Interdiction claiming a vast amount of mining ships, there were calls for an “opt out of PvP” option.  Should this happen? Should people be able to opt-out of PvP in Eve Online. Should CONCORD prevent crime rather than just handing out justice after the event? Or do the hi-sec population already have too much protection from the scum and villainy that inhabits the game?” Seismic Stan asked us if there should be a way to remove non-consensual PvP from Eve, which I will take to mean, should there be parts of High Sec that do not allow non-consenual PvP.  I cannot think of another way to reframe the question that makes sense.  So we are either talking about PvP free islands or a PvP free High Sec.  I vehemently disagree with the removeal of PvP in high sec.  I would cautiously support development of very small islands of low value, PvP-free High Sec, but Continue Reading →

Blog a Day #14: Gifts Response

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A response to Poetic Discourse. This is a tough choice of gift! I already bought and am researching the BPOs offered, so that is rather pointless.  I could care less about the destroyers and faction ammo.  But weighing an implant v a remap, that is tough.  I need to look up the info on the remap, as I am not sure if it is an instant thing or if it gets added to my character to use at any point.  If it the second option, that may be a no-brainer.  This could be a nice ace in the hole if I get bored of my Per-Wil Map of Doom ™.

Blog-a-day #5: Podcasts Response

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A resonse to Poetic Discourse.What I Listen To: Voices from the Void – Usually informative, always entertaining, and yeah, Arydanika has a voice that is just plain fun to hear.  Seismic Stan is a nice addition/replacement. Ender Black’s  Pod Goo – Nice range of interviews and topics covered.  Nice approach to analyzing tactics and strategies. What Don’t I Listen To (And Why): Fly Reckless – Never seemed to stick for me, I think the in-jokes got too thick when I was trying to listen. Isk (iTunes) – This is personal:  I am trying to be a good former smoker and listening to someone light up on the podcast is infuriating and tempting.  Also, sometimes the format is waaay to long. Ransoms and Roams:  Tried to listen, did not hold my attention. What I Wished Was Still Around: Lost In Eve General Thoughts: I find that podcasts that have a high production level (like a radio show) tend to keep my attention.  As I am constantly working, studying, or moving around, being able to stop and start listening, or listening to little segments at each go is very useful to me. VandV does this well. Consistency (even if it means short Continue Reading →