My second best kill. *
I totally didn't notice I had killed a 900 million ISK Tristan at first. I thought I must be reading the estimated value in my cargo hold wrong. Then I counted the number of digits a couple times. My friend looked up from her book as I said "[Brother,] WHAT?" at the screen.
It all started while I was a-plexing. The pirate Tristan showed up on overview suddenly. I hope there was a good reason I wasn't D-scanning. Knowing I probably wouldn't align in time to warp, I turned to engage. It was a pretty close fight. We were down to an overheated ancillary armor rep race. Probably an overheated afterburner race, too. GFs were exchanged. I pondered whether I should return to base to repair the ship and deposit my cargo. I warped out and only then did I look at my cargo hold to see how much I would be taking home.
I heard Stay Frosty is moving their HQ. Maybe our man just decided he'd take out a farmer for fun on the way. I like those guys. They have a very cool attitude. I strive to emulate that.
Oh, while getting the preceding URL for your reading pleasure, I noticed that Ishomilken is their new HQ. Which was where we were. Funny that!
* First best kill if you don't count the time I hadn't unscrewed my overview yet and accidentally Awoxed an alliance mate with a full set of Snakes. Everyone was very cool about it, considering.
Sunday, April 13, 2014
Wednesday, April 9, 2014
How I describe my habit--I mean, hobby
On the surface, some simple facts. My favorite game is EVE Online. I followed it since before it was released in 2003 by a small group of Icelandic sadists. Initial reviews scared me away, and it wasn't until late 2012 that I started a trial account. Basically it's a game of internet spaceships a la Elite or Escape Velocity. Except it's massively multiplayer, full of people playing immortal, cybernetic beings with no reason to be nice to each other. How long can they stay sane? It's a king-of-the-hill deathmatch where the last man standing is the only one to have a shred of dignity or empathy left.
Pretentious, preachy version follows.
Pretentious, preachy version follows.
Life is pain, and we have eternal life. We are all immortal, so there can be no harm. Let's play.
We are capsuleers, strange homonculoids of flesh and machine. We were once human, and we fight to preserve what is left of ourselves in the face of gargantuan temptations. The temptation to destroy. The temptation to steal. The temptation to shame and humiliate. The temptation to abuse and torture.
Death takes away everything you love so that you needn't worry about it anymore. We capsuleers are denied that final insult. It makes us restless and hungry. The memory of all these ultimately painless injuries embitters us and alienates us. We want to know death again. So we keep trying to inflict it on each other, to know what we're missing. To stay human. It is a race, a race to be the last to lose touch entirely.
Monday, April 7, 2014
Dodixie Pricewatch 7 April 2014
Since I fly navy frigates a lot, I like to see how they're doing at my favorite trade hub. Note that I list the lowest sell first, followed by the highest buy.
Fleet Firetail: 13.6 to 10.8 million ISK. Most volatile this week.
Firetails regressed to the mean at just under 15 million around March 15, between the high of 18 in December and the low of 9 in January. I am thinking we should expect the price to channel between 9 and 15 million for a while. Minmatar Militia isn't doing so hot in warzone control. That's cause for optimism in the future for speculators. It seems to take about two months for supplies to run out and the price to spike when warzone control is in the doldrums, so I think it'll happen by mid-May. I don't think it will go totally wild from there.
Navy Comet: 15 to 13.5 million ISK.
The market for Navy Comets is absolutely flooded. They were over 20 million ISK when the point release came out and now they have fallen to 15 or under. I no longer predict them to go back up to 18 in a couple months when the disillusionment kicks in and supplies run out. Tier2 for Gallente Militia is going to resist anything higher as long as it holds and for a couple months afterwards. I will probably not be putting my sell orders back when they expire. I'll just fly these as I am well-skilled for them.
Hookbill: 16.4 to 14.2 million ISK.
Hookbills could either be starting a stable channel pattern, or it may just be a prelude to the price squirting up or down. Looking over at the FW fundamentals, Caldari are having some trouble keeping a decent Tier going, so that favors the upside here.
Navy Slicer: 10.3 to 9 million ISK.
Navy Slicers continue their slow decline in price. On aggregate, at least in Dodixie, they are losing about a million ISK in price every two months.
The names I use here for the navy frigates are the minimum you need to type when searching in EVE-Central to go directly to each of their pages.
Friday, April 4, 2014
15 minutes of fun packed into 4 hours
I've been thinking back to pen-and-paper role playing games a bit lately, as I was running one last week and I just had to quit mid-session. I couldn't go on one more minute. I was trying to think of what was going to happen next and I just dropped my pencil, looked up at my players, and said sorry.
I played RPGs from 1982 to 1994, took a significant hiatus, and then played them again, though more rarely, from 2002 to 2014. That is essentially two 12-year stretches. Wow. I didn't realize.
I quit because they just piss me off now. First off, I am not sure that role playing games are even games anymore; they're really just activities.
Sid Meier once defined a game as a series of interesting decisions. And I don't think the decisions that make up the bulk of role playing are very interesting. The part where you get to plan and execute a character build is pretty interesting, but it does not take up enough of the time. Most of it is talking to characters that usually don't want anything on their own; they are just window-dressing for the expression of the player character's agenda. And we spend way too much time on it. We all know that we're going to get to the next dungeon; the GM spent too much time building it for us not to. And a decision that doesn't ultimately change the outcome is not a decision, let alone an interesting one.
Now we could do like DnD 4th and try to give everyone a bunch of different powers to use. I resist that every time. The two times I played 4th I purpose-built characters that revolved around making their basic attack as bad-ass as possible so I wouldn't feel bad not using the other powers. By the time you get 5th level or so, it's already far too many powers to keep accurate track of without shuffling four sheets of paper every turn. I've seen people try the power cards, which is bullshit on a stick. If we need cards to make it playable, why is it not a card game? See? Solved it for ya, Wizards. Stop making Dungeons and Dragons RPG books and stick with making card games. Where's my consulting fee?
RPGs were clunky to begin with, but their competitors were things like Monopoly and Scrabble. Card and board games have moved on, video games happened, Momorpuggers do what RPGs do well enough and provide a huge social context to boot. RPGs are the Jazz of gaming; self-referential and enjoyed mostly by people who have enjoyed it for a long time. The only reason I was playing for the last few years, in retrospect, was an attempt to relive past glories.
There are other activities marketed as games, like Bunco and LCR. In LCR there are literally no decisions. Players take turns rolling a die and doing what it says. The "Winner" is whoever gets all the tokens that have been distributed purely by chance. Cheating would involve more skill. I liked it better when a friend showed me how to play Dreidel. At least there's a traditional excuse to play, and you learn some vocabulary words.
In an RPG we wind up doing something similar. We all supposedly enact a story of heroism against incredible odds. The Gamemaster/Referee, however, is always adjusting the odds to keep the story happening. There is no real challenge here. There's nothing wrong with this activity. It just isn't a game.
Possibly the most compelling reason for me to quit RPGs is the realization that every other kind of game has incorporated RPG elements like shopping for superpowers in your character build and getting more power and a semblance of a storyline. So you can shop around for what part of the RPG experience you want, and it comes in a more efficient package overall. Sometimes I wonder if I ever really liked the actual act of playing role playing games. Rather, I liked creating characters and settings for the games.
I think my favorites for all time were Champions (4th) and Shadowrun (3rd). I'll miss them and those simpler times. It's not them, it's me.
I played RPGs from 1982 to 1994, took a significant hiatus, and then played them again, though more rarely, from 2002 to 2014. That is essentially two 12-year stretches. Wow. I didn't realize.
I quit because they just piss me off now. First off, I am not sure that role playing games are even games anymore; they're really just activities.
Sid Meier once defined a game as a series of interesting decisions. And I don't think the decisions that make up the bulk of role playing are very interesting. The part where you get to plan and execute a character build is pretty interesting, but it does not take up enough of the time. Most of it is talking to characters that usually don't want anything on their own; they are just window-dressing for the expression of the player character's agenda. And we spend way too much time on it. We all know that we're going to get to the next dungeon; the GM spent too much time building it for us not to. And a decision that doesn't ultimately change the outcome is not a decision, let alone an interesting one.
Now we could do like DnD 4th and try to give everyone a bunch of different powers to use. I resist that every time. The two times I played 4th I purpose-built characters that revolved around making their basic attack as bad-ass as possible so I wouldn't feel bad not using the other powers. By the time you get 5th level or so, it's already far too many powers to keep accurate track of without shuffling four sheets of paper every turn. I've seen people try the power cards, which is bullshit on a stick. If we need cards to make it playable, why is it not a card game? See? Solved it for ya, Wizards. Stop making Dungeons and Dragons RPG books and stick with making card games. Where's my consulting fee?
RPGs were clunky to begin with, but their competitors were things like Monopoly and Scrabble. Card and board games have moved on, video games happened, Momorpuggers do what RPGs do well enough and provide a huge social context to boot. RPGs are the Jazz of gaming; self-referential and enjoyed mostly by people who have enjoyed it for a long time. The only reason I was playing for the last few years, in retrospect, was an attempt to relive past glories.
There are other activities marketed as games, like Bunco and LCR. In LCR there are literally no decisions. Players take turns rolling a die and doing what it says. The "Winner" is whoever gets all the tokens that have been distributed purely by chance. Cheating would involve more skill. I liked it better when a friend showed me how to play Dreidel. At least there's a traditional excuse to play, and you learn some vocabulary words.
In an RPG we wind up doing something similar. We all supposedly enact a story of heroism against incredible odds. The Gamemaster/Referee, however, is always adjusting the odds to keep the story happening. There is no real challenge here. There's nothing wrong with this activity. It just isn't a game.
Possibly the most compelling reason for me to quit RPGs is the realization that every other kind of game has incorporated RPG elements like shopping for superpowers in your character build and getting more power and a semblance of a storyline. So you can shop around for what part of the RPG experience you want, and it comes in a more efficient package overall. Sometimes I wonder if I ever really liked the actual act of playing role playing games. Rather, I liked creating characters and settings for the games.
I think my favorites for all time were Champions (4th) and Shadowrun (3rd). I'll miss them and those simpler times. It's not them, it's me.
Plex Banter 3
Bumpity Bump!
Fun episode: I entered a medium plex with a militia-mate already in it. Me Vexor, he Incursus. I noticed on overview that the Incursus was sitting right on the medium wreck, and it was still full. Nothing was moving. As I zoomed in to take that sweet 2 million ISK tag, our ships quite naturally bumped into each other. I saw his engines flare up, as if he had just realized what was going on. It could have just been autopilot still set to approach the wreck. I just warped off, chuckling comfortably to myself.
(Does anyone have a link to Lily Tomlin doing her famous Tarzan yell? That was the closest I could find.)
((Oops. Carol Burnett did the Tarzan yell. And now that I've heard it, I'm not sure why it was so famous.))
Dodixie Pricewatch
This is something that I want to keep doing, and should be its own post. You can expect it to show up early each week, Monday or Tuesday.
Fun episode: I entered a medium plex with a militia-mate already in it. Me Vexor, he Incursus. I noticed on overview that the Incursus was sitting right on the medium wreck, and it was still full. Nothing was moving. As I zoomed in to take that sweet 2 million ISK tag, our ships quite naturally bumped into each other. I saw his engines flare up, as if he had just realized what was going on. It could have just been autopilot still set to approach the wreck. I just warped off, chuckling comfortably to myself.
(Does anyone have a link to Lily Tomlin doing her famous Tarzan yell? That was the closest I could find.)
((Oops. Carol Burnett did the Tarzan yell. And now that I've heard it, I'm not sure why it was so famous.))
Dodixie Pricewatch
This is something that I want to keep doing, and should be its own post. You can expect it to show up early each week, Monday or Tuesday.
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
Drone Changes, NICE.
As an intermittent, medium-skilled drone user, I dig 'em. CCP Fozzie's post has a theme of smoothing the gradients between the different drone systems. I say yes to a balancing between drones of different empires. It's obviously great to have a continuum where Amarr and Caldari drones actually exist. But that's just a start.
Though they are not moving T1 or T2 anywhere relative to each other, they are adjusting the Faction and Rogue drone-enhanced versions to make more sense somewhere in the middle. The faction drones just might be more commonly seen now, which adds variety. I like variety. I think I will probably still use T2 since I have skilled for them.
They will be narrowing the difference in speeds and tracking between different sizes of drones just a scoach. Yes, the difference between 50% and 60% is a scoach. I looked it up. Maybe if I double-web a frigate my Valkyrie IIs will actually hit it. That's intriguing.
On the drone skills tip, the takeaway is train Combat Drone Operations to V, like now. I've started. Don't put it off, you might forget. It feels like you're a rebel at first for passing up a free skill, but soon there is just regret, despair, and a ray of sadness.
You can arguably leave Drone Interfacing at IV now, which is where I've got it. I trained it up only last month. Somehow I had missed that it was a whole 20% damage bonus per level. The new version will be 10%, with the difference rolled into the base stats of all drones. Again, smoothing the gradients out.
I've just now trained level I for sentries, so I can't really speak to the balance for those. Looks like it's once again overhauling the gradients between empires and tech levels.
My favorite of the stats-admittedly-unknown new modules would have to be the low slot Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancers. Full stop. And another full stop. I see shield-tank Vexors coming back.
I dream that someday we will have better drone UI. I try to look at it as an opportunity to gain an advantage by learning the UI we have. It helps me go to sleep at night, anyway.
Though they are not moving T1 or T2 anywhere relative to each other, they are adjusting the Faction and Rogue drone-enhanced versions to make more sense somewhere in the middle. The faction drones just might be more commonly seen now, which adds variety. I like variety. I think I will probably still use T2 since I have skilled for them.
They will be narrowing the difference in speeds and tracking between different sizes of drones just a scoach. Yes, the difference between 50% and 60% is a scoach. I looked it up. Maybe if I double-web a frigate my Valkyrie IIs will actually hit it. That's intriguing.
On the drone skills tip, the takeaway is train Combat Drone Operations to V, like now. I've started. Don't put it off, you might forget. It feels like you're a rebel at first for passing up a free skill, but soon there is just regret, despair, and a ray of sadness.
You can arguably leave Drone Interfacing at IV now, which is where I've got it. I trained it up only last month. Somehow I had missed that it was a whole 20% damage bonus per level. The new version will be 10%, with the difference rolled into the base stats of all drones. Again, smoothing the gradients out.
I've just now trained level I for sentries, so I can't really speak to the balance for those. Looks like it's once again overhauling the gradients between empires and tech levels.
My favorite of the stats-admittedly-unknown new modules would have to be the low slot Omnidirectional Tracking Enhancers. Full stop. And another full stop. I see shield-tank Vexors coming back.
I dream that someday we will have better drone UI. I try to look at it as an opportunity to gain an advantage by learning the UI we have. It helps me go to sleep at night, anyway.
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Plex Banter 2
Jibba Jabba!
I saw two more young players in plexes last night. I am conflicted how to deal with them when I've got a big ol' Vexor and they're just in a Venture or cloaked who-knows-what-pro'lly-a-frigate. I admire that they are getting into faction war earlier in their careers than I did, yet I want to teach them a healthy suspicion for their militia mates. Also, they were about to cap sweet, sweet medium plexes at Tier 2. That's two and a half Navy Comets. Yum. I settled for stealing their Caldari Captain tags that they hadn't picked up yet.
Somehow I have to let go of this, though, as if I'm going to teach them one way or another to like or hate EVE. I still have some scruples about taking candy from babies. I guess that means I haven't gone insane from the power of the capsuleer yet.
Dodixie pricewatch
Since I fly navy frigates a lot, I like to see how they're doing at my favorite trade hub. So speaking of Navy Comets, looks as if everyone heard that they were selling well (because whoop whoop!), and the market is flooded. They were over 20 million ISK when the point release came out and now they have fallen to 15mil. I predict them to go back up to 18mil in a couple months when the disillusionment kicks in and supplies run out. Tier2 for Gallente Militia is going to resist anything higher for the forseeable. Also a faction frigate more or less has to be cheaper than an assault frigate.
Firetails have regressed to the mean at just under 15 million, between the high of 18 in December and the low of 9 in January. A technical trader would expect the price to saunter vaguely downwards until it hits 9 million again, probably by May. Minmatar Militia is down to 5 systems. That's cause for optimism in the future for speculators. It seems to take about two months for supplies to run out and the price to spike when warzone control is in the doldrums. I don't think it will go wild from there. I'll be stocking up with some lowball orders.
Hookbills look to be the in the middle of a minor upward swing. For the last several months, the highs have been falling and the lows have been rising. It's time for that bird to squirt one way or the other.
Navy Slicers are slowly declining in price. They have been doing so since late last year at least. I expect them to keep doing so. Stock up, I guess.
I saw two more young players in plexes last night. I am conflicted how to deal with them when I've got a big ol' Vexor and they're just in a Venture or cloaked who-knows-what-pro'lly-a-frigate. I admire that they are getting into faction war earlier in their careers than I did, yet I want to teach them a healthy suspicion for their militia mates. Also, they were about to cap sweet, sweet medium plexes at Tier 2. That's two and a half Navy Comets. Yum. I settled for stealing their Caldari Captain tags that they hadn't picked up yet.
Somehow I have to let go of this, though, as if I'm going to teach them one way or another to like or hate EVE. I still have some scruples about taking candy from babies. I guess that means I haven't gone insane from the power of the capsuleer yet.
Dodixie pricewatch
Since I fly navy frigates a lot, I like to see how they're doing at my favorite trade hub. So speaking of Navy Comets, looks as if everyone heard that they were selling well (because whoop whoop!), and the market is flooded. They were over 20 million ISK when the point release came out and now they have fallen to 15mil. I predict them to go back up to 18mil in a couple months when the disillusionment kicks in and supplies run out. Tier2 for Gallente Militia is going to resist anything higher for the forseeable. Also a faction frigate more or less has to be cheaper than an assault frigate.
Firetails have regressed to the mean at just under 15 million, between the high of 18 in December and the low of 9 in January. A technical trader would expect the price to saunter vaguely downwards until it hits 9 million again, probably by May. Minmatar Militia is down to 5 systems. That's cause for optimism in the future for speculators. It seems to take about two months for supplies to run out and the price to spike when warzone control is in the doldrums. I don't think it will go wild from there. I'll be stocking up with some lowball orders.
Hookbills look to be the in the middle of a minor upward swing. For the last several months, the highs have been falling and the lows have been rising. It's time for that bird to squirt one way or the other.
Navy Slicers are slowly declining in price. They have been doing so since late last year at least. I expect them to keep doing so. Stock up, I guess.
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