http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&nbid=3012
Fly careful.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Saturday, October 29, 2011
What Eve really needs to make it real - Part 2
Speaking of unreal elements within Eve Online, another thing that has always broken my belief suspension is the manner in which ships take damage. I can't think of a single instance in real naval combat where a ship functioned perfectly right up to the moment it blew up (HMS Hood not withstanding.) The Bismarck, allegedly, never had its main armor belts pierced by the British. Salvo after salvo and torpedo after torpedo failed to sink the mighty Bismarck.The ship was, however, doomed by a "lucky" torpedo drop that damaged its rudder. The Germans had to scuttle it in the end.
In Eve, our ships go through three phases of damage - shields, armor and structure. Yet our heads up display functions perfectly up until the moment our pod pops out - and even after that. We have target locks until the bitter end. The computer connections between processor and display never fail. Hell, we can even warp out unless actively prevented no matter how much damage the ship's sustained. That's not very realistic. Why can't we have system failures as our armor gets blown off bit by bit?
It certainly would add an interesting bit of realism to the 1x1 PvPs where the victor limps away with 10% structure. Wouldn't it be exciting if his tactical display went out half way through the fight and he had no idea if the pilot he'd just vanquished had friends on the way? What if his navigation computer was knocked offline and he had no idea where the gate or nearest station was? The Bismarck had no choice but to make straight (pun intended) for Brest though every bit of armament on that battle-wagon still functioned perfectly.
Why doesn't this happen in EVE? It would make everyone think twice about attacking someone else. If there was a risk that they might not get home with their loot, even if they were successful, would they still choose to engage? Sure, pilots can overheat modules risking a burnout but the pilot chooses to overheat. He accepts the risk. What if the risk was there whether she wanted it or not? Would that not be more real?
This would revolutionize game play in a way that more cap and less mass ever will. What's the real difference between an armor and a shield tank? One melts fast early and one melts fast later. That's all, a big fat nothing in reality terms. Sure, shields regenerate on their own and armor doesn't but BFD. Armor tanks get extra allotments for armor repairers. Their designed for it. Now, if damage to armor and structure cause component failures the whole game changes.
Shield tanks might have less of a chance of loosing components so long as their buffer holds. This makes them superior early in a fight. However, once they dip into armor the failures come fast and furious. Armor tanks may loose components relatively early in the fight, but not at as high a rate as shield tanks and probably not the most critical systems. Also, armor reppers could have a chance of repairing a damaged component. It'd change the basic nature of both tank types in ways that would make combat more real. Shield tanks would have to have hull reppers for battlefield repairs. Some damage should only be repairable by hull reppers regardless of tank. The useless becomes useful if properly employed. Hull reppers might be the difference in a fleet staying in space and winning the day...
...or limping back to space dock with their slagged components between their legs.
...or limping back to space dock with their slagged components between their legs.
_approaching_New_York,_April_1945.jpg)
Regardless of how it's done, there will be an emotional satisfaction that can only come from believing you were in a real spaceship with real problems to solve. There would be no "best" fit. Every situation would dictate whether your fit passes muster or not. Chance would ensure your honesty. Even the baddest ass Super-Cap fleet could succumb to fate. Even a Titan could lose it's ability to maneuver and wouldn't that be something?
Eve must become more real to survive. They need to not only scrub the art and the mechanics of space travel, CCP also needs to add Murphy back into the game. No fleet fight should ever be a sure thing. No POS bash should ever be a simple matter of calculator and timing. No 1x1 should ever be predictable regardless of what is flown or the experience of the pilot. It's easy for a pilot to know his ship's capabilities. It's real when she doesn't know if those capabilities will be there when she needs them most.
Lastly, with Murphy back in the game, nerfs become unnecessary except in the most extreme cases. Balance is achieved through fate, not programming. Nerfs are like scientific discoveries. For every question answered, two more arise. For every ship balanced, another takes its place. Drake fleets, HAC gangs, Super-cap fleets, Dramiels and the list goes on and on and never ends. Next up are the tier 3 battle-cruisers. That's cool, but it's not the answer CCP. Eve needs a real element of chance.
Lastly, with Murphy back in the game, nerfs become unnecessary except in the most extreme cases. Balance is achieved through fate, not programming. Nerfs are like scientific discoveries. For every question answered, two more arise. For every ship balanced, another takes its place. Drake fleets, HAC gangs, Super-cap fleets, Dramiels and the list goes on and on and never ends. Next up are the tier 3 battle-cruisers. That's cool, but it's not the answer CCP. Eve needs a real element of chance.
What do you think could be done to make Eve combat more real?
Fly Careful.
Friday, October 28, 2011
What Eve really needs to make it real - Part 1
There are a lot of opinions about what Eve needs to make it real - which I hold is a euphemism for making Eve successful. One idea that gets short-shifted it seems is the idea of immersion. Most player see it as a role playing issue and since RPers are a small part of Eve it doesn't matter. I feel that is a mistake.
Immersion is perhaps the most important part of the game - to everyone. What people do consciously isn't what cements the love in their heart. It's all about how they feel subconsciously. It's an emotional cement that no new battle-cruiser or change in PI could ever evoke. No matter how much I get into flying Keiko through space, that enjoyment is invariably ruined when I warp straight through a planet. Logically I know that's the reality of the graphics engine. Subconsciously I scream, "That's not possible!" The mood is lost. The cement it seems doesn't have enough lime.
Warping through planets has been a long standing RP complaint. It's one that may not be fixable. Who knows. I doubt CCP has spent any time trying to resolve it. They too seem to feel like more ships and bigger guns and better fleet fights are what really satisfy Eve players. That's fun for sure, but in the long run it's not satisfying. It's not enough to keep most people playing long term. If you are reading this and have been playing Eve less than six months, look deep down inside and ask yourself what you'll do when you've done everything. Will you stick around? Most don't. That's been an acknowledged issue for a long time.
It's easy to say it can be fixed with continuous "stuff to do in space" expansions. I think that's a misdiagnoses. Until the last expansion, CCP did a good job of that. However, there are many who complained that things were broken. This needed fixed and that needed fixed and all these other things needed fixed. CCP finally created an entire dev team to deal with them. But was this really a need to fix the mechanics of the game? Or, was it a need to fix the "feel" of the game. If the second, that has immersion issue written all over it. With every expansion, the immersion problem has gotten larger and larger. It's now the biggest gorilla in the room, but it's one CCP still finds too easy to dismiss.
In fact, they've been paying it lip service for so long that I'd started to believe that CCP didn't really get it. I've been secretly preparing myself psychologically for that day when they announce New Eden will end. While I take care of my carebear chores, I am already grieving because I didn't think CCP was capable of pulling it out. That is until the latest art video blog made me do a rethink. Here it is.
Did you catch the key statement made by Basement Ben? It blew me away when he said it. I had to rewind to ensure I'd heard it correctly. He said, "It will give you a much better feel for where you are in space." (Emphasis mine.)
Whoa, that's the most awesome thing I've heard a dev say yet! Seriously, what would a space game be if you didn't "feel" like you were in space? It's be a bad one, that's what it'd be. We are all in love with the beauty that is Eve. But let's be honest, it doesn't make you suspend disbelief. No sci-fi or fantasy will work until you get the reader to suspend his or her disbelief. That is rule number one of the genre and those that write it know what I'm talking about. If you are going to tell a story about Internet Spaceships, you better damn well make your player believe they are in a spaceship!
The idea about being able to identify where you are in space by the stellar objects excites me in ways Eve never has before. If man were to really build an interstellar spaceship, how would it navigate? Okay, how would it navigate in a region of space no one had ever been to before? It's easy to say men would just put out some navigation beacons for everyone to use. That isn't very believable in a whole host of scenarios. What if Sleepers blew them up? What if the system had been fought over for so long that all the maintenance intensive beacons went offline? How would you navigate then capsuleer?
In full belief of being in a spaceship, I'd try and navigate by those objects I could see with my eyes or my instruments. What's the first thing we do when we think we're lost? We start looking for landmarks. We try and get our bearings. What sort of objects are those? They're unique. Their easily distinguished from the other objects around them. They're familiar. In space there are many things that fit those needs. Here is a list of some astronomical phenomenon that would work.
Immersion is perhaps the most important part of the game - to everyone. What people do consciously isn't what cements the love in their heart. It's all about how they feel subconsciously. It's an emotional cement that no new battle-cruiser or change in PI could ever evoke. No matter how much I get into flying Keiko through space, that enjoyment is invariably ruined when I warp straight through a planet. Logically I know that's the reality of the graphics engine. Subconsciously I scream, "That's not possible!" The mood is lost. The cement it seems doesn't have enough lime.
Warping through planets has been a long standing RP complaint. It's one that may not be fixable. Who knows. I doubt CCP has spent any time trying to resolve it. They too seem to feel like more ships and bigger guns and better fleet fights are what really satisfy Eve players. That's fun for sure, but in the long run it's not satisfying. It's not enough to keep most people playing long term. If you are reading this and have been playing Eve less than six months, look deep down inside and ask yourself what you'll do when you've done everything. Will you stick around? Most don't. That's been an acknowledged issue for a long time.
It's easy to say it can be fixed with continuous "stuff to do in space" expansions. I think that's a misdiagnoses. Until the last expansion, CCP did a good job of that. However, there are many who complained that things were broken. This needed fixed and that needed fixed and all these other things needed fixed. CCP finally created an entire dev team to deal with them. But was this really a need to fix the mechanics of the game? Or, was it a need to fix the "feel" of the game. If the second, that has immersion issue written all over it. With every expansion, the immersion problem has gotten larger and larger. It's now the biggest gorilla in the room, but it's one CCP still finds too easy to dismiss.
In fact, they've been paying it lip service for so long that I'd started to believe that CCP didn't really get it. I've been secretly preparing myself psychologically for that day when they announce New Eden will end. While I take care of my carebear chores, I am already grieving because I didn't think CCP was capable of pulling it out. That is until the latest art video blog made me do a rethink. Here it is.
Did you catch the key statement made by Basement Ben? It blew me away when he said it. I had to rewind to ensure I'd heard it correctly. He said, "It will give you a much better feel for where you are in space." (Emphasis mine.)
Whoa, that's the most awesome thing I've heard a dev say yet! Seriously, what would a space game be if you didn't "feel" like you were in space? It's be a bad one, that's what it'd be. We are all in love with the beauty that is Eve. But let's be honest, it doesn't make you suspend disbelief. No sci-fi or fantasy will work until you get the reader to suspend his or her disbelief. That is rule number one of the genre and those that write it know what I'm talking about. If you are going to tell a story about Internet Spaceships, you better damn well make your player believe they are in a spaceship!
The idea about being able to identify where you are in space by the stellar objects excites me in ways Eve never has before. If man were to really build an interstellar spaceship, how would it navigate? Okay, how would it navigate in a region of space no one had ever been to before? It's easy to say men would just put out some navigation beacons for everyone to use. That isn't very believable in a whole host of scenarios. What if Sleepers blew them up? What if the system had been fought over for so long that all the maintenance intensive beacons went offline? How would you navigate then capsuleer?
In full belief of being in a spaceship, I'd try and navigate by those objects I could see with my eyes or my instruments. What's the first thing we do when we think we're lost? We start looking for landmarks. We try and get our bearings. What sort of objects are those? They're unique. Their easily distinguished from the other objects around them. They're familiar. In space there are many things that fit those needs. Here is a list of some astronomical phenomenon that would work.
- Nebula
- Pulsars
- Magnetars
- Quasars
- Other Galaxies
- Globular Clusters
A talented capsuleer could identify all these items and use them to navigate. Ship instruments could easily identify them. Honestly, beacons are not needed in space. Space is full of awesome and unique space-marks. Why can't Eve use those too? It would certainly make Eve more real. It would also go a long way in getting players to suspend their disbelief.
Fly careful.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Sometimes it's just about making the ISK.
No matter what a capsuleer purports to be, it's always about making the ISK. I'd love to chat but I've a business to run. Have a look at the blogs in my follow list. They've time to chat it seems and there is much goodness there and plenty of thinky-think thoughts. For me - for now - it's all about making the ISK.
Fly careful.
Fly careful.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Why I won't walk away from EVE until the bitter end.
This is how it started. I know. I was there - well, I was watching it on the T.V. live you should say. I was 5 years old. I remember it vividly. Since that day, it has been my fantasy to be out there, flying between the stars. It's a condition of my generation and I make no apologies for it.
In the year 1985, I was a young man starting out on my own. Times were tough, and I needed an escape from the reality of where I was.
I spent hours nearly every weekend on the Apple IIe in Washington Hall indulging my fantasy as best I could. Elite was my favorite. This was so far from where I was, it was easy to forget the hardships. It was my first taste of flying ships in space. I still remember how hard it was to manually dock at the Coriolis station. It took a long time until I was able to afford the auto-docking computer but I never gave up. I crashed time and again. Nothing could deter me! I knew I wanted more - much more.
My next dose of ships in space came in 1993 with Privateer. This game rocked! Getting a trade route setup and making it to each stop without getting blown up was always a thrill. Many a time I went in with guns blazing, though at heart I was always a simple trader. I can't even recount how many times I slid into dock with everything smoking except the cargo. This was also the first game where the universe started to look as it should. It was exhilarating!
The much anticipated sequel to that fine game came in 1996 - Privateer II. In many ways it was a worthy successor. The Heads Up Display finally arrived. Gone were the Star Trek like consoles. In their place came sleekness and a wide open vista! This game really made me feel like I was in space. I so loved it, I wanted VGA goggles and Bose headphones so I could block out the real world. I had life denial bad in those days. It was a time of great disappointment and even greater change. Privateer II was my constant companion and never let me down. It got me through those dark days.
In 2002, the great change that was my life had run its course. I'd weathered the storm and the next was still beyond the horizon - out of sight. My perseverance was rewarded with a fantasy come true (or so I liked to think.) Earth and Beyond was that reward. Now I could fly with others. I was no longer alone in the universe. Finally, we had Internet Space Ships!
It did not last long but it was glorious. There were so many things wrong with this MMO, yet there were so many things right. To be sure, EA didn't really get Internet Spaceships. They thought in terms of hack and slash fantasy gaming, and their game mirrored that limited mindset. But it was gorgeous and it was Internet Spaceships. I gladly drank the cool-aid though it was over far too quickly.
It took a little known company from a volcanic, snow-covered island called Iceland to figure it out. CCP released Eve Online on May 6, 2003 and it was astounding!
From the beginning, it was obvious this company got Internet Spaceships. Expansion after expansion proved this, even if they weren't always completely bug free. The game grew in subscribers and in legend. I became a capsuleer in 2008. It was the fulfillment of an 18 year quest to be out there, among the stars, with an entire universe to explore. I'd finally made it and the 5 year old inside me squealed with glee.
That is why I will not leave Eve. It is the dream that comes from watching a man step onto a world he was not born on.
Fly careful.
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
PI is changing and what it means for this carebear.
You can read all about the coming changes to PI <at this Dev blog>. I will not repeat what it says. You can read it there - go ahead, I'll wait (how many times have you read THAT in an Eve blog. *LOL*)
It is very easy, at first, to get all up in arms about change. We all saw what went on this summer. Somehow I think these changes will not illicit the shooting of monuments in Jita. However, it will affect the wallets of everyone, including nul-sec PvP pilots and maybe even pirates.
Null-sec will see yet one more expense for holding sovereignty. It may cause an increase in taxes. That'll be up to each corps. Only time will tell. If this dampens the desire for PI in non-empire space, pirates may have fewer opportunities to plunder. It could happen, but I'm not banking on it.
Personally I don't really care about the changes to Custom Offices outside empire space. I'm a citizen of the Gallente Federation. There is no better place to live. 'nuf said.
However, the fact that every Customs Office outside Empire will now be player run (and player destroyed) makes be smile broadly. I manufacture Wetware Mainframes. I see an increase in demand in my future. I'm fairly certain that will mean an increase in gross profit. It'll be nice to see them over a million ISK each again. Of course, that will happen only so long as other's don't switch their production. That may happen but Wetware Mainframes are not currently the number one choice of industrialists in PI. I just like building computers I guess. *grin*
That should offset the increase in cost to heavy lift. Even if it doesn't, I'm not going to cry foul. It's the end of a good run but honestly, the costs of getting things off planet was always a joke. Those costs were never a real consideration in the profitability of my PI. Perhaps now they will be. I'll have to see how much of that increase is offset by a higher gross profit.
The change in how things are gotten in and out of the gravity well is also welcome, but is not a party moment.
What really did get my attention was this statement:
The last thing I'd like to say is this:
Hooray for ship spinning!!! Thank you CCP!
Fly careful.
It is very easy, at first, to get all up in arms about change. We all saw what went on this summer. Somehow I think these changes will not illicit the shooting of monuments in Jita. However, it will affect the wallets of everyone, including nul-sec PvP pilots and maybe even pirates.
Null-sec will see yet one more expense for holding sovereignty. It may cause an increase in taxes. That'll be up to each corps. Only time will tell. If this dampens the desire for PI in non-empire space, pirates may have fewer opportunities to plunder. It could happen, but I'm not banking on it.
Personally I don't really care about the changes to Custom Offices outside empire space. I'm a citizen of the Gallente Federation. There is no better place to live. 'nuf said.
However, the fact that every Customs Office outside Empire will now be player run (and player destroyed) makes be smile broadly. I manufacture Wetware Mainframes. I see an increase in demand in my future. I'm fairly certain that will mean an increase in gross profit. It'll be nice to see them over a million ISK each again. Of course, that will happen only so long as other's don't switch their production. That may happen but Wetware Mainframes are not currently the number one choice of industrialists in PI. I just like building computers I guess. *grin*
That should offset the increase in cost to heavy lift. Even if it doesn't, I'm not going to cry foul. It's the end of a good run but honestly, the costs of getting things off planet was always a joke. Those costs were never a real consideration in the profitability of my PI. Perhaps now they will be. I'll have to see how much of that increase is offset by a higher gross profit.
The change in how things are gotten in and out of the gravity well is also welcome, but is not a party moment.
What really did get my attention was this statement:
"Oh and one more thing, we have increased the bandwidth on all planetary links by a factor of five!"Hot damn! Now THAT will be very nice indeed. Some of my links in Empire PI must needs be upgraded twice. That quadruples the link bandwidth (doubled doubled.) This one sentence at the end of the blog could mean an extra couple of extractor heads per extractor or even a basic factory. It'll mean I won't have to re-position Space Ports as often on large worlds - like gas giants. That alone could save millions a month, while allowing me to continue plumbing the depths of the most productive hot spots. Yes, that one line is a welcome announcement in deed.
The last thing I'd like to say is this:
To everything - spin, spin, spin
There is a reason- spin, spin, spin
And a time for every purpose in the hanger
A time to be cloned, a time to fit
A time to stack, a time to split
A time to buy, a time to sell
A time to LOL, a time to troll
To everything - spin, spin, spin
There is a reason- spin, spin, spin
And a time for every purpose in the hanger
A time to invent, a time to process
A time to research, a time to fail
A time to sit on a couch
A time to stare at doors in anger
To everything - spin, spin, spin
There is a reason- spin, spin, spin
And a time for every purpose in the hanger
A time of war, a time of peace
A time of chat, a time of block
A time you may undock
A time to refrain from undocking
To everything - spin, spin, spin
There is a reason- spin, spin, spin
And a time for every purpose in the hanger
A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to fight, a time to burn
A time to taunt, a time for tears
A time of GF, I swear it's not too late!
Hooray for ship spinning!!! Thank you CCP!
Fly careful.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
I was mistaken. That's all.
I don't really read Twitter. However, once in awhile I get curious. This was in response to my post, "The Goons screwed up."
A troll! Yee-haw! It's a new milestone. Of course, I could have been trolled before and not even noticed. I don't care about such things. Everyone is entitled to an opinion - even an obnoxious one. Nevertheless, I'll count this as my first official trolling. Thanks!
BTW, I was wrong. Prices climbed again a few days after my post. Evidently the Goons didn't screw up.
Good on them! This does not make me stupid however. I unequivocally am not and know it. It only makes me mistaken, and we are all mistaken from time to time. That's how we learn and grow as human beings. I'm good with that.
Fly careful.
@EnderCapitalGAndrew Wiggin
@Mabrick You're aware that the speculation is ending just before supply runs out, right? Hint: You're stupid#eveonline#tweetfleet
A troll! Yee-haw! It's a new milestone. Of course, I could have been trolled before and not even noticed. I don't care about such things. Everyone is entitled to an opinion - even an obnoxious one. Nevertheless, I'll count this as my first official trolling. Thanks!
BTW, I was wrong. Prices climbed again a few days after my post. Evidently the Goons didn't screw up.
Fly careful.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Eve is beautiful... still.
Not much was going on in the ol' home system last night. The only thing revealed by Peeping Tom was an unstable wormhole. Being as I had some time to kill I figured I'd check it out.
The stellar catalog listed this particular wormhole as leading to a class 2 system. It would be occupied. I'd not found a class 1 or class 2 that wasn't. Still, curiosity being what it is, I jumped through the wormhole.
A quick d-scan showed a Mammoth somewhere not close and a small fortune in POS defensive gear. Someone was evidently more than a little paranoid. I moved out under cloak to investigate. That's when I noticed something odd. My max velocity under cloak was considerably faster in this wormhole system
I immediately looked up from my instruments and scanned the system with my naked eyes. It's something that a capsuleer can fall out of the habit of doing. We are so used to perceiving New Eden through our instruments, because they do give a much fuller idea of what's out there, that we forget to use our own eyes sometimes. We can miss a lot if we don't.
It was the first Black Hole I'd ever seen. Coruscating waves of matter fell toward the event horizon at speeds nearing C. As each particle fell to its doom, it screamed its death-rage in a vibrant panoply of sometimes clashing brilliance. Staring at it, my eyes soon began to water. I'd like to believe it was because of the sensory overload they received from the energy-liberation happening in front of them - but that's probably not entirely accurate.
I don't know how long I stared at the Black Hole. Nothing on my instrument panel alerted me to any danger. I remained cloaked, hurtling through the void and oblivious to the concerns of men or machines. Eventually, reluctantly, I pulled my eyes down to my instruments once more. There was a POS to locate.
The system was fairly large - at least 30 AU. I didn't want to pop probes so I d-scanned each planet separately. I eventually located the POS orbiting the seventh moon of the seventh planet. Not just paranoid, but superstitious as well it seemed.
I wonder how many defenses are enough when I see something like this. Obviously this corporation intended to keep their investments safe. There were no active pilots within the force field. The Mammoth on d-scan was also not inside the force field. It didn't matter. I had business to attend too. I warped back to the wormhole and returned home.
I docked, transferred to Keiko and headed for Oursulaert. I had just undocked when I received a communication request. As I aligned for my first gate, I looked up the pilot's employment record and bio. I'm a busy carebear and don't waste my time with idle chit-chat typically. It also assures that I won't have to listen to banal flim-flam.
This pilot had been placed in a pod less than 2 weeks ago. Even if he'd already learned the art of a New Eden con, I doubt he'd get very far. I've been around the system a few times. I accepted the request on the off chance that it was truly someone wishing to just introduce themselves and say hello.
It's nice when rewards come.
Fly careful.
A quick d-scan showed a Mammoth somewhere not close and a small fortune in POS defensive gear. Someone was evidently more than a little paranoid. I moved out under cloak to investigate. That's when I noticed something odd. My max velocity under cloak was considerably faster in this wormhole system
I immediately looked up from my instruments and scanned the system with my naked eyes. It's something that a capsuleer can fall out of the habit of doing. We are so used to perceiving New Eden through our instruments, because they do give a much fuller idea of what's out there, that we forget to use our own eyes sometimes. We can miss a lot if we don't.
I don't know how long I stared at the Black Hole. Nothing on my instrument panel alerted me to any danger. I remained cloaked, hurtling through the void and oblivious to the concerns of men or machines. Eventually, reluctantly, I pulled my eyes down to my instruments once more. There was a POS to locate.
The system was fairly large - at least 30 AU. I didn't want to pop probes so I d-scanned each planet separately. I eventually located the POS orbiting the seventh moon of the seventh planet. Not just paranoid, but superstitious as well it seemed.
I docked, transferred to Keiko and headed for Oursulaert. I had just undocked when I received a communication request. As I aligned for my first gate, I looked up the pilot's employment record and bio. I'm a busy carebear and don't waste my time with idle chit-chat typically. It also assures that I won't have to listen to banal flim-flam.
This pilot had been placed in a pod less than 2 weeks ago. Even if he'd already learned the art of a New Eden con, I doubt he'd get very far. I've been around the system a few times. I accepted the request on the off chance that it was truly someone wishing to just introduce themselves and say hello.
It's nice when rewards come.
[ 2011.10.15 02:01:43 ] Apostic-fire > Well just notice our home was the same place and we both have a one member corp lolI spent the rest of my run to Oursulaert and back getting to know a bright new capsuleer. I'm taking his offer seriously. I could boost his mining operations considerably with Keiko. It's what he was designed to do after all. It's what I was designed to do come to think of it.
[ 2011.10.15 02:01:48 ] Apostic-fire > thought Id say hey
[ 2011.10.15 02:02:02 ] Mabrick > LOL. Hello!
[ 2011.10.15 02:02:18 ] Apostic-fire > You mine and make, I want to build and fight, so if you ever need a little crusier escort just holla
[ 2011.10.15 02:02:57 ] Apostic-fire > Scince we like the same hole, maybe we could go into an alliance or somethin, after we get to know each other a bit
Fly careful.
Thursday, October 13, 2011
I now know what the 'low' in low-sec means.
I had a chance to put in a few hours in Peeping Tom, my Arazu. It was a great opportunity to practice my scanning skills and I had time to do it somewhere serious. I set my sights on the neighboring low-sec system in which I've had several safe spots for several years.
I got through the gate without seeing a soul. There were only two capsuleers in local. Of course, that doesn't mean anything really. Trouble is always just a jump away and I had good intelligence from a friend that this system has seen hot drop activity in the last 6 months. As my gate cloak dropped, I activated the covert ops module and soon I was near my first safe spot.
A quick d-scan showed no ships nearby so I de-cloaked, bumped the afterburner on Peeping Tom and popped five core scanning probes. I was soon safely hidden again. I programmed my probes to take up the standard four leaf clover formation and soon I was zeroing in on my first signal.
Less than 30 minutes later I'd scanned down everything in the system. Usually five probes will lock anything down. The last signal though was tough. I popped two more probes and brought them in close as I could while keeping them evenly spaced. I had to jockey probe positions three times before I locked the signal down. What the probes had found made my mouth water.
Crokite, Dark Ochre and Gneiss are ores I don't come across often. However, flying alone has drawbacks. I knew if I tried mining the site, I'd be scanned down before I could fill a single hold. Not being suicidal, and a miser by nature, I decided to leave it for the mercenary corp that has a POS in the system. I turned my sites on the other signals.
I decided to go after one of the Radar sites. I've seen enough of the other side of wormholes and besides, I wanted to give Peeping Tom a proper trial worthy of his recent refit. I made my choice.
I warped to a spot near the site and reconnoitered. It was lightly guarded - for the moment.
Since I was still cloaked and had the advantage, I decided to take out the stasis battery to the right side of the complex. Peeping Tom was fast enough I could evade anything that would do him serious harm but the stasis battery could get me into a lot of hot water fast.
I was vindicated when I dropped cloak 50 kilometers from the battery and launched my drones. With full afterburner on, the battery held me to a measly 150 meters per second. Unfortunately for the battery, there was nothing around to keep my 4 Hammerhead IIs from making Swiss cheese of it. I was soon able to re-cloak and mosey over to the first Info Shard.
No sooner had I started to pry open its secrets when white hats arrived to try and stop my hack.
Had they landed on top of me, I might have been in trouble. Peeping Tom has good EHP but it's an exploration ship, not a gunship. I finished my hack on the Info Shard, downloaded it's secrets to my system, and then waited a bit longer for the guards to get close enough. At 50 kilometers I unleashed the drones and began keeping my distance. They cruisers got no closer. Yes, I kite with the best of them. They got a couple wild shots off at Peeping Tom but barely flared his shields. Interestingly enough, four Hammerhead IIs can take out three cruisers and a dozen frigates. Only one of the drones ever got into armor. I had him back and repaired in no time.
After hacking into all the Info Shards and other things floating around, I warped for home. Fortunately no one got curious and showed up while I was hacking things. I guess they all had better things to do.
I didn't make a great deal from the heist - a few million ISK at best. Except for the gravimetric site, there was nothing of value I couldn't find at home. I made no more ISK than I've made in hi-sec on similar sites. The ISK to risk ratio was certainly too low for my tastes. It gives new meaning to the term low-sec.
Fly careful.
I got through the gate without seeing a soul. There were only two capsuleers in local. Of course, that doesn't mean anything really. Trouble is always just a jump away and I had good intelligence from a friend that this system has seen hot drop activity in the last 6 months. As my gate cloak dropped, I activated the covert ops module and soon I was near my first safe spot.
A quick d-scan showed no ships nearby so I de-cloaked, bumped the afterburner on Peeping Tom and popped five core scanning probes. I was soon safely hidden again. I programmed my probes to take up the standard four leaf clover formation and soon I was zeroing in on my first signal.
I decided to go after one of the Radar sites. I've seen enough of the other side of wormholes and besides, I wanted to give Peeping Tom a proper trial worthy of his recent refit. I made my choice.
I was vindicated when I dropped cloak 50 kilometers from the battery and launched my drones. With full afterburner on, the battery held me to a measly 150 meters per second. Unfortunately for the battery, there was nothing around to keep my 4 Hammerhead IIs from making Swiss cheese of it. I was soon able to re-cloak and mosey over to the first Info Shard.
No sooner had I started to pry open its secrets when white hats arrived to try and stop my hack.
After hacking into all the Info Shards and other things floating around, I warped for home. Fortunately no one got curious and showed up while I was hacking things. I guess they all had better things to do.
I didn't make a great deal from the heist - a few million ISK at best. Except for the gravimetric site, there was nothing of value I couldn't find at home. I made no more ISK than I've made in hi-sec on similar sites. The ISK to risk ratio was certainly too low for my tastes. It gives new meaning to the term low-sec.
Fly careful.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
The Goons screwed up - an Industrialist's take on the Blue Ice debacle.
Paul Clavet over on My Loot, Your Tears ran some numbers on what it costs a miner to mine Blue Ice right now. He intonated that any Industrialist would be stupid to mine Blue Ice right now. Perhaps, but that's not what this article is about.
The Goons are blowing it. The market play is over. It's spent. The Goons need to take their winnings and walk away from the table. Here's why.
The Goons have had good success in pushing prices up. The latest moving averages show that the price has doubled.
But the shock has worn off. The price is now flat and has been for a day. The trend is downward. That's a trigger point to sell. It's one thing to have a high price. It's another to have buyers. The sell off will take longer than the buy in. The entire time the price will drop steadily while the market finds equilibrium again. If they don't start the sell, someone else will. They don't have all the Oxygen Isotopes.
Then there's the price of Mackinaws.
The price is already trending down. They've already lost 50% of their potential profit. Obviously Mackinaws were purchased in bulk just prior to the start of this Mackageddon, but this hand is playing out much faster.The Goons are already past their trigger and loosing more ISK the longer they wait.
I checked Ice Harvesters and some other ice mining gear and there was no activity on these items. That was a mistake. They should have bought up ALL the ice mining gear. Then they should have sold it at rock bottom prices. This would have made the play last longer because miners would have gotten a better return on their efforts.
Hell, the Goons should have sold subsidized Mackinaws! If they could drive the price of a Mackinaw and gear BELOW the amount a miner could still make Blue Ice mining, they could have drawn this play out a very, very long time. The key is to control the supply, not eliminate those who provide it.
How cheap should they sell Mackinaws? Well, here is insurance on my Hulk Blue Bucket.
A Mackinaw is, of course, cheaper but it's the percentage that's important - not the totals. I can recoup 36 million credits of my hulk with insurance or about 20% of it's cost. If it was a Mackinaw, that would mean I'd need to make 120 million ISK to break even. That drops mining time to 6.5 hours or so. If the Goons drop the hull price in half and practically give away modules it might only take 3 hours. Paul's own estimates give a miner at least 4 or 5 hours before they're popped. Miners would make a little profit. They'd have fun trying to "mine dangerously" (we like a little excitement from time to time.) The price of Oxygen Isotopes would continue to climb slowly as it's rarity took hold.
So what's the point of all this mumbling? The Goons have already hit their trigger point. They are past maximum profit. They also did nothing to draw out "the crisis" as long as possible. They never stopped to consider that it would be better to allow miners to make a little so they could make a whole lot more. It seems to me that the entire operation is rather amateurish. The Goons should go back to PvP. As Industrialists I find them wanting.
Fly careful.
The Goons are blowing it. The market play is over. It's spent. The Goons need to take their winnings and walk away from the table. Here's why.
The Goons have had good success in pushing prices up. The latest moving averages show that the price has doubled.
But the shock has worn off. The price is now flat and has been for a day. The trend is downward. That's a trigger point to sell. It's one thing to have a high price. It's another to have buyers. The sell off will take longer than the buy in. The entire time the price will drop steadily while the market finds equilibrium again. If they don't start the sell, someone else will. They don't have all the Oxygen Isotopes.
Then there's the price of Mackinaws.
The price is already trending down. They've already lost 50% of their potential profit. Obviously Mackinaws were purchased in bulk just prior to the start of this Mackageddon, but this hand is playing out much faster.The Goons are already past their trigger and loosing more ISK the longer they wait.
I checked Ice Harvesters and some other ice mining gear and there was no activity on these items. That was a mistake. They should have bought up ALL the ice mining gear. Then they should have sold it at rock bottom prices. This would have made the play last longer because miners would have gotten a better return on their efforts.
Hell, the Goons should have sold subsidized Mackinaws! If they could drive the price of a Mackinaw and gear BELOW the amount a miner could still make Blue Ice mining, they could have drawn this play out a very, very long time. The key is to control the supply, not eliminate those who provide it.
How cheap should they sell Mackinaws? Well, here is insurance on my Hulk Blue Bucket.
A Mackinaw is, of course, cheaper but it's the percentage that's important - not the totals. I can recoup 36 million credits of my hulk with insurance or about 20% of it's cost. If it was a Mackinaw, that would mean I'd need to make 120 million ISK to break even. That drops mining time to 6.5 hours or so. If the Goons drop the hull price in half and practically give away modules it might only take 3 hours. Paul's own estimates give a miner at least 4 or 5 hours before they're popped. Miners would make a little profit. They'd have fun trying to "mine dangerously" (we like a little excitement from time to time.) The price of Oxygen Isotopes would continue to climb slowly as it's rarity took hold.
So what's the point of all this mumbling? The Goons have already hit their trigger point. They are past maximum profit. They also did nothing to draw out "the crisis" as long as possible. They never stopped to consider that it would be better to allow miners to make a little so they could make a whole lot more. It seems to me that the entire operation is rather amateurish. The Goons should go back to PvP. As Industrialists I find them wanting.
Fly careful.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Dear Mr. Pétursson.
Sir,
That took guts. Thank you.
I also noticed that you said nothing about canceling the rest of Incarna. If I may quote,
Fly careful.
That took guts. Thank you.
I also noticed that you said nothing about canceling the rest of Incarna. If I may quote,
"Once Incarna hits its stride, EVE will be more personal, and thus more accessible to general audiences. Visual self-expression in a virtual setting is a core psychological component of gaming; most people need to see their avatars, or something vaguely humanoid, or else they don’t connect with the game."Excellent, I couldn't agree more. I do look forward to having a cold virtual beer with others in the future.
Fly careful.
Monday, October 3, 2011
TiDi - I do not think it means what you think it means.
I have a concern about what I saw in the Time Dilation video here. You've probably seen it but follow the link if you haven't and watch it. That will make my concern a bit more understandable.
As background, let me state that I spend a lot of time using remote control software to access remote computers and do work on them. By "a lot of time" I mean hours and hours. It's my job. Remote control software has revolutionized the IT world (goodbye windshield time!) but it is not without its drawbacks.
For instance, when a connection is slow, it can take a long time (relatively speaking) to do anything. The entire session can devolve into click, wait, wait, wait - wait some more. OMG, is it doing anything? At times it is hard to know if your click ran the desired application and your screen just hasn't refreshed or if the application hung. Or perhaps, you think, you missed the icon or the menu slid away at the last moment and you didn't see the miss. You wonder if the double-click was only a single click and the system timed out waiting for the second click.
Screen refresh is critical. It is the only way our brain gets feedback. The human mind is an interesting place as, no doubt, all of you can attest. One thing it does not like to do is wait for feedback. It wants feedback straight away. Without feedback, doubt sets in. Doubt leads to worry. Worry leads to frustration. Frustration leads to another click. We've all done it. I've done it. That second click can have disastrous effects causing even more frustration. Who's sat in front of a remote screen and watched twenty thousand messages pop-up stating that the application is already running? Or worse yet, the very act of re-clicking does cause the system to hang and now you're totally screwed.
So how does this relate to TiDi you ask? The problem is that TiDi resolves the server overload issue but it doesn't address the biggest user issue. That is lack of feedback. As I understand it, performance in large fleet fights gets so flaky that users can't activate and deactivate modules or get anything to happen. Well, how would they know something happened? They click and then they wait to see if the module flashes and the white circle starts to move. On the client side, the situation looks little different than before. You'll have to wait for the server to confirm the click and for the client to flash the icon and start the little white circle. If the server is running slower than your doubt, you'll click again. I'd wager ISK on it. If you think it'll be okay because logically you know the server will eventually get to your click, I think you are fooling yourself. It'll still go like this:
Click. Wait. Click. Wait. Click. Wait. WTF, my shields are half gone! CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK. Boom.
I seriously doubt it will please the player base beyond the fact that at least CCP is trying to resolve the problem. YMMV; I certainly hope it does. I doubt it though. In the video there is no user waiting for feedback. It's all done by bots. They couldn't possibly have thought about the feedback issue - or could they? Perhaps somewhat. We do have the feedback icon that TiDi is active. However, what about the rest of the UI?
Fly careful.
As background, let me state that I spend a lot of time using remote control software to access remote computers and do work on them. By "a lot of time" I mean hours and hours. It's my job. Remote control software has revolutionized the IT world (goodbye windshield time!) but it is not without its drawbacks.
For instance, when a connection is slow, it can take a long time (relatively speaking) to do anything. The entire session can devolve into click, wait, wait, wait - wait some more. OMG, is it doing anything? At times it is hard to know if your click ran the desired application and your screen just hasn't refreshed or if the application hung. Or perhaps, you think, you missed the icon or the menu slid away at the last moment and you didn't see the miss. You wonder if the double-click was only a single click and the system timed out waiting for the second click.
Screen refresh is critical. It is the only way our brain gets feedback. The human mind is an interesting place as, no doubt, all of you can attest. One thing it does not like to do is wait for feedback. It wants feedback straight away. Without feedback, doubt sets in. Doubt leads to worry. Worry leads to frustration. Frustration leads to another click. We've all done it. I've done it. That second click can have disastrous effects causing even more frustration. Who's sat in front of a remote screen and watched twenty thousand messages pop-up stating that the application is already running? Or worse yet, the very act of re-clicking does cause the system to hang and now you're totally screwed.
So how does this relate to TiDi you ask? The problem is that TiDi resolves the server overload issue but it doesn't address the biggest user issue. That is lack of feedback. As I understand it, performance in large fleet fights gets so flaky that users can't activate and deactivate modules or get anything to happen. Well, how would they know something happened? They click and then they wait to see if the module flashes and the white circle starts to move. On the client side, the situation looks little different than before. You'll have to wait for the server to confirm the click and for the client to flash the icon and start the little white circle. If the server is running slower than your doubt, you'll click again. I'd wager ISK on it. If you think it'll be okay because logically you know the server will eventually get to your click, I think you are fooling yourself. It'll still go like this:
Click. Wait. Click. Wait. Click. Wait. WTF, my shields are half gone! CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK, CLICK. Boom.
I seriously doubt it will please the player base beyond the fact that at least CCP is trying to resolve the problem. YMMV; I certainly hope it does. I doubt it though. In the video there is no user waiting for feedback. It's all done by bots. They couldn't possibly have thought about the feedback issue - or could they? Perhaps somewhat. We do have the feedback icon that TiDi is active. However, what about the rest of the UI?
Fly careful.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)