It's official! As of yesterday, I am a member of EVE University, part of the Ivy League alliance. After weeks of waiting, I finally got an interview Sunday at around 11:00 EST. It went smoothly, and I was accepted. I had to go to work, however, so it wasn't until I got back that I was able to do other induction activities such as: registering on the forum, setting up TeamSpeak, and other such tasks. Needless to say, I am excited for when I can log some real playing time with the Uni.
Fly safe!
-Stevie
30 August 2010
25 August 2010
Long-Term Relationships
Out of all the video games out there, EVE probably requires the most commitment. Second place would go to Animal Crossing, because if you want to do everything and collect every item, you have to play for at least one calendar year.
Anyway, I am preparing to enter into a long-term relationship with EVE. Over the past few weeks, I've been developing a one-year skill plan. I will be taking advantage of the two neural remaps offered to players in the first year.
In the next three weeks, I will have all basic learning skills at V and advanced ones at IV. For the next six months after that, I will be training Navigation, Gunnery, and Spaceship Command skills. I aim to be almost fully proficient in Hybrid Turrets and associated damage/tracking skills. I want to be able to use MWD's to their full potential and use as little cap as necessary for both MWD's and the full-on Warp Drive. As for ships, I will be able to fly Battlecruisers, Gallente Cruisers, and Interceptors. This phase calls for crazy Perception and some Willpower.
In the second six months of my plan, I will be training rigging, resistance, and ship upgrading skills. Jump Clones and Implants skills are on the list for V, as well as Targeting, Hull Upgrades, and Mechanic. Here I need crazy Intelligence and some Memory.
I know it may seem silly to fly all the ships first and then worry about making them effective, but I have decided that I'd rather gain experience in an ineffective ship versus twiddling my thumbs in a Frigate or Cruiser for six months while it becomes incrementally more powerful.
It's odd to think that this endeavor could cost me $180 if I don't find a very effective way to make ISK. I am, however, hopeful at he prospect of running some good missions or joining a good corp.
Fly safe!
-Stevie
Anyway, I am preparing to enter into a long-term relationship with EVE. Over the past few weeks, I've been developing a one-year skill plan. I will be taking advantage of the two neural remaps offered to players in the first year.
In the next three weeks, I will have all basic learning skills at V and advanced ones at IV. For the next six months after that, I will be training Navigation, Gunnery, and Spaceship Command skills. I aim to be almost fully proficient in Hybrid Turrets and associated damage/tracking skills. I want to be able to use MWD's to their full potential and use as little cap as necessary for both MWD's and the full-on Warp Drive. As for ships, I will be able to fly Battlecruisers, Gallente Cruisers, and Interceptors. This phase calls for crazy Perception and some Willpower.
In the second six months of my plan, I will be training rigging, resistance, and ship upgrading skills. Jump Clones and Implants skills are on the list for V, as well as Targeting, Hull Upgrades, and Mechanic. Here I need crazy Intelligence and some Memory.
I know it may seem silly to fly all the ships first and then worry about making them effective, but I have decided that I'd rather gain experience in an ineffective ship versus twiddling my thumbs in a Frigate or Cruiser for six months while it becomes incrementally more powerful.
It's odd to think that this endeavor could cost me $180 if I don't find a very effective way to make ISK. I am, however, hopeful at he prospect of running some good missions or joining a good corp.
Fly safe!
-Stevie
20 August 2010
You're Doing It Wrong!
I finally figured out why my Cruiser couldn't hit anything... It's a Cruiser! Even though I was webifying (Tricky EVE spelling...) my targets, my blasters' tracking was too slow. What kind of targets am I shooting at? Level I mission targets: rogue drones, frigates, more frigates, etc. But until I can move up to Level II missions, I'm stuck.
Luckily, I found a solution: outfitting myself with a crazy Tristan. Now, my set-ups are nothing to brag about, so I'm not even gonna attempt to post it. It gets the job done, however. Frigates are sweet, but shuttles are even sweeter. I bought one to go retrieve my Tristan, my Thorax having just hauled outlying stuff to my home station in Amsen, and it was speedy-fast. If they had medium slots, I would totally slap a MWD on one, because there is nothing wrong with too much speed.
Currently, I am finishing up Spaceship Command V. After that, I plan to spend two weeks finishing off my learning skills. I'm going to bring all the basic skills up to Level V and the advanced learning skills to Level IV. Then, I'm going to get myself into an Interceptor, per Manasi's advice. By then, I'll be well past 3M skillpoints, and I will attempt to join Star Defender's corporation if they'll have me.
Fly safe!
-Stevie
PS- Thanks to CrazyKinux for adding me to the EVE Online Player Blog list.
PPS- To be clear, that is the list that everyone's blog goes on, not the Blog Pack. But maybe someday...
Luckily, I found a solution: outfitting myself with a crazy Tristan. Now, my set-ups are nothing to brag about, so I'm not even gonna attempt to post it. It gets the job done, however. Frigates are sweet, but shuttles are even sweeter. I bought one to go retrieve my Tristan, my Thorax having just hauled outlying stuff to my home station in Amsen, and it was speedy-fast. If they had medium slots, I would totally slap a MWD on one, because there is nothing wrong with too much speed.
Currently, I am finishing up Spaceship Command V. After that, I plan to spend two weeks finishing off my learning skills. I'm going to bring all the basic skills up to Level V and the advanced learning skills to Level IV. Then, I'm going to get myself into an Interceptor, per Manasi's advice. By then, I'll be well past 3M skillpoints, and I will attempt to join Star Defender's corporation if they'll have me.
Fly safe!
-Stevie
PS- Thanks to CrazyKinux for adding me to the EVE Online Player Blog list.
PPS- To be clear, that is the list that everyone's blog goes on, not the Blog Pack. But maybe someday...
17 August 2010
Which Way Does It Shoot?
That seems to be the question I'm asking myself more and more. I wanted to buy a Gallente ship, because they are, in my opinion, the coolest looking ships. In addition to aesthetics, however, they use Hybrid Turrets, the small version of which I had already trained in my Caldari tutorial. I am currently flying around a Thorax and attempting to use it as a blaster boat. As we learned in my last post, however, it isn't working. Even with an afterburner, I cannot get within the blasters' optimal range. Even 500m outside their optimal range, they never hit! Thus, I decided to try a rail gun. It's optimal range was longer than it's accuracy fall-off, which seems kind of confusing. When I orbit at 5,000m, I don't hit anything; when I orbit at 7,500m, I don't hit anything. If I constantly switch between 5,000m and 7,500m, though, I will hit one shot whenever I cross a secret line. Needless to say, this isn't working, so I am currently researching alternatives. My next choice would be Caldari, because I already have Caldari Frigate trained to V. Missiles don't appeal to me, though... *sigh* Life in EVE can be so stressful at times.
The good news: I'm moving up in the EVE University qeueu! The bad news: in the time it's taken, I feel that I need them less and less...
Fly safe!
-Stevie
The good news: I'm moving up in the EVE University qeueu! The bad news: in the time it's taken, I feel that I need them less and less...
Fly safe!
-Stevie
11 August 2010
Close Encounters of the Newb Kind
I am, at the moment, bored with EVE, because EVE-University has an odd interview queue process. I can wait in the queue for an hour an end up in a spot behind the one where I started. I guess it'll be a while before I can join them.
In the meantime, I have run off to do some agent missions. I started one in Malkalen, and I was sent to pick up an Amarr diplomat at the Amarr-Caldari Mediation Center, which was luckily in my home system. I warped to the Deadspace Encounter, activated the gate, and appeared near this huge, Star Wars-looking station. I got within 500m of the station and tried unsuccessfully to open the cargo. There was no cargo! Meanwhile, a Republic Thrasher began to take potshots at me from 11km. I ordered my Thorax to orbit him at 500m, because I was really itching to destroy him with my five Anode Particle Blasters. I couldn't get within 10km to use my webifier, though. I booted up the MWD to scoot in close, but "interference in the area" prevented me from activating it. Okay, I thought, I can't kill him, but I can run. Wrong! I aligned for warp and began to drift into the structure. Warp to Station. Wrong! My ship started moving up and down like a see-saw. Okay, I'll just log off.
Now, I've only ever logged off in a station. What will happen if I log off in space? Log back on quickly, and he's still sniping. By now, I'm below half armor (he's been at it for a while). Try warping again, and... Success. I return home and repair. I contemplate buying a ship to go after him, but I just decide to try again. This time, I notice a cargo container. Perfect. I roll up to and pick up the Amarr diplomat before my shields are even 1/4 depleted. My reward was 30,000 ISK and 10 LP to the Caldari Navy. Phooey!
That was too hard for a Level I mission.
Fly safe.
-Stevie
In the meantime, I have run off to do some agent missions. I started one in Malkalen, and I was sent to pick up an Amarr diplomat at the Amarr-Caldari Mediation Center, which was luckily in my home system. I warped to the Deadspace Encounter, activated the gate, and appeared near this huge, Star Wars-looking station. I got within 500m of the station and tried unsuccessfully to open the cargo. There was no cargo! Meanwhile, a Republic Thrasher began to take potshots at me from 11km. I ordered my Thorax to orbit him at 500m, because I was really itching to destroy him with my five Anode Particle Blasters. I couldn't get within 10km to use my webifier, though. I booted up the MWD to scoot in close, but "interference in the area" prevented me from activating it. Okay, I thought, I can't kill him, but I can run. Wrong! I aligned for warp and began to drift into the structure. Warp to Station. Wrong! My ship started moving up and down like a see-saw. Okay, I'll just log off.
Now, I've only ever logged off in a station. What will happen if I log off in space? Log back on quickly, and he's still sniping. By now, I'm below half armor (he's been at it for a while). Try warping again, and... Success. I return home and repair. I contemplate buying a ship to go after him, but I just decide to try again. This time, I notice a cargo container. Perfect. I roll up to and pick up the Amarr diplomat before my shields are even 1/4 depleted. My reward was 30,000 ISK and 10 LP to the Caldari Navy. Phooey!
That was too hard for a Level I mission.
Fly safe.
-Stevie
09 August 2010
Lost and Confused
Today, I finished the last of the tutorial missions. I then sold all of my non-essential gear and loaded the rest up into my Merlin. Sadly, I don't have a destination. I've applied to EVE University, but I haven't gone in for an interview due to my lack of mic, though I'm not even sure if a mic is needed... I should probably check that out. Anyway, the plan is to finish up my learning skills, which is gonna take forever, because I was a silly goose and didn't fully utilize my 100% skill training boost.
So far, I've trained Learning and Analytical Mind up to 5; Logic is a few days away from level 5; the other basic learning skills are all at Level 4. I haven't even started on the advanced learning skills, because I haven't even reached 3 million ISK yet (and each book is 4.5 million ISK!). After the learning skills are trained, I plan to get into a Thorax, which I can already fly but not afford. And after I'm comfy in a T1 cruiser, I'm gonna start training HAC's to make myself useful in 0.0. By then, I'll be well over 3M skillpoints and able to join an 0.0 corporation.
Now, dear readers, I need your opinion: should I buy a real-life PLEX and sell it for game-life money? The 300 million ISK it would garner would last me for quite a while, but losing real money for ISK just doesn't feel like such a good thing to me. I have, however, just gotten $36 for an EVGA rebate, so maybe... I'll need to mull it over.
Fly safe!
-Steve
So far, I've trained Learning and Analytical Mind up to 5; Logic is a few days away from level 5; the other basic learning skills are all at Level 4. I haven't even started on the advanced learning skills, because I haven't even reached 3 million ISK yet (and each book is 4.5 million ISK!). After the learning skills are trained, I plan to get into a Thorax, which I can already fly but not afford. And after I'm comfy in a T1 cruiser, I'm gonna start training HAC's to make myself useful in 0.0. By then, I'll be well over 3M skillpoints and able to join an 0.0 corporation.
Now, dear readers, I need your opinion: should I buy a real-life PLEX and sell it for game-life money? The 300 million ISK it would garner would last me for quite a while, but losing real money for ISK just doesn't feel like such a good thing to me. I have, however, just gotten $36 for an EVGA rebate, so maybe... I'll need to mull it over.
Fly safe!
-Steve
Legitimate Ground for EmoRageQuit
Ogle at this killmail. A pilot named "aystra" was flying a frigate, in Jita, under a war-dec, with 74 PLEXes! All of the PLEXes were destroyed by the gank of a lifetime. This could be one of EVE's biggest oh shit moments, because around $1300 in real money was lost. I'm just a voice in the crowd here, but make sure you go check out everyone's take on it. Cailais has some very interesting things to say about the situation at his blog, The Hydrostatic Capsule.
Fly safe(r than this unlucky due)!
-Steve
Fly safe(r than this unlucky due)!
-Steve
08 August 2010
The Way to Play
Are you a Mac or a PC? My family was a Mac one, and thus, I was prohibited from playing EVE for a long time. I decided to break the mold, however, and build my own PC. It is beautiful, and I love it. Now, I will till you about it:
Processor: Core i5-750 @ stock speeds
Motherboard: EVGA P55 SLI
Memory: GSkill ECO Series (1600MHz, 7-8-7 cas latency)
Hard Drive: Samsung Spinpoint F3 (500GB)
Graphics Card: Asus Radeon 5770
Power Supply: Corsair 650HX
Chassis: CM 690II Basic
Monitor: Dell U2211H
Keyboard: SteelSeries 7G
Mouse: Logitech MX518
My help and inspiration were the friendly people at overclock.net. That website has a great and helpful community, and if you're building for the first time, I recommend that you check it out.
Some EVE-related stuff is coming soon, but that's all for now.
Fly safe!
-Steve
EVE Online: My First MMO
Hello, everyone. My name is Stephen; I am a Senior in high school; and EVE Online is the first Massively Multiplayer Game I have ever played. For almost a year, I was obsessed with EVE, but I could not play on my iMac G5. During that year, I even tried writing a blog called "Planetside Perspective" about EVE, but other player blogs, press releases, and the in-game board didn't provide me enough to write about. As of three weeks ago, however, I built my first Windows computer and immediately signed up for EVE. Now, I have too much to write about.
I am currently training learning skills and playing the tutorials, but shortly, I'll have adventures to write about.
Fly Safe!
-Steve
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)