Thursday, December 2, 2010

Eve Advice: 3 Websites critical to Eve

3 Websites every pilot should use...

Eve Survival: http://eve-survival.org
Specifically, the bit around Mission Reports. This site lists every single mission possible. It tells you exactly what will spawn and often provides pictures of the "rooms". It tells you exactly what tank to fit, what damage to deal, and will provide some strategy advice. It works nicely with the in-game browser. If you lose even one ship because you didn't know shooting the wrong mob would aggro the room it will only be because you didn't read the Mission Report. It may still happen, but just realize it was 100% preventable.

Eve Central: http://eve-central.com
Yes, I know you're going to say the market downloads are stale and they are, but it is still very useful as a fast way to check "general" pricing. Do not use it as the absolute tool of max profit. It isn't. But if you just can't remember if that skill book is 1 million or 3... Eve Central will instantly sort you out. Very handy for that price check in Jita, Rens, etc.

Dotlan: http://evemaps.dotlan.net
Ah I remember the days before dotlan... Maps were static and often out of date. It sucked and you basically had to memorize. Looking up things like true security status was nigh impossible. Now it is all totally easy for you new pilots. Dotlan is hugely powerful. Not only does it map out the systems, it can also provide one-click views to ship kills, station services, sov, moons, moon minerals, belts, and crap loads more. Later in life, you will appreciate the Jump Tool for capital pilots. Maps are essential for PvP roams. You can quickly spot "pockets", choke points, and backdoor routes for escape. Probably the most useful website in Eve.

There are dozens of other tools, but these 3 are what I would call "essential".

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Derelik: A new beginning

The ages pass in to shadow as alliances rise and fall. The years slip by in a blur of alarm klaxons and missile impacts. The endless wars of New Eden echo in our minds where they are silent in space. These immortal minds… a curse… a blessing… a source of wealth… But at what cost? Immortals can not know what lies behind the final veil… and so we focus only on the next goal, perhaps only on the next day.

All good alliances must come to an end. Khanid Trade Syndicate still holds its name, but its heart is dead. The shell will ramble on for some time and maybe it will even find a new heart, but not today. Mighty Domitainvs seized all the possessions he could and left—a betrayal the likes of which can only be known in New Eden. But this is not the cause of death to KTS. KTS was dying and its own illness infected Domi to what I can only describe as madness.

We could debate the causes, the effects, the reasons, the lies, and the truths all endlessly. But my Master can only do what all Immortals do… live on.

We left KTS behind. We struck out on our own again. We spent many months in Gallente space re-consolidating assets and seeking new allies. Our friends in Phoenix Division never disappeared, they had only moved on to new wars and conquests. But more war and conquest was not what my Master wanted. We quietly hired out to the Federation Navy for a while. We spent a lot of time in station. And then, as always, something happened.

A few of the war torn pilots of PHDV rumbled out of nullsec space fresh from battle and blood. They were intent on forging a new corp of new pilots. Most of them were not even in their first battlships yet. The rally call went out, “We’re back! Come join together again our missed brothers and sisters.” So we joined. We have moved again to Derelik to start again. It passes the time… and we seem to have very long time to pass.

~Porter Thorne, Servant of Masada Akiva, Tribe Research And Development [.TRAD]

Monday, November 22, 2010

Nuns on the Run / Death Angel

Two completely different games, but both pretty fun. I played both this last weekend.

Nuns on the Run is your traditional board game with a fold out board, dice, and some cardboard tokens. The idea is simple, play 1 of 6 novites sneaking around the convent at night while the Prioress and Abbess patrol the grounds. This game manages to capture a little bit of the drama you feel playing hide and sneak as a kid. The only quirky bit is that the novites must write down each of their moves in secret so no one really gets to discover how crazy the chase was until someone wins. The novite wins when she gets the right color key, unlocks the door to her randomly chosen objective, and gets back to her room undetected. This game is high on fun factor, but would be harder for kids under about 10 to figure out. You have to count off your moves in secret and write them down. This might be a challenge for the younger players.

Death Angel is one of Fantasy Flight's small format games. The box is only about 5 inches by 8 inches. Inside is a collection of cards and some cardboard "support" tokens. Death Angel is a spin-off game to the Games Workshop Warhammer 40,000 franchise. It is a cooperative game where the plays each take control of a pair of Space Marines as they attempt to explore and neutralize an infested "space hulk". The game makes very creative use of simple cards to create a quite complex game. Players familiar with Warhammer will like the concept, but the rules are so unlike Warhammer 40k that no experience is necessary. The complexity will rule out the casual or younger game player.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Castle Ravenloft and Dungeons & Dragons

I'd say about when I was 12 I tried to figure out Expert Dungeons & Dragons (blue box). I never properly got the hang of it. But it did set the stage for long enjoyment of games of all sorts. D&D has changed dramatically since then. Gary Gygax is dead. The mighty TSR publishing was bought by some unknown upstarted called Wizards of the Coast--a cheesy card game maker! WotC rose to lofty heights to be deftly devoured by massive Hasbro. D&D has progressed in to today's world of MMORPGs. WotC has even struggled to make D&D work and I think they have finally hit on the means to keep it going. TSR discovered that once you published your books and your target market had bought them... you were basically stuck. You had to find some excuse to print a new revision to have a new product to sell. Customers hated this and it mucked up the way the game was played. WotC has the same problem, but now that they have teamed up with Hasbro, a toy manufacturing giant, they realized they could pump out game accessories.

Now we see the market full of pre-painted plastic miniatures, game tokens, plastic fold-out maps, handy reference cards and we are sure to see more of these game aids. They let WotC keep a steady product stream without constant re-writes to the rules. Now we see another money-making spin off in to board games like Castle Ravenloft.

In the US, Castle Ravenloft retails for about $50--making it one of the most inexpensive "dense" games out there. The box is packed full of cardboard printed dungeon tiles, cards, plastic monsters/heroes, and tokens. All of these are immediately resusable by the "real" Dungeons & Dragons game (should you choose). This game works on the same basic mechanics of D&D only greatly simplified to be a board game. But it quite conveniently prepares the players for the jump to full RPGs by acquainting them with battle mechanics, movement, and map tactics. It is a fully cooperative game where no "Dungeon Master" is required. Everyone gets to be a player. It is really a brilliant game and product for WotC.

WotC has pushed their table top game to be more like the undeniably successful World of Warcraft MMORPG. Class roles are more regimented and level dependent powers are now ubiquiteous across all classes. But this is not a move without controversy. The departure from the D&D 3.5 rules is massive and essentially un-convertable. No old 3.5 character could really be transfered cleanly to the new rules. In the gulf an old/new publisher, Piazo, has created Pathfinder.

Pathfinder is a mini-step improvement on the D&D 3.5 rules. It follows all the same conventions with a few modifications. Piazo is the old publisher of Dungeon Magazine and has been around since the TSR days. Out of the blue, they appear to be taking the customers left behind by WotC. As a print publisher, they have cranked out dozens of new books full of glossy print and fantastic art. Piazo knows the print business. But will it endure? Who can say?

I bought Castle Ravenloft about a month ago and have played it over a dozen times with adult gamer friends and with the family at home. It is a great, fast, fun game to sit down to. I definite gateway game for those gamer dads trying to rase gamer children!

Game on!

Monday, November 15, 2010

Fanservice

Oi, it's been a while. I've actually been doing lots of game related things and just too busy to catch up. I'll jump in at the end and work my way backward. So today, I wanted share a new word I discovered for a very old concept and stereotype... Fanservice. Fanservice is when a bit of media puts in a lot of typically female sexuality for no apparent reason other than to please its typically male audience. This is generally associated with anime and indeed it has literally hundreds of fine examples.

Sometimes the fanservice is light and generally adds to the story. In Ghost in the Shell there are several episodes where the darker characters are dealing with pleasure-bots in some fashion. These bots are displayed as eyecandy. But this is not strictly fanservice since the plot actually has something to do with the issue of sex trade as a bad thing. A better example in GitS is the variety of shots of Major Kusanagi who will appear in various otherwise professional settings in a form fitting teddy and boots. I tend to laugh at these scenes as none of the conservative characters in the series ever seem to notice. "Yeah, I am the Major. Yes, I am nearly naked. Now on to business." This doesn't happen in every scene or episode, so one would rate GitS as pretty light on the fanservice.

A better and completely over the top example would be the show I watched this weekend, Godannar (pictured above). OMG. Godannar is your basic "robots that can join together to smash giant monsters" story. There are a million of these in anime. But what makes Godannar stand out is the immense dose of fanservice. The female characters of the series all fill the full spectrum of roles from the Head of the Defense force to full robot pilots to lowly mechanics. They are given equal ground in terms of status and intellect, but wowzer... they also have giant bazooms that bounce fully independently and with a high degree of animation. No opportunity for a windblown upskirt shot is missed and I can't mention the gym workout scenes without blushing. The critical bit about fanservice is that it can't really be overtly erotic. The characters in Godannar never dwell on their sexuality or even imply that it occuring. The story is about the robots and the monsters... pay no attention to the perfectly heart-shaped booty in the frame. Say was that a hint of... uh... nevermind.

Godannar is good fun. It isn't cerebral. The emotional content is easily on par with the likes of Robotech or Pokemon. But it can't be beat as an example of high fanservice.

Game on!

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Eve Online Planetary Interaction

A few thoughts about Planetary Interaction...

I control 9 worlds now between 2 accounts.

What cycle time works best?

So far what I have seen is that using the 5 hour cycle times allows for far more benefit than other times. I can set one cycle just before bed, sleep for 8, set another cycle in the morning, work for 8 hours, set another cycle when I get home. It apears that running the 5 hour cycle even twice a day produces more raw material than the 24 hour cycle. The 96 hour cycle is pointless unless you're going on vacation.

What layout works best?

I piddled around with different builds, but what appears to create the maximum resources is to place 3-4 extractors in a tight group right on top of a resource hot spot. Delever thier material to a Launch Pad then route from the Lauch Pad to an adjacent Processor. Remember to route the Processor back to the Launch Pad. This will create a tight bundle of about 5-6 objects over a hot spot. With Advanced CC's you can have at least 3 groupings per planet--possibly 4 if you're happy with only 2-3 Extractors per group. You want to deliver to the Launch Pad first because (hopefully) your rate of extraction exceed your rate of manufacturing. Excess material routed to a full Processor is lost, the Launch Pad storage area acts as a buffer.

Why Launch Pads and not Storage Silos?

LP's can store 10,000 m3 while Storage Silos only get 5k. Yes, Silos use a lot less Command Center CPU, but nothing seems to really chew up CPU anyway. By not not even attempting to link far-flung groupings you save tons of Power allowing more Extractors and Processors--more ISK. Besides you can't get your goods out of a Silo and into your ship without a Launch Pad anyway. The Command Center launch feature only allows 500 m3 at a time. A word of caution though, each Launch Pad is 900,000 ISK--it is the most expensive PI object after the Command Center.

What about Stage 2+ goods?

My focus is producing basic raw materials for now. Until CCP removes the NPC seeded goods, there isn't much point in making or selling any PI materials. But in preparation I have made one of my planets a "factory" where I have a cluster of Stage 2 (Advanced) Processors. Once I gather all the raw materials from the other planets, I can Import them to my factory planet and make anything.

What do you think PI will do to the markets?

Well, already I can see folks buying up NPC seeded goods by the freighter load. Folks are expecting the prices to rise. For a while those that bloat themselves on trade goods may realize a profit. PI takes time and has some hard limits to what can be maximally produced. No one will be able to harvest mass quantities alone which means the market will be mostly dominated by small producers. These small quantities will encourage Traders to buy out whole regions and repost for slight mark-ups. The goods most likely to move in Empire are the POS fuels--Oxygen, Mechanical Parts, Robotics, Coolant, and Enriched Uranium.

What is interesting is what this will do to Empire markets. Now that 0.0 space can produce their own fuels, it will be unlikely that Alliances will come to Empire for fuels. Empire certainly won't be going to Nullsec for purchasing so the POS fuel market in Empire will be dependent on the owners of Empire towers... Setting up Empire towers is difficult and generally only used for Labs. They are also typically placed by Corps/Pilots who love industry anyway and will likely be making their own fuel! With demand reduced, I would not expect the Empire PI goods market to be much above cost (if at all).

I would predict that most ppl doing Planet harvesting will do it solely to supply their own needs--more out of convenience than need or cost.

What about Dust 514? Will I lose my investment?

Taking any guesses about what CCP may or may not do with DUST 514 are purely wild guesses. CCP has consistently talked up their cool expansions and then delivered only minimal features. While we can't predict what they may do, we can be pretty safe in predicting they won't deliver everything they have talked about. The second point to consider is Dust is probably 3-4 years away (2 at best). CCP is only now *advertising* for Dust 514 developers. Without a dev team even assembled, when it can be delivered is many, many moons away. Incarna was first advertised as Walking in Stations over 5 years ago and the last CCP announcement was that it will deliver *after* Dust! So CCP has a history of extremely long release time-lines.

So... in a nutshell... don't worry about it. We won't see impact for a long time.

What skills should I have?

Bare minimum to try PI would be: Remote Sensing 1, Planetology 3, Command Center Upgrades 3. That will allow you to scan all the planets in your current system, place *one* Improved Command Center, and play around with what it can do. But you can train all those skills in a day.

I would recommend Remote Sensing 4, Planetology 4, Adv. Planetology 2, CC Upgrades 4, and Planetary Interaction 4. This will take about 10 days, but it gives you 5 Advanced Command Centers and the ability to control them from quite a ways out. Masada manages planets in Rahab from Palas (about 4 hops out). I haven't played with the limits.

Wednesday, May 26, 2010

Gaming may Save the World!

A co-worker of mine linked this TED video of a presentation about the potential impacts of online gaming...

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/jane_mcgonigal_gaming_can_make_a_better_world.html

The video is well worth a look. But a few highlights really stuck in my mind. In particular the factiod that a gamer kid will spend 10,000 hours playing video games by the time they are 21. This is just a random fuzzy number until you also know that 10,080 hours is the exact amount of time you will spend in school from 5th grade to 12th (or year 6 to 13 for you Euros). So most gamers will have spend as much time learning their games as they have spent learning about everything else... This creates a great many focused minds. If we tapped just tiny fractions of game time to teach a few key skills... well imagine what you could do.

I have often thought that if you could inject a little bit of the gaming fun in to the real-world work place you might find new ways to really spark people's motivations and creativity. I think any working professional can remember a time where they were forced to participate in some lame team building exercise... that's not the sort of work gaming I'm thinking of. But something you could really do day to day with the people you work with. People who play together often get along better. You have other ways to relate to the people you work with.

Jane didn't touch on other side effects. While sitting idle is not good for physical activity... it could be looked at as a way to reduce our "footprint" on the world. If we're playing at home more often, then we're not driving our cars or generating litter. If we learn to eat responsibly, then we might actually reduce the food we consume. These benefits are a stretch, but they'd make a good study. Of the 500 million gamers world wide... what is their footprint compared to non-gamers?

Interesting game fodder for thought... Game On, folks! Save the Planet.