So with the last beta patch and play,
Bioware has unlocked restrictions on being able to talk about it, so
I’m going to let you all know about my experiences so far. Just as
a fair warning, this is a non-EVE post. And it’s not for lack of
EVE things to talk about. CCP has been doing a remarkable job on
this upcoming expansion and it looks better and better with each new
dev blog that comes out.
This makes me wonder wtf they were
doing all this time. All of these advancements in the game we love
in what, 2 months? You’re kidding me. How baddass would this
expansion be if that’s what CCP was focusing on THE ENTIRE TIME.
But that is really a discussion for
another time. There have been so many good things coming out of the
land of CCP I haven’t even attempted to write about them here in my
blog. Really they don’t need analysis. It’s all good. If you
want to read about what someone else thinks, read some of the other
very well written EVE blogs that go into depth.
For the moment though, let’s talk
about Star Wars: The Old Republic.
I'm man enough to admit when I made a mistake, and this was a pretty big one. I somehow managed to confuse tier 3 with tech 3 and it all went downhill from there. Funny how I had about everyone telling me.
Anyway, there were still some good points in that article, but nobody could seemingly get past the mistake so I'm pulling the entire thing. It would take too long to edit it out, so I'm just salvaging the stuff I want to get across and posting it back up. Look for it in a few days. Despite the mistake, there really was a few good points in there. Usually I'm pretty good about checking my facts and whatnot, but this was a base error I made that compounded itself thoughout the article.
The question was posed to Hilmar about
the CSM. I found the answer very interesting.
First, the question, posed to Hilmar by
Eurogamer:
“The Council of Stellar Management
(CSM) has been increasingly vocal and rebellious in recent months.
What’s your relationship with them like at the moment – your
personal feelings and those of the company as a whole?”
Interesting changes afoot at the CCP
offices. It starts with a heartfelt letter of apology and a “you
win, here’s what you want, happy now?” set of blogs. Then a few
days later, the true cost of the revolution comes about.
Cuts and layoffs.
No one likes losing their job. It’s
like Jimmy Fallon asking the rhetorical question on the Capital One
commercial “Who doesn’t want more cash?” And as someone who’s
felt the sting of job cuts and downsizing, I know it sucks.
So my heart goes out to those of you
who lost their jobs. I know you are in a difficult time right now,
and me telling you that on a no-name blog you probably don’t even
read isn’t going to change your situation. And I hope that you
swiftly find new fulfilling employment doing that which you love.
To those of you who didn’t get fired,
I feel for you guys as well. I’ve been in that situation before
too. Where you are glad you didn’t get fired, but you feel bad for
the ones that didn’t make it. It’s a general crappy feeling of
survivor’s guilt that sticks with you for a few days and just ruins
you for the week.
And no, you really don’t get it or
understand what it’s like until you are there.
….are greatly exaggerated. Yeah so
I’m back. I should first apologize, and oddly enough I don’t
really know why. After all, I don’t owe you wonderful intelligent
readers who clue into my blog each week anything; but I feel like I
do. Over the last year of my maiden voyage into blogging, I felt
like I was producing cutting commentary, helpful tips, tricks and
how-to’s just for each and every one of you. Each comment I got
was a blessing, a sign that someone out there in the wilds of the
interwebs read my rambling article and took something away. And each
page view meant that much more, as someone was looking over my work
appreciatively (or unappreciatively) and/or just stealing my pictures
I rightfully stole first.
So I don’t owe you anything, yet I
feel like I do. And for being absent for the last few weeks I
apologize. Personal life has kind of been busy for me, and I had a
vacation in there where I was away from my computer for a while (I’m
still recovering from the shakes, tyvm… the doctor’s think I’ll
be back to normal after a few marathon gaming sessions). Again, no
excuses, but I keep having this nagging feeling like I’m letting
someone down.
Besides, like most of you I’m
drowning in Jester posts. Good lord, he makes me look terrible.
Whereas I’m about good for one really decent post a week; he’s
about good for one really solid post a day. It’s an average I
can’t even begin to match up with, let alone try and beat.
So as my extended apology and as a way
to goad people to come back to my site, I’m posting a flurry of
posts. Well, a flurry for me. A flurry like Jester would put me in
a coma. My flurry will be 2 to 3 posts in as many days as I “catch
up” to the time that I missed. For some of you it will be old hat
by now, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Also I’ll have my thoughts
on the new ships and what they mean for those of us that don’t have
to deal with Incarna at all, and maybe a wormhole exclusive or two.
For those of you keeping count here on
Sleepless, I’m reaching that magical one year of blogging. When I
stop and think about it, it really kinda blows me away. I started
this blog hoping I wouldn’t make a fool of myself as I gave it the
ol’ college try. Never in my wildest expectations did I think
Sleepless would become as popular as it seemingly has. I will
certainly strive to continue that as we move forward. But in the
meantime I think I’ll probably have a “year in review” post as
I highlight the stuff you may have missed.
So on we go.
TL;DR: I’m back, I’m sorry, Jesters a robot, New posts coming, Happy happy birthday to me
So as time marches on this ridiculous
pace CCP has set for itself, winter heralds a few things for the
majority of us.
While not being as ominous as in George
R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones; after all I’m not about to
be invaded by frozen zombies for lack of a better description. There
are some certainties that I’m forced to look forward to. I am
going to be snowed in. I’m going to have to drive on shit roads.
I am going to be cold. And sometime before Christmas I’m going to
have decisions to make. Not “what do I get my adorable niece for
Christmas” kind of decisions, but a more earth shattering gaming
type decision looms for me, especially since I’ve started this
blogging thing.
Keep playing EVE Online or scrap it for
The Old Republic.
It’s the activity we do the most.
It’s also the most dreary, boring, lackluster activity you can do
in game. And we do it, all the time. We don’t have a choice
really. If we want to know what’s out there, or we want to know
where the exit is, or if we just want to know where that Hulk is
stupidly mining, scanning is a necessary evil that we have to put up
with. So of course, one starts trying to figure out how to make said
dreary activity faster so they can get back on with the fun stuff.
The majority of us get by with a
standard 5 or 4 probe setup. A few patches ago, CCP “unlocked”
the other probes allowing for more probes to contribute to signal
strength. But does it matter? Do more probes actually increase the
speed of scanning, or does the hassle of dealing with more probes
actually take longer to deal with?
Time for a little Mythbusters,
Sleepless in Space style.
She may be ugly kid, but she's got it where it counts. I made a lot of "special modifications" to her myself.
A while back Kirith Kodachi asked for some wormhole fits for the new issue of EON magazine. I submitted 3 fits that I had lying about with explanations. He seemed impressed, but due to space concerns he only picked one. For those of you that have the magazine, you know that my overpowered Tengu fit was the one he picked for EON. If you don't, I suggested you pick it up. There is some pretty good wormhole information in there, especially for those of you new to wormholes.
One of the fits he didn't list was my (as he described it) hit-and-run Cynabal. As one of the fastest (if not the fastest) cruiser hulls in the game, the Cynabal has the advantage of range dictation. This is similar to the Dramiel, although the Cynabal has a bit more HP for buffer in case a mistake is made. With its damage and falloff bonus to autocannons, the Cynabal can spit out some impressive damage at impressive range. Combined with its speed, the Cynabal is virtually unmatched among cruiser hulls. However, it's an advantage you have to pay for, as the Cynabal clocks in as the most expensive T1 cruiser hull you can fly.
After five seasons, Jade and Jayne are calling it quits.
Again.
To be fair, I think this one is for keeps. Last time they "quit" the community rallied around them and they decided to give it one more go. This time I feel its a bit more permanent. Jade left a post on the Lost In Eve website explaining his decision. In it, he explained that he had come down with a nasty fever that just wouldn't let go.
I'm certain juggling a full time job, kids, wife, Eve, and oh yeah the podcast where him and Jayne were for all intents and purposes on opposite sides of the world didn't help. But now he's looking at surgery, and he just doesn't have time anymore. For not just Lost in Eve but Eve Online as well. He's unsubbed his accounts.
Jade I salute you sir. o7
The Lost in Eve podcast was a staple for many of us, especially those of us in wormholes. While we chuckled at Jade's buzzard story, we cheered as he got his revenge. We rolled our eyes at Jayne, who sounded every bit like a typical American on every show. But for the most part we listened. And sometimes we learned something. And sometimes we shouted at the radio when they were getting something wrong. And sometimes we just enjoyed the banter.
Thank you Jade, Jayne for 5 seasons of content. Thank you Jade, for allow this humble blogger when he was virtually unknown to appear on your podcast. I was and still am honored for the privilege. I apologize for not being more available so we could have worked on the future segment.
There are things more important then Eve and a podcast. If you don't have your health, you don't have anything. Get well soon Jade, and good luck on your surgery. You will be missed.
In recent months, the relationship
between CCP and its customers has been the subject of some
controversy. The player-elected Council of Stellar Management has
played a key role in these events, but not for the first time they
are finding CCP difficult to deal with. What effect will CCP’s
recent strategies have on the future of EVE Online and its
player-base? What part can and should the CSM play in shaping that
future? How best can EVE Online’s continued health and growth be
assured?
This set of questions set forth by the
new overlord of the blog banter comes at a fortuitous time. I was
actually going to write a piece about this as my next post. As you
notice, I did not post anything last week, as I was hoping the
minutes regarding CSM’s emergency meeting would have been released
by now. Sadly, this is not the case and we seem to have
inadvertently been reset on course for the very disaster we narrowly
avoided a few months ago.
First some background, for those of you
living in a WH for so long you don’t get out into K-Space much. As
most of you know by now or have heard, CCP hasn’t been the best
when coming through with communication to the players. And by
communication I mean actual meaningful conversation. The kind of
conversation your girlfriend wants to have with you before you blow
her off to play EVE. In fact, CCP even pledged to do better in this regard.
The final entry in my four part series about T3 improvements has me highlighting the Minmatar Loki. This week I wrap up my thoughts on the T3 strategic cruiser as a whole. While I’m not deluded to think that the T3’s I envision here in this blog to be anything close to what CCP is/might/probably do, it’s nice to get my ideas down. Who knows? Perhaps I’ve inspired a dev in the bowels of CCP HQ to do something impressive.
For those of you who have been following my blog (bless you!) you’ll remember I already wrote at length about the Loki. The Loki is one of my favorite T3 ships just because of the versatility factor. I will continue that theme in the changes I feel need to be made. The strength of the Minmatar people as a general rule has been that versatility, so to move away from it detracts from the ship as a whole. While I don’t expect it to do the damage of a Proteus nor have the range of a Tengu, I do expect it to have one thing over the others. Speed.
For the last 2 weeks I’ve been posting proposed changes to the T3 strategic cruiser platform. These changes are based on my experience in wormhole space, the very place the strategic cruiser is designed for. The first week focused on the Legion and how underwhelming it is. Last week it was the opposite side of the spectrum with the Tengu. This week I’m going to focus on what I consider to be the zero point for T3 strategic cruisers, the Proteus.
For the uninitiated, the Proteus is the Gallente version of the T3. I call the Proteus my zero point because it’s at the power level I think all T3’s should be. Good for PVE, good for PVP, but it doesn’t take the place of the specialty ships. Whereas I consider the Tengu a wee bit overpowered, the Legion a wee bit underpowered, the Proteus is that bowl of porridge that is just right. But that doesn’t mean I can’t tweak it.
First of all, I’m going to suggest you read the Legion article, if you haven’t already. The Legion and Proteus are very similar in their subs so much of the same thought there will apply here. This way you understand some of the changes without me getting carpal tunnel by typing it all out again.
Continuing my series on T3 changes, this week I focus on the Caldari Tengu. I feel that this is the week I get relatively unpopular as well. Unlike the Legion that I feel needs some buffs, the Tengu is on the opposite side of the spectrum. The Tengu is arguably the best T3 cruiser of the four. Name me one ship that can hit for long range with authority, get in close with blasters as well as any Gallente ship, tank like a Drake, and ECM like a Blackbird. And therein lies the problem.
The Tengu, unlike some of the other ships, actually is in need of a nerf. Now, before you start flooding my comments about nerfs and blah blah blah Caldari’s only good ship, hear me out. I’m not a fan of nerfs. In fact, I never have been. I would rather see the other ships get buffed up to where the Tengu is. However, to do that creates a problem. Raising the other ships to the over 9000 power level of the Tengu would make the strategic cruiser the ultimate power in the universe. Okay maybe not the universe, but in the cruiser oriented combat of wormhole systems it would be.
In last week's blog I mused on CCP's decision to re-balance ships. While it would be interesting for them to actually do something useful, I really don't trust them or our Null-Sec friendly CSM, who clearly don't know shit about wormholes. I graciously offered my assistance for the idea part of the re-balance, and started typing down some ideas I thought I would share with you all. In the end, I damn near had a white paper on where CCP had gone wrong and exactly what they needed to do to fix it. So instead of slamming you with a wall of text that was even longer then what is before you, I've helpfully broken it up into sections by race. I'll start with the Amarr Legion and post another one on the other ships later.
Of course, please feel free to let me know what I got wrong or right in the comments. And if any of you know any CCP devs, feel free to forward this their way. I'm sure I'm off their collective Christmas card lists.
The problem with the Legion, while great for PVE, it is generally considered to be extremely lacking in PVP. Additionally, users are looking for a great deal more flexibility in their T3’s, especially wormholers. The goal then is to redesign the T3 subs to make more combinations possible, introduce more utility, all while retaining the flavor of the strategic cruiser.
Really the only thing most wormholers took out of that CSM minutes document was how ignorant the current CSM leaders are, with the exception of a few intelligent people. For most of us, we can stop right there. For the most part it seems we aren't going to get any help, and the best content CCP has created to date is going to get nerfed at the hands of our Null-sec friendly CSM. Sad really. So despite the terrible news on the CSM minutes, is there anything good in that document? As a matter of fact, there is. And a few good hearty chuckles to go along.
“Nothing in the world is more dangerous then a sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” -MLK
And in our case, nothing is more dangerous to us, the player base of EVE Online then an ignorant and almost stupid CSM.
Let's take the case in point.
I was reading over the minutes and found some shocking information within. Allow me to share. First, I'll direct you to Jester's blog, as he writes about the CSM ignorance and stupidity regarding the Art department. Since he's pretty much saying what I would say, I'm not going to bother to type it out, as he has already put it as eloquently as can be done. And correctly, I should add.
Which is good, because it allows me to focus on the truly shocking thing for us wormhole residents. A direct attack by the ignorant CSM on our space.
I love the alliance tournament. I love it for the very simple reason that to me it is small gang PVP perfected. And before you say NOOOOOOO, think about it. The concept is simple. A small group of ten or less pilots taking on another small group of ten or less pilots in more or less a realistic setup of ships one might actually see in the game. Granted, it isn't something that you would see in 0.0 space, but in wormholes its pretty much par for the course. And while the individual ship setups might changes, the concept is still the same. Bring as much power to blow up the other guy.
That being said I don't watch the AT9 with interest in who is going to win. That was settled a long time ago in backroom dealing. It is the fleet setups I study and try to learn as much as I can. After all, this style of combat is what we see in wormholes often, so it is important to see what works and what doesn't. So what did I learn this year?
It all started with the release of Incarna, and the player base doing its best "What is this, I don't even..."
CCP of course exacerbated the situation with an unfeeling, uncaring, and generally unwise Dev blog that will forever live in the halls of infamy as one of the most terrible answers to honest questions we'll ever see.
...and CCP is a company that makes money. At the end of the day, there it is.
I've been really enjoying my popcorn out here in WH space where I don't have to deal with Incarna at all. Its actually been very amusing watching EVE burn. I could link the several blogs, forum posts, and other stuff I found insightful and amusing but by now you've probably read them all, and like me you are all anxiously awaiting an official response.
Before I set everyone straight, I did find this really amusing:
If you don't think CCP is in full spin mode right now I have a few jump bridges to sell you. With 10% off discount.
CCP, the players are outraged at you for one reason. You have been lying to our faces since this entire fiasco started. We could give a shit about $60 monocles or walking in stations. Overpriced virtual goods won't sell, and they just make you guys look like idiots. We don't care about walking in stations.
But Shadai, it will bring in new players.
Bullshit.
Oh it might. Pretty graphics always bring in the most shallowest of Hals. But they won't stay. You know why? Because the game isn't about pretty graphics or your avatar or even your captain's quarters. Its about internet spaceships and PVP. And the same shallow players who didn't like EVE before for that reason aren't suddenly going to like it now because they can jerk off to their avatar.
CCP where is the development of internet spaceships? Where are the new ships? Where are the T3 improvements? T3 frigs? Where? Why is it in the last few things done in eve been superficial graphics shit? Why is this shit in my game about internet spaceships? Truly, the only thing you have added to internet spaceships was incursions. That is really it.
At the end of the day, it's internet spaceships that determine if the new players stay or go. Being impressed with graphics is not enough reason to stay and play a game you hate or don't like or don't understand.
And then there is the multiple client/cpu thing. If you have an ATI card (I do) you're pretty much fucked. CCP, you have marketed this game to players to have multiple clients. Power of Two remember? You encouraged the players to have more then one account so doing things was so much easier. Don't pretend to be outraged when we can no longer take advantage that we paid for in another subscription.
CCP the lying to our faces has to stop, or you might as well drop all subscriptions and just go full micro transaction. That should completely and utterly destroy everything you've so carefully created in EVE. You know, the market, the players, and your free subscription ride to World of Darkness bliss.
To the players I say everyone needs to calm down. Seriously. Stop with the "Free Helicity" bullshit, that guy got what was coming to him. If someone threatened to kill me in real life I'd boot his ass out too. He's not a martyr. He's an asshole. He had the opportunity to say and do the right things and yet he chose to go the opposite way. That is not the guy I want leading the charge. So do us all a favor and knock that shit off right now.
Don't be just another mob member. Be smart. Be a person. THINK before speaking. The second coming of Summer of Rage is coming to all, and this time once we have a hold of CCP's ear we need not let go. But we need to be smart about it. Don't be an unthinking mob member, caught up in the rage, looting and burning so much that you forget why the fuck you are doing it in the first place.
On the other side of the coin, to the players defending CCP and Incarna, first, Welcome to EVE; and second, I'm sure there will be a job opening at CCP soon. You need to relax too. You only serve to whip the mob into a frenzy and really that's the last thing we need right now.
CCP the ball is in your court. Only you can prevent player rage, and so far you have been utterly incompetent at it. We don't want the moon. We just want spaceships to take us there. And instead of that you guys are giving us a doll. We don't want a doll. We want our internet spaceships back.
Because at the end of the day, this is a game about internet spaceships, not WoD beta testing.
