What's Happened To My Corp Over The Past 2 Weeks

Not a lot has happened in my gaming life since the last time I posted. I haven't listened to gaming podcasts and I canceled my SOE Station Pass account yesterday. All I've done gaming related is play Eve Online.

I'm discovering that a good corporation makes all the difference in the game. Eve University is one of the good ones. If you are new to Eve I highly recommend making it your first corporation. Here's a quick update on what occurred to the Uni between November 1-11.

Nov 1 - Was war-dec'd by a corporation called Warsmiths. A war-dec means that a corporation has declared war on you and thus can attack your corporation's ships anyplace in New Eden. Without that war-dec (or other similar mechanic in place) the NPC police force called CONCORD will destroy your ship if you attack someone.

Nov 2 - A Unista fleet locates the CEO of the Warsmiths in his corporation's home system and destroys his heavy assault cruiser.

Nov 3 - A member of Warsmiths enters Eve University's home system and a merry chase ensues with Unista fleets chasing the Warsmith. After a few hours he lets a fleet catch up with him and proceeds to use smartbombs to destroy 1 destroyer, 21 frigates, and pods (kills the pilot) 22 pilots before the rest of the fleet destroys his Dominix battleship. I get home from work after the smartbombing and am part of a fleet that chases the Dominix pilot (in another Dominix) around the system until he logs off.

Nov 4-5 - The pilot of the Dominix posts the destruction of the Uni frigates and pods on YouTube. (He put up a more polished version on Nov 11). Over the course of two days, Eve Uni fleets camp in the Warsmiths home system and the Dominix pilot loses a Rupture (cruiser) and Crow (interceptor) while the University loses an Atron (frigate), Rupture, Caracal (both cruisers) and Harbinger (battlecruiser).

Nov 6-7 - No action for the blockading Unista fleets as the Warsmiths either stay in their stations or avoid the Uni fleets. (On Nov 6 I take part in one of the blockading fleets.) The Warsmiths retract their war declaration on Nov 7, ending the war early. The war doesn't officially end until 0:22 GMT on Nov 9.

More importantly, while searching for possible Warsmiths POS (player owned stations) located in wormholes, University intelligence assets discover 2 POS owned by the Dynaverse Corporation. Dynaverse Corporation is one of the corporations who took a mercenary contract to fight Eve University back in April & May and destroyed the Uni POS in the Uni's old home system of Korsiki. Plans are formed to give Dynaverse a little payback.

Nov 8 - Two Unista fleets totaling more than 130 ships invade the Dynaverse-controlled wormhole and quickly put both Dynaverse Corporation POS into reinforced.

Nov 9 - Seeing that the Unistas have the entrance to the wormhole solidly camped across all time zones and with no hope of escape, the Dynaverse Corporation forces inside the wormhole surrender. The Eve University commander allows the Dynaverse pilots to keep one ship each and whatever the ships can carry in exchange for unanchoring the two POS so that the Unistas can carry the POS, all the modules, and all the leftover ships and odds and ends back to the University.

Nov 11 - The operation ends with University scouts staying behind to help people in the U.S. and Canadian time zones home. I took part in the initial fleet and was one of those who needed to be guided out of the wormhole since I was at work when the main fleet pulled out of the wormhole.

I've written a better account of this period, but because it uses material from the private parts of the Eve University forums I can't post the article here. Let's just say that Eve is an interesting place.

Sunday Odds And Ends

I'm back to posting. Hopefully work will settle down, but the less said about work, the better. I probably will not post every day, but that just depends on time.

Over the last couple of weeks I've been listening to more game radio and not too many podcasts. Online Gaming Radio's Tuesday night EverQuest 2 block has been a staple of mine for a long time, but I'm also listening to Eve Radio and New Eden Radio. Except for the classic rock it is not exactly my kind of music, but the music does fit Eve Online. And quite frankly, I'm more interested in the on-air talent anyway.

In Eve Online, I've joined Eve University and attended a couple of classes. So far I'm liking it although the Uni has enjoyed peace since I've been in. I'm a carebear, but I've got a couple of Rifters fitted for tackling and am training up my EWar skills to be effective in Vigils. Okay, as a Minmatar player that means target painting, but hey, pilots flying missile boats will like me.

In EverQuest 2, I'm seriously considering canceling my account. I don't really have time to play a lot and I'm getting bored with crafting in the game. I've been doing it for over 3 years and industry and trade in Eve is new and fresh. Last night I was playing EQ2 and I wasn't having fun. I'm paid up through the end of the month, but I don't really see myself playing anymore. The hardest part of giving up the game will be giving up a character I've played so much, so I'll see if I can really give it up.

UPDATE: Eve University was wardec'd at 11:56 GMT today. Looks like it's time to prepare for war.

Witty Ranter Under New Management

In podcast news, Adam has given up hosting duties of The Witty Ranter to the hosts of the Free Play podcast, Riknas and Andras. The first episode was released yesterday on VirginWorlds with Adam and Virgin Worlds own Brent as the guests. The subject was MMO closures and the discussion ranged from recently closed games to those who are in trouble with a few detours in between. I'd suggest giving episode 17 a listen and I'm looking forward to where Riknas and Andras will take the podcast.

Another Article on Virtual Economies

I was doing a little web surfing today and ran across an article in The Guardian about virtual economies. The article talked about Second Life, China, and Eve Online. Yes, the article made the mandatory mention of an Eve scandal, in this case the Eve Bank scandal from July. But the article did mention CCP's chief economist Eyjólfur Guðmundsson. While a lot of talk centered around Second Life's $600 million economy, there is a reason Eve gets so much coverage. While the economy in EverQuest 2 is receiving some academic study, Eve is a very sophisticated economy that is seriously studied by the game developer. You can read the Q2 2009 Economic newsletter that came out in August for some examples or just watch the video from Dr. Guðmundsson's presentation below.





But I'm not just using The Guardian article as an excuse to post another Eve video. I was also reminded of an episode of Shut Up We're Talking from 2008 that also discussed owning items in games and what that could mean to players. Some of those fears of politicians looking to our games as another method of taxing us continue on as an article on Ars Technica discussed how proposals to institute taxes were posted on the official U.S. Internal Revenue Service back in January.

So virtual economies have been attracting attention for a while now. The question is how much is the real world going to intrude into our games? I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Gate Camp Escape Trick

Ever since I started playing Eve Online I've heard that using the autopilot will get you killed. Yesterday I learned a technique to use if a pilot encounters a gate camp that requires using the autopilot to escape back through the gate, especially if your ship is equipped with a micro warp drive (MWD).

If a player encounters a gate camp and attempts to immediately jump back through the gate, a message appears on screen telling the player that he is between phases and can't pass through the gate. This message can be bypassed by using the autopilot. Just follow the below steps.

1. Stay calm. You're cloaked. Use the time wisely.
2. Open "People And Places"
3. Under "Search Type" select "Solar System"
4. Under "Search String" type the name or first few characters of the system you want to jump back through.
5. In the results window that pops up, right click on the name of the system and select "Set Destination"
6. Click on the autopilot button.
7. Once the ship decloaks, activate any speed boosting modules, preferably an MWD, and make a run for the gate.

This technique does not guarantee a pilot will escape a gate camp, but it will give you a fighting chance.

Sunday Odds And Ends

I'm writing and posting this a little earlier than usual because I have to go to class. Class on a Sunday morning? That means only one thing; I've joined Eve University in Eve Online. I'll be writing more about this in the days and weeks to come, but I really like the idea of learning how to play the game right.

On the podcast front, Massively Speaking #72 was a first in that Shawn Schuster did not appear on the podcast. However Sera Brennan and Kyle Horton filled in ably for the ailing Shawn. On another front, the Van Hemlock podcast has re-introduced the topic show. I really enjoyed Van Hemlock #72 in which Tim and Jon talked about the role of stories in computer games. My schedule has been a bit hectic this week, but I am listening to No Prisoners, No Mercy #46 featuring a look at Aion and interviews with Giskard of The Engineering Guild modding site and MMO pioneer Richard Bartle as I write this. Sister Julie really has a thing about shooting Teletubbies.

As I mentioned before, in Eve I've joined Eve University. No more just flying around the galaxy for me. Now I have to follow some rules. That's okay, because one of the things new students are encouraged to do is set up their overviews properly. Hmm, that's something I've wanted to learn how to do since the first day I logged in, so I've already managed to accomplish one thing on my first day. And because I'm a natural carebear, I've made the decision I'm going to participate in all the corporations wars. Wait, what was that? A carebear going to war? That's right. I gotta learn sometime, and in the middle of a war seems to be the best place. That does mean following the war policy which will interfere with my carebear industrial ways. Of course, I have a second account so I can get around those restrictions to get more isk if needed.

In EverQuest 2, I'm still suffering from the blahs after reaching max level on my ranger. At this point Eve is new and shiny and I'm learning new things while in EQ2 I'm basically killing time until the next expansion. I'm still logging in and my woodworker is still making good plat selling ammunition. I've stopped making totems as the competition is willing to take less of a profit on them than I am. But I'm getting the itch to run some more quests so hopefully sometime this week I'll find the time.

What To Do In EQ2?

I have to admit that after this weekend I had a bit of a letdown in EverQuest 2. I earned my 200^th AA point on my ranger and now have what I consider a max level character. Level 80 ranger, level 80 alchemist, 400 transmuter and 200 AA points and is a member of a level 80 guild. So after working for over 3 years toward this moment, I asked myself, “What now?” The crafting options are a bit limited for me since all of my 8 crafting alts have reached level 80 in their respective occupations. I don't have time to raid, even if I wanted to leave my guild, which I don't. So I decided to make a list of things I can still would like to do.

On my main:

• Raise my safe fall to 400. Currently I’m at 380.
• Raise my slashing to 400. Remarkably I’ve been at 395 for the last year. Something I really need to take care of!
• Buy a house in South Qeynos. I’ve always wanted a five or six room house. I have a level 80 carpenter and a whole lot of mahogany lumber to use to build furniture.
• Buy my level 80 guild mount. I have the 40 plat.
• Buy the Order of Rime mount. I have another 40 plat to buy that too.
• Reach max faction with all the city factions in Qeynos. Yes, I’ve played for 3 years and am not even close.
  

On my crafting alts:

• Run through the Ship Out! quest so I can do the Far Seas Supply Division content.
• Get all the crafting gear that gives XP gain bonuses for the next expansion. I really would like to make that grind go a bit faster.
• Get the crafting armor sets for my characters.
• Do the crafting adventure quests found in the cities. I’d like all my crafters to have the cool formal wear. Getting some of the other crafting clothes would be cool too.
• Try to get the Cloak of the Harvester and the pack unicorn for my characters who will adventure in the world.
  

Sounds like I still have a lot to do, doesn’t it. Not that exciting, but a lot to do. I haven’t even brought up the idea of leveling one of my crafters as an adventurer. Do I level my sage who is a level 50 necromancer? Or how about my armorer who is a level 32 paladin? Um, scratch that idea. But should I level a character that will be wanted in groups like my carpenter who happens to be a level 12 illusionist? Or how about my provisioner who is also a level 12 warden? I hear druids are going to get worked on in the next expansion. Or maybe I should concentrate on content I've never done before. My weaponsmith is a level 12 inquisitor and the Commonlands is just waiting for me.

So much to do. The question is do I really want to do it? I did spend a lot of time equipping my warden for adventuring and it was fun. So much fun that I stayed up late Tuesday night and wound up not posting yesterday. So I still may be a two-game player for a few more months.