When I got home last night I started playing with my skill queue to train to fly the new SOE ships in Rubicon. Having lofty ideas is great, but once you start training, alea iacta est.1 As I was moving the skills around, the realization hit me that I wasn't going to abandon my Cheetah for the Astero and that even pushing my training I wouldn't have the skills to really fly the Stratios well until May. I'm beginning to wonder if I shouldn't go back to my original skill plan which would mean not flying the Stratios until sometime in 2015.
On the bright side, that means the urgency to amass Sisters loyalty points is gone. Without another grind to perform I can concentrate on my side project of developing a frigate/destroyer/cruiser PvP pilot on my third account. The training on the last of the pilots on that account finishes today. When I get home I can begin the process of moving the characters on that account to my two main accounts and create a new pilot.
The question is, what race to create? I know that race really isn't important in the long run, but for an alt I have to consider the logistics. First, the starting region does determine the gear the new pilot gets from the tutorials. Next, Minmatar is really tempting. Not only would learning the ins and outs of Matari small ship PvP help with my main accounts but I've already built the infrastructure to support myself with Minmatar equipment and ships. I just started the process of researching Gallente ships last night. Or do I want to create an Amarr (ugh!) pilot and learn cap management? Decisions, decisions.
Of course, having a PvP pilot means actually targeting other people. Notice I said targeting? I plan on learning the tackling/logistics/ewar thing. Learning how to counter the tactics of others requires learning those tactics yourself. Learning how to do things, at least more me, means learning from my mistakes. Which brings me back to the logistics of replacing my losses. See how everything fits together?
I guess I really should wait until Rubicon launches and write about the experience of a new player in a new expansion. But if I'm not going to drop everything to get the new shiny ships, then why should I wait to make a new shiny pilot? In the sandbox, if you're not playing on your terms and your schedule, you're doing it wrong..
NOTES:
1. The die is cast. With CCP naming the winter expansion Rubicon, anyone blogging about EVE is required to use the phrase at least once.
:D It's funny you have that footnote, because I've been seeing that phrase a lot in blogs recently and it's one of my little pet peeves left over from studying Classics. It's a point of contention, but I much prefer the Plutarch interpretation of the phrase in Greek- "Let the die be cast".
ReplyDeleteIs much less fatalistic and an all around better sentiment, I feel. But you know, nitpicking. :D
As for the starting race quarry, especially given the recent re-vamp to skills and the way prereqs work, I'm finding it much easier to cross-train than it used to be so, as they say, "Go with what you feel". Best of luck, and I'll certainly be joining you in rushing to acquire new shinies, because boy howdy do those ships look gorgeous.