Test Server, Don't Ignore

The Rubicon expansion is less than two weeks away and I'm behind on my testing.  Yes, even a carebear like me needs to do testing on Singularity to maximize my efficiency or, in my case, minimize my inefficiency.  But that's tomorrow's post.

Today I just want to urge people to take advantage of the test server.  I know I didn't for the longest time.  I came into EVE Online from EverQuest 2, which also has a test server.  But I never went onto the test server in EQ2 because 1) I needed to spend all my time playing actually leveling up my character and 2) I didn't want to spoil the discovery experience of the new expansion.  Besides, the developers made changes up until the last minute, so what was on the test server did not necessarily reflect what we saw when the expansion launched.

Blogging about botting in EVE Online is what made me see the value of the Singularity test shard.  Whereas I was relatively blasé about my own performance, I began to examine how changes affected bots.  Of course, as a carebear who does some mining, looking at the changes also showed how the expansion would impact me.  Needless to say I acted on the intelligence.

Carebears have a lot to look at with Rubicon, with the warp speed acceleration changes affecting travel times to missions as well as moving product around.  Did I mention distribution missions?  Also, what do the changes mean for mining?  How do the changes affect mining barges, exhumers and Ventures?

Also, I know people are looking at the ghost sites and the potential there.  Are they worth going out an obtaining one of the new SoE ships to run?  Since they tend to explode, perhaps a bit of practice running them on Singularity before the whole thing goes live would help make the decision.

I "wasted" a lot of testing time researching out-of-game issues concerning real money transactions when I was on vacation last week.  I barely got a chance to log onto Tranquility, much less Singularity.  But my testing has started and I already see changes I need to make, not only in how I fit my ships but in skills I need to train as well.  I do need to change my skill queue as a result.

So if you haven't already, follow the instructions on how to log onto Singularity and take a look around.  The place is pretty empty so privacy and interruptions like ganking are not a problem.