A Midpoint Check

Tomorrow marks the half-way mark through my fifth year of playing EVE Online.  Fifth year?  Time does fly, especially since the longest I ever stuck with an MMORPG previously was my three years in EverQuest 2.  But I'm pretty sure that as soon as I hit max level in EVE that I'll wander off.

In the meantime, I do need to regroup a bit.  I've played a lot more The Secret World and Tropico 4 than I have EVE over the past two weeks.  Writing is good, but I really need to play the game.  Checking on the progress I made on my goals back in August is even better.  So, how am I doing?

I accomplished my first goal, obtaining the 2-run Tempest Fleet Issue blueprint copy, very quickly.  I didn't realize that I would only have to grind for weeks, not months.  I've thought about trying to get the 2-run Megathron Navy Issue blueprint copy for having 9.9 standings with the Gallente.  With the changes to warp speed acceleration I could run acquire the storyline missions a lot faster.  Maybe next year.

Speaking of ships, I'm halfway to my goal of getting the Minmatar command ships.  I have a Claymore and just need to pick-up a Sleipnir.  I could buy the ship now, but I'd like to get some more money in my wallet first.  As a bonus, I also have enough loyalty points saved up to purchase and build both an Astero and a Stratios.  I don't have the skills to fit lasers, but I can fly both ships.

The Rubicon expansion has changed my skill planning, but I'm not complaining.  The goal I set in August was to fly all the Caldari sub-cap ships (minus the tech 2 battleships) and acquire the proper gunnery skills.  But with the introduction of the Sisters of EVE frigate and cruiser plus the warp acceleration change, I don't want to fly battleships anymore.  I always found them ponderous, but now?  Too.  Slow.  I'm a Minmatar pilot at heart and we all know that speed kills.  I love how fast the Prowler and Cheetah move now and don't really want to slow down.  So out with the battleship skills and in getting all my ship skills below battleships to five.  I already have all racial destroyer and battlecruiser skills to 5 and plan on getting the rest of the racial frigate and cruiser skills to 5 by August as well.  I won't have the racial tech 3 cruiser skills trained, but that's okay.

I should add that with new modified skill plan my combat pilot will have Logistics trained to 5 and all the other tech 2 ship command skills trained to 4.  I figure that if I ever do join a real corporation that having the capability to fly any race's logistic ship at a high level will help me escape the chase to fly the flavor of the month.  The only skill I'll lack for flying logistics ships when I hit my fifth year anniversary is Repair Drone Operation V.

That's my combat pilot.  My industrial pilot (who can only fly up to battlecruiser-class ships), is going to fall a little short in learning all the trade skills by August.  That's due to a desire to have the skills to fly a jump freighter.  I'm going to take a quick detour and learn jump drive skills while I have the correct mapping.  Who knows?  I could wind up flying one some day.  Besides, I don't think I'll need Tycoon in the next few months anyway.

All is not going according to plan, however.  I really need to get my industry activity on track again.  Grinding the Sisters of EVE loyalty points took me away from my factories and I need to crank up the operation again.  Also, I need to get serious about planetary interaction again.  I've got four characters with good PI skills.  I just need a plan that will bring in some good ISK while not taking up a lot of my game time.

On the manufacturing front I think I'm in fairly good shape.  I have a lot of blueprints researched and enough blueprint copies made that I can start researching and conduct some small-scale tech 2 manufacturing.  With a little luck I can expand beyond my core faction ammunition business.  Well, once I re-establish my ammunition business, that is.

The last goal I have is to run a level 4 security mission in low sec.  I'm still a little hesitant on that.  I don't have a problem running around doing courier missions and running exploration sites in low.  But exposing myself running a mission?  Ugh.  Maybe I can build my Stratios and run one that way.

Looking back, I'm starting to feel a lot better about my progress in EVE.  I've met, or almost met, all of my harder goals.  Now all I have to do is re-establish my industrial activity and expand it.  Sometimes I forget what I want to do and looking back is a good exercise.  Now all I have to do is run that security mission.