Normally Eve Online is a refuge from what occurs in the real world. If I have a bad day I can hop in a spaceship and fly away. But with the death of Sean "Vile Rat" Smith and the continuing coverage of what happened in Benghazi Tuesday my feelings were still a little too raw to do more than log in and update my skill queue. So I decided to dive into another game.
On Monday ArenaNet started selling digital copies of Guild Wars 2 again and I spent the money to buy the game. Why not? No subscription fee so I can play as infrequently as I want. I played around a little with the character creator on Tuesday but decided to lose myself in another virtual world last night.
Guild Wars 2 is a lot confusing. GW2's tutorial makes Eve's New Player Experience look like a comprehensive encyclopedia. In other words, I couldn't find a tutorial. I have played several MMOs through the years so at least I knew what the action bars and icons were for. I reached level 4 last night and I'm still not sure how I did it. Combat is very confusing. I know I can create combos because I accidentally did so once and I saw a tip appear. As far as I know the game does not use targeting in combat, but I could be wrong about that. Perhaps that is only confined to a thief. Also, I did not use ranged weapons so perhaps only ranged attacks require targeting.
In short, I am basically face-rolling Guild Wars 2 right now. I don't think I was ever this bad in any game, including Eve. Heck, I consider myself terrible at Eve after playing for 3 years but nothing like this. I've discovered I don't like face-rolling content. I either need to re-roll my character and sit down for a week to figure the game out or just wander around the map learning to craft like I spent a lot of time doing in EverQuest 2. I think I'll re-roll anyway because I do not like the way my character looks. I just wish that the achievements were tied to my character and not account wide.
If I want to devote study time to a game I will do so in Eve where knowing things actually matters to me. The same with resource gathering, now that I've started finding things useful in industry through activities other than mining or planetary interaction. So Guild Wars 2 for me is just a distraction for when I need a break from the serious business of internet spaceships.
Friday, September 14, 2012
Thursday, September 13, 2012
9/11/12
Tuesday marked the eleventh anniversary of al-Qaeda's terror attacks on New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington D.C. I was reminded of the fact when I left my office building for lunch and gazed up at the building I will forever to as the Sears Tower, no matter what company purchases the naming rights. I remember on 9/11 when speculation ran rampant that another plane was headed for Chicago. Fortunately the only other airliner hijacked that day crashed into a field in Pennsylvania, its passengers winning the first victory in The War on Terror by preventing the al-Qaeda terrorists from reaching their target in the nation's capitol.
As I stared across the river at the top of the building a third of a mile up in the air I wondered where al-Qaeda would strike next. I'm a pessimistic sort and I refused to believe that the terror network would not try to celebrate the occasion in some way, if only to prove the organization was not dead yet. But I was confident that whatever occurred would not touch me. I'm old enough to know better, right? A few hours later I saw this tweet from The Mittani:
Joys of #eveonline: one of my directors is stationed in Benghazi, goes 'oh shit gunfire' on jabber, then we see this: af.reuters.com/article/commod…Both the embassy in Cairo, Egypt and the consulate in Bengahazi were attacked. We learned a few hours later that Sean Smith, better known to the Eve Online community as Vile Rat, was killed, along with the ambassador to Libya, Christopher Stevens, and two security officers.
— The Mittani (@TheMittani) September 11, 2012
First reports blamed protestors angry at at a video that portrays the prophet Mohammed as "womanizer, pedophile and fraud" on YouTube. But slowly mainstream media outlets began reporting a different tale. At 6:24am yesterday, CBS News reported:
"According to al-Sharef, the angry mob stormed the consulate after the U.S. troops who responded fired rounds into the air to try and disperse the crowd. Al-Sharef said there had been threats that Islamic militants might try to take revenge for the death of al Qaeda's No. 2 commander Abu Yahya al-Libi, who was killed in a U.S. drone strike in Pakistan in June, and he said the U.S. consulate should have been better protected.
"Confirming al-Libi's death for the first time in a video posted online Monday, al Qaeda chief Ayman Al-Zawahri called on Muslim's in al-Libi's native Libya to take revenge for his death."
Yesterday afternoon, CNN identified the pro-al Qaeda Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades, as the prime suspects:
"A pro-al Qaeda group responsible for a previous armed assault on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is the chief suspect in Tuesday's attack that killed the U.S. ambassador to Libya, sources tracking militant Islamist groups in eastern Libya say."They also note that the attack immediately followed a call from al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri for revenge for the death in June of a senior Libyan member of the terror group Abu Yahya al-Libi.The group suspected to be behind the assault -- the Imprisoned Omar Abdul Rahman Brigades -- first surfaced in May, when it claimed responsibility for an attack on the International Red Cross office in Benghazi. The following month the group claimed responsibility for detonating an explosive device outside the U.S. Consulate, and later released a video of that attack."Noman Benotman, once a leading member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group and now based at the Quilliam Foundation in London told CNN, 'An attack like this would likely have required preparation. This would not seem to be merely a protest which escalated.'"
Later in the day, Reuters reported, along with the New York Times, another suspect had emerged.
"U.S. government officials said the Benghazi attack may have been planned in advance and there were indications that members of a militant faction calling itself Ansar al Sharia - which translates as Supporters of Islamic Law - may have been involved.
"They also said some reporting from the region suggested that members of Al-Qaeda's north Africa-based affiliate, known as Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, may have been involved.
"'It bears the hallmarks of an organized attack,' one U.S. official said. However, some U.S. officials cautioned against assuming that the attacks were deliberately organized to coincide with the September 11 anniversary."
"So: Vile Rat, Sean Smith, my friend for over six years, both in real life and in internet spaceships, was the “State Department Official” killed in Benghazi by a mob of religious lunatics, who had been incited to violence on this September 11th by a movie that was apparently made sometime in July. Obviously, given the combined attacks in Egypt and in Libya, this was a coordinated act designed for maximum media exposure; rile up a mob, point them at an embassy or consulate on 9/11 in particular, aim for the press. Many were injured in these pointless, reprehensible acts, and one of my closest friends was killed as a result."The outpouring of grief was tremendous. Threads formed on the official Eve Online forums as well as on Kugutsumen. Null sec alliances renamed hundreds of stations in Vile Rat's honor. People started making tribute videos and graphics, like the one from SpaceMonkeys Alliance below.
I'm not about to try to write about Sean himself; I didn't know him. But a lot of people have written a lot of words about Sean over the last two days. While Eve's single shard makes New Eden a large world in gaming terms, compared to the real world it is just a good-sized town, if not a small city. A loss like this, especially if the attack was affiliated with al-Qaeda, hits hard. From reading all the posts a lot of people are feeling the same I way I am.
I'll end this post with a collection of links I found referring to Sean "Vile Rat" Smith. I understand an effort is underway to set up a fundraising effort for Sean's family. If I hear more I'll post the information.
UPDATE 17 September 2012: A page is now up on YouCaring soliciting donations for Sean's family.
Mainstream Media
Associated Press - Libya attack victim remembered by online gamers
Business Insider - US State Department Official Killed In Libya Was A Top Online Gamer
NBC News.com (blog) - Game community mourns death of American killed in Libya
NY Daily News - American diplomat Sean Smith, killed in Libya protests, is mourned by his EVE Online gaming community
Reuters - Libya attack victim was a key player in online game
The Sacramento Bee - Death of Sean Smith at Benghazi consulate brings reality to online gaming world
Voice of America - US Diplomat's Death Shakes Online Gaming World
Online Sites
Smithsonian.com - US Official Killed in Libya Mourned by Online Gaming Community
The Verge - 'EVE Online' players were first to learn of US official's death in Libya
Wired - Diplomat Killed in Libya Told Fellow Gamers: Hope I 'Don't Die Tonight'
Gaming Press
Eurogamer - US official killed in Libya was a senior Eve Online player
Gameranx - Remembering Vile Rat, Legendary Diplomat
Kotaku - How Video Game Fans Mourn the Death of One of their Own, Slain in Libyan Attacks
Massively - Former EVE CSM member Vile Rat killed in attack on Libyan consulate
PC Gamer - EVE Online top player was US official killed in Libya
Ten Ton Hammer - Veteran EVE Player Killed in Libya Attacks
The Escapist - Senior EVE Online Community Member Killed in Libya Riot
Eve News Sites
TheMittani.com - RIP: Vile Rat
Eve News 24 - ex-CSM Member Vile Rat killed in Benghazi attacks
Gaming Blogs
2nd Anomaly From The Left
A Missioneer in Eve
After time adrift under open stars
Bob "Starbeam Moonchild" From Marketing
Eve Online Pictures
From J Space to K Space
Gun Turret Diplomacy
Hans' Job: Delivering CSM Satisfaction
Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
Jester's Trek
Low Sec Lifestyle
Mabrick's Mumblings
Mad Haberdashers
Market Call
Morphisat's Blog
Poetic Discourse
Progression's Horizon
ReverendMak
Roc's Ramblings
Seleene's Sandbox
The Skorpius Chronicles
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Minmatar Ship Rebalancing
Yesterday CCP Yttrbium published a dev blog covering the ship balancing that has occurred over the past few months and the planned changes coming in the Winter expansion. The exiting news is that not only will all of the tech 1 frigates be rebalanced but all of the tech 1 cruisers as well. Since I only fly Minmatar ships I figure I'd look at the changes in the Minmatar fleet.
Frigates
Breacher: "...the Breacher becomes a resilient close range missile platform thanks to its shield boost amount per level." I have one in the hanger that I built as a kiting ship. This change will turn a glass cannon into a brawling ship. I won't miss the reduction of the high slot since I had to leave it empty anyway.
Probe: "All of these [exploration/scanning] ships are now properly focused by having mini-profession bonuses, increased probe scan strength and far better slot layouts in general." I use a Jaguar when running sites in low-sec because of the resilience to fire when rats unexpectedly spawn. I'm tempted to see how a revamped Probe would work. The 25% increase in base cargo space is also attractive since I use a Probe for quick transport jobs.
Vigil: "...the Vigil will no longer have a speed bonus and will focus on target painting." Losing the speed bonus takes away any reason for me to fly the Minmatar EW frigate. I flew one in Eve University fleets and really liked the speed and maneuverability.
Burst: "A mix of formerly known missile and mining frigates that have been revamped to have logistics capabilities mounted on small, mobile hulls. Combined with a small remote armor repairer and shield transfer overhaul, it means new pilots or people interested in logistics support will now have a proper upgrade path all the way to the famously known Tech 2 logistic cruisers. Such a change will also dramatically shake up combat due to introducing repairing capabilities on small scale frigate fleets."
While I don't plan on flying one I am interested to see what organizations like Agony, Eve University and RvB do with the ships.
Destroyers
Thrasher: "Formerly known as Tier 1 destroyers, they are mainly in good shape since their first buff in Crucible. There are still a few points that need to be looked at before we can move on." Now that I am in low sec I may fly one with something other than salvagers fit. I have also used the Thrasher as an exploration ship in the past.
New destroyer (class unnamed): "While the exact attributes are not ready for review so far we can explain their roles a bit more than in the previous blog. Main roles will focus on medium range damage projection through drones and missiles... Caldari and Minmatar will boast high-slots fully loaded with missile launchers. Slot layout is expected to be 13 in total with overall speed reduced and signature radius increased compared to existing existing destroyer hulls."
Now I am glad that I trained all of those missile skills. I really would like to see how this works. Time to get into missile production in the Republic?
Cruisers
Scythe: "These almost extinct hulls will see a new purpose for being properly refurbished as Tech 1 logistic ships. With removing their current mining role, our goal is to make them useful enough to be actively picked in fleets when Tech 2 logistics are not available instead of having the FC sending you back to your momma." I'll believe it when I see it. This is the Scythe we are talking about.
Bellicose: "Our plan is to turn the Arbitrator and Bellicose into combat / EW hybrids (a bit like combat recons if you will) ... The Bellicose will combine target painting with missiles on a mean, fast hull that will resemble the Caracal as an anti-frigate platform." I have a love of the Bellicose as it was the ship I was flying when I got on my first kill mail. I'm wondering if the new ship will resemble Kirith Kodachi's Bellicose CL-A variant I read about in the Eve Tribune. I would love to fly a Bellicose around as something other than a joke.
Stabber: "The Stabber will most likely have its speed bonus integrated into the hull to make room for something more dedicated to Minmatar combat doctrine – some of you will ponder, surely that must be a salvaging bonus?" I have never flown a Stabber although I have one sitting in my hanger. If the ship gets faster maybe I could use it as a courier.
Rupture: "The Rupture, while staying a solid and versatile choice, could use more resilience and speed as well." The one issue I always had when flying the Rupture was its tank. Perhaps now that I have a lot more support skills I would not have an issue, but I moved on to battlecruisers, especially the Hurricane. I'd like to see what shows up this winter.
Frigates
Breacher: "...the Breacher becomes a resilient close range missile platform thanks to its shield boost amount per level." I have one in the hanger that I built as a kiting ship. This change will turn a glass cannon into a brawling ship. I won't miss the reduction of the high slot since I had to leave it empty anyway.
Probe: "All of these [exploration/scanning] ships are now properly focused by having mini-profession bonuses, increased probe scan strength and far better slot layouts in general." I use a Jaguar when running sites in low-sec because of the resilience to fire when rats unexpectedly spawn. I'm tempted to see how a revamped Probe would work. The 25% increase in base cargo space is also attractive since I use a Probe for quick transport jobs.
Vigil: "...the Vigil will no longer have a speed bonus and will focus on target painting." Losing the speed bonus takes away any reason for me to fly the Minmatar EW frigate. I flew one in Eve University fleets and really liked the speed and maneuverability.
Burst: "A mix of formerly known missile and mining frigates that have been revamped to have logistics capabilities mounted on small, mobile hulls. Combined with a small remote armor repairer and shield transfer overhaul, it means new pilots or people interested in logistics support will now have a proper upgrade path all the way to the famously known Tech 2 logistic cruisers. Such a change will also dramatically shake up combat due to introducing repairing capabilities on small scale frigate fleets."
While I don't plan on flying one I am interested to see what organizations like Agony, Eve University and RvB do with the ships.
Destroyers
Thrasher: "Formerly known as Tier 1 destroyers, they are mainly in good shape since their first buff in Crucible. There are still a few points that need to be looked at before we can move on." Now that I am in low sec I may fly one with something other than salvagers fit. I have also used the Thrasher as an exploration ship in the past.
New destroyer (class unnamed): "While the exact attributes are not ready for review so far we can explain their roles a bit more than in the previous blog. Main roles will focus on medium range damage projection through drones and missiles... Caldari and Minmatar will boast high-slots fully loaded with missile launchers. Slot layout is expected to be 13 in total with overall speed reduced and signature radius increased compared to existing existing destroyer hulls."
Now I am glad that I trained all of those missile skills. I really would like to see how this works. Time to get into missile production in the Republic?
Cruisers
Scythe: "These almost extinct hulls will see a new purpose for being properly refurbished as Tech 1 logistic ships. With removing their current mining role, our goal is to make them useful enough to be actively picked in fleets when Tech 2 logistics are not available instead of having the FC sending you back to your momma." I'll believe it when I see it. This is the Scythe we are talking about.
Bellicose: "Our plan is to turn the Arbitrator and Bellicose into combat / EW hybrids (a bit like combat recons if you will) ... The Bellicose will combine target painting with missiles on a mean, fast hull that will resemble the Caracal as an anti-frigate platform." I have a love of the Bellicose as it was the ship I was flying when I got on my first kill mail. I'm wondering if the new ship will resemble Kirith Kodachi's Bellicose CL-A variant I read about in the Eve Tribune. I would love to fly a Bellicose around as something other than a joke.
Stabber: "The Stabber will most likely have its speed bonus integrated into the hull to make room for something more dedicated to Minmatar combat doctrine – some of you will ponder, surely that must be a salvaging bonus?" I have never flown a Stabber although I have one sitting in my hanger. If the ship gets faster maybe I could use it as a courier.
Rupture: "The Rupture, while staying a solid and versatile choice, could use more resilience and speed as well." The one issue I always had when flying the Rupture was its tank. Perhaps now that I have a lot more support skills I would not have an issue, but I moved on to battlecruisers, especially the Hurricane. I'd like to see what shows up this winter.
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
The Digital Dozen: 11 September 2012
The rankings of the top twelve MMORPGs as determined by the players
of the Xfire community from play on Sunday, 9 September 2012. For more
details about the methodology, click here. Historical data can be found here.
Total MMORPG hours played Sunday: 159,452
| Rank | Prev Week | Game | Score | Hours Played | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Guild Wars 2 | 59.8 | 79,407 | -14.6 |
| 2 | 2 | World of Warcraft | 19.1 | 25,400 | +1.5 |
| 3 | 3 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | 4.1 | 5,462 | -7.8 |
| 4 | 4 | Aion | 3.2 | 4,263 | +2.4 |
| 5 | 6 | Eve Online | 2.4 | 3,233 | +5.8 |
| 6 | 5 | Metin 2 | 2.3 | 3,055 | -13.3 |
| 7 | 7 | Lord of the Rings Online | 2.0 | 2,642 | +1.0 |
| 8 | 8 | APB: Reloaded | 1.9 | 2,504 | +7.5 |
| 9 | 9 | Need For Speed World | 1.5 | 2,005 | +9.3 |
| 10 | 10 | Maple Story | 1.3 | 1,729 | -2.5 |
| 11 | 11 | Vindictus | 1.2 | 1,605 | -1.7 |
| 12 | -- | Star Trek Online | 1.1 | 1,441 | +2.6 |
The unofficial end of summer saw the time spent playing MMORPGs by the Xfire community drop by 9.3% Sunday over the previous week. The big gainers percentage-wise were the driving games Need For Speed World (+9.3%) and APB: Reloaded (+7.5%). These gains were more than offset by The Secret World's disappearance from The Digital Dozen (-26%) and big drops by Guild Wars 2 (-14.6%) and Metin 2 (-13.3%).
Gamers Held Hostage, Week 2 - Part of the reason for Guild Wars 2's drop in play was ArenaNet's decision to stop selling copies via digital downloads on 30 August. Apparently the numbers have declined enough that ArenaNet has begun online sales again yesterday.
More Bad News For Funcom - The Secret World's big drop Sunday is just part of a larger string of bad news for the modern-day niche MMO. Following Funcom's layoffs last month came yesterday's news that TSW's lead designer Martin Bruusgaard is no longer with the company.
More Validation For Xfire - While the Xfire numbers are not reliable to tell how many players are playing a game, they are good for determining trends. The latest example is Tera, whose trend was diving toward the cellar. Tera's last appearance on the list was 24 July. Last week En Masse announced server merges from eleven servers down to three, confirming Tera's downward spiral.
Monday, September 10, 2012
A Look At Minmatar Low Security Space
When I look at a star map of New Eden, I tend to think of geography, not astronomy. Geography deals with both man-made and natural objects while astronomy up until now just deals with natural phenomenon. Indeed, when I look at Eve Online I think of my Economic Geography 101 class. Economic geography, according to a definition from Wikipedia, "is the study of the location, distribution and spatial organization of economic activities across the world." Or, in the case of Eve, New Eden.
In a practical sense, I am not concerned with the economic geography of the entire galaxy. Interested? Definitely. But I am currently in the processing of moving into Minmatar low security space so that is where my focus lies. Over the course of my research I ran across a lot of facts that people who are not geography geeks like me may find interesting.
How big is Minmatar low sec? Before answering how big Minmatar low sec is, the first question to answer is how big is the Minmatar Republic? I think most people know that the Minmatar govern the regions of Heimatar, Metropolis and Molden Heath. Those three regions contain 41 constellations and 280 total systems.
As the chart above shows, 104 of the Minmatar Republic's 280 systems have a security status under .5. Can the Republic really claim control if its navy cannot patrol a system? Officially yes although I don't doubt that some residents of Molden Heath would dispute the claim.
The above figures may surprise some people as the fame of the Heimatar systems of Rens and Amamake might lead one to believe that Heimatar is the biggest, most prosperous region in the Minmatar Republic. Perhaps for mission runners, but from a resource distribution view the region falls far behind Metropolis. I would argue that, as a whole, Heimatar low sec is the least valuable territory in the Minmatar Republic.
Planets - One area of interest is the number of planets in low sec. Planets not only provide resources through planetary interaction but are a passive income source for those owning POCOs (player-owned custom offices). Planets not only are a conflict driver in space but soon will see warfare waged on the ground once DUST 514 is launched. The distribution of planets is shown in the chart below.
One thing that struck me is that while Molden Heath only had 3 more low sec systems than Heimatar, Molden Heath has 51 more planets in low sec than its more populous neighbor.
Moons - The number of moons is important for two reasons. The first is that the number of moons determine how many POS (player-owned starbase) a system can support. The second is that in systems with a security status of .3 and below moon mining is possible. Yes, another passive income/conflict driver. The below chart shows the number of total moons and the number of moons that potentially can have moon mining operations set up on.
The chart shows how a system's security status can make a system more valuable. Even though Heimatar and Molden Heath have the same number of moons in low sec, Molden Heath's generally lower system security status results in almost twice as many minable moons in Molden Heath than in Heimatar.
Belt Mining - I know that belt mining in low sec is frowned upon by high sec miners worried about maximizing their profits. The draw of low sec mining is supposed to be the ore that high sec miners cannot access except by scanning down gravimetric sites. The ore available in .3 and .4 security belts, kernite, I do not see as an enticement to mine in an asteroid belt. While the ore contains the highest concentration of mexallon plus a good amount of isogen, those minerals are available to the high sec Minmatar-based miner in plagioclase and omber. For me, the draw to belt mining in Minmatar low sec is hedbergite. Found in systems with .1 and .2 security status, the ore produces two minerals unavailable to miners operating in the Minmatar Republic's high security systems: nocxium and zydrine. So with that in mind, what is the distribution of belts found in Minmatar low sec?
Looking at the numbers closer revealed that Heimatar only contains one system with a security status below .3.
NPC Stations - Up until now I have looked at the natural objects that players can exploit. But what about the existing NPC infrastructure available to support economic activity? If CCP truly seeks to push high sec industrialists to move to low sec, a theory I support, then what exists to support that move? The below chart offers a quick look at the number of factories and research stations in Minmatar low sec.
The number of research stations really doesn't come into play as the wait times are less than in high sec. Something about players are afraid of pirates because every system in low sec is gate camped 23/7 by them. The number of factories is important to determine if low sec currently has the capacity to absorb an influx of high sec industrialists. Perhaps the infrastructure is not enough and some sort of boosts to low sec stations will occur.
This high level look at the low security space of the Minmatar Republic just scratched the surface of the analysis in which one could engage. I may write a couple more posts on the subject just because I still have some questions I want to answer. But I don't plan on extending my studies outside the Republic any time soon. 280 systems is a big enough pool of systems to look at. Imagine analyzing the Amarr Empire whose 102 constellations spread over 8 regions almost equals the number of Minmatar low sec systems. On second thought I'd rather not. I'll stick with the area I call home.
In a practical sense, I am not concerned with the economic geography of the entire galaxy. Interested? Definitely. But I am currently in the processing of moving into Minmatar low security space so that is where my focus lies. Over the course of my research I ran across a lot of facts that people who are not geography geeks like me may find interesting.
How big is Minmatar low sec? Before answering how big Minmatar low sec is, the first question to answer is how big is the Minmatar Republic? I think most people know that the Minmatar govern the regions of Heimatar, Metropolis and Molden Heath. Those three regions contain 41 constellations and 280 total systems.
| Region | Constellations | Low Sec Systems | Total Systems |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heimatar | 12 | 25 | 83 |
| Metropolis | 23 | 51 | 159 |
| Molden Heath | 6 | 28 | 38 |
| Total | 41 | 104 | 280 |
As the chart above shows, 104 of the Minmatar Republic's 280 systems have a security status under .5. Can the Republic really claim control if its navy cannot patrol a system? Officially yes although I don't doubt that some residents of Molden Heath would dispute the claim.
The above figures may surprise some people as the fame of the Heimatar systems of Rens and Amamake might lead one to believe that Heimatar is the biggest, most prosperous region in the Minmatar Republic. Perhaps for mission runners, but from a resource distribution view the region falls far behind Metropolis. I would argue that, as a whole, Heimatar low sec is the least valuable territory in the Minmatar Republic.
Planets - One area of interest is the number of planets in low sec. Planets not only provide resources through planetary interaction but are a passive income source for those owning POCOs (player-owned custom offices). Planets not only are a conflict driver in space but soon will see warfare waged on the ground once DUST 514 is launched. The distribution of planets is shown in the chart below.
| Heimatar | Metropolis | Molden Heath | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barren | 56 | 129 | 79 |
| Gas | 69 | 132 | 74 |
| Ice | 13 | 27 | 10 |
| Lava | 17 | 43 | 29 |
| Oceanic | 9 | 16 | 14 |
| Plasma | 6 | 12 | 3 |
| Storm | 13 | 29 | 15 |
| Temperate | 15 | 46 | 25 |
| Total | 198 | 433 | 249 |
One thing that struck me is that while Molden Heath only had 3 more low sec systems than Heimatar, Molden Heath has 51 more planets in low sec than its more populous neighbor.
Moons - The number of moons is important for two reasons. The first is that the number of moons determine how many POS (player-owned starbase) a system can support. The second is that in systems with a security status of .3 and below moon mining is possible. Yes, another passive income/conflict driver. The below chart shows the number of total moons and the number of moons that potentially can have moon mining operations set up on.
| Region | Minable Moons | Total Moons |
|---|---|---|
| Heimatar | 507 | 1185 |
| Metropolis | 1435 | 2246 |
| Molden Heath | 998 | 1185 |
| Total | 2940 | 4616 |
The chart shows how a system's security status can make a system more valuable. Even though Heimatar and Molden Heath have the same number of moons in low sec, Molden Heath's generally lower system security status results in almost twice as many minable moons in Molden Heath than in Heimatar.
Belt Mining - I know that belt mining in low sec is frowned upon by high sec miners worried about maximizing their profits. The draw of low sec mining is supposed to be the ore that high sec miners cannot access except by scanning down gravimetric sites. The ore available in .3 and .4 security belts, kernite, I do not see as an enticement to mine in an asteroid belt. While the ore contains the highest concentration of mexallon plus a good amount of isogen, those minerals are available to the high sec Minmatar-based miner in plagioclase and omber. For me, the draw to belt mining in Minmatar low sec is hedbergite. Found in systems with .1 and .2 security status, the ore produces two minerals unavailable to miners operating in the Minmatar Republic's high security systems: nocxium and zydrine. So with that in mind, what is the distribution of belts found in Minmatar low sec?
| Region | Hedbergite (.1-.2) | Kernite (.3-.4) |
|---|---|---|
| Heimatar | 21 | 288 |
| Metropolis | 166 | 348 |
| Molden Heath | 79 | 223 |
| Total | 266 | 859 |
Looking at the numbers closer revealed that Heimatar only contains one system with a security status below .3.
NPC Stations - Up until now I have looked at the natural objects that players can exploit. But what about the existing NPC infrastructure available to support economic activity? If CCP truly seeks to push high sec industrialists to move to low sec, a theory I support, then what exists to support that move? The below chart offers a quick look at the number of factories and research stations in Minmatar low sec.
| Region | Factories | Research | Total Stations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Heimatar | 20 | 7 | 68 |
| Metropolis | 72 | 10 | 164 |
| Molden Heath | 29 | 9 | 75 |
| Total | 121 | 26 | 307 |
The number of research stations really doesn't come into play as the wait times are less than in high sec. Something about players are afraid of pirates because every system in low sec is gate camped 23/7 by them. The number of factories is important to determine if low sec currently has the capacity to absorb an influx of high sec industrialists. Perhaps the infrastructure is not enough and some sort of boosts to low sec stations will occur.
This high level look at the low security space of the Minmatar Republic just scratched the surface of the analysis in which one could engage. I may write a couple more posts on the subject just because I still have some questions I want to answer. But I don't plan on extending my studies outside the Republic any time soon. 280 systems is a big enough pool of systems to look at. Imagine analyzing the Amarr Empire whose 102 constellations spread over 8 regions almost equals the number of Minmatar low sec systems. On second thought I'd rather not. I'll stick with the area I call home.
Friday, September 7, 2012
Train Wrecked
Last night I had an interesting experience. I had to work late (again) and the train's engine decided to die at a station. A lot of people in Eve Online don't like stations games. I don't like them in real life.
Getting home 80 minutes later than expected, I logged onto my computer just in time to miss President Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention. Good thing I'm no longer a political blogger. But I do blog about video games so after a quick bite to eat I logged into Eve and released the probes looking for something to do.
Finding nothing in my home system, I then traveled to a station-less system hoping to find a radar site. Of course, since I was short on time, I found a Small Dark Ochre and Gneiss gravimetric site instead. I'm not complaining, honest. Dark Ochre produces 500 nocxium and 250 zydrine per 400 units refined so I just mined as much of that as I could in the time I had. If the UI was accurate, I was mining over 1 million ISK of ore every cycle. I just wish I had more time because I've never mined gneiss but I didn't want to leave a lot of dark ochre and its more valuable variants lying around either. Another nice productive night.
Since I had a lot of time on the train, I did get to do some reading of the Eve blogs and news sites. Ripard Teg reported that I was moving to low-sec because of CCP Ytterbium's post. No, I was already moving and producing ammunition and mining crystals for my personal use. However, Ripard did get my reasoning behind the move correct in that I received the inspiration because of CCP's intentions to nerf high sec.
I do have to admit to taking a certain pleasure in reading the analysis of CCP's intentions. Indeed, I've engaged in a bit of it myself. Here is the question and answer again:
I'm also happy to see a discussion about low sec emerge out of this, at least in this corner of the "echo chamber" of the Eve blogosphere. Right now low sec is seen as either a dangerous place gate-camped 23/7 by evil, bloodthirsty pirates or a place to make your riches by joining factional warfare and circling a button. I just want to see CCP not accidentally nerf low sec as they try to buff null sec. Oh, and I don't want to see the high sec industrialists driven out of the game either. That could make the economy really interesting and probably not in a good way.
Getting home 80 minutes later than expected, I logged onto my computer just in time to miss President Obama's speech to the Democratic National Convention. Good thing I'm no longer a political blogger. But I do blog about video games so after a quick bite to eat I logged into Eve and released the probes looking for something to do.
Finding nothing in my home system, I then traveled to a station-less system hoping to find a radar site. Of course, since I was short on time, I found a Small Dark Ochre and Gneiss gravimetric site instead. I'm not complaining, honest. Dark Ochre produces 500 nocxium and 250 zydrine per 400 units refined so I just mined as much of that as I could in the time I had. If the UI was accurate, I was mining over 1 million ISK of ore every cycle. I just wish I had more time because I've never mined gneiss but I didn't want to leave a lot of dark ochre and its more valuable variants lying around either. Another nice productive night.
Since I had a lot of time on the train, I did get to do some reading of the Eve blogs and news sites. Ripard Teg reported that I was moving to low-sec because of CCP Ytterbium's post. No, I was already moving and producing ammunition and mining crystals for my personal use. However, Ripard did get my reasoning behind the move correct in that I received the inspiration because of CCP's intentions to nerf high sec.
I do have to admit to taking a certain pleasure in reading the analysis of CCP's intentions. Indeed, I've engaged in a bit of it myself. Here is the question and answer again:
- Q: ONE OF THE REASONS FOR LOW-SECURITY SPACE BEING CRAP REMAINS THAT HIGH-SECURITY STATIONS ARE TOO GOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE, DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO ADJUST THIS?
A: Indeed we do. This topic brought quite an internal discussion, and while this most likely won't be part of a Factional Warfare iteration, we do want to have a look at reducing high-security stations effectiveness to make other areas of space more interesting. Some examples could be reducing refining rates, increasing ISK payment to install jobs. Nothing is set in stone as this is not planned for the immediate future however. Another good idea we noticed here was to tie high-security tax with the war performance of its related Factional Warfare Militia. So if, by example, the Caldari Militia are losing the war in Factional Warfare, all taxes in Caldari State high-security space could go up to support the war effort (emphasis mine).
I'm also happy to see a discussion about low sec emerge out of this, at least in this corner of the "echo chamber" of the Eve blogosphere. Right now low sec is seen as either a dangerous place gate-camped 23/7 by evil, bloodthirsty pirates or a place to make your riches by joining factional warfare and circling a button. I just want to see CCP not accidentally nerf low sec as they try to buff null sec. Oh, and I don't want to see the high sec industrialists driven out of the game either. That could make the economy really interesting and probably not in a good way.
Thursday, September 6, 2012
An Excuse To Mine
Last night I did some badly needed some badly needed mining in the asteroid belts to make up for the time I lost Monday to some distractions. The reason for the need for minerals are all of the blueprints I keep picking up running radar sites.
Radar sites are one of the types of sites that requires probes to find, which is one reason that I spent the time to do the Wildfire level 4 epic arc and chose to receive the RSS Core Scanner Probes as a reward. I heard they are pretty lucrative as a pilot can go in, smash a few rats around, unlock containers using a codebreaker and come away with some nice loot. What I didn't realize was just how important radar sites are to low sec industry.
One thing I noticed is that running radar sites provides a lot of materials needed for invention. I've only run four or five sites over the last week but I've picked up 16 data cores, 7 decryptors and a Minmatar Encryption Methods skill book. Picking up the data cores is nice because that means I don't have to pay an agent for them. The decryptors are worth 6-7 million ISK apiece in Hek and include 6 Operational Handbooks, a decryptor that gives +2 to maximum run modifier, +1 to mineral efficiency and +4 to production efficiency. The Operational Handbook is the decryptor I always used when I did my invention work.
One thing I didn't expect is the number of blueprint copies I'm finding. So far I found four. The first three were related to invention, as I've come to expect. I found a one-run Cryptic Data Interface bpc, a 2-run Cryptic Ship Data Interface bpc and a 2-run Cryptic Tuner Data Interface bpc. Those aren't too bad and gives me something to make. But the real prize that sent me to the belts was in a site I ran Tuesday night: a 5-run X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster bpc.
Manufacturing an X-Large ASB requires 1313 Isogen, 476 Nocxium and 113 Zydrine. Now, I could fly to high sec to purchase the minerals needed to take advantage of my unexpected bounty. Or I could just warp off to a belt and mine Vitric Hedbergite for 30 minutes in a Procurer and have enough minerals to make all five. Which is why I was in a belt last night mining.
I'm excited about finding the ancillary shild booster blueprint. When I was watching the alliance tournament this year and saw the effect of the ASB I thought "that is cool but I'll never be able to acquire one." Now, after doing 30 minutes of mining all I have to do is do a couple more mouse clicks and I have something new to experiment with. I won't put them on a PvP ship since I don't really know what I'm doing but I'd like to see how the module performs when put on a mission-running Maelstrom or Typhoon.
So far I'm having a good time in low sec. I can see why people don't want to leave high sec as some people think blowing up your ship is a friendly gesture. But as I begin actually living in low sec I see more and more possibilities that I'd like to explore.
Radar sites are one of the types of sites that requires probes to find, which is one reason that I spent the time to do the Wildfire level 4 epic arc and chose to receive the RSS Core Scanner Probes as a reward. I heard they are pretty lucrative as a pilot can go in, smash a few rats around, unlock containers using a codebreaker and come away with some nice loot. What I didn't realize was just how important radar sites are to low sec industry.
One thing I noticed is that running radar sites provides a lot of materials needed for invention. I've only run four or five sites over the last week but I've picked up 16 data cores, 7 decryptors and a Minmatar Encryption Methods skill book. Picking up the data cores is nice because that means I don't have to pay an agent for them. The decryptors are worth 6-7 million ISK apiece in Hek and include 6 Operational Handbooks, a decryptor that gives +2 to maximum run modifier, +1 to mineral efficiency and +4 to production efficiency. The Operational Handbook is the decryptor I always used when I did my invention work.
One thing I didn't expect is the number of blueprint copies I'm finding. So far I found four. The first three were related to invention, as I've come to expect. I found a one-run Cryptic Data Interface bpc, a 2-run Cryptic Ship Data Interface bpc and a 2-run Cryptic Tuner Data Interface bpc. Those aren't too bad and gives me something to make. But the real prize that sent me to the belts was in a site I ran Tuesday night: a 5-run X-Large Ancillary Shield Booster bpc.
Manufacturing an X-Large ASB requires 1313 Isogen, 476 Nocxium and 113 Zydrine. Now, I could fly to high sec to purchase the minerals needed to take advantage of my unexpected bounty. Or I could just warp off to a belt and mine Vitric Hedbergite for 30 minutes in a Procurer and have enough minerals to make all five. Which is why I was in a belt last night mining.
I'm excited about finding the ancillary shild booster blueprint. When I was watching the alliance tournament this year and saw the effect of the ASB I thought "that is cool but I'll never be able to acquire one." Now, after doing 30 minutes of mining all I have to do is do a couple more mouse clicks and I have something new to experiment with. I won't put them on a PvP ship since I don't really know what I'm doing but I'd like to see how the module performs when put on a mission-running Maelstrom or Typhoon.
So far I'm having a good time in low sec. I can see why people don't want to leave high sec as some people think blowing up your ship is a friendly gesture. But as I begin actually living in low sec I see more and more possibilities that I'd like to explore.
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
Did I Really Do That?
"Honest... I ran out of gas. I... I had a flat tire. I didn't have enough money for cab fare. My tux didn't come back from the cleaners. An old friend came in from out of town. Someone stole my car. There was an earthquake. A terrible flood. Locusts! IT WASN'T MY FAULT, I SWEAR TO GOD! "
- "Joliet" Jake Blues
I didn't mean to do it. Honest. It just happened.
On Monday I wanted to build some torpedoes and ran out of pyerite. No problem right? Low sec has plenty of scordite and plagioclase just sitting around in belts. For some reason people don't like to mine in belts. That's okay, more for me, right?
So after Rosewalker cleared out some Angel Cartel battlecruisers with a stealth bomber I warped Wandering Rose into a belt and started mining. The system had a couple of pilots hanging around, but they were either high security standings pilots or faction warfare members too busy doing important faction warfare stuff to bother with a mere Procurer. A couple of times I saw local spike so I warped Wandering Rose off and hid in a station. Standard precautions. After all, I just wanted to mine, not fight.
Once while fighting a couple of Angel frigates with a flight of Hobgoblin IIs I saw a new pilot come into system. I finished killing the last frigate and was pulling in my drones when a Coercer warped into the belt. Yipes! The Coercer started to close the distance on my Procurer but I was able to warp off easily. Rosewalker stayed cloaked and watched the Coercer hang around for half a minute or so and then warped off.
I putzed around for awhile in real life waiting around to make sure only friendly, or at least uninterested people, were in the system. Moving ore and minerals around was safe enough and then real life interrupted so I didn't wander back to the belt for 30 minutes or so. When I did warp Wandering Rose back into the belt, she was jumped by two Angel frigates and two destroyers. My five Hobgoblin IIs outnumbered them and swiftly dispatched them.
After a couple of cycles my friend in the Coercer showed back up in system. I was a bit slow aligning because he warped in on top of me in a Thrasher and warp scrambled me. Yipes!
Oh, I screwed up. I was kicking myself for losing a Procurer in such a stupid way. After what seemed about 30 seconds trying to warp away, I realized I was still alive and my shields were holding up pretty well. At that point I thought maybe I could convince him to fly away. Rosewalker was stealthed in a safe spot watching the action so I warped him to 70 km from the fight. Then I realized that Wandering Rose's flight of drones was in the drone bay so I targeted the Thrasher and then sent the Hobgoblin's after the destroyer. With that out of the way, I uncloaked, lit up the Thrasher with a target painter and started launching torpedoes. Even though the range was 68 km and my engagement envelope is 73 km, I missed with my first launch, so I started moving closer.
During the fight I was really focused on one or two spots on the screen. As I moved in closer in my Hound I saw that the drones were taking a toll on the Thrasher's shield. Then I saw the shield drop away and go about 1/3 into armor. Suddenly I saw the Thrasher's icon disappear. Good, he warped off so I could go safely to the station.
I turned my attention to the window with Wandering Rose's controls and went to check on and recover my drones when I saw I wasn't alone. A pod was sitting less than 3 km from my ship. Somehow my last flight of torpedoes destroyed the Thrasher. I still don't know what happened. I know my Procurer was nestled in the middle of a lot of asteroids. Maybe the Thrasher got stuck in the roids and became a sitting duck for the torps. I know I didn't tackle him.
After the Thrasher pilot's pod warped off I scooped up the loot and then docked up, my hands shaking from the adrenaline rush. Looking at the contents of my cargo hold, I realized that the pilot was firing Barrage ammo at me. I perhaps was fortunate that I was attacked by a Minmatar ship as my shield tank is most effective against explosive and kinetic damage, the two damage types that Barrage inflicts.
I want to say I wasn't trolling for someone to attack me. I just wanted to get some minerals to make some torpedoes. If I am going to live in low sec I don't want to have to travel to high sec to get something as easy to make as ammunition. I also don't want to travel to high sec to either buy minerals or mine the minerals. I want to get them from low sec myself. Mining in a belt is risky, but I made a plan to account for if I get attacked. I was really shaky executing the plan and I'm glad that I didn't know at the time the pilot I faced had a 1300 to 120 kill/death ratio or I probably would have lost any semblance of calm I managed to hold onto during the fight.
Still, I plan on exercising more caution in the future. Getting my first low sec kill was good, but I'm a carebear. I don't need that kind of excitement in my life.
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
The Digital Dozen: 4 September 2012
The rankings of the top twelve MMORPGs as determined by the players
of the Xfire community from play on Sunday, 26 August 2012. For more
details about the methodology, click here. Historical data can be found here.
Total MMORPG hours played Sunday: 175,701
| Rank | Prev Week | Game | Score | Hours Played | +/- % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Guild Wars 2 | 63.5 | 92,946 | +16.7 |
| 2 | 2 | World of Warcraft | 17.1 | 25,033 | -48.8 |
| 3 | 3 | Star Wars: The Old Republic | 4.0 | 5,926 | -5.1 |
| 4 | 4 | Aion | 2.8 | 4,163 | -16.3 |
| 5 | 6 | Metin 2 | 2.4 | 3,524 | +6.6 |
| 6 | 5 | Eve Online | 2.1 | 3,056 | -13.0 |
| 7 | 7 | Lord of the Rings Online | 1.8 | 2,615 | -5.1 |
| 8 | 8 | APB: Reloaded | 1.6 | 2,329 | -9.5 |
| 9 | 9 | Need For Speed World | 1.3 | 1,834 | -10.8 |
| 10 | 10 | Maple Story | 1.2 | 1,773 | -5.7 |
| 11 | -- | Vindictus | 1.1 | 1,633 | +56.3 |
| 12 | 12 | The Secret World | 1.0 | 1,534 | -16.4 |
The Xfire community spent a little more time out getting fresh air this Labor Day weekend as the time spent playing MMORPGs decreased by 7.3% Sunday. Guild Wars 2 continued to dominate the genre for a second week as 9 of the 12 games saw decreases in play time, led by World of Warcraft (-48.8%), The Secret World (-16.4%) and Aion (-16.3%). Metin 2 (up 6.6%) bucked the losing trend for the second week in a row while the week's big gainer percentage-wise was Vindictus. Vindictus returned to The Digital Dozen for the first time since early May on the strength of the Artificer's Enhancement Package promotion that ran over the weekend.
Sandbagging - Guild Wars 2's score of 63.5 is the highest score recorded in the six month history of The Digital Dozen but could have reached much higher. ArenaNet stopped on-line sales of GW2 on 30 August as physical box sales threatened to overwhelm the servers.
WoW Tourism - Has a horde of World of Warcraft players descended on Guild Wars 2? Following the release of patch 5.0.4 on Tuesday Blizzard saw the Xfire community spend almost half the time in Azeroth as they did the previous Sunday. The effects of the U.S. Labor Day holiday or are players checking out the new game?
A technical glitch? Eve Online players are familiar with server issues but did the Xfire client for Eve experience technical issues? While the peak concurrent user mark for Sunday reached 46,963, an almost 10% increase over the previous week, the Xfire community saw play time fall by 13%. Something that bears watching next week.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Early Thoughts On A High Sec Station Nerf
With a weekend to think about CCP Ytterbium's post that mentioned CCP's desire to nerf high sec stations, I came up with some initial thoughts about the proposal. The passage in question is below.
Don't Ignore The Lore - Up until now high sec stations were superior to low sec stations, if only because of safety reasons. CCP should not just implement changes without explaning why the changes make sense in the context of the New Eden universe. An example I came up with to explain a nerf is that for the last 9 years the stations have operated at full capacity and failed to keep up with maintenance tasks. That resulted in the degradation of refining capacity and manufacturing speed. In addition to a nerf for those reasons, the station fees also need to increase in order to pay for the damage caused by the short-sighted policies of the empires.
How Does The Nerf Advance The Long Term Plan? Sure, nerfing high sec stations should drive players toward low and null sec. But does the move follow the long term plan? According to the initial long term guidelines for improving null sec first talked about last August:
Linked To POS Revamp? I'm wondering if CCP is looking to link a high sec station nerf with the POS revamp. Moving high sec production from stations to POS would make that production more susceptible to disruption due to wardecs.
Tying High Sec To Faction Warfare - In theory tying tax rates in high sec to a faction's fortunes in faction warfare sounds interesting. But CCP needs to fix faction warfare first. Also, taxes from high sec residents should not go towards paying players in faction warfare. I'm against removing another ISK sink from the game.
Improving One Area By Nerfing Another? In general, I am against the principle of improving one region by nerfing another. If CCP conducts a nerf of high sec stations, they also need to buff low sec stations if the goal is to make low sec stations more attractive.
I am sure that over the next several months, and especially following the Winter expansion, we will hear more about proposals to nerf high security stations. Actually by that time Eve players and the devs will have their hands full assimilating DUST players into New Eden. So depending on how smooth the DUST implementation is may determine when CCP can nerf high sec.
Q: ONE OF THE REASONS FOR LOW-SECURITY SPACE BEING CRAP REMAINS THAT HIGH-SECURITY STATIONS ARE TOO GOOD IN THE FIRST PLACE, DO YOU HAVE PLANS TO ADJUST THIS?
A: Indeed we do. This topic brought quite an internal discussion, and while this most likely won't be part of a Factional Warfare iteration, we do want to have a look at reducing high-security stations effectiveness to make other areas of space more interesting. Some examples could be reducing refining rates, increasing ISK payment to install jobs. Nothing is set in stone as this is not planned for the immediate future however. Another good idea we noticed here was to tie high-security tax with the war performance of its related Factional Warfare Militia. So if, by example, the Caldari Militia are losing the war in Factional Warfare, all taxes in Caldari State high-security space could go up to support the war effort.
Don't Ignore The Lore - Up until now high sec stations were superior to low sec stations, if only because of safety reasons. CCP should not just implement changes without explaning why the changes make sense in the context of the New Eden universe. An example I came up with to explain a nerf is that for the last 9 years the stations have operated at full capacity and failed to keep up with maintenance tasks. That resulted in the degradation of refining capacity and manufacturing speed. In addition to a nerf for those reasons, the station fees also need to increase in order to pay for the damage caused by the short-sighted policies of the empires.
How Does The Nerf Advance The Long Term Plan? Sure, nerfing high sec stations should drive players toward low and null sec. But does the move follow the long term plan? According to the initial long term guidelines for improving null sec first talked about last August:
"Our current proposal is that hisec is for volume T1 goods, lowsec will be for meta/faction gear eventually, nullsec is for T2, and wormholes are for T3"How will nerfing the high sec stations affect the high sec industrialists ability to produce volume T1 goods?
Linked To POS Revamp? I'm wondering if CCP is looking to link a high sec station nerf with the POS revamp. Moving high sec production from stations to POS would make that production more susceptible to disruption due to wardecs.
Tying High Sec To Faction Warfare - In theory tying tax rates in high sec to a faction's fortunes in faction warfare sounds interesting. But CCP needs to fix faction warfare first. Also, taxes from high sec residents should not go towards paying players in faction warfare. I'm against removing another ISK sink from the game.
Improving One Area By Nerfing Another? In general, I am against the principle of improving one region by nerfing another. If CCP conducts a nerf of high sec stations, they also need to buff low sec stations if the goal is to make low sec stations more attractive.
I am sure that over the next several months, and especially following the Winter expansion, we will hear more about proposals to nerf high security stations. Actually by that time Eve players and the devs will have their hands full assimilating DUST players into New Eden. So depending on how smooth the DUST implementation is may determine when CCP can nerf high sec.
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