Warlords and fiefdoms

So far, I am loving 0.0! I am learning about the complex politics in null-sec, but am basically still clueless. Being in a smaller alliance that makes use of an ATLAS station, I would give props to the big dogs in my area. There are plenty of small alliances interspersed in ATLAS space. In return for protection and a small chunk of space, we utilize ATLAS stations for refining, trade, and hangar access. This activity generates ISK for ATLAS and serves as a very mutually beneficial arrangement for both parties. It all feels very feudal!

In the recent Gal Net article, the reporter mentions that ATLAS' stated intention is "To create and maintain an environment in which smaller alliances can enjoy a nullsec presence." Looking around in my neck of null-sec, I see ATLAS doing just that. It makes me feel good to know that every time I sell a ship or buy some drones, I am helping support a very useful system.

Given how hard it can be to get out into 0.0, I hope ATLAS is able to foster many more small alliances. It really is the best place to be in New Eden! I am actually surprised that all the big alliances aren't scrambling to bring smaller alliances out to nullsec and get them set up in Sov space. The more people, the more activity, the more upgrades, the more ISK and minerals flowing for everyone!

Dominion again!

After a month in a C6 WH, I am adrift again. This time I am headed to deep null-sec to spend time with the Gangrel Mining and Security Corp. These guys seem like an ideal balance for me of being laid back, being cool with the PVE, and being willing to train up newb PVP pilots.

I am excited to see how the new Sovereignty mechanics pan out. Stay tuned for updates when I manage to get settled in out there in the deeps of space. I look forward to putting my scanning skills to use exploiting the new Dominion 0.0 resources!

Dominus!

Dominion has brought fresh treats to EVE. The new in game browser is amazing and speedy like a real browser should be. (I am blogging this from Moondoggie!) The 0.0 changes will be interesting to follow, though I am insulated from that a bit due to my WH occupation.

On that note, I have jumped into a new WH corp: Capital Construction Research (CCRES)

So far it has been exciting to move from a C2 to a C6 WH! It is also a huge learning curve. Luckily the CCRES folks are super organized and have a working system implemented. They are also very cool individuals.

We could use a few more US West Coast pilots if any readers are interested.

Damn Pod. (Chainer Inspired Fiction Contest #1)

• Artist: David Bowie
• Song: Space Oddity

Damn Pod.

These things get pretty gross when you are floating for days at a time, despite the best nano-bot grooming scripts. I could blame the wormhole. I could blame the deadly Loki-Proteus combination. I could blame my chicken shit corp-mate for doing the sensible thing and getting out of dodge when the Proteus opened fire with some hardcore blasters while we were scouting new anomalies. Being caught in a daydream before the warning klaxons signaled the rapid demise of my shields certainly didn't help.

Most of all, I blame the implants. They are the harbingers of my mediocrity, the sirens of my insufficient self worth. I may not have been graced with amazing smarts or reaction times, but technology now offers a seductive chance at augmentation. A push towards self-realization. One may now rise above the mean and attain great advantages that can give a useful edge in this immortal life.

Of course, the edge does not come without a price. Getting ahead on a personal level requires parting with some serious cold, hard ISK. Finding the goods without paying Jita sucker prices is also an adventure. Dealing with the Serpentis is always potentially unpleasant as they are nothing if not opportunistic thieves. The booster trade likely helps lead to such a grim perspective. My Syndicate agent was able to negotiate a marginally decent price when I decided to go down the cybernetic road of Snake augmentation to complement my already maximally boosted brain.

That ISK and trouble has led me to be stranded in this forsaken wormhole for two mind-numbing weeks. Once the Loki gave up trying to scan down my pod pinging back and forth between safes, I have been alone in this dark place. With thoughts and pod goo as my only companions. Yes, I could self destruct and get back to Empire in a fresh clone. Sadly, due to some recent smuggling mishaps I cannot afford to replace my implants at this juncture. I am stuck.

I formulate a plan. I will bribe the next wormhole visitor I can find on my directional for a link out of this nasty Sleeper infested space. I will not mention the great value of hardware in my body. I will act stupid. "Gosh, I just got podded by a Sleeper drone earlier today! Can you help me out of here. I have some ISK saved up. I'll pay you 20 million now and 20 in K-space. Wow, those Sleepers are mean!" Hopefully my sanity will remain intact long enough to retain some of the intuition and guile that have served me well all these years of piloting to find a suitable mark and weasel my way out of here in one piece.

Hopefully.

I just know someone will come through soon. Just one more day. Surely I can last one more day.

Oracle of EVE (EON contest)

Late in 2010, after the changes in Dominion and Dominion 1.5 have led to the collapse of the biggest old 0.0 power blocs, Mynxee of the Hellcats decides that a true warrior queen requires a Kingdom. The Hellcats conquer a constellation in 0.0 with help from a unified pirate alliance. The pirates enlist subjugated carebears to farm and develop the pirate controlled constellation. To force carebears into submission, project Hulkageddon is intensified and it becomes safer and more profitable to rent protected space from the pirate occupiers than to risk suicide attacks in Empire. From their protected 0.0 base, the pirates wreak havoc in neighboring low-sec systems. 0.0 neighbors, intimidated by the pirate boldness and constant small gang attacks, strike non-aggression pacts with the pirates which allows them to consolidate their power. The pirates' increased wealth and projected power leads to low-sec domination. Moving goods into 0.0 becomes much more difficult unless one has paid for favorable standings with the pirates. The graft and bribery provide a strong positive feedback loop, encouraging the Hellcats to expand their alliance and lock down more and more space.

The organized crime approach to government works surprisingly well. Pirates enjoy a passive income from the renters which keeps them in ships and modules for pew and yarr. Renters enjoy upgraded Industrial space with coherent protection and access to the increased 0.0 rewards implemented in Dominion 1.5. This innovative model begins to catch on, and the last old-school empty space holding Alliances begin to be out-competed by synergistic Industrial/Muscle arrangements. Things are not totally settled, however. There are grumblings amongst carebears about tax rates and oppression. These new 0.0 denizens are becoming tougher and more skilled with each month. It is only a matter of time before some of these Industrialists join forces in rebellion and attempt to form capitalistic Industrial kingdoms, providing their own muscle from the legions of hardening carebears who have flocked to null-sec's seductive draw. Small regional conflict is often influenced by mercenary forces made up of the expert PVP players from the collapsed empty space moon-goo alliances. These players now make huge profits as elite capital ship warfare specialists for hire. As always, the traders smile as war and destruction inevitably bring increased profits and opportunities for the intelligent to exploit!

CSM Voting

I dissed http://match.eve-csm.com on Twitter for launching the site ages ago, and then not being available to actually use.  This was a bit of fail on the admin, as you can't count on people returning to your site if it doesn't work at launch.

 

The Massively feature on the CSM triggered me to check out the match site today.  I was actually blown away by how useful the info was.  It prompted me to change my two votes to people who will better represent my views.  I was surprised to see that my previous choices had voted on "deal-breaker" topics in ways that I would not support.  If you haven't already voted, check out EVE Vote Match and find out who will have your back in the upcoming CSM!

 

I hope this tool becomes standard for future elections.  Hopefully the CSM members can help with adding pertinent questions for issues that develop prior to the next election.

Ouch!

I am grinding out missions to get lvl 4 Research agents. Until today, this process has been brainless. I could practically AFK every Lvl 2 mission I ran, and the first 5 Level 3s were likewise simple.

Today The Blockade kicked my butt. Twice.

I managed to lose not one, but TWO Myrmidons on this mission. Yes, I am probably a moron. I was certainly hubristic about mission running! I know the general consensus is that missions are mind numbing and boring. I agree with that idea mostly, but today I got pwned. Twice.

I am still not sure what caused all the waves to spawn at once, but I can vouch that it really sucks when that happens! I really hope my current round of invention is highly profitable as I need to recharge the ISK!

Pirate Bases

1. It is annoying that some pirate factions are located in null sec, where only the holding alliance can easily interact with their agents. 

 

2.  Low Sec needs love.

 

I have an idea for secret pirate stations in 0.1 systems.  The idea is that the Pirate factions have managed to create thriving outposts on the borders of Empire space, taking advantage of space that is not heavily contested by capsuleer alliances, nor heavily patrolled by Concord or the Empires.

 

These stations would not show up on the overview.  You would have to scan them down, or be given the location by someone in the know.  The location could either remain fixed, or periodically relocate to a new secret location requiring probes to scan down.  In station there would be a (black) market that would only be available locally.  These stations would be welcoming to pirates on a criminal timer, and might even shoot those without appropriate pirate faction standing. 

 

In station, you have the usual repair facilities, clone facilities, faction store, etc.  Some of the factions might even have research labs.  Each station would have several pirate agents.  I am thinking about a density of about one pirate station per low-sec region, as the ability to dock while on a criminal timer could be unbalancing if too available.

 

These stations could become very interesting with Incarna.  (I could see the Hellcats Pub in one, for example!)  They would also be attractive market hubs for contraband, which will hopefully be expanded with the "Corruption" changes that have been hinted to come.

 

Any thoughts on the idea? 

The Sleepers have gone back to bed

I am enjoying a breather from W-space as I work on accessing Lvl 4 research agents for my Industrial plans.  The thing that most strikes me is how easy it is to live in high sec.  No need to spam the directional, I can drone boat my missions with impunity, and I can use autopilot when working on logistics.  The lack of need for constant scanning is also nice, hopefully the corp UI will be updated with shared corp bookmarks soon!  I wouldn't want to stay here indefinitely, but a breather in High Sec can be refreshing!

 

My training continues toward flying a Drake, as the Myrmidon is too much trouble for Sleepers.  After losing too many drones even with close management, I am selling out for a passive shield tanked missile boat.  It is unfortunate that CCP gimped Gallente boats so severely towards Sleepers, but that is why we pod pilots can always benefit from cross training as the winds of Nerf change our course.  I am splitting the Drake plan with Science skills related to my invention schemes.

 

Given my preference for non-high sec living, I am hoping that Dominion seriously opens opportunities for Industrialists with teeth to move in and exploit the new system development environment in 0.0.  For the time being, I can function well with the small industrial base we have set up in W Space.  If we need more than 2 Large POS, we can always grab another moon in the system!  I think the upcoming treaty system will be very helpful for increasing 0.0 occupation.  Until then, I am guardedly optimistic that the Dominion changes will be helpful. 

 

With POS no longer tied to sovereignty, access to POS for corps moving into 0.0 may increase.  If the holding Alliance can benefit from increased population in a system, why not invite in Industrial corps and set them blue to the main Alliance?  Even if this happens, there are still problems with exploiting POS for industry.  Part of the challenge is the permissions limitations that POS currently have.  We need MUCH more control over POS settings...  For example, a corp should be able to give a player control over 1 POS, without risking blueprints in all the other active POS by having to give out general permissions.  There should also be more control over anchoring and accessing storage.  The POS "owner" should also be able to "lock" all anchorings and settings with a password, to decrease the ease of corp theft that limits utilization of POS in large corps...

Halloween fun!

In a brief non-gaming digression, here are the Halloween pics for this year!

Wild Things!

Max!
Trick or Treating!
My super talented wife made the rocking costumes! Even though she won't play video games with me, I think I'll keep her around.

PVP Missions!

Welcome to the thirteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The first banter of this 2nd year of EVE Blog Banters comes to us from Zargyl from A Sebiestor Scholar, who asked the following: On the EVE Fanfest 2009 page are pictures of prizes for the Silent Auction that was held during the event. One of these photos was entitled “Design your own EVE mission”. My question now would be what kind of mission would you write if you got that prize? What would the mission be about? Would it be one using the new system of epic mission arks? What would be the story told by it? Feel free to expand upon his questions and put together your very own mission!

***

I am hoping CCP will push the boundaries of the mission system in the future, blurring the lines between PVP and PVE. In designing my mission, I am creating a new dynamic mission system that is capable of matching up players in real time together in competitive or cooperative missions.

On speaking with the agent, a pirate faction has stolen some obscure experimental datacores from your Agent's corp. The agent has intel that a drop off has been arranged in deadspace where the pirates plan to sell the datacores to a "fence" in a nearby system in 10 minutes. Meanwhile, another player's agent has intercepted this intel and will be sending this player on a mission to also retreive the stolen datacores for industrial espionage purposes. This could be taken to a massive free-for-all where multiple agents send multiple pilots to get the goods. The loot value would increase with each additional competitor.

When the first player arrives and starts shooting the pirate NPCs, one or more other POD pilots warp in and start attacking to claim the very valuable prize. Mayhem and mass destruction ensue!

Making this sort of mission would require pilots to fit for PVP with webs/scrams, etc instead of loading up on cap rechargers and massive tanks if they want to contend for the contested goods. It would also be a fun way to encourage quick 1v1 PVP or even 1v1v1v1v1 last man standing madness! Winnings would need to be good enough to encourage risking ships for this sort of engagement.

An alternate approach would be to have "backup" arive in the middle of a long mission, sent by a dynamic Agent. The possibilities for this type of system are vast! This type of mission could result in 1v1s, 2v2s, or different pertubations, giving a "BLOB" free PVP experience through the mission system.

Don't forget to check out these other excellent EVE Blog Banter Participants:

CrazyKinux's Musing - Your Mission, should you decide to accept it...
Zen and the Art of Internet Spaceship Maintenance - First Blood
The Elitist - Guristas Invasion
The Wandering Druid of Tranquility - ...It's another episode of Design Star: EVE Style...
Level Cap -Epic Battles
Roc's Ramblings - The Cave of Time
Aether - Teach a man to fish...
Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah - Mission: Tangled Webs
Adventures in Mission Running - I can haz spaceship?
Nuke Thoughts - EVE Blog Banter 13
Diary of a Pod Pilot - Distressing The Damsel
Guns Ablaze - Dynamic Missions
Achernar - Confidential Report
More to come...

Amar T1

If you haven't checked out the awesome Battleclinic Amar Frigate Guide, here it is:

BattleClinic's Guide to EVE Online Amarr Tech 1 Frigates from BattleClinic on Vimeo.

Vacation time

I'll be enjoying some sun and warmth in Texas for the next few weeks on vacation, so no more EVE for me until I get back. It is always nice to set a long skill and enjoy the new Lvl 5 skill I wouldn't have likely trained otherwise when I get home. (Maybe someday CCP will let us use Capsuleer to change the skill queue with an iPhone, and I won' t have to settle for a 14 day lvl 5 skill!)

Thanks to the EVE Bloggers and Tweetfleet for keeping me connected to New Eden while I travel!

Arko(S)noring

Yes, mining itself is boring. Mining in WH space adds a few dimensions as you have to spam the directional to stay safe. Today, we found a grav site with an electrical storm which would hit the Retriever for 500 shield or about 280 Armor every minute or so. That added an extra wrinkle, and I had to slap an armor rep and PDS on the Retriever to keep the Arkonor flowing smoothly.

I really don't love the extra micromanaging, as I actually enjoy being able to chat and browse the intertubes (New Eden, COSMOS, NeoCom?) while mining. Hopefully, I won't forget the directional scanner too long and get ganked!

Based on Kename Fin's Ore list, each Retriever hold of Arkonor equals 757,580 ISK. Filling a jet can yields 10,416,666 ISK. Of course, one trick to dealing with mining in a WH, is that you need to refine the ore at the POS and just ship the high end materials back to high sec.

I am counting on these Grav sites being profitable enough to finance a shiny Drake for my future Sleeper hunting. Until I get the Drake flying, I am focusing more on mining than hunting Sleepers for income...

Mining Newb!

I have been sick, and wasn't really feeling up to tangling with Sleepers in a Myrmidon today. Micromanaging drones can get old fast, and I didn't have the energy for that.

I decided to grab a Corp Retreiver that I recently trained for, but have never used, and check out the Grav site I scanned today in our Wormhole.

Things were fairly quiet, with a brief diversion of scanning down a Probe who was in checking out our system. In abscence of Corp mates I snuck up in my Helios and made a book mark at 6000m and then warped back to the POS to grab my Ishkur. Unfortunately, this guy wasn't a dummy and he noticed that I was on the way and warped away before I got there. If only a Corp mate had been around to grab a point by warping to my hidden location!

My initial foray into mining was marred by losing a half jet can of ore during my hunt for our invader. I didn't realize there was a timer on jet cans! (total newb move!). Overall, the evening was pleasant and relaxing. The nice thing about being in a WH is that you also never know when you might get the chance to shoot someone!

And it's a wash...

Stingy sleepers only dropped one ribbon but killed 3 drones! I can't wait to finish the Drake training plan so I can hopefully increase my profit margin.

CCP certainly didn't show drone boat pilots any love when they created the Sleeper AI...

On the upshot, I brought my Ishkur assault frigate into the WH for any PVP ops that come up. I am looking forward to hunting for AFK miners in adjacent systems. The Planet Risk billion ISK Orca ransom would go a long way towards financing my next few months of EVE plans!

Wormhole tip

One tip for easily orienting yourself after exiting a wormhole back to K space is to leave an item at each major trade hub. You can then open your assets and easily scan how many jumps you are from the hubs when you end up in an area that is unknown to you.

More warm bodies!

Last night was wormhole logistics, as my IRL brother is joining the Corp at our WH POS. I scanned an exit with only 3 jumps through quiet low sec. We then spent a huge amount of time planning what modules he should bring in to allow for flexible fits for Sleepers and for PVP.

As an aside, I really cannot wait for the upgraded in game browser! Being able to browse battleclinic fittings without alt-tabbing out will be pure win! With the collective wisdom at battleclinic, I have been playing around with different Myrmidon fittings against the sleepers. I am getting much more comfortable solo, but still prefer the fleet approach!

I also sold my first batch of salvage, which made me enough ISK to cover my T2 Myrmidon and buy 5 more skills!

All is going well with our WH ops. We occasionally get ganked, but the risk/reward works out pretty well with basic precautions taken.

Stuck scanning

One challenge of living in a WH is the time it takes to continually scan exits and explorable sites. Usually the Corp speads this task around, but I was the only one on last night and I scanned out 3 sites without finding the static high/low sec exit out of the 8 possible sites. Guess I'll keep hunting! It seems like the recent WH have only lasted a day or so, keeping me very busy scanning. My scan times are variable, but it seems to usually take me 10-40 minutes to scan a site out. I guess I should train the scanning skills higher...

I am anxious to find high sec access so I can bring my new Myrmidon in, as well as stock some Barrage ammo for the corp!

Excuse me while I frag the sky!

All the EVE Dust buzz has me jonesing for a Planetside fix. I was seriously hoping after the EVE FPS buzz from fanfest last year that CCP would surprise us with a Planetside layer added to the existing space focused EVE content.

During the heyday, massive battles in Planetside were epic! Defending a base from a massive zerg, roaming in Magrider wolfpacks, and bombing the hell out of infantry ants remain favorite gaming memories.

CCP has expressed a desire to focus on building emergence into their games, but it appears that they have chosen to focus Dust into a smaller map format. I hope I am misunderstanding the snippets of game info I have seen so far, because the emergent chaos that would erupt in Planetside was phenomenal. I firmly believe CCP could really do a massive FPS right.

SOE failed to give Planetside the dev love it needed to remain a great game. They never fixed the bases or changed mechanisms to make the game more fun and less of a zergfest. Planetside and EVE came out around the same time and look at the huge difference in post release development!

My new hope is that CCP will decide to make an FPS component for EVE after Dust runs its course on the current gen consoles. I sincerely hope that they look to Planetside for cues on combining air and ground vehicles with infantry in a tactically complex manner that is able to influence SOV. Of course, if CCP makes it, it will likely be deeper and more intelligent with a good likelihood of long term development and support! I can't help but dream about what would be to me the perfect game!

Skill progress

In a few months I'll hit my 1 year mark in EVE, as I started playing right before the Quantum Rise expansion was released. I started very slowly, playing a lot of LOTRO in the early months while I trained up all the Learning skills. Since then I have focused on training the basics and I can fly Assault Frigs, Cov Ops, and regular ships up to BattleCruisers at 17 million SP. I have focused on Drones, starting with Special Ops ( in the old system of picking a starting profession that has been replaced) which gave me a head start on Drones.

Starting as an Intaki Reborn, my Intelligence and Memory were skewed very high. I am currently trying to train the vast majority of skills requiring these attributes on my skill plan before I remap my attributes to favor Perception and Willpower. This has led me to delay serious training into Cruisers or Battlecruisers, only taking these skills to level 3.

Having recently moved into WH space, I am now aware of a distinct need to bump up my skills in ships, and especially gunnery. Being a drone specialist was great on regular missions, but the sleepers are a bit too hard on drones! That's too bad, because I have really enjoyed the playstyle with drone operation.

I have invested heavily in Science skills and am hoping this will pay income dividends into the future. My Science plans have been put on the backburner for now given the increased profits that can be found in WH space.

My current EVE Mon plan runs to 8/22/2010 and that doesn't include blockade runners which I think would be very useful for WH residence. I think it is funny and amazing that it will take me 2 years of training to get the basic general skills in place. This includes training all the shield and armor compensations, blaster and railgun specializations, etc. I also have the Stealth Bomber on my plan, having already trained Cov Ops. Being deficient in missile skills will make the bomber take a bit longer than I wish...

I'll try to give a more coherent overview of my skills and training direction at the 1 year mark. The depth of EVE and robustness of possibility space therein ensures that one's skill plans never stagnate! Hopefully tech 3 ships will be much more affordable by the time I can fly them.

Scanning first!

Yes I'm late to the party.

Yes it was also very cool to scan down my first WH.

And here's my new home base!

Pushing Boundaries

In what seems to be a common EVE story these days, my Corp has colonized a beautiful Wormhole system. I dumped the +4 implants for a fresh disposable jump clone in case I get caught by a roaming pirate gang and headed for the high sec entrance that just opened for a new adventure.

My Corp provides "disposable" ships for all to share at our large tower base, so I brought my sneaky Helios to practice scanning and help with reconnaissance. There has been a bit of conflict lately in the WH, and I think I may bring a Myrmidon in as well as my skills are a better match for the drone happy Myrm.

The word on the street is that the WH project has been highly profitable, so I hope my next update includes a fatter wallet!

The game you play even when you don't.

Eve is a great game for someone like me who is too busy to be a regular gamer at this phase in life. I can keep skills training, and feel like I am progressing even if I only get to play once a week or so.

The other awesome thing about Eve is the active online community that provides endless interesting entertainment. The sandbox is so deep it can actually provide a matrix for emergent drama. I can't wait to see where things head with the Sov changes and with Dust. The community provides education, insight, and opinions that make "out of game" time almost as good as in game time. Until CCP comes out with an iPhone EVE client, I will have to rely on the EVE community to stay connected to New Eden when I am working too hard!

Summertime Rolls

Still alive.

Still playing EVE.

My first corp imploded, with the CEO and all my favorite players dropping out over a week or so in late winter. I was only in the corp for about 3 months, so I wasn't privy to the backstage drama that triggered the exodus.

Luckily, I re-connected with a childhood friend who was a director in a well-established empire corp. I joined up, and have been enjoying my new home since then. I am not doing PVP yet, but am having fun developing Industrial skills and doing some missions. I still trade now and then, when I have time to do the research and wrestle with the hardcore market fiends.

I also relocated to Minmatar space to be close to corp activities. I miss the Gallente stations, but overall am happy as an expat!

I am only now finishing up the skill plan I developed last fall. I have, of course, developed ideas for the next phase. Because I started as Intaki with sick Mem/Int, I am focusing on non-ship or PVP skills for now. I will eventually respec my attributes to enable faster ship skill training with higher Per/Will.

My overall verdict:

Eve is fun, and it gets better and better as time goes by.

Possibility space

I think EVE provides an ideal balance of possibility space vs. safety in its design. While you can hide behind CONCORD with reasonable safety in high sec, it is much more fun and rewarding to venture into areas with more risk. The mechanics allow for miners, traders, pirates and sovereign alliance wars. WOW!

The social dynamic is the secret sauce for EVE, and the game mechanics ensure that even Corps and Alliances are potentially full of intrigue given the ability for players to scheme, steal, and con their way to riches.  This leads to a paranoid feel when you are first getting to know Corp mates or applying for a Corp.  Trust is likely the most valuable commodity in EVE, there are even players like Chribba who make their living based on their trustworthiness.  

By allowing such varied interaction, EVE deepens the potential relationships and adds meaning to player interactions.  What other virtual world has inspired player run banks, investment schemes, mass territorial Alliance warfare, and a complex player managed market?  This depth and complexity of possibility distinguishes EVE from the alternatives and makes New Eden a virtual world like no other!

EVE NEWB info

This post will be a resource for any brave souls who wish to venture into the world of New Eden. Having spent many hours reading up on EVE, I want to create a repository of helpful information to smooth out the steep learning curve that an MMO of EVE's complexity presents.

The first stop in EVE education is the official EVE Online Player Guide. This is a good introduction to game concepts in EVE, but it does not go into specific enough depth to be more than a starter orientation guide.

The next step is to download BattleClinic's EVE New Player Guide.

BattleClinic is a great resource for players with discussions on ship loadouts, and a level 1 mission guide.

While at Battleclinic, be sure and download EVE Mon, an essential tool for planning and managing skill training.  (If only CCP would allow a skill queue...)

Everything you needed to know about skills but were afraid to ask!

Tanking 101

Zev'Nar - Bits of EvE Knowledge

Check out EVE-Wiki.net for great overviews of ships and modules plus helpful guides.

Manasi's Overview Guide

My goal is to keep updating this post as I find new information.  Please comment on any other essentials I have missed.

EVE novel review

I didn't get a chance to log into EVE yesterday, but I was fully immersed in New Eden. I was enjoying Tony Gonzales' novel- Eve: The Empyrean Age.




I greatly enjoyed the read and would recommend the book to any Sci-Fi fan, regardless of whether they play EVE or not. As an EVE capsuleer, I feel like the book helped enrich the backstory and brought to life many areas that I have found myself roaming through. Overall, the plot and characters are engaging. There are perhaps too many concurrent plot lines, and while the complex plot provides excitement, the downside is that character development is severely constrained by the lack of focus.

The book succeeds in providing the story that leads to the current situation with the Factional Warfare system in game. I also enjoyed that the characters have turned up in later EVE chronicles to further develop the story. Perhaps it is a consequence of being part of a living, breathing universe, but the hardest part about the novel is that it leaves you hanging at the end. I am still not sure what happens on Caldari Prime, and I have been playing the game for months since the novel came out. We have also been given very little additional insight into the craziness within the Amarr Empress, or what becomes of the racist and bloodthirsty leader of the Caldari. While the recent freeing of slaves may have been forshadowed by the experiences of the Empress' right hand man in the book, we are left on our own to figure out how the story ends.

I am personally counting on Mr. Gonzales to publish a sequel soon to explore these hanging threads. I hope he can slow down enough to really develop his characters while retaining the gripping quality he created in The Empyrean Age.

Overall, a good read for any Sci-Fi fan; a great read for those interested in jumping into the EVE world, and a must read for current players!

Grab a copy today and let me know what YOU think.