THIS IS AMAZING

If you like and have played Skyrim, you must listen to it. Listen to it anyway.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4z9TdDCWN7g&feature=colike

Ok, I know I've said this before

But I can finally, truly, see the light where I have time to listen to podcasts again. I finally got a job and they let you listen to music, and other, while working, I just have to get through training first. It may yet be a month or two before I can get back in to the swing of things. On the other hand it might not take that long as I will soon be getting my own appartment and will have time to do what ever I want. I am currently staying with relatives in the city where the job is located. My cousin and I are working on putting together a minecraft server for one of us to host from our places of residence. We had a professionally hosted one with BroHoster, but if you have been following the the MC world, you know that they recently ceased to exist as a company. Fortunately we were able to get a backup of our world and we are going to put it on this machine to save money. We got it really cheap cause the screen is busted, but is still usable. So cheap in fact, that it will pay for itself within 4 months.

So, what am I doing at this moment? Relaxing after a long day of training, drinking a hard lemonade, waiting for my cousin to get back with a camera so we can have some fun with green screen. We are making videos for our gaming clan.

Live Long and Die Laughing,
Max

Fearless, Virtual Goods, and Rage

This is my response to the leaked newsletter and the devblog response


Lets start with what I agree with. I agree with Zulu in that people dragging other people "through the mud" is overboard and should not have gone there. My concerns are with CCP's strategies going forward And as long as he is not covering for future plans by pointing to the fine print that the newsletter that it does 


"not reflect
general CCP company policies
or decisions and are strictly
individual opinions, written by
CCPers or about CCPers who
feel strongly about these issues."

then I also agree with him that the general reaction is a bit overboard.

However,
I do not agree with his point on pricing. The thing to remember is that these are virtual goods and will never be anything more. The pricing needs to be more reasonable. 60 USD for an eyepatch? Really? Has anyone at CCP actually done the math? I am all for selling vanity items for real money, I truly am, but they need to be at a cost that can actually be justified for something that will never leave your computer screen. As a note, even I as anti "extra money" as I am, would buy a pair of some really cool pants for 7$ and never more than 10$.

I do have a problem with allowing the purchasing of actual items/skill points/faction standing for real money. I know, I know, Plex already allows this blah, blah, blah (for the items anyway). But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the rumors floating around about the ability to buy a "painted ship" call it a pink kestral from the Nex. Let me be clear, I have no problems with pink or even hello kitty kestrals, I would shoot them without a second tought, but I have no problem with them being possible. What I have a problem with is that CCP is considering the idea to let the player but that pink kestral straight from the NeX, the ship. If you are going to have a pink kestral, I think you should have to trade a regular kestral and pay extra for the paint. The problem with just giving you the ship, is that no a kestral manufacturer is out his money because someone didn't have to buy it from him, he got it from CCP directly.

Those are my thoughts.

Live long and die Laughing,
Max

Update 5-25-2011

So the world didn't end, the US has had 2 F5 tornadoes in less than 2 months and Japan almost sunk. Lots of stuff has been happening. As for this blog and the famous Podcast Reviews, I am almost ready to start again.

I did manage to graduate. WOOT! But I am still looking for a job (If any of you know of any openings for a computer tech/programmer let me know) and I am currently getting up to date on all the podcasts. I am currently still a few weeks behind. I am going to Orlando, Florida from Jackson, Mississippi via Montgomery, Alabama this weekend so I ought to have plenty of time to catch up on those long drives.

That's all for now, Fly Safe.

RL Keeping Me Away

I'm sorry for the dry spell folks. I am in the last few weeks of school and there is simply too much to do and not enough time to do it. I haven't even had a chance to listen to the podcast the last 2 weeks much less post on them.

On the bright side, I am graduating this go around so I should be able to get back to it in a month or so.

Max

Podcast Review - Week of Mar. 27 - Apr. 2

Ok, I'm running a little behind this week but I only have two more to go.

@Lost in Conversation 10
I saw the EvE Future Vision and it was indeed very awesome. I have watched it at least 20 times at this point. Another video that CCP released this week is the New Turrets video, this is not a final production piece, but it is showing us something that they are working on.

In regards to the bounty system. It is absolutely true that it needs some very serious work. Unfortunately, as someone who does not have a lot of pvp experience, I don't think I am qualified to come up with a solution that would work.

At fanfest CCP talked about revamping the smuggler system. I think this is a wonderful idea. They may have gone too far the other direction with it and made it too easy, but we will see. One really good thing about the new system is that it will give us a solid use for Incarna because they will not be selling the illegal goods on the market. You will have to leave your ship and go find the peddlers yourself.

I also agree that something is un-probe-able ships are completely overpowered. The best way to fix this would just to be the way the scanning system works. One thing that I've never been able to figure out why a ships sensor strength has any effect on how scannable it is. It seems to me that the probing difficulty should be based on signature radius. I know that already plays a part but why would you need ANYTHING else to effect it. So, I'll pose a question, How would your ship's sensor strength effect someone else's probes scanning power?

Also Jade, I have a link for you. Use this when people are asking you questions or you are telling some to use Google. Let Me Google That For You. You type in what you want to search and it generates a link then it shows them how to google it. For example to google The Bastards eve corp.

@Podgoo 8
On the subject of the graphs in the Inventory Setification blog. Specifically the Jita one. The work they did almost halfed the CPU load. That is amazing work. Go hash tables.

And yes I read the entire post about the database hardware upgrades. Very on-turning. The metrics were very impressive as well. I don't care what bitter old vets say, CCP is working on lag and they are making great strides.

Also I sent you a mail about Birmingham.

@Notalotofnews Newshour 43
You mentioned live broadcasts. I'll definitely listen in, how can I connect to that?

As far as I'm aware, the captain's quarters is not supposed to be the only thing coming out with Incarna this summer. I think that it's just supposed to be the first iteration.

I had not considered the cycle that First Person Shooters follow. I've been really excited about Dust 514, but Ender posed a good question, what is CCP going to do to ensure that the people who buy their game are going to keep playing it?

I really liked the new nebulae and turrets but I had the same concern, will the turrets cause delay or with that just be client side flavor.

In the fanfest videos, Soundwave says that the are doing away with agent quality, but I've also heard that it is going to be a dynamic system. Which is true? Does anyone know?

@Eve Commune 20
Didn't have much to say for you guys this week. Just that that blog post by Hallan Turrek was very informative and I will even be using some of his advice.

Podcast Review - Week of Mar. 20-26

I'm sorry again folks. Real life has really been kicking my butt this past week. As such I have not had a chance to listen to the podcasts myself, much less post on them. But, as last week's post, I will speed link them. Hopefully this week will go better.

@Broadcasts from the Ninveah 39

@Pod Goo 7

@Fly Reckless 54

@Fly Reckless 55

@Lost in Eve 3-9

@Lost in Eve Extra 10

@Notalotofnews Newshour 42

Podcast Review - Week of Mar. 13-19

As I was away on vacation this week and got almost no time to listen to podcasts, I will not be making a post this week. It also turns out that there were several episodes that my computer managed to miss from the previous week that I also did not get a chance to comment on. So, since I will not be commenting on them I will at least link them here.

Week of Mar. 6-12

@Pod Goo 6

@Fly Reckless 53

@Notalotofnews Newshour 40

These are in addition to the ones I did get a chance to blog about on last week. Now for this week:

Week of 13-19
@Broadcasts from the Ninveah 38

@Cap Stable 6

@Eve Commune 19

@Notalotofnews Newshour 41
The also had a public service announcement

@Starfleet Comms 6


Thank you all for reading and I'll be back on track for the week of the 20th-26th

Podcast Review: Mar. 6-12

This is just a review of all the podcasts that came out this week. I will include my thoughts, corrections and suggestions into sections divided by podcast. I will update this several times throughout the week as new podcasts are released and I have a chance to listen to them.


This week has been really slow for podcasts. Also next week I will be out of town for spring break. I will still try to make my weekly post, but that may just not be possible.


@evecommune 18
I'd like to subscribe to EON, but I want the full set and I don't want duplicates when I eventually order the entire backlog.


That fact that death in EVE comes with a real punishment (aka. actually losing something) is one of my favorite things about it.


They rambled about the possibility to start as a member of a pirate faction. I give this idea 2 thumbs way, way up.


It is a definite truth that in a game your rl morals don apply. That's the point isn't it? It's an RPG. Role Playing Game. You play a role. No one said the role you had to play was the same one you "play" in real life. I will admit that I do tend to play Max pretty close to myself, but he's a bit more direct than I tend to be. I'll work around a conversation until I've what I feel what I meant actually gets across (I've had experiences where someone dear to me misunderstood what I meant by something and led to an uncomfortable confrontation). Max makes no apologies accept to his dearest friends. Anyone else that takes something the wrong way can shove off. I feel that this story is a good example.


They mentioned this Freebooted article. I read that at work the other day...DON'T. It's not that is NSFW, it's just so darn funny.


I find the prospect of project halibut interesting. And I would really like an armband, so I will be donating an old mission raven of mine that I have laying around.


@Lost in Debate 2, @Lost In Debate 2
I will not be commenting on these this week as I was listening to them for my benifit and I honestly don't know enough to argue on any point. I will say this however, if you haven't voted yet, listen to these before you do, I hope Jade and Jayne put out some more this weekend. I'll be waiting to vote until I find out.

Podcast Review: Feb. 27- Mar. 5

Sorry this one is a day late. But a assure you, it is not a dollar short.


This is just a review of all the podcasts that came out this week. I will include my thoughts, corrections and suggestions into sections divided by podcast. I will update this several times throughout the week as new podcasts are released and I have a chance to listen to them.


@evecommune 17
Hey good to hear Fergus's voice. You got a good guest in that one Garheade.


Part of the fix that CCP implemented that keeps GCC from going viral through the logistics ships in a fleet is that no you can't repair someone who has GCC. I think that applies just to highsec or if it counts in lowsec too. If it does apply to lowsec, that could be a problem.


I also enjoyed Kirith's post telling the bittervets where they could stick it. In much nicer terms....


I really like that way of looking at eve. It's not our game, it's just the one we choose to play. I think the eve community as a whole seems to forget that simple fact sometimes. We've been spoiled by how well CCP listens to us, that we think we have a right to their attention, but we don't. There are many that would do well to be reminded of this fact.


I'm gonna have to try the tweetfleet challenge sometime.


@Lost in Conversation 7
Ooo! Pretty "Laedy" voice! Ok, on to business.


I have to agree with Hallen that those who whine about the new sovereignty system are wrong. Besides there are fewer timers for everyone to try to "alarm clock" themselves to. In my opinion this is a good idea.


Jump bridges do change the tactical landscape and that changes the way people operate with in that space. It give a "home-field" advantage that I believe is an incredible addition to the game. I will concede that maybe they are a bit over powered. I think some of the proposals that have been floating around the last couple of weeks would be good. Maybe not all of them combined but just one would probably do the trick.


Don't have much more to say this week. I don't know much about null sec, but I did get to learn a thing or two.


@Pod Goo 4
I really like the new music. I noticed it even before you mentioned it. Really awesome.

I think part of the reason there isn't quite as much uproar on the forums(there is still a lot but not as much in past years) because people are becoming accustomed to this occasion. It's becoming a regular thing so people expect it now and they are beginning to realize that it is not going to stop. No matter what they do.

I'm going to have to check those video playlists out. That sound like they will be really cool. Link to videos.

I did read that post about the corp thief that got caught. This post by Planetary Genocide, an old corp mate of mine reflects my thoughts.

I do happen to have a story about corp theft for you. Executed by my friend Planetary Genocide. Link Part 1, Link Part 2, Link Part 3

@Broadcasts from the Ninveah 37
I don't really have a lot of input for you this week on Kirith's blog. He gave a good presentation of his opinions. I don't really agree or disagree on any particular point except that I agree that Hulkaggedon is legal if a little over-justified  where no justification is needed.

@Notalotofnews 39
Stargate SG1!!! I love that show. Well loved, they finally ended it after 10 years.

I had noticed that your website was a little shaky there. It's good to hear that its up and running again as it should be. I really like the way the new site looks. And I guess I'll register for the forums so I can post my weekly link.

I was wondering if you knew about the secret Jita insta-undock. There is s moon right in front of the undock that you can warp right to. My preferred method is to use a bookmark in-between the two that I set up. It greatly reduces your chances of getting ganked.

I have a kestral fit that I defeated Planetary Genocide with. If you'd like to see it, just send me an email to maxwell.muhilo@gmail.com or eve-mail me at Maxwell Muhilo and I'll be more than willing to show it to you. I don't know how well it'll work against another Caldari pilot though.

@Cap Stable 5
Clone jumping up to grab your drake, but you just need to keep in mind that they are slow. And you should have taken your stealth bomber out anyway any halfway decent FC will be able to use you, especially because you are flying a cloaky ship that can double as a scout.

The CSM debates are going to be really cool. I have actually decided that I'm not going to vote for someone who doesn't go on. I want to see a little effort put forth if they want my vote.

Sophillea, I am really looking forward to Incarna as well.


Thank you all for the shout out.

@Tale of 2 Pilots 1
So there is a new podcast in the EvE blog-o-sphere. Unfortunately this first episode is all about jump bridges which has been beaten to death. This is not to say that I have nothing to say just that I'm not going to say again the same things I have already said in the same post.

Gevlin sounded like he was whining when he was using the excuse that he can't find any kills as a reason to do away with jump bridges. I just want to say, please stop sounding like a carebear. You want to complain that you have to go so far to find kills, well what about those hauler pilots. How many jumps would they have to go in order to do their job? At least they are in slow ships and you stand a chance to catch them. I would just as you to give real reasons for your opinions, not whining.

@Pod Goo 5
The first thing I want to say is. Darn you! Two podcasts in one week, and on a week that I'm behind? Jerk! Ok, ok, I'm just kidding, but you knew that. So! On to business.

I would like to know from where do you derive your character name Ender? And Mechanoid as well.

Please do the phone app for watching pos fuel. I would love it and even pay a bit for it as I am the fuel manager for my corp.

I don't know who I'm voting for yet either. I am very much looking forward to the Lost in Eve debates. I have decided that I will not vote for someone who does not participate in them as I want to vote for someone who is willing to put forth the effort to engage with the community.

For next weeks Derp of the Week. A cheeta with warp core stabilizers fit. This is doing it wrong! And yes Planetary Genocide is my friend. Link

Podcast Review - Week of Feb. 20-26

This is just a review of all the podcasts that came out this week. I will include my thoughts, corrections and suggestions into sections divided by podcast. I will update this several times throughout the week as new podcasts are released and I have a chance to listen to them.


@Broadcasts from the Ninveah 36
The first thing I'm going to say about this episode is that it was refreshing to see someone who has been playing so long that is excited by Incarna. I know I'm excited about it. The images they gave us in the devbog were really sweet. And I don't think CCP "only" has this to show for all the time they've been working on it. I think they have fun being very secretive and tantalizing us will mouth-watering morsels as they get closer to release day. He has a lot of good points on why Incarna is a good thing.


@Notalotofnews Newshour 38
New URL. Used above ^.
Speaking of Incarna and how it is going to "ruin" this space ship game, all I have to say is that it may be a spaceship game, but a Sci-Fi simulator is far better.

I do have a question for Erin. What do you mean by "chasing things down" in a Tengu? Heavy missiles have a range of over 100 km. A properly fit Tengu at all level 5 skills has a range of 126.6 km with tech1 missiles. And your targeting range is 81.25 km, and if you are shooting that far you only need one mod to extend it beyond 100 km. And besides max drone range is no more than 80 km unless you are flying Gallente. Trust me, when using a Tengu in a PVE situation, you don't really need drones.

The thing you need to know about wormholes is that, while you can make a lot of money there, it is a lot of work logistically. Jade will tell you.

Amamake is not a route to 0.0 but it is a bottleneck into a large section of lowsec. It is also enough of a hub that CCP seeds its market on Singularity. Also Auga is right next door to it so it is not surprising that it is up there with the most violent.

Thank you guys for the shout out. I really wasn't expecting it.

One thing you can do when you get can-flipped by someone who takes your ore and puts it in a can of their own is to go get your hauler, get on the opposite side of your can, align for the station, grab your ore, warp back. The only problem with this method is that now you are stuck with a 15 minute aggression timer, during which they are allowed to shoot you.

As for what you should outlaw in your frigate fight with Jayne. ECM does not include things like tracking disrupting or dampening. ECM is its own form of electronic warfare. Everything else, including webbing, scramming, nos, neut, etc. are all electronic warfare as well. Therefore, while I agree that in a one on one fight that ECM should be disallowed, the others should not.

@Lost in EVE 3-8
Hulkageddon! As I have stated before, I am a supporter of this event. The only problem I have with it is that it hinders my ability to conduct logistics from our hole, we have plenty of stuff to move out, but it's too risky right now.

I am looking forward to getting to hear a woman's voice on a regular basis. Y'all are married but I am not and I've got my fingers crossed that whoever she is will have a sexy voice. Not creepy sexy, but hot.

Congratulations on being referred to as the "Flagship podcast of EvE.

My opinion of the jumpbridge controversy is that they should stay. They are a wonderful example of how the players can shape the landscape around them. This is the same reason that I believe Hulkageddon is a wonderful thing. This is awesome. Also, titan bridges are not designed for this purpose. They are more for rapid tactical deployment in combat.

You were discussing a name for the CSM debates. I have a name for you. Lost in Translation. I was gonna suggest it for Lost in Conversation but I kept putting it off until it was too late. But I think it would go well with the CSM anyway. I think you should still include a wormhole status, I love that segment(I don't expect you to but it would be nice).

On the topic of macro miners, it needs to be understood that not all macroers are miners and not all of them are RMTers. Both botters and RMTers are problems, but they are not the same thing. Even if it is true that most RMTers use bots. And I have to disagree that wormholers have created more isk in the game. The truth is that the only way to bring isk into the game is through DED Bounties. AKA Killing Pirate rats. Anything else is just a changing of hands. I'll have to disagree with you that removing all the bots tomorrow would cause the market it crash. Prices may go up, but isn't that what everyone wants? I know Jade has been complaining about it, mineral prices in the gutter, and besides there is history to study. Unholy Rage, an event where CCP perma-banned some 6000 accounts for botting and RMT. The prices did fluctuate a bit, but nothing drastically. I talked to a friend of mine who was playing the game at that time. He told me that he didn't even notice. The only reason he even knew was that he read about it. And how it would effect the market and whether banning botters would be a problem for CCP or not is irrelevant. Botting is against the EULA, and that's all there is to it.

The shield tanking question is a problem. Even if you personally don't notice it. I use a booster as well, but I know that it should not happen. I have written up what I think is a balanced proposal on the Lost in Eve forums and in the Assembly Hall.

The idea of a "Battle of the Podcasters" is awesome. And I do believe my couch is safe. No one wanted it as it was but I like it. It's hideous, but it is really comfy.

@PodGoo 3
I found it very interesting that a lot of the concerns being expressed by so many EvE players were already addressed, years ago.

I will agree that killmails are an essential part of EvE. They are there for the reasons Ender mentions, mercenary resumes, roleplaying, etc. But they are also good just for bragging rights. How is you average eve pirate supposed to collect those delicious tears without proof to show that they did anything?

Last thing. If you are going to install SiSi, use this Singularity Installer.

Podcast Review - Week of Feb. 13-19

This is just a review of all the podcasts that came out this week. I will include my thoughts, corrections and suggestions into sections divided by podcast. I will update this several times throughout the week as new podcasts are released and I have a chance to listen to them.

Still looking for a better title.

@Lost in Eve Extra 8
So there's an announcement that Lost in Eve is looking for a new co-host, and not just any co-host, a female one. I think this is a great idea. It will give a new perspective on EvE, even if she had the same sort of game background as Jade and Jayne, it would still be a different way of looking at things. I would like to warn J & J that they'll have to keep their eye on this one. The reason being that there is a reason that fighter jet help systems use female voices. Statistics show that men respond better to a female voice then to a male voice, and with most fighter pilots being me(especially at the time this static was taken) it was decided that the voice for the help systems would be female. I'm just kidding of course, all that might realistically happen is a wider audience, which is awesome.


@Lost in Conversation 6
I didn't really have a lot to say about this one. I don't really want to get into the Hulkaggedon controversy so all I will say about it is this. I think it is a wonderful example of how players can effect this game unlike any other and I fully support it even if I don't get to participate.

Now something I did like that they talked about was how killboards aren't really everything when it comes to representing how good you are in PVP. In the podcasts they mentioned that the industrials are important because without them, there are not ships and without ships there is no pvp. They also mentioned logistic pilots, how they will never be on a killboard except as a victim but they server an essential role to keeping the entire fleet alive. The one role like this that they did not mention is one that I have a personal fondness for, the scout. I love scouting, I get better at it everyday. Without the scout the fleet could miss a good fight, or jump into a blog that will destroy them. The scout is the eyes and ears of the fc, or, in some cases, is the fc. But they don't get on killmails. They are usually at least a system away.

@Notalotofnews Newshour 37
Moar Hulkaggedon. I'm not going into that again.

Apparently Lost in Eve has an e-on add. Let me see if I can find it outside the magazine...

Awesome right? It has a Ragnarok in the coffee cup. I love it!

I would like to know when this fight between Jayne and Erin is supposed to take place. Just let me know and I'll make sure he makes it to highsec if I have to scan through 1000 wormholes to do it. Although a lowsec would work just as well as long as he took his cov ops. Short of that, I'd just like to be there to film it.

It's strange that only the top 5 damage dealers would get rewarded in Incursions. The mechanic, according to a devblog, is "designed for groups and based on site objectives" the bullet point on how the system should work are as follows:
"·         To actual combat ships: no pods, shuttles or cloaked vessels

 ·         To players who are inside the site when it is completed

 ·         To players in the fleet that participated the most in the site in question; if there is more than one fleet in   

            a site, others won't be paid. CONCORD only rewards the most effective capsuleers. If you are not

            ready to face the competition, we recommend you either merge your fleets together, or spread out to 

           other unchecked sites.

·         Depending on the player numbers in the most contributing fleet. A ratio is calculated from the total 

          number of active fleet players in the site and how many players this site is from. The closer, the better.

So even if you are the logistics guy, as long as you are in the fleet that does the best you should still get a portion of the reward, as long as you don't cloak.


Lastly, it sounded a little strange to me that you could train up the other races subsystem skills to level one or two that you would decrease the chance that you would loose a big level 5 skill. I did some checking and what I can find says that the skill lost is racial specific. If you die in a Tengu, then you lose a Caldari skill.


@Cap Stable 4
She said "little" panthers. *chuckle*


They talked about having to update each instance of EvE separately. I have a suggestion. Try downloading the manual patch. That way you could just download it once and then install it several times.

Alright, Let's Give This Another Go

Hello. It's been awhile. A lot of things have happened since I last posted. I've moved into a wormhole, got an alt and trained her for the orca and scanning and lvl 5 Command Center Upgrades and Interplanetary Consolidation. Yea, been a while.

I have a new plan to try and stick with posting this time, and here it is.

1. I had an idea for a new serial post (weekly) that will include the input I always have while listening to podcasts. Since they have had such a large effect on my EvE career, I thought that would be appropriate.

2. I bought me a little pocket notebook where I can jot down notes at anytime instead of having to wait until I was at a computer. It also has the added side effect that it lets me wait until it is convenient to post instead of having to take a large amount of time to sit down and write a full post while I'm thinking about it.

3. Prayer, I want to be a part of this wonderful community that is EvE Online. So I'm going to pray that I can stick with doing this thing that I enjoy.