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.

Killboard

I have been working on getting a personal killboard up and running for sometime now. I have finally gotten it working and I want to share it with my readers.

Muhilo Killboard

This is the reason I haven't posted in a while. I have been moving around to a new corp (more info coming soon) and been working on this.

Feel free to comment just know that rude or belligerent posts will be deleted.

Live Long and Die Laughing

Noticed something interesting

When adding a new contact, they will not appear as online unless you add them to your watch list. I just figured this out last week and it occurred to me that unless my friends noticed the same thing then they would not know if I was available.

I don't know how many people will see this post but I am making it for those few who do read this blog. If you want to know when your contacts actually get online, make sure you add them to the contacts watch list.

Live long and die laughing.

Time Flies

Wow, I thought I had been doing good with at least one post a week. I have been working on the blog every day this week, I just haven't finished my new adventure post and I have mostly been working on my Eve Definitions post. It doesn't look like much but I've had a pretty busy week. I've had the house to myself and I've been having trouble keeping up with my first taste of "home ownership". I cant believe it has already been 8 days since my last post. I have also been posting on some fellow bloggers' posts and been trying to make some new friends ingame. It feels like I've been blogging every day but apparently I haven't.

Time flying aside, there is good news. I am off to a good start on my new post, and I've been scouring around for other posts to give me an idea of what I want to talk about because apparently my in character stuff takes me too long to write.

Live long and die laughing,
Max

Alliance Trouny and a new rig

I know I'm a bit behind but I still not quite finished with the Alliance Tournament, I know that it came to a final showdown between PL and Hydra with PL taking the victory.(I was rooting for Hydra) But I have not had the opportunity to watch it. Where I am currently staying has poor internet speed and so I was unable to watch live and it takes about an hour to load one of the videos in HD(the only resolution at which I can read the words) so I have been watching them at work. Needless to say this takes some time due to obligations that come with remaining employed.

In other news, I finally finished my new gaming rig. Only to have the power supply unit(PSU) fail on me within 24 hours. Thanks to the wonderful people over at Newegg I can get another one exactly the same for no extra charge (not even shipping and handling due to the product being defective) it will just take about another full week to get shipped there and the new one to get back to me. So, on with another week of waiting. I will post some screen shots when I have it up and running with the awesome graphics of EVE cranked up to maximum.

I am working on another in character post, this one about my first (beyond a cov ops) foray into wormhole space. I will post it in the next few days.

Live long and die laughing,
Max

Eve Definitions

This will be an updated, alphabetized  list of words that I use in my blogs for those of my readers that are unfamiliar with EVE Online Terminology. These definitions will be short and to the point, if you want more information, I urge you to search it at Evelopedia. If there is a word you feel I have missed, please leave a comment to let me know.

Agent - A non-player-character(NPC) that gives out missions

Armor - The second of 3 levels of hit points. The first being shields, the last being structure(hull)

Capacitor - Source of energy on a spaceship

Hybrid Turrets - Projectile weapons that fire their charges with energy from the capicitor

Hull - See Structure.

Megathron - Gallente Battleship, main form of offence is hybrid turrets, main defense is armor

Missiles - Lock onto a target and fly until impact or run out of fuel, flight distance is determined by max velocity and max flight time

Mission - Assignments given to capsuleers by agents. Can be completed for money and items and standings

Pod(Capsule) - The command capsule for pod pilots(capsuleers). They control their ships from it and it acts as an escape pod when their ship is destroyed

Raven - Caldari Battleship, uses missiles as main form of offence, shields are its main form of defense

Shield Booster(Booster) - Module that actively regenerates shield hit points.

Standing - Your reputation with a particular person, corporation, or faction

Structure - The last of 3 levels of hit points, the first being shields, the second being armor. After this final layer of hit points is destroyed, your ship explodes

It's About Time(IC)

"Sir! Armor is down to 50%! If you don't warp off soon we're all gonna die!" So screamed the crew chief of my two week old Raven class battleship.


I cringed as the grating sound of his voice echoed around my pod. Before it had even begun to die down I hollered back through his headset, "I know! I am connected to the ship with my brain after all! Now shut-up  and get back to work! All I need to do is kill just one more of these megathrons and.....there! He's down, see now the booster will be able to keep up with the incoming blasts."


That was the conversation I was forced to have during a stressful moment of an unusually difficult mission. The rest of the job went off without a hitch, but in those moments I had made up my mind that some changes were in order.


As soon as I received my payment from the agent, I had my pod moved to the debarkation zone. Within minutes I was walking up the gangway of my ship, I was so furious I didn't even bother to rinse off. I walked straight to the crew chief's quarters and slammed open his door. I walked in on him during a conversation with one of the other officers.


"...it's like he doesn't even know what he's doing...Sir!" the crew chief finished with a salute.


The other officer turned pale when he saw me standing there. "OUT!" I roared while glaring at him. He shuffled out very quickly.


When the door had closed, "What is the meaning of this?! Having disrespectful discussions about me while aboard my own ship?" He opened his mouth to speak, "No! Don't answer, I'm not finished!" He closed his mouth again and continued to stand at attention, "This is the ninth time we are having this conversation. How many times do I have to tell you, I am the pilot for a reason, it's my job to fly the ship and to get her crew home safely. You, on the other hand are the crew chief, your job is to make sure the crew is working to their full potential, no matter what you think is happening on the outside of the ship. For your information, I didn't have a choice but to finish it the way I did, I had 2 frigates scrambling me, but between all the other alarms that were going off and your incessant whining I guess you didn't hear that one. And who knows, if you had been doing your job, we might never have taken armor damage to begin with. So shut it and let me fly my ship. Or you know what? I have a better idea, since you can't seem to remember having this conversation less than 2 hours after the last time we had it, you're fired." I pulled out a data pad and begun transferring funds, "Here is your pay for this month and here is enough 'severance' to charter a coach flight, on the cheapest Interbus I can find, back to The Forge. Now get off my ship!"


To his credit he didn't say a word of protest, he just walked out, trying to look as dignified as he could.


I walked over to the nearest wall mounted comm unit and made a ship-wide announcement, "Attention crew, this is the captain speaking, I have just fired the crew chief for incompetence, and I want everyone on the dock in front of the ship in 30 minutes."


I walked briskly back to the debarkation zone to rinse off the pod goo that was beginning to dry my hair into spikes.


"Was that your crew chief I just saw walking out of here looking like a whipped pup?" asked the debarkation assistant when I arrived back at the showers.


"Yes, it was."


"If you don't mind me asking, what did he do?"


"Worried too much about his wallet, and not enough about what he was supposed to be doing. Typical Caldari."


"Ah, I see."

**

Thirty minutes later...

**

I paced in front of my crew, which was standing at attention in a sharp line. In a stern, but much calmer voice than before I said, "We've only been working together for a short time, but in that time I have come to realize that many of you don't belong on a Minmatar ship."

I paused for a moment and lifted a datapad and started entering commands. When I did, one of the enlisted men spoke up.

"But sir, a Raven is a Caldari battleship, the reason you hired us is because we're Caldari and have more experience with this class of..." He trailed off as he caught my withering glare.

I looked down at the data pad, "Well, Mr. Loyalar, I am Minmatar and it's my ship, that makes it a Minmatar ship, because it's run like one. Now the next person to open their mouth unless asked to speak will be escorted to the stations brig. Now, I've been looking over your files this past week and I've decided that most you need to be let go."

For the next 45 minutes I called off the names of the crew members I had selected to let go. I gave each of them the same severance package I gave the chief, only with a enough for a middle class shuttle instead of the cheapest one around. When I finished there was only about one fourth of the crew left. I addressed them in a lighter tone.

"At ease!" They all shifted into the more comfortable position in unison, "Those of you that remain, I have chosen for your hard work and acceptable attitude. I am not a man to bear grudges based on someone's race, but I do know that stereotypes exist for a reason. That being said, I selected you not because you don't fit the stereotype assigned to your race, I chose you because you fit the qualities I  am looking for in crewmen. I will be hiring more people to fill out the roster, but all of you will be the officers and I'm trusting you to train the new recruits in the function of this vessel as soon as possible. Chorly, you stay here, the rest of you, dismissed."

After everyone had filed out of the hanger only a man in his mid-thirties remained.

"I saw in your record that you used to be the crew chief aboard a Caracal. How would you like the job aboard this ship."

"I don't know sir, this is a much bigger ship."

"I think you can handle it, it's not really that much different, it still shoots exclusively missiles and uses shields for defense, only bigger." I replied with a smile.

"I'll do my best sir."

"That's all I ask. You are dismissed."

He walked out of the hanger and I climbed the gangway to take a much needed rest.

New Purpose

Ok, so trying to write an entry about every single adventure I had grew to be too time consuming and I burned out quickly. So in an attempt to resurrect this blog I will set an easier goal, only 1 EVE post a week(minimum). In addition to that, I am going to follow a friend's example and write about some of my projects that I'm working on. I will be using different tags to allow for searching for specific entires)

The first project I'm going to write about is already under way so I will make several posts now in order to get caught up. I will also be making posts about some software that I am writing and will be writing, and anything else I decide to take up working on.


Hopefully this "re-launch" will gain a bit better air than the first one.

Die Ye Citizens Of Geminate(IC)

I woke up this morning expecting another long day of hauling ships and modules for people on the long trip between Berta and Ikami. To my utter surprise however, the senior crew of White Talon Enterprises had planned a roam around our new space. I was ecstatic. Our first roam in our new home...


Buck Flintrock > when is these roam tonight?  in an hour?
Sorin Markov > :30 i believe
Maxwell Muhilo > wait what roam?
Buck Flintrock > i better hump it then.  30 jumps out in a badger
Maxwell Muhilo > yea book it
Maxwell Muhilo > and what roam?
Sorin Markov > no sry
Sorin Markov > 2:00 Eve time
Buck Flintrock > ah good
Buck Flintrock > I have time
Maxwell Muhilo > so 1 hour
Maxwell Muhilo > but what roam!
Sorin Markov > security operation
Buck Flintrock > lol
Keharna > cruisers and BC's
Maxwell Muhilo > need a pvp ruppy fit
Maxwell Muhilo > does anyone have one
Maxwell Muhilo > rupture that is
Unreal > gank or tank?
Maxwell Muhilo> can i have both?

Unreal proceeded to send me an eveMail  with both of his fits for a rupture, I needed to make a shopping trip, and quick.

I used the inner-station communication system to send a double time order to both my rupture's crew and Scotty in docking control to move the ship into the hanger and get it prepped for flight.

By the time I arrived my wonderful crew had the ship all ready. I quickly climbed into my pod and interfaced it with the ship, thirty seconds later I had laid in a course and we were on our way.

In route I purchased most of the modules I would need to complete the fit, one of them I had in my hanger back at the station. I also bought some new skillbooks I would need in the coming months, and christened the ship, Death in a Rocketcan.

When we arrived at Jita 4-4 I was stunned at the sheer number of people. I had heard stories about the congestion found only here, but I never imagined there would be so many. There were so many, I was uncomfortable and fit my new modules and loaded the skillbooks as quickly as I could and left the system.

We arrived back in Ikami with just minutes to spare. I docked, fitted the last module from the Paul's cargo bay (I haven't had time since the move to unpack) and loaded the ammo I would need. Since I was in a hurry I used the station's automated loading device.

Things went great at first we caught and killed a drake http://wte.newbastion.com/?a=kill_detail&kll_id=43 early on. Thats when I found a problem, all my ammo was gone. All at once I realized what I had done, I had made a mistake, I had accidentally loaded the spare ammo into Paul's cargohold instead of the rupture's. To make matters worse I had forgotten to unload the skill books. I was out of ammo, I had to use only my flight of small drones, and my electronic warfare modules for the rest of the night and I was flying around with a couple million ISK worth of books.

We traveled all over the Geminate region, killing anything we could catch, including a Hurricane and a Rapier. Near the end of our roam we narrowly escaped a roaming battleship gang consisting of no less than 6 battleships. We decided that one would be a little too tough in a cruiser/battlecruiser fleet, and made the last few jumps home.

After seeing all the action in my new home, I don't have any regrets leaving OUCH, this was the right decision, Dad was right. Now if I could just remember to bring bullets, instead of books.

Getting It All Done(IC)

The first part of the trip was uneventful. I was informed over Alliance comms that a large number of OUCH students were making the same move I was. Thirty-five jumps through high sec space, most of it through Amarr territory. Apparently we were all feeling the same thing about OUCH. We agreed with, and respected what it stood for, but we felt that WTE was the place for us. Who knows, others may yet move on again.

After a long trip through gold plated skys, I finally made it to Ikami VIII-12, WTE's regrouping area for the OUCH fallout. After I docked the ship I bid the crew a temporary farewell over the ship's comms and had my pod transported to the cloning lab, I was about to make my fifth total clone jump back across the galaxy to my old home, back to Rens.

Once back in Rens I immediately had the station crew bring out my packaged Republic Fleet Firetail. While that was underway, I sent out a broadcast to the ships crew that had been enjoying the high life of a hub station. Once the Firetail's crew arrived I had them assemble the ship and get it space worthy while I did a little bit of last minute business, selling off the rest of my possessions in Rens, save for that one implant I've been saving for a special day.

In twenty minutes we were ready to fly, I had never seen a Firetail so close before. Apparently I had so proved my loyalty to the Brutor Tribe, that they were willing to give me one of the Fleet's most prized class of frigate. I was transfixed by the shiny wings that reminded me so much of a hummingbird. I ran my hand down the side of the ship, feeling the cool metal that was so full of power, trying to think of an appropriate name. I finally settled on Serenity, I don't know why, it just seemed...right.

So I boarded with my crew of three, and we set off for Berta, again.

When we arrived I had the crew disassemble the Serenity again for transport and ordered them catch an Interbus shuttle to Ikami. While they worked at their task, I had my Wreathe class hauler brought into the next hanger. When the Serenity was loaded, I gave Paul a video call to make sure everything was in order for my next flight through the very shiny Amarr territory.

About half way back, we were having some technical difficulties, so I steered the ship to a planet and cloaked. Ten minutes later, we were up and running again, the crew reported some minor computer trouble. The rest of the trip was completed without incident.

When we arrived back at Ikami, I washed off and went to my chambers for some much needed rest. A few hours later I got a buzz from Jaz about what was going on. We talked while I organized some moving plans with some other OUCH members that were moving. It looked like I was going to be making another trip today.

I got in touch with Gah'Matar about moving a rupture class cruiser and Dorno about moving......something, he never did say exactly... No matter, as long as it fit in my cargohold and they made me pay as much collateral as they were comfortable with, I was fine (except for the fourth trip through Amarr). A hardy applause for all the ship crews that are somehow able to keep up with my manic movements across New Eden.

A new beginning is on the horizon, what it holds in store for me, I have no idea. One thing I do know is that, whatever it is, it's gonna be fun!