Ok, Now This Is Getting Ridiculous...

...I mean, really.

Today, I decided to give EvE TV another try, so I used an alternate email address (yes, I admit it) to get another 200 J-credits. I figured "Well, maybe I've been a little too harsh...the show just started and there are bound to be some issues. Let's see if they've gotten any better now that they have two more shows under their belts.".

Not only hasn't it gotten better, but parts of this show were actually unwatchable. The parts shot on location were recorded at so low a volume that I had to turn my computer speakers up to about twice normal volume. This worked fine for the first location segment, but when I tried it with the second, a deep, reverberating tone completely masked the conversation to the point where I was afraid of damaging my speakers. When I did turn them down low enough to make the tone go away it became impossible to hear what was being said. The studio segments and those shot indoors were fine soundwise, but I found myself eventually just giving up and fast forwarding through the location segments. In other words, I was forced to skip about half the show.

Ok, I'm just gonna say it: You people have got to be out of your minds to charge money for this. I've recorded better-sounding live audio outdoors with a $30 mini-cassette recorder and so could you. To expect players to pay for such utterly horrible sound quality is absolutely unconscionable. Either get your shit together and record live remotes properly or don't have them on the show until you can. To offer this level of production and sound quality and expect people to pay money for it is nothing less than an absolute ripoff. If I'd actually spent money to see this, I'd want a refund...a pity I can't get a refund of my time spent trying to tweak my computer sound trying to make it listenable.

In addition, the studio sound was ok, but only ok. SpiralJunkie still needs those voice lessons but was at least a bit more understandable this time, but the slower playspeed version was totally out of synch with the video. At least they had the good sense to have StevieSG interview Fortuna Five, definitely the single most enjoyable part of the show for me.

I want to like EvE TV, really I do. I love EvE, I love new media, and I love the idea of combining the two (obviously, since I'm doing exactly that in writing this blog). As true as that is, though, I can't help but be disappointed as hell that so far this show doesn't have anywhere nearly the level of production values that it should. Those location segments should have scrapped outright. Better by far to delay the release of the show by a few days for extra production work or to just release a shortened version than to take money for unwatchable content. There's just no excuse for it, none at all.

*****

The game? Oh yeah, right...

Well, basically I've been running missions when I've had a little time to jump in for a while, which hasn't been often over the last few days. I think I'm going to upgrade a few mods on the Myrmidon soon, but I also think I've finally got a fitting for it worked out that so far has kicked major ass every time I've taken it out. Once I had enough, I finally added a couple of salvagers and a tractor beam to throw in after I've done my mission killing and the ISK is rolling in faster than ever.

Really, my main problem now is having the time to run enough missions to get the ISK I need to start thinking about getting a Dominix and moving on to Level 4 missions. That's probably still a ways off, though. There always seems like there's something that needs doing in RL, and it's not at all a coincidence that this post has been written on a Sunday. It's generally the one day of the week when I can be at least reasonably sure I'll have enough free time to write up a post and maybe even go kick a little NPC butt.

In fact, I think I going to do exactly that right now.

Until next time (hopefully not another five days), fly safe.

Space: The Final Frontier?

No, not in this game, anyway. With the coming of walking in stations, EvE is not going to be expanding outward as much as inward, giving pilots a more human presence outside of their ships, with more than just a headshot icon to represent their human aspects. It's an interesting concept, and one I think is inevitable in order for this game to really add a new dimension to it. Not only that, but it seems to be an absolute prerequisite in order to stay competitive with what's coming soon in the MMORPG market.

Star Trek Online has posted its first devblog and the screenshots are absolutely stunning. This game will have planets that can be landed on, with terrain that's as just as realistic as you'd expect. It seems that right from the very start STO will offer players much more human-oriented experience than EvE currently does, which seems right in concert with what ST fans have come to expect in all aspects of the Trek legend.

Right now, EvE is more about the greater universe and the various ways to manipulate it, with the true human element of the game being the interaction between the players themselves, rather than the characters. Right now, that's limited to text or audio chat, while the true in-game player-to-player gameplay interaction really isn't person-to-person but ship-to-ship.

In some ways, I think this is kind of unique and interesting, but in others, maybe not so much. There's a certain detachment that comes with the lack of a real in-game human element, something that it appears STO will have in abundance. If you're an EvE loyalist as I am and expect to continue to be one for a long time, be afraid, be very afraid...if the actual game is even half as good as what's been released so far, STO is going to kick major ass.

EvE does have certain major advantages, of course. For one thing, it's long past the beta stage...the game has evolved into one with major political players, alliances, wars, a depth that seems absolutely unequaled in other games. It's going to take a significant amount of time before STO even approaches that level. And yet, it's Star Trek, and that might well make all the difference. Even so, STO is still in fairly early stages of its development, so by the time it does actually debut EvE will be even further evolved than it is now. It's also interesting to note that comparisons between the two games have already started in the gaming press, with EvE apparently being held up as the standard by which STO will be judged, as well it should be.

It's clear to me, and probably to CCP and anyone else involved with EvE in any capacity, that STO, when it finally debuts, is going to exceed EvE's playerbase in size faster than you can say "Engage!". That much, I think, is pretty much a given. The real question is whether EvE will survive it and for how long. Personally, I suspect that if STO draws the same kind of playerbase as WoW does, New Eden will continue to be a safe(r) haven for more mature and sophisticated sci-fi MMORPG players. If that's the case, chances are everyone wins.

Fingers crossed...

Late For Class...

...even though I didn't know I was going to be attending one until literally minutes before it happened.

I've had incredibly bad luck in terms of E-Uni class scheduling, but that's not the Uni's fault, it's my own personal fucked up schedule that's really the culprit. I just happened to be bitching about it in corp chat earlier and as luck would have it, a class I needed just happened to be about to start, a basic Tackling and Scouting 101 with Acacia Incana. While I do have some very minimal experience in these skills which I got during the class I took with Agony Unleashed a while back, this was something I really needed since so many other classes build on what's taught in this and other basic classes. The problem was that since the class was literally starting in just minutes, I had no time to pick up one of my tackling frigs. I ended up doing the class in my Thorax, and while it was great fun being a target and playing what amounted to "Interstellar Tag", I didn't get a chance to actually practice what was being taught. I learned what I needed to learn from this class, but because I was in the Thorax I really didn't a chance to actually practice it. Not a big deal, but I do think I'll retake it when I can.

In addition, I also learned a couple of important things that weren't in the class curriculum. For one thing, always check your overview settings after a patch. After the Revelations II patch, I lost all of my overview presets, and apparently after this latest one I lost about half of them, which I'd just painstakingly reconstructed about a week ago. Not only do I use the settings recommended in Romble's mp3 class, but I also keep the setting I learned in the readings for the AU class I took as well. The AU setup is slightly different from Romble's and I find it useful in certain situations. Just after the class began, I discovered that most of the Romble settings were gone, and certain settings from the AU setup had vanished as well. Fortuantely, I've now set these up from scratch a few times so I was able to fill the gaps as the class progressed by switching between the settings I still had and doing a few tweaks on the fly. Now, I know the first thing I have to do when I log in again is recreate these yet again. Ah well, I guess I can just think of it as practice.

The other thing I learned was something I should have known, that for me, someone who's done live radio online for over five years, should be filed under "Duh!". Of course, these classes require Teamspeak which I have and know how to use. At the beginning of the class I was having a lot of trouble hearing what was said clearly, and for some insane reason it didn't occur to me that the reason I was having so much trouble was because I wasn't using my headphones, I had the audio coming through my computer speakers. Normally this isn't much of a problem, but the room my computer is in is not the most effectively cooled by the AC, so I usually have a fan going when the weather is warm. The fan isn't really very loud, but it does make that "whooshing" sound fans do, creating a kind of low-level background "white noise". I'm so used to it I barely notice it most of the time, but it does effectively mask a certain amount of whatever audio I happen to be listening to. As a result, it was much harder to follow the conversation than it should have been, and silly me just chalked it up to less-than-optimum TS sound. This made perfect sense since Acacia's British accent led me to believe it was simply the distance that degraded the audio. Once I plugged in my headphones, though, it was like night and day, and I didn't have a problem again. DUH!

Pretty damn lame for my first class with the Uni, but despite the shaky start I'm looking forward to much more. One thing that kinda sucks is that I changed my email on the Ivy League message board and apparently my account has been put on inactive status for some reason. I think I'm supposed to get an email of some sort to reactivate it, but it hasn't arrived yet. If I don't get it by tomorrow when I check, I'll jump in-game and see if I can get someone in the Uni to help me get it working again. Until it is, I can't find out when the next classes I want to take will be held. I totally understand the need for security, but this is really a major pain. I'm getting notices about people posting in threads I'm tracking but I can't read them because until this is fixed I can't log in...grrrr...

Another interesting and cool thing I learned tonight is another of my Eve-Uni peeps is a reader of this blog (Hi Dee! :)). I also discovered that some of my classmates and Acacia didn't know I write one so I guess I'll have to post a link once I finally get back into the site. I do keep track of the amount of traffic this blog gets, and I've noticed that it's been slowly but steadily rising. Of course, like all bloggers, I love it when I see more people reading, and when I see people commenting here and in-game. It's a big reason why I spend as much time as I do on it, besides the fact that it combines two of my favorite pastimes, EvE and writing. Just knowing people are reading and enjoying it makes something that already gives me a great amount of pleasure and satisfaction even better.

Alright, enough for now. Til next time, fly safe.

Here We Go Again, Again...

Looks like in a couple of days the Uni will be at war once again. I've gotten the emails, and I know I'll need to be in Korsiki by then, I plan to wrap up the mission I'm on and get myself over there. Oh and speaking of that mission...

I'd finished nearly the entire thing last night, and was heading toward the final group of ships, drones out and ready to go. I enter attack range, cut off my afterburner, and begin targeting ships. Nothing happens, nothing at all. My afterburner is still blinking red, my drones don't respond to my commands, my ship ignores my commands to turn away and keeps heading straight for the blinking ships...and then, suddenly, I'm looking at my desktop.

After a couple of futile attempts to log back in, I check the E-O forums. The server has gone down, a GM tells us, but hopefully everything will be ok soon. Um, yeah, great...assuming I still have a ship left by the time I'm able to log back in. Since I know this is inevitably going to take at least a little while, I make a quick run to the store. When I get back, I immediately run the client and it tells me the server is restarting and will be back up in about two and a half minutes. I wait, I try connecting, again nothing. Sigh...

Finally, after waiting through another restart sequence, I get back in to find my newly-fitted Myrmidon still intact, but floating in the middle of nowhere and without its drones of course. By this point, it's three o'clock in the morning and I'm exhausted, so I just get it back to a station and go to bed. I know I'm now going to have to go back though this entire mission again in order to finish it....but hey at least I'll come out about a million and a half ahead. Even with the loss of five Ogre I's and the half-mil time bonus I should have gotten, I still come out ahead on the deal.

Tomorrow will be busy as hell...I doubt I'll have much time to play, but I'll do my best to get it all done in time. Since Korsiki is only a clone jump away it shouldn't be too much of an issue...hopefully. We'll see.

Ok, I think it's time for beddie bye...

Fool Me Once...

...shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me.
Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott, USS Enterprise

I was starting the second part of the four-part "Whispers In The Dark" storyline mission. When I entered Egghelende, I noticed several Mutually Assured Distraction (MAD) ships so immediately headed for the nearest starbase and docked. Once docked, I flipped over to Local and saw these guys actually boasting about how they were picking off noobs for fun. I'm proud to say I resisted the temptation to suggest in Local that if they were trying to pick off ships it would probably be best not to discuss it in a public channel, but I decided that another option would be far more satisfying.

It was late and I knew I was going to be packing it in for the night soon anyway, so after watching these MAD guys make comments in Local like "fish meet barrel" etc. for a while, I got bored with it. I'd thought about clone jumping back to my Myrm and avoiding the whole thing, but instead I chose the easier option: I logged. Earlier today, I went back in-game and did the mission. I missed out on the time bonus, but it certainly beat getting my Thorax vaporized.

Yeah, I'm learning. Still, based on what I read in Local last night, a lot of noobs still haven't learned this lesson as yet...and, of course, these MAD guys had no way of knowing that I had fallen for this kind of setup by Veto less than a week ago, and there was just no fucking way I was going to let it happen again. As I've written before, this is the one game I've ever played where just simply turning the game off and doing something else for a while instead can be a valid and effective defense.

I'll admit I was surprised to see them in Egghelende...even though it is low-sec, it seems that almost nothing ever happens there. Still, it was really easy to keep them from attacking. As I always do, when I'm going on a mission I don't carry anything other than the ammo and cap charges I need to complete it. I guess, like Veto, they figured I was there to pick something up so they didn't come after me and probably assumed they'd catch me on my way out. I checked Local when I logged back on to change skills a while later and they were still out there, so I simply started a new skill, logged, and went to bed. If only all pirates were this easy to avoid.

In case you haven't figured it out by now, the lesson of the day is: Always check Local when in low-sec, no matter how unlikely it seems that you're going to run into trouble...you just never know. It's the easiest and most effective way to prevent pirates from taking you out unexpectedly. It won't always work of course, but you up your odds significantly when you do, especially if you're facing pirates who are arrogant enough to assume you don't know better. In addition, set up your overview to let you know when you've got ships in the area from corps with low or horrible standings in general or against your corp. Just having that information handy when you need it can be the difference between life and death.

Hmmm...I wonder if this means I'm officially no longer a noob?

Back To The Future...

...well, getting there anyway.

Over the last several days, I've continued doing Level 2 missions until I built up about 15 million ISK for the Myrmidon Fitting Fund. Last night, one of the readers of this blog, Aleyna, gave that effort a major boost by giving me a nice cache of mods that have enabled me to fill out my lower slots without spending anything. The actual game itself aside, if there's one thing I love most about playing EvE, it's the great people I've met and have become friendly with since I've been playing.

It really does make a difference. A big reason why I left Everquest, besides getting tired of paying extra for every new expansion and becoming bored with the game just in general, is that, with some notable exceptions, a lot of the people I found myself interacting with in EQ were people who I'd never want to associate with outside of it. So often it seemed like the discussions in EQ seemed much like recess time at the grade school playground, just bashing and smacktalking simply because they could and there was no one to tell them they couldn't. I love kids, but I've been an adult for a long time and I really have no desire to play online games with children. I haven't been twelve for a very long time, and I really have no desire to participate in discussions which take place at that relative intelligence level, and it was probably as much of a factor in my decision to leave the game as anything else. In EvE, I've found that, while that element is certainly present, it's certainly not as common as in EQ, nor, from what I've heard, as in WoW or other similar games.

It's really not all that surprising when you think about it. EvE is the only video game I've ever played that's so complex and has such a steep learning curve that it's very useful to actually take classes in how to play different aspects of the game. The amount of time and energy a player has to put into EvE in order to become proficient and successful is so high that a lot of younger players bail out because they have to take so much time to prepare before they can go out and blow stuff up. As I remember, most of the basics one needed to know before playing EQ were learned in a single starting area and could be accomplished in perhaps a few hours at most. EvE offers a tutorial as well, but as anyone who's been playing for any length of time knows, that's only the very beginning of the learning curve. There are reasons why I'm still a member of EvE University, and it's not only because I like the people. If there's anything I'm certain of in this game, it's that I still have a lot to learn about it.

In addition, there's a feeling about EvE that EQ, and I'd expect other similar online games, don't seem to have. The best way I can think of to describe it is as a "coziness", if you will. I suspect that's due largely to the fact that EvE's player base can be measured in thousands, not millions. It's kind of the difference between living in a small to moderate size town versus living in a major city. While there's certainly a larger number or residents and probably more diversity in the city, it's very size prevents the residents from experiencing the familiarity and comfort of knowing your neighbors and hometown in a way only those who live as members of smaller populations can. For all the vastness of the New Eden star cluster, EvE is still a significantly smaller and cozier play space than any of those boasting millions of players.

This is both a good and a bad thing. It's good for the reasons noted above, as well as the fact that as a player, one feels less like just a single tiny voice among the teeming masses fitting themselves into content created by and for others, and more like a real part of the ongoing story, like what you do as an EvE pilot really matters, no matter if you're the head of a major alliance or just a relatively new "working class" mission runner who's still learning the game.

In addition, there's just this general feeling that even though players may find ourselves on opposite sides in battle, we're all in this together, here in New Eden. PvP is one thing, but on the personal, social level, such things are much more easily put on the shelf and the aggression of the battlefield is much less likely to spill over into public discussion spaces. It may be harder to be the little guy on a business versus business level, but in-game it can lead to a hell of a lot more fun.

That's been my experience at least. I know there are some, perhaps many, who take their in-game corporate and alliance loyalties to a level that exceeds the boundaries of that which is actually relevant to the gameplay, but I find that to be much less the case in EvE than other games, much as I've found the introduction of real-world personal attitudes and bigotries into the game to be far less than I found in EQ. Sure it's there, but you just don't have to deal with it at the same level you do elsewhere. It may not be something anyone really spends a lot of time thinking about while in-game, but I believe it makes the overall atmosphere a much more pleasant one.

So now, having fit my Myrmidon's lower and most of its upper slots, I've decided to run a few more Level 2 missions to give me just a bit more financial breathing space before I take it out and go back to Level 3's. When I finish getting those last several slots fit, I'll run the Thorax back to E-Uni HQ and clone jump back to the Myrm. Once I've done all that, I'll be pretty much right back where I was before I ran into those Veto ships a few days ago.

A pain in the ass? Sure. Time-consuming? Fuck yes. Boring? No, not in the way you'd think it might be to have to go back a level in most games. Unlike EQ and pretty much every other video game ever, going back a level does not necessarily mean that you have to repeat and successfully perform an exact sequence of events. I remember when I had to do that in EQ, it actually got to the point where I knew exactly what was going to happen when, and I could anticipate and prepare for it. Now THAT'S boring! Still, I'll be glad when I can once again leave these level 2 missions behind and go back to making some real headway in this game. Soon...very soon.

Another nice thing that happened was last night was I was contacted in-game by another blog reader who mainly just wanted to say hello and let me know they enjoyed reading it. That's always great to hear. Since I've been writing this blog, it's been really great to hear how many people are reading and enjoying it. While I love hearing from you both in-game and in the comments section here, one thing I'd ask those of you so inclined is to pass it on and let others know about it. If you have an EvE-relevant blog of your own, I'd greatly appreciate it if you'd post a link so others can find it well. Thanks! :)

Ok, I think I've written enough for today. Catch ya out there!

EvE TV: Is It Worth Paying For?

Frankly, my answer is no.

While StevieSG is certainly pleasant enough eye candy, SpiralJunkie goes from somewhat difficult to understand to downright incomprehensible, at least to my American ear. Throw in some guests and you've got fast speaking, mumbling, thick British accents, making anywhere from half to two-thirds of the show as impossible to understand as if they were speaking Mandarin Chinese. To make matters even worse (if that's possible), they waste a ridiculously long amount of airtime interviewing plastered British players at get-togethers. I have to wonder why they believe this idiocy would be interesting to viewers who are tuned in and paying to learn more about EvE, not to see what kind of immature assholes men become when they drink too much.

Can someone please explain to me why EvE TV is worth even bothering to take the time to watch much less actually pay for? I did my bit. I like the idea of EvE TV, and I'm very inclined to do what I can to support new media, so I invested five bucks in some J-credits. Now that I've seen the first three episodes, I'm certainly not inclined to spend any more on this unless and until there's significant improvement.

As someone who makes media myself, I'm probably a bit hyper-critical, but I feel I have the right to be. The media I make is free to all...if you don't like my radio show, you don't have to listen, there's no price of admission required just to tune in. When I'm being asked to pay by the minute for it in advance, I've got a right to expect certain things, such as being able to understand what the fuck they're talking about without an interpreter. I also certainly have the right to expect that when I pay to watch a show about a game I love that the show is actually about that game with information useful to me as a player, and not have almost half of it taken up by interviews with drunks with almost nothing relevant or even intelligent to say. If I want that, I'll order the latest "Girls Gone Wild" video...at least then I'll get to see some pretty girls show off their tits.

In order for me to consider dropping more money on this show ever again, the first thing that needs to happen is SpiralJunkie needs to either be replaced or forced to take some voice lessons. Based on the on-air staff they currently have, if I were producing this show StevieSG and Farjung, who are at least consistantly understandable, would be the lead team, with StevieSG conducting the interviews. In addition, I'd insist that only those who can make themselves understood to Americans as well as Brits would be featured as guests. I know they have telephones in England, and I'd like to see them employed to bring on some Americans as guests...you know, from that country where the vast majority of EvE players live?

In all honesty, I'd be a lot less critical if I weren't being asked to actually pay money for this. In my opinion, this show is just far too Brit-centric to be of much value to anyone on this side of the Atlantic. Great idea...poor execution. EON Magazine costs money too, but the vast majority of its content is useful, comprehensible information, and that makes it a very worthwhile purchase. By that standard, EvE TV just doesn't measure up.

Better luck next time, folks.

The Thorax Flies Again...

...out of necessity, mainly.

I had another Myrmidon blown out from under me a couple of nights ago by a Veto gang. It was really my own fault this time. I'd gone to pick up a new mod in a low sec system (I forget which one...something starting with a "G"). I did see one Veto ship but figured I could handle it if attacked. My big mistake was that I forgot to check local before I left the station, and when I reentered space three Veto ships were waiting for me. I was toast in about ten seconds.

After reappearing in Korsiki, where I'd had my medical clone set for easy access in case of E-Uni emergencies and/or event participation, I jumped in my Thorax and flew it back to Gallente space. Once there, I bought myself another Myrmidon and insured it, but realized I didn't really have anywhere near enough ISK left over to fit it properly. Most of the usable mods I had lying around I'd already used in fitting my last Myrm, and so I've started doing Level 2 missions again in the Thorax to fatten the wallet a bit.

As long-time readers of this blog know, I never have a problem bitching up a storm when I believe I've been unfairly fucked over, but this time there's just no way I can do that. I should have checked Local before undocking but I didn't, and it was that mistake on my part which cost me my battlecruiser. Live and learn...again.

I think part of the problem is that I haven't been playing with any regularity over the last several weeks because I've been so busy in RL and so I'm probably more than a bit out of practice. A month ago, I doubt I'd ever have forgotten to check Local before undocking, and in this game that kind of noob mistake is all an enemy needs to take you out. The good part is that things are finally beginning to normalize in RL so I'm hoping to have more in-game time in coming weeks. It probably won't last, though. Right now, there's a lull in the demands on my time, but I expect that to change fairly soon so I'm going to try to take advantage of the extra playtime while I can.

The other good part is that you'll probably see more posts from me here in the immediate future. I really enjoy writing this blog, and I've missed not having the time to post more regularly. Again, I don't know how long this is going to last...such decisions are made by others...but I do plan to use the time to try to get back into the swing of playing and writing here. No promises though...it can all change at any time.

One new annoyance I've discovered is that since the Revelations 1.4.3 patch, some of the audio effects such as the music and the voice stopped working. After scouring the E-O forums for a solution, I discovered that changing my audio acceleration in Windows to Basic level solves the problem, at least for now. From what I've read, doing this may also render Teamspeak and/or Ventrilo useless, but I haven't had chance to test that just yet.

You'd think that for all the time and effort the devs put into making this game great they could at least give some attention to the audio. As it is, I have to turn it off every time I go somewhere where there's even the possibility of any kind of combat because the lag it generates can be deadly. I know the audio is the culprit here as I've done some of the same missions with and without sound and the lag in combat is always significantly less when the game sound is off.

To be honest, I don't know why it has to be that way. EvE is the only game I've ever played where the sound causes this kind of a problem with the gameplay. My understanding is that they're still using the same sound engine they had during beta, over four years ago. Given how much attention is given to other aspects of the game, I'm at a loss to understand why this hasn't gotten at least some dev love by now. According to recent dev blogs, audio fixes are planned, but what I've read on the forums is that CCP has been promising a new audio engine since the game came out of beta and most don't seem to believe that a fix is actually coming anytime soon.

Personally, I like the sound. It adds a depth to the game that's missing when I have to turn it off. I wish I didn't have to detract from my enjoyment of the game in order to have it run at maximum efficiency. Thing is, with the cost of death so high in EvE, there's really no choice but to use every possible advantage in combat, and that's the place where the audio can be the most useful in terms of warnings and such. It just doesn't make any sense to me that CCP has spent so much time and effort making every other aspect of this game the best it can be, but seemingly has this issue on a very low priority. Considering how integral to the overall experience of EvE the audio is, you'd think they'd want that aspect of the game to be as immersive as the rest, but as far as I can see, that obviously isn't the case, and I think that's really a pity.

OK, enough for now...RL calls.

Taking A Day In...

...at least one now and then.

I spent several hours in-game Monday, making a little ISK but mainly doing upgrades on my Myrmidon and relearning a critical lesson for any Eve player: Assume nothing, because if you do it will come back to bite you in the ass sooner or later. I never installed a warp stabilizer, assuming that I wouldn't have to deal with warp scrambling on missions until I started Level 4 missions...wrongo.

I get out there and I do good damage with my nifty new tech 2 guns until my cap starts getting low and I decide it's time to bail and recharge. I call back my drones and hit the button to warp out...and then I discover I'm being warp scrambled. Nowhere to go, my drones already back the bay, I send them back out and do as much damage as I can as I keep trying to unsuccessfully warp out.

I'm sure you've figured out the end of this story by now. Yep, baboom...do not pass into warp, do not collect several hundred thousand ISK, kiss several nice pieces of tech 2 gunnery buh-bye. Fuck.

Replacing and insuring the Myrmidon wasn't a huge problem, but fitting it is proving another story. While I've had some luck in having some useful stuff literally just conveniently laying around, there are some gaps in my inventory and not a lot of ISK left over to fill them.

Needless to say, I've now installed a warp stabilizer and eventually I'll find the time to try to do at least a passable fitting to get through some missions and fatten up the wallet some.

Sometimes in this game, the simplest rules are the most important ones.