A Bizarre Expedition and a Visit To Lagland

Last night, a comment on my last post clued me in to why I couldn’t warp to the Gurista hideout I’d found. I had indeed been offered an expedition in my journal. By the time I saw it, though, there were only about seven hours left to get it done so I wasted no time moving both my ships along with all my exploration mods and ammo to the system my journal indicated.

When I got there, I went in with the Thorax and found plenty of enemies, and quickly realized I was overmatched. I warped out, went beck to my staging station, and came back with the Myrm, but when I did all of the enemies took off. Gone. Poof. All that time spent moving everything over and suddenly there was nothing to do there.

As luck would have it, though, I found myself with all my stuff in an area I hadn’t explored yet, so I’ve decided to make that system my new temporary base of operations while I check out the local systems. Those that I’ve checked out so far have yielded about a million ISK in cargo and salvage, but nothing especially great in terms of profits.

And maybe it’s because it’s a Sunday, but when I warped to many of the cosmic signatures I scanned down today I’d discovered that someone had beat me to it.

I also did something today that I probably haven’t done in about two and a half years, and for the very first time because I had an actual reason to do it, not just to go be a space tourist. Reviewing the loadout on my Myrm I realized that some of the drones I was using with it were really far beneath the level it was capable of handling. So, I unloaded a bunch of Hobgoblins and Hammerheads and realized I only had two Ogre II’s, which are my favorites to use with the Myrm.

I have to admit I laughed a little when I went to the Market screen to buy five more Ogre II’s and found that the best local price, by at least 50%, was in Jita. I’d been to Jita all of once in my EVE career, very early on when I’d just made a trek out there just to see what the heck was so special about the system that everyone seemed to talk about it constantly. As I remembered, it was entirely unremarkable, other than that there were well over a thousand people in Local and the lag getting in and out of the system was by far the worst I’ve ever experienced in this game. Since that was almost three years ago, I hoped that by now it would be better. I bought my Ogres and set off for Jita.

I didn’t really notice any problems until I got one jump outside of Jita. First, as soon as I arrived it was pretty obvious that just about every ship in the system was headed in the same direction, toward the gate to Jita. When I got to the gate, there was fortunately no waiting line to jump in like there was the last time I was there, but the lag was definitely noticeable.

Once in the system, I docked and picked up my Ogres without much trouble, scanned through the offers in Local just to see if there was anything interesting, and then headed back to the gate to get back where I was exploring. When I clicked the button to jump out though, I didn’t go anywhere for several seconds, and then the screen went black and stayed that way. After nearly a minute, the phone rang and I stepped out of the room for a few minutes. When I returned, I found myself on the other side of the gate and headed back toward my staging system.

Y’know, maybe it’s just me, but I seem to remember CCP swearing up and down a while back that they were going to do something about the lag in Jita. Certainly, I have to say it’s better than the last time I was there, but by no means is it what could be called good. A black screen for well over a minute at minimum just to exit the system doesn’t indicate to me that CCP has finally got a handle on this issue.

Now, to be honest, I haven’t really given a shit one way or the other since I’ve only been there twice and I’ll probably never go back unless I have a really good reason like I did today, but nevertheless it would be nice if CCP could figure out a way to deal with the issue and make the trip a nicer and faster one for everyone who has to go there.

Ready...Set...

...GO!

I spent the day getting my Dommie ready to hit space, and now, after hours of zipping around in one of my Tristans collecting mods and ammo, it's finally mission-ready. It's currently sitting at a station where there's a Level 4 +13 agent ready to send me on my first actual Level 4 mission.

Funny thing is, after all that time and ISK I spent waiting and getting it ready, you'd think I'd immediately want to get right out there and start running missions. While I guess that's true on the intellectual level, when I finally had everything ready to go, I logged. I really don't know why exactly, except that I guess I felt I needed to jump out and take a breather, and also one other thing...fear.

For those who came in late, I put my first Dommie in space several weeks ago, only to lose it to the lagmonster on the very first mission I took it out on. It wasn't even a Level 4, it was a Level 3 that I'd gotten my last Myrmidon vaporized on previously. This time, as last time, I've basically bankrupted myself getting this thing ready and if it happens again, I'm back down to frigs with almost zero ISK. Yet, if I'm to make any sort of headway here, I need to start making ISK again and running frigs just isn't going to do that for me. I know I'm going to do it because I have to, but I just felt compelled to wait, at least a little while.

It's just after midnight as I write this. I really not sure I want to go back in tonight and and yet, at the same time, I really want to. Since I'm busy most of tomorrow and probably won't get a chance to go in-game until at least late tomorrow night, the thought of waiting that long isn't really what I want, but still, there's that fear...

Shit, who am I kidding? I know perfectly well that as soon as I finish writing this, I'll probably find myself heading off on my first Level 4. I've been waiting too long. You, however, will probably have to wait until tomorrow night to find out how it went, though.

Alright, here we go...ready...set...I dunno...maybe...

Piss. Me. Off.

Oh, I am SO not a happy camper right now.

Usually, when I lose a ship I blame myself because generally I'm responsible. This time, some extraordinarily badly-timed lag slowed my frame-rate down to virtually non-existent, just enough to watch my Dommie's armor and structure disappear in about four or five frames over about twenty seconds or so. Not damn thing I could do but just sit there and watch about eighty million worth of ship and fittings go boom.

I hadn't even taken it on a Level 4 mission yet. I was finishing up the Level 3 mission I'd lost my Myrmidon on before I went on to Level 4's. Sure, I got the insurance payoff, but it doesn't even begin to cover what I had invested here. The worst part is that I'd only had the thing a day, and I'd spent most of yesterday figuring out a fitting for it with the Eve Fitting Tool. Ah well, at least I still have the fitting I worked out for it.

One of the biggest pains in the butt about losing a ship for me has always been trying to recreate my setup from memory because inevitably I'll have been too lazy to actually write it down. EFT keeps track of it for me, has an interface that's much easier to understand and work with than QuickFit, and does pretty much everything I need and want it to do for me when I'm trying to figure out how to fit or refit a ship.

If I'm lucky, I'll basically wipe myself out financially in order to replace the Dommie, but I'm going to do it because I'm sick and tired of flying Level 3's. If it ends up that I need more ISK than I currently have (a very likely possibility) I'll fly the Thorax until I get what I need that way or get some help. It would cost far too much to set up a Myrmidon and use that and I already have the Thorax fully insured and fit. Yeah, it would probably take a while, but it's better than setting myself back probably 2/3 of the way by buying a new Myrm and putting it in space.

Ah well...such is EvE.

Damn.

The Difference Between Flying Big And Flying Smart...

...can be pretty huge sometimes.

I was all excited about buying a Megathron, but I didn't really completely think through how I was going to put it in space. Once I had it, I quickly discovered that there was just no way I was going to be able to afford to fit and insure it. I went back to doing Level 2 missions in the Thorax for a day, but then I decided that the best thing to do was to just fix my mistake and get realistic.

I repackaged and sold the Megathron, and used the proceeds to buy, insure, and fit a Dominix instead. After selling the Mega I had about 108 million ISK, and by the time I was done making it spaceworthy I found myself at around 13 million so I can only imagine how long it would have taken to actually put that Megathron in space by running missions with the Thorax.

Really, it's a classic case of having eyes bigger than my wallet. Yes, I was able to afford the actual purchase price of a Megathron, but it would have cost me another 31 million just to insure it and probably at least that much again to fit it properly. On the other hand, I've already got the Dommie in space, just about fully fit and ready to start taking on Level 4 missions instead of having to probably wait weeks before being able to put a Megathron in space. Yes, a very big difference indeed.

*****

It seems my post about "gay" and "lesbian" being censored on the the E-O forums has drawn some attention and support from CCP and hopefully some positive action as well. I hesitate to go into too much detail here as yet, but I will say that I'm very happy to see attention being paid to this issue and I have every reason to expect to be able to report positive developments in the future. As always, more when I have it.

*****

Ok, that's it for now. Til next time, fly safe.

Cruisin'...

The last few days in EVE have been exceptionally flawless technically, even if I did lose another Thorax. In fact, it was a miscalculation on my part, an inaccurate assessment of my survival risks. Getting another Thorax fitted, ready to run missions, and insured at Bronze Level basically wiped me out financially, so I've been running Level 2 missions and I'll probably continue to for a while. In the meantime, however, my three AU Basic PvP Class-ready frigs and all the extra mods I bought for them are still sitting at the staging station, waiting for the next time the class will be held, in slightly less than two weeks. Of course, this time I'll be ready, my net connection will be ready, and I won't be living on pain medication...all of which are very good things.

I had an interesting in-game conversation earlier today with someone who's a pirate, but who I don't think is a Privateer about the pros and cons of the recent wardec nerf. This person apparently feels it's going to hurt the game, while I feel what CCP did was exactly the opposite, an action taken to protect the game and its accessibility to new players. To be honest, I really don't want to get back into this topic full-bore as I think I've covered it and stated my opinion pretty well, but I will say this. something else I've said here before, but which I don't think enough players understand is key here:

First and foremost, EVE is not a game, but entertainment media, a commercial product which is intended to make a profit for the company that creates it, CCP. If EVE succeeds in this, it will continue to grow and improve...if not, it will wither and die. This has nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, to do with the actual quality of the game or how much we love it as players. It has everything to do with basic economic reality: If it sells, it lives, and if it doesn't, it dies.

In this way, it's really no different from the business I'm in, or trying to be in, anyway. As regular readers have probably picked up from my references, I'm a radio talk show host. The kind of show I do is very specialized, especially intended for a specific kind of listener but also designed to be accessible to everyone who cares to take the time to listen. In order for me to be successful in doing this professionally, I need three things:

First, I need to be good. In fact, I need to be better than most. I am.

Second, I need someone in the business who thinks I'm good enough to hire. That, I've got.

The third part is harder: a media company that's willing to take a chance on funding a genre of radio that's largely untested in the commercial market. Finding that is the job of the guy who will be my boss, and it's finding the right business partner that's what's really taking the time here.

To translate this into EVE terms, let's start with this reality that every professional mediamaker of any stripe understands:

Media consumers are unbelievably fickle. The average gamer (online or otherwise), properly motivated, will be just as quick to bail on any given game they lose interest in as the average radio listener will be to bail on any given show that they find boring or less interesting than another. The real difference here, if there can honestly be said to be one, is only in the amount of time it takes for the consumer to "change the channel". The way to combat this is in radio is the very same as it is in gaming: Generating and maintaining a high level of consumer loyalty.

I remember a conversation I once had with a radio professional about getting myself hired in the business, at a major radio provider. He told me something that proved to be right on the money, that his company would be happy to put me on the air as a guest on their shows because I'm damn good, but he doubted that they'd ever offer me a real job because I was just too different from everything that had gone before...in other words, as a guest I was attractive because I was new and interesting (not to mention free to the company), but they'd never actually hire me, because I was TOO new and interesting. How fucked up is that?

This kind of thing definitely applies to EVE as well. Many people download the trial, but how many actually subscribe as a result and how many decide for themselves that EVE just isn't for them, that it's just TOO new and different to actually invest money in? When one looks at the playerbase of WoW and compares it against EVE's, it's pretty clear that EVE caters to a playerbase as specialized as the listenerbase which my show and network do, with much the same results. It doesn't take a game with almost 35 times the playerbase as EVE's to tell me what I've known for years: Media which strays less from the familiar, the tried and true, will be more successful than that which breaks new ground.

So how does a host like me or a game like EVE, both of which break new ground in our respective fields, develop loyal consumer bases? First, we gotta get them to the door...things like free trials and active mainstream and guerrilla promotional activities help with that. Once we got 'em at the door though, we gotta keep 'em there.

For me, as for EVE, you either like what you get or you don't. You like, you stay, you don't, you leave and move on...if enough people stay, it's a success, if not...

In both cases, it all happens early. Chances are, you'll know if you like me and my radio show after just a little while of listening, and a similar amount of time is needed for a new player to figure out if EVE is for them or not. That's why, just as it's critical for me to make my show as accessible to someone who's never heard it before as it is to someone who listens every week, so too does EVE need to be as accessible and fun to play for someone who's been playing for two hours as it is for someone who's been playing for two years. Different play styles, different reasons for listening, sure, but it all has to meet in the middle to accomplish the key goal of both: entertainment...without that, neither can succeed.

That's why CCP needed to do what they did to the wardecs, to protect the game and keep it interesting and fun for players of all skill and experience levels. It's not just good for the game, it's absolutely essential for its continued survival. To all you PvP purists complaining about this, I ask you to consider this question and answer it honestly, whether publicly or just for yourself:

Which would you rather have: A game that has safe, protected areas for new players to learn the game or a game which loses money and eventually goes under, rendering all players equal in the complete and total loss of a pastime we all love?

I know what my answer to that question is, and I hope yours is much the same.

I Knew It...

...I really should remember to double-check that my bill payments go through.

For some reason, my scheduled electronic payment to the broadband company didn't go through when it was supposed to. So, what do they do? Do they send me a email or a notice in the mail that there's a problem? No. They simply wait and then put my account in "Overdue" status, which I don't discover until I actually log into their site and check my account myself.

What I've discovered about this is that now what they do when you're in "Overdue" status, but not enough in arrears to actually cancel your account and demand their equipment back, is they turn your broadband from a torrent into a tiny dribble in terms of bandwidth, just enough to get your email and do some slow websurfing, but not much else. This is what they'd apparently just done to me, just a few hours before class time. As you might imagine, trying to play EVE like this is next to impossible...trying to play EVE and run Ventrilo at the same time for the class IS, apparently, indeed impossible, proven by the repeated crashings of both programs when I tried to use to use them together.

The next day, once I'd called the company and made the payment by phone (a pain in the ass process by itself) and then rebooted the cable modem and my computer, it was like magic.
Everything worked fine...better than fine, fact. EVE seems to be running better, more smoothly, than it ever has before, and that's even with streaming audio running so I assume the same will be true with Ventrilo even though I haven't actually had the chance to test that as yet. My email, browsers, etc. all seem lightning-quick. Contrary to my initial assessment, I now believe that all the trouble I was having in EVE was completely due to this problem.

Can you imagine if other utilities operated this way? I mean, imagine if when your electric bill was a day overdue all of a sudden your lights and television started browning out? Or if when the gas bill was coming due your house would only be heated intermittently until your account was paid in full? Yet, somehow, I guess because there can really be no rational argument made that Internet access is an essential service (regardless of what we who are avid online gamers might think) in the same way as heat or power are, these companies. at least the one that services my area of New Jersey anyway, apparently feels free to just turn down the tap to almost zero without notice...I guess they figure, rightly so in my case, that you'll become so frustrated that you'll do everything you can just to get the thing working properly. It may eventually gain you the desired results, but one unintended result that will almost surely occur are plenty of really pissed off customers...I'm quite sure I'm hardly the only high-usage Cablevision customer who's missed her payment date by a day or two and has had to deal with this crap.

Ok, enough bitching about my ISP...hey, I know! Let's talk about EVE! What a novel idea! So, last night, atomic batteries to power, turbines to speed, I zipped around Gallente and Caldari space with nary a technical care in the world. It was quite literally the best, most lag/glitch-free experience I've had playing EVE since I started. Deeply weird...I go from my very worst EVE experience ever right to my very best EVE experience ever with no in-between. I can't wait to see what it's like when I fire it up in a little while.


And of course, I'll be even more ready (if that's at all possible) for the next AU Basic PvP class. ;)

Insert Headslap Here...

...really.

It was so simple, and something I should have thought of weeks ago. I've been having problems with disconnects, major lag, etc. that seemed to be far worse in recent days than I'd had to deal with since I started playing EVE. So, one night, on the off-chance that it might help, when no one else was home I disconnected the wireless router I have hooked up for another computer in the house, plugged the broadband directly into my computer, and ran EVE to see if there would be any difference.

Holy crap...we're talking night and day here. No dropped connections, far less (though by no means no) lag, the sound going out a lot less often...basically, disconnecting that router improved the performance of pretty much every single aspect of the game it might possibly have had an impact on. It's not quite like playing a whole new game, but it is definitely like implementing one's own little private "patch", filled with performance improvements. Not too shabby a result for just reconnecting a few wires.

As far as the actual game itself goes, I'm still amazed at how much more ISK in general I'm bringing in with the Brutix versus what I was bringing in with the Myrmidon. I've spiffed up my guns...I've now got five 250" Prototype Gauss Guns plus a medium Nos in my high slots...and I seem to be plowing through missions even faster. I don't know if some of these missions used to be tougher and I'm just enjoying the delayed benefits of a CCP nerfing, if that's I'm just a better pilot in general, if perhaps I've just happened upon a fitting that works especially well for my ship and the mission I'm doing, or something I haven't thought of as yet, but whatever it is over the last few days I seem to be making ISK a lot faster than before.

Also, I'm looking forward to the Griefateer "war" being over. I'd like to get back to the main E-Uni group, but there's just no way I'm going to risk losing yet another ship to these assholes...two, totaling somewhere around 50 or 60 million ISK with all the components, is plenty, thank you. Simply put, I refuse to deal with "players" who have no honor and only "play" to annoy others...if what it takes is joining the Dropouts every time these selfish children decide to attack a school corporation, than that's what I'll do. I'm all in favor of a fair PvP fight, but to engage with these "players" would be a lowering of standards to a point I'm just not willing to degrade myself to.

Personally, I think the way they play and the tactics they use should be bannable offenses. They declare war on noob corps, wait until the ships are compromised, and then attack in force. Frankly, it really surprises me that CCP hasn't at least tried to address this problem as one thing I do for a fact is that it discourages new players from continuing to play long-term. After all, no one really likes a game, no matter how good it is, if they can't play for even a couple of hours without getting podded and set back virtually to the beginning of the game by griefer assholes. I know this for a fact because it was a key reason why I left the game when I originally tried it and didn't return for a year. I'd wonder how many did exactly what I did but never bothered to return and see if it had improved.

And yes, it has improved significantly from the first time I played, but nowhere near enough. I strongly suspect that CCP is losing many, many, potential long-term EVE subscribers to this. Maybe they're happy with the number they have and really don't care, but if they do and they really want this game to attract more "lifers" than just the very hardcore, they're going to have to put some sort of leash on the griefers...at the very least, allowing them to organize and declare war on noob corps should be forbidden.

These are not real players. They don't podkill noobs to accomplish any actual in-game goals, they do it to entertain themselves at the expense of other players. They hurt the game, and they hamper its continued success. There shouldn't even be a question...this crap needs to stop and it needs to be made to stop now. Simply put, these children should be made to either behave or go away, end of story.