Tag: EVE

Perhaps an Orca?

Mining may not be something you particularly enjoy in EVE Online, but for some, it represents exactly what we want to do in game. Sure, it’s a little boring. It’s also quiet, and fairly painless, and doesn’t exactly require a LOT of concentration. Now that I have my hulk (remember I’m a highsec miner) I can set myself to a particular asteroid belt or a location with some ore that Kasul has located, and set myself working without too much hassle. Since I have dual monitors I typically have EVE running in one and whatever else I’m up to in the other monitor. I do have to beware of people looking to ‘suicide gank’ me as it’s called, and be ready to run if I notice anyone suddenly targeting me – but aside from that it’s a very calming and relaxing way to spend my time in game. Not to mention it’s something I can do practically all day long as I work on my main monitor and quietly mine on the second. What exactly am I saving up for? Well of course I have some plans!

My second account is currently finishing off drones V, and then will be working towards using heavy drones. She’s using mediums in the Dominix (which I adore might I add) and then once that is all taken care of and I have it fit as well as I’d like, I decided I’m going to work towards flying an Orca. Whether or not I want to attempt to build one or instead just purchase one I haven’t decided. I do think it will be a great addition to my hulk, and I’m pretty excited about flying one.

It will take me 66 days to train for the Orca, and a lot longer to be able to afford one, and fit one. Compare this to my main account which would be able to fly one in less then a month – it’s mostly due to that mining barge V skill that takes so long to learn. I haven’t quite made up my mind on what I want to train next on my second account, so we’ll just have to see. In the mean time I’m still having an incredible amount of fun, and I surprise myself daily that I’m so interested in a sci fi game when I have never taken any interest in the genre as a whole. I suppose stranger things have happened!

Fly safe!

Isn’t She Pretty

It was no surprise that I spent most of yesterday evening flying my hulk around and mining, testing her out so to speak. Named after a rare gemstone, Painite, I couldn’t be happier. I have a pretty basic highsec fit on her, three modulated strip miner II’s, two mining laser upgrades, and a bunch of shields to boost her survivability as well as a survey scanner so I can go after the juiciest pieces of ore. Kasul did some probing and found a few sites for me to mine, so I headed that way and stretched my wings. What a HUGE difference from flying the retriever I’ve had this past little while. The amount of ore that the hulk coughs up compared to the retriever is a lot bigger then I thought it would be.

I’m continuing down my ‘crafter’ line in EVE on my main account, while my second account works the “pew pew” side of things. I’ve got refining, and production efficiency that I’d like to get completed – and then I discovered research. Without a POS (player owned structure) this avenue may as well be off limits for me because the line ups for this at stations is .. well. Lets just say I’m not that patient. David (as far as I know) is still working towards getting us a POS, so that may be solved in the future. It would be nice to have the skills to begin research once I’m able to, and I’m incredibly excited about trying this out. Of course I’ll update either here or on NomadicGamer about how it works out.

Now that the hulk has been invented and built, Kasul and I have our eyes set on other bps that may be profitable. Whether they pay off in the end or not time will tell, but it’s great to be working towards these things in the mean time. Makes the game a lot of fun, and nicely complex.

Time to get back to mining. Fly safe!

One Jump Away

Pictured above are my Retriever (main account) and my Iteron V (2nd account) – headed to their last destination together before I finish manufacturing my Hulk. That’s right, my 8th attempt at a blueprint was met with success as yesterday I finally managed to invent a hulk blueprint. As soon as it was done I headed to an open assembly line so that I could manufacture the ship – and in 3 hours I’ll be the proud new owner. In 6 hours, I’ll be able to fly it. For those who may not understand my excitement think about your favorite piece of gear. The one that you’ve always wanted, but that took you an incredibly long time and effort to obtain. In EVE, ships are ‘gear’ and I’ve been working towards this ‘piece’ for three months now. It took me 28 days to train the final skill I needed (mining barge V) and now that I have room in my queue I’m not even sure what I want to work on next.

I’m incredibly excited about my first adventures with the hulk, and I plan on capturing the moment with GameCam once I’m up and flying. I’ll be sure to post it here, because. Well, because we geeks are simply like that.

Fly safe!

In the Mean Time..

It’s been quite some time since I’ve written about games other than EQ2 on this site – but that doesn’t mean I’m not playing them. I had been making most of those ‘other’ types of posts over at NomadicGamer since the site needed a few posts and because they fit within the topic a lot better. Hopefully my readers here don’t mind that everything is not EQ2 related this week.

What I’m up to in games

EVE Online: My main account is (at the time of writing this) exactly 5 days, 8 hours, 3 minutes, 1 second away from flying a hulk. WOW. I’m incredibly excited. I’ve dreamed about flying a hulk since I first started playing EVE and now that I’m almost there it is a very surreal feeling. The down side to this is that I’ve failed 6 hulk blueprint inventions. Using this site to figure out the math pretty much explained how hulks have the lowest success rate. I’m hoping to keep plugging away at it and maybe invent one just before I can fly it but I’m not holding my breath. In the mean time I’ve been running missions for CreoDron so that I can work with a L3 agent, I’m .15 standing away which is pretty nice. My second account is having a blast flying her new Dominix, it’s a battlecruiser and I just managed to fit some 350mm compressed coil guns onto it. Yum. Now I’m working towards all of the drone goodies as my ship is mostly a tank while drones do all of the damage work. Yesterday Kasul helped me fit a new imicus that I bought for scouting (probing). I’ve never been all that good at probing, but I’m not going to get any better if I don’t try it more often. I’d like to scan down sites for the hulk to mine. I need 26 hours of training in order to fit the cloaking device, but aside from that it’s the first ship that I’ve actually completely fit, and properly. My 2nd account has four ships that I use. The Dominix (battlecruiser) for my missions, the Vexor (cruiser) for missions that don’t allow battlecruisers (I hate those missions, just saying), the Imicus for scouting, and the Iteron V for hauling. I like the set up so far, and I’m having a lot of fun with it. I really enjoy the Dominix a great deal too, great ship.

World of Warcraft: I’ve been playing this game off and on since release and it’s always amusing to me to hear everyone talk about it. My highest level character just reached level 64 yesterday (woot), my priest. Everyone talks about having multiple level 80 characters, and how easy it is to get there but for me it seems like the slowest thing in the world. I’m having a lot of fun with it, working my way through the Burning Crusade and little bits into Wrath of the Lich King. Neither expansion is something I’m all that familiar with and it’s all brand new. Of course much like I do in every game I play, I’ve been crafting as much as I can. My tailor (the priest) just reached a skill level of 350 yesterday, and chose a specialization in mooncloth. Once I reach level 65 I can obtain the Grand Master rank, and continue on. Even though some people argue that crafting in WoW is simple, I really enjoy it. It’s nice to have the objectives of the crafting mini game change compared to what I’m used to. The actual ACT of crafting is not the mini game in WoW. Obtaining materials and recipes is the mini game, and even then only because I make it so. It doesn’t make it any less interesting to me, and I’m really enjoying myself. I have five characters, the 64 priest (tailor / enchanter), 58 DK (used mostly for farming, mining / herbalism), 43 hunter (farming, skinning / mining), 40 shaman (jewelcrafting / inscription), and a level 8 druid (alchemy / herbalism). I’m excited about inching my way to level 80 because I’ve always wanted to be ‘end game’ even though it was constantly out of my grasp. No guarantee that I’ll make it this time around either, but I’m hopeful.

EQ2: I still log in, check the broker, search for new books, and craft. Decorating is a little slower, but I still have a lot of fun with it. I think I’m just waiting for Halas to come out so I can see if it affects my game at all, and see if I get excited about it again. Breaks are not bad things, and I’m enjoying my time away from EQ2 right now. There’s a reason I term myself a nomadic gamer after all!

There are other games on my radar like Age of Conan (I picked up the game for $7 from EBGames), Dark Ages of Camelot ($10 with all expansions from – you guessed it, EBGames), Fallen Earth, Champions Online, Wizard101, LotRO, and DDO. I also still have my subscription to Darkfall, though I haven’t been playing it lately and I own Guild Wars which I keep meaning to play again and just never seem to get around to it.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself. I hope everyone has a magnificant weekend!

WTB Some Time

I love my job, I really do. Being able to write about something I enjoy as well as something I’m passionate about is a great gift that I try to make sure I’m aware of constantly. On my web site, I write for me and I love talking about my adventures, thoughts, friends and anything else that happens to cross my mind. The only time any of this is difficult is when it all seems to happen at once. These days there are so many games out there, that I simply don’t have enough time to play everything I want. It’s a shame, because I’d really love to.

EQ2 is my ‘steady’ game even though I’m barely playing it these days (it’s due to being crunch week and no other reason) it’s the comfort game that I know inside and out, and I like that comfort factor. However. It’s not the only game I want to play and certainly not the only game I am playing.

I’ve been having an incredible urge to continue playing EQ, which I have waded in and out of for quite some time now. Problem is I don’t enjoy playing EQ alone (where as in EQ2 I have no problem wandering around on my own) and it’s difficult for me to make friends (especially when I waver to and from games). I have my 81 necromancer that I’m considering leveling a little, she’s fairly close to level 82. I’ve always wanted to hit “end game” in everquest, and with the expansion NOT raising the level cap in November, it may very well be a possibility.

Vanguard is another one of those “if I only had more time” games. I seem to be in a rut with my blood mage, and I’m slowly running out of areas where I can just dip in for an hour or two before calling it quits and feel as though I have gotten anything acomplished.

Last month I won a free copy of Age of Conan, I think I found the time to play once during the month that came with the game, and then it sat neglected. For some reason it just does not appeal to me as much as I wish it had. It may be because I’m not really a melee person, and it felt uncomfortable. Either way, it’s one of those “I wish I had more time” games – along with many others.

Lord of the rings online – I really enjoy this game, a lot. It’s familiar, it’s beautiful. I want to continue playing but for now my account lays dormant because once again the greedy time monster has taken all of my time away, and I just don’t have any to spare or to warent spending a monthly subscription for it.

So what AM I playing? Well, my current play list includes EverQuest II, Vanguard (barely), Free Realms (barely), World of Warcraft (please don’t shoot me, it’s easy to dive into for an hour and feel like I actually acomplished something), Wizard 101, Aion Beta, and some DDO.  I want to be able to devote more time to EVE, but that learning curve is so far over my head I may as well actually be playing from another planet. I’ve been having fun in Aion, but again – not enough time to play everything I want to play, and to get work done as well as real life things (plus I can’t actually sit at my desk for too long before I start to get sore from health issues).

While I am excited that there are so many games out there (don’t even get me started on console games and finding time to play those too!) there are certainly moments where I wish the selection were smaller. Am I the only one?