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Blog Banter 24: In Real Life

This month’s Banter topic comes to us from the ever helpful Eelis Kiy, capsuleer behind the “Where the frack is my ship“ blog. She asks: How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE? Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa? Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently? Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a Good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it? Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

The blog banter essentially echoes the lyrics of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody in asking, “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” However, there are a lot of questions being asked so I will answer them individually.

How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE?

As would be expected, there are quite a few similarities between my real life persona and my in game persona.

Analytical – In game, I pore over ship fittings, game mechanics, and battles. I spend far more time reading and theorizing about Eve than I actually play it.

Frugal – I dislike wasting ISK. I always pinch pennies, buying the cheapest modules for my ship (most of my ships are not even rigged) and flying inexpensive ships (the only faction ship I fly is the Slicer, which costs 20 million). I also hate seeing wrecks go unsalvaged, a trait that my corp mates often tease me about.

Quiet – I do not talk much unless I have a good reason to. One of the byproducts of this is that sometimes my corp mates will constantly say “Hi Sage” on Vent until I say something.

Competitive – I do not play to lose. If I am poor at flying a particular ship, I will switch to something I am better at. If I lose a fight due to my own mistakes, I will berate myself and resolve to do better.

Loyal – I value loyalty and trust as much in game as out of game. That is the reason why, during my two years in Eve, I have only switched corporations twice (once because the CEO was abusing his power and once because my corp did not PvP much).

Despite the similarities, there are also some differences.

Pen Fifteen Club – Being a member of the Python Cartel and a valiant Defender of Pen isLand, I sing of the virtues of certain male parts. In real life, this is not the case.

Smack talk – It is well know that smack talk is an art perfected by the Python Cartel (what other corporation comes back from roams with half its members gagged by GMs?). I often smack talk opponents in local, often accusing them of having small genitalia and equally small brains and courage. In real life, most of my friends consider me to be a nice, caring guy (which I really am, honest!).

Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game?

Although I do not have a leadership position in game (aside from managing the Tweetfleet) due to not playing frequently enough and having poor internet, I believe that a good leader is effective both in and out of Eve.

Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst a Good Samaritan away from your keyboard?

I commented earlier in this post about how I smack in game but am nicer out of game, so initially it would appear that I indeed “thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst a Good Samaritan away from the keyboard.” But I do not believe this is the case. Schadenfreude is not one of my traits. I smack for fun, not tears. And I PvP for fun, not tears. Things like can baiting, ninja salvaging, and neutral RR do not appeal to me. Many times after killing a new player I will convo them to teach them about Eve, lowsec, and PvP and give them ISK to buy a better ship.

Additionally, the anonymity of the Internet is not something I take advantage of. As stated earlier, I value loyalty and trust. I have never ‘Pythoned’ anyone (invite a newb to fleet, warp to them, and kill them). I have never used aggression mechanics to kill people in highsec. I have never scammed or stolen. Of course, I am not judging people who engage in such activities; I merely do not do them myself.

Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

To the best of my knowledge, no. All the similarities I listed were already present out of game, and the differences obviously are not present out of game (otherwise they would be similarities, not differences).

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Blog Banter 21: No Man’s Land

Welcome to the twenty-first installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month’s topic comes to us from @ZoneGhost. He asks, “Is lowsec the forgotten part of Eve Online?” Is it? Is lowsec being treated differently by CCP Games than nullsec or empire space? Can one successfully make a living in these unsecured systems where neither alliances nor Concord roam to enforce their laws? What is needed? Or is everything fine as it is?

It is unquestionable that CCP has neglected lowsec recently. I do not want to rehash this again, as most Eve players and bloggers strongly agree with that statement. I believe that CCP is not intentionally mistreating lowsec – it is simply that their current strategy for adding content to Eve is failing miserably.

Take Planetary Interaction for an example. Theoretically, increasing the amount of resources as system security decreases would make lowsec more desirable than highsec and nullsec more desirable than lowsec. Except that whoever designed such a system never properly took into account risk vs rewards. Maintaining colonies in a 0.5 is infinitely less risky than doing the same in a 0.4. And ironically, friendly nullsec and wormhole space have both greater rewards and lesser risks than lowsec.

Planetary Interaction is just one example. CCP has applied the same broken thinking to nearly everything else – minerals, NPCs, missions, etc. With lowsec at such a disadvantage compared to other areas of space, it is quite obvious why only 8% of all Eve players reside in lowsec.

Earlier, I mentioned briefly that the risk in lowsec is significantly higher than in any other area of space. Highsec has Concord protection, discouraging most PvP of any kind. Nullsec has powerful alliances, which maintain intelligence channels, jump bridges, and constant gatecamps at key entry points. Wormhole space has collapsing entrances, which gives the defenders a significant advantage and deters all but the most dedicated hostiles. But what about lowsec? All it has are sentry guns, which only deters small ships from attacking (unless you are an outlaw).

With such high risks, making a living in lowsec is extremely difficult. And for the select few who do manage to make a living, the stress saps most of the fun from playing Eve. You cannot run missions or complexes without checking the scanner every few seconds for probes. You cannot mine without worrying about getting caught. You cannot manufacture without having to worry if there is a stationcamp outside waiting to pop your industrial. You cannot even PvP without the fear that losing the ship you’re in will consume a month or more’s worth of hard earned income.

Only a few pilots – mainly those who hunt missioners with cloakies and a gank squad – can hope to break even through lowsec alone. Everyone else must make their living from other areas of space. For example, despite having a 97.38% PvP efficiency and stingily T1 fitting my ships, I still cannot live solely off of loot and ransoms and have to mission and trade in highsec for ISK. And the pressure to survive is brutal: every time I warp into a fight, I find myself worrying involuntarily about the cost of replacing my ship instead of how fun the PvP should be. Clearly everything is not fine as it is, unless CCP intended for lowsec to become a hellish no-man’s-land.

What can be done? Lowsec needs its own unique perks. It should not simply be the “area between highsec and nullsec.” This could take the form of unique lowsec-only minerals or modules or implants or ships. Or it could have higher quality agents than in highsec. Or some sort of bounty hunting system. Or a less punitive GCC and reworked sentry guns. Or outlaw-only items. There are literally hundreds of ways that CCP could make lowsec more enjoyable. I just hope that CCP changes their broken content addition strategy and actually gets around to revamping lowsec.

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Blog Banter 16: Nublet 101

Welcome to the sixteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or extensive, funny or serious, but they are always great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com.

The third Blog Banter of 2010 comes to us from ChainTrap of the Into the unknown with gun and camera EVE Blog. He asks us: “Eve University turns six years old on March 15th; six years spent helping the new pilots of New Eden gain experience and understanding in a supportive environment. Eve is clearly a complicated game where you never stop learning. What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out? Or what have you learned in the interim that you’d like to share with the wider Eve community?”

To be honest, my experience as a new player was quite conducive to learning. I could not have asked for better; I was a part of a very active corp of dedicated individuals right from the start. Any questions were answered promptly, advice was given on game mechanics and ship fitting (my CEO actually fit my ships for me several times), we worked together, and we had fun. Even the collapse of the corp after a few months was a learning experience.

Here are several things that are key to success in Eve:

Ask questions. As the prompt states, you never stop learning in Eve. No one can say “I know it all”. “Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find.”

Create goals. With hundreds of skills to train, thousands of ships and modules to use, and countless careers to follow, it is easy to get lost and wander around aimlessly. Your goals will change as your knowledge of Eve grows, but always ensure that you have some goal.

Find a role model. It can be a corp mate, it can be an Evebrity, it can be a blogger (when I was a fledgling pirate, I wanted to be as good as Wensley). Identify someone you admire (and if you don’t know one, find one) and learn from him. Ask questions. Find out his goals. Just make sure it’s not a bad role model like Spectre (just kidding).

By practicing those three, you will avoid falling off the Eve learning curve.

Eve Blog Banter Special: Why I Love Eve

From CrazyKinux’s latest blog banter:

We know the EVE Online Community is unique in so many ways, and that EVE Online is like no other MMORPG out there. But what makes the game special for you? Why do you love EVE Online so much?

I love how you can fly alongside others.
I love how you can fly solo.
I love how you can find people who think and act like you.
I love how you can interact with people with totally different personalities than you.
I love how adrenaline-filled PvP can be.
I love how you can have fun bantering in local with people you’ve just lost a ship to.
I love how Eve is so complex yet rewarding.
I love how Eve manages to extend beyond the computer.
I love the innumerable sites for ship fittings, market tweaking, blogging, and storytelling.
I love how you can never say “I know all there is to know.”
And I love how you can never stop listing things that you love about Eve.

2010: 01/29
POSTED BY: 00sage00
CATEGORY: Blog Banter
TAGS: eve
1 comment

Blog Banter 14: Year in Review

Welcome to the fourteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The first banter of 2010 comes to us from the EVE Blog Father, CrazyKinux himself, who asks the following: As we begin another year in New Eden, ask yourselves “What Now?” What will I attempt next? What haven’t I done so far in EVE? Was it out fear, funds, or knowledge? Have I always wanted to start my own corporation, but have never dared doing so? Is there a fledging mercenary waiting to come out of its shell? Or maybe an Industrialist? What steps and objectives will I set myself to accomplish in order to reach my ultimate goal for this year? EVE is what you make of it. So, what is it going to be for you?

Before I explore my future in Eve Online, let me start by reviewing the past year. (Warning: Very long read!)

I first began playing Eve Online eleven months ago on February 3, 2009. Because I created my Eve Online account on a whim after reading about the Band of Brothers vaporization, I had no idea of what Eve really was and never intended to play beyond the trial. So after creating my character in less than five minutes, I logged in for the first time and was quite surprised when I did not find any mages casting spells (the inspiration behind my character’s name and portrait). Of course I quickly recovered from my initial shock and was proudly flying around a mighty Omen within two weeks (according to screenshots I took back then, it was fit with a shield booster, hull repairer, armor plates, small and medium lasers, and mining equipment). Then I ran into a player who helped me fit my ship better and quickly recruited me into his corporation, Amarrian Empire.

I was beginning to like Eve. So after long deliberation, I subscribed for a month. Soon I was flying a big bad Harbinger and running level 3 missions. At this point, I realized (painfully) that my total Eve possessions no longer fit into my cargo hold, so I set up base in Ekid (in Amarr space). My corp was highly active, and we had corp ops nearly every day (usually missioning). The majority of the other corp members were as new as I was, so in a way we grew up in Eve together. After a month, I was in an Apocalypse running level 4 Amarr Navy missions out of Mani. Completely enthralled by Eve, I decided to subscribe for longer.

Not too long after I had started running level 4 missions, my corp joined StarFleet Federation, a CVA-allied alliance. After my CEO, Zealot Hill, gave me my first tour of nullsec (Providence), I was happily ratting instead of missioning. It was at this time that my lust for PvP slowly began to emerge. Eager for a taste of “real PvP”, I quickly learned to use intel and jump bridges and shortly thereafter was x-ing up for every Proviblock fleet I could, whether it involved defending a POS or repelling invading red fleets.

But after two months in Amarrian Empire, many of the corp members and I were becoming dissatisfied. Not only was the alliance quite demanding, but our CEO was also implementing some policies we did not agree with. As a result, a large portion of us quit Amarrian Empire and joined Transdimensional Trading Company, essentially the same corporation under a different CEO.

Although Transdim was comprised mostly of people from Amarrian Empire, it had a completely different atmosphere. It was much more relaxed than Amarrian Empire, with very few corp activities. This lack of activity and focus was harmful for us newer players. Like the isolated cells in Conway’s Game of Life, most of the people I had started out with eventually quit playing (currently only one person still plays; all he does is switch skills). The rest of us, spread out over three empires, went about our own activities. Some missioned, some popped Sleepers, some mined, some traded, some manufactured. I killed.

My first real PvP was a Punisher vs. Punisher + Merlin fight on April 9, 2009 (I killed the Punisher; the Merlin ran away). I began hunting solo in Amarr and Minmatar lowsec, slowly building up PvP support skills (which I had never trained earlier due to not needing them for PvE or large nullsec blobs) as well as PvP confidence. I fought a small pirate corp (Matari Insurrection), and soon was flying with them. But I did not become a pirate. I needed highsec access for making ISK, so I adopted the “yarrbear” lifestyle. At the end of May 2009, I also started this blog, Yarrbear Tales, with an announcement that I hoped to someday be an “Evebrity”.

Today, nine months after leaving Amarrian Empire, I am still in Transdim. I mission (and sometimes PvP while doing so) and rat in nullsec to gain ISK and security status. Then I solo PvP and fly alongside pirate corps to lose that ISK and security status. Sometimes I do have identity crises and considering joining a pirate corp, but I have never actually taken the plunge. I have accomplished a lot in nearly a year of playing Eve:

Broad skill training. I have 15.1 million skill points now. I can fly every T1 ships in Eve, use all weapon types, and fly T2 Amarr frigates and T2 Amarr and Minmatar recons. Although this wide diversity of skills training means that I am not very good at flying any particular race, I do have personal experience with flying various ships and races now (EFT is good, but it cannot replace experience).

PvP status. I am ranked at 15,400 on BattleClinic. This is not as high as I wanted, but overall is not too shabby for someone who has to spend over 70% of his time ratting up sec status.

Lots of ISKies. After nearly hitting rock bottom a month ago, I have 40 ships (3 battleships, 5 battlecruisers, 2 recons, 10 cruisers, 4 destroyers, 5 frigates, 1 assault frigate, 1 interceptor, 4 stealth bombers, 1 covert ops, and 4 industrials) and 3.22 billion ISK in total assets (try missioning nonstop for a month until you have to take a two week Eve break to detoxify, and you will have that much ISK).

Complete EFT collection. I have finally finished creating at least one EFT fit for every ship in the game (except for a few industrials and mining ships). Eve crashes if I try to import them all at once.

“Evebrity” status. Yarrbear Tales has had 56 posts, 427 comments, and 369 spam comments (huzzah, real people are winning over bots!). Despite being quite new (7 months), it averages 500 hits per day and many more syndicated views (views from RSS feeds, etc). The two most read blog posts have been Piloting Savviness (which was featured on Massively) and the Punisher Guide. Yarrbear Tales is also a member of the Eve Blog Pack and appears in the Capsuleer iPhone app.

TweetFleet. A couple months ago, there were very few Eve Tweeters; today the TweetFleet is a thriving community.

So that has been my first year in Eve. Frankly, I do not know what the future holds for me, as I have tried various Eve occupations and yarrbearing seems to be the best for me. Here are some possible roles in Eve and my “completion status”:

Blogger. Obviously, I am a blogger. However, I do not post consistently, so I will have to work on that.

CEO. I have never been a CEO and am not interested in taking all that responsibility. Maybe a director, but not a CEO.

Courier. Jumping around space your entire life is one of the most boring things you can do. Even ship spinning entertains me more.

Industrialist. Once upon a time I made a Tormenter for a new player training mission. The Tormenter (and blueprint) is still sitting in its manufacturing station undelivered. Someday™ I will go pick it up and get into manufacturing/R&D.

Logistics. I do want a carrier/jump freighter some day, but without a second account I cannot spare the training time for skilling an alt to fly one.

Mercenary. The idea of fighting for pay is fascinating, but station games and neutral remote repping disgust me.

Miner. As mentioned earlier, I have used mining lasers at one point in my career (I even made a mining battleship). But I would sooner stop playing Eve than mine.

Missioner. I already do more of this than I would like. Hopefully I can gain ISK via other methods so I do not have to do this too much.

Ninja Salvager. I am good at probing (battleship in under 30 seconds) and have tried ninja salvaging for a week. But it seems like a horrible waste of time. If I am going to probe missioners, I might as well do it in lowsec so I can actually kill them (I already do this). And if I just wanted the ISK, I could mission.

Nullsec dweller. Huge blobs and horrible lag are not my idea of fun. Until CCP fixes Dominion lag, I will never try this.

Pirate. Being blinky (security status below -5) brings too many detriments. Not only can you not access highsec, but you also have an inherent PvP disadvantage on gates and stations.

Podcaster. It seems like too much work, especially since I am already blogging. However, I suppose I could be a guest on a podcast someday.

PvPer. Already am one. Currently I am starting to specialize my skill training on Minmatar ships.

Ratter. Already am one.

Role Player. A little bit is great, but too much gets annoying.

Trader. I know that people become disgustingly rich by doing this, but it is just so boring – “Market PvP” is nothing like the real thing. However, I will attempt to devote some time to this over the next year so I can stop missioning as much.

Wormhole Explorer. I spent nearly all my time in wormholes when Apocrypha first came out and even lived in a wormhole POS for a bit. The lack of reliable contact with known space frustrates me.

So overall I have no set goals for the future, aside from trading more, dipping into industry, and flying more specialized, skill-intensive ships (Vagabond!). 2009 has been a good year; may 2010 be even better!

2010: 01/12
POSTED BY: 00sage00
CATEGORY: Blog Banter
Uncategorizable Fun
TAGS: characters
eve
fun
pvp
20 comments

00sage00's Romps Through the Eve Universe

Blog Banter 24: In Real Life

Blog Banter 21: No Man’s Land

Blog Banter 16: Nublet 101

Eve Blog Banter Special: Why I Love Eve

Blog Banter 14: Year in Review

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