Member of the EVE Tweet Fleet

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Skill Plan and Eve Musings

  When I started playing, things like Evemon and EFT were not known to me. Of course, it didn't take long until people were throwing around EFT fittings and stats as well as talking about their Evemon skillplans. My brother was the one to explain them to me and get me into using them. In Eve, one can find that they are nearly mandatory tools for a capsuleer pilot.

  Lately, I have failed at using Evemon like I should. Since I utilize a Mac, it is hard for me to get around to using a PC so I can optimize a skill plan. Well I finally did for the first time in too long. My last plan is far too old and already trained. I have taken to handwritten skillplans during my classes and they are far from organized how I wanted. So I called on Evemon once again with my folk's PC laptop. Finally I have just that. In 250 days, I will be a pretty well rounded pilot. I have a couple different goals in mind and hope to be able to achieve them all in the next year or so. For such a young pilot, not even 6 months old, this seems like an eternity. I have to wait 250 days? :sadpanda:  But of course, it will be so worthwhile.

  Eve is the first MMO I have ever played that employs skills in such a fashion. It is a game of forethought, planning, and patience. I believe Eve actually teaches some good fundamental mindsets and lessons. Patience is one the current generation seems to lack, always wanting things in an instant. The Uni specifically teaches self control through no smack talking. Planning is non existent in most games, as it is unneeded. But in Eve, if you don't plan where you are headed then you will end up nowhere with a lot of skills you're not focused in at all. Perhaps even budgeting. Budgeting of your time as well as your resources. Most people have limited time to play and thus prioritizing comes into play. While veteran players may have billions of ISK to burn, I still have to make sure I budget my wallet for my various endeavors. I try to be careful about that, just in case I screw up like I did recently. The first lesson you have to learn in Eve is to only fly what you can afford to lose. The second rule? Be willing to lose and don't ragequit when you do. That is a big one.

  These points make the experience of New Eden richer. It makes the player base more mature in many aspects, although I am fully aware of the idiots that still make it into the game. I believe that with the structure that it has, it is a bit harder for one to become addicted to playing the game as many other games are plagued. The obvious example would be WoW. People talk about their friends disappearing for months, locked away in a dark and musty room drinking Mountain Dew and neglecting their personal hygiene. I used to be addicted to that game, not to such an extreme, but nonetheless. Looking back, I wonder how. How did it take up so much time when it was ten times less complicated or in depth as Eve has proven to be. You get to the end game and what is there but endless raids for a chance at a drop that you have a chance to get against all the other players. Yeah...not my idea of fun anymore.

  Now I could be completely off the mark on this. But I don't think I am. New Eden is a diverse and rich environment and I'd like to think we are a smart and mature bunch. What do you think?

-Mem

No comments: