A bit ago I posted about possible killmail changes in regards to self destructing ships. It seems I was wrong and that was nothing more than bugs producing a desired effect. Now, however, that change has become completely intentional.
In a new post from CCP, it has been disclosed that self destructs now produce killmails, and what's more is they also drop loot like a regular kill. As a corpmate put it: "Pure, unadulterated glee." Yeah..that's a good feeling.
Unfortunately, this does not take into consideration longer wreck timers for larger ship classes or the issue of SDing inside a POS, but it is a giant step in the right direction. I can now tackle and murder caps without fear of having the blood be taken from me.
Rejoice, capsuleers!
-Mem
Friday, July 27, 2012
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
De-Fanging the Rattles
Finally, after months and months of only being able to log in to change skills or responding to fights that go nowhere or hostiles run away. Too much running away in wspace lately, but that'll be a different post. On to my redemption, however, filled with explosions and fun.
I had put my son to sleep a bit ago and just finished a game of LoL. A corpmate alerted me to a potential target list of 2 Rattlesnakes and 2 100mn AB fit Tengus. Despite the many disappointments I've had as of late, I got on and hopped into Connemara Love, my wonderfully neut-y, dps-y, drone-y Legion. Breaking the tank of two Rattles is usually a tall order, especially since we didn't have too many people around to respond.
Our scout was on grid with them for some time, just watching. They were aligned to a planet, but otherwise doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps they were waiting to run a site or were just AFK. As he approached to go for a tackle, we made our way through the wormhole chain to get ready to pounce. They warped off, meaning they must have had cloaky eyes along the chain somewhere. So he followed to where he thought they went and found the Rattles jumping through a hole. We all began to get ourselves there as quickly as possible and jumped through to the target system.
As we loaded grid, there was a Tengu sitting on our hole. He seemed to just be watching, 90km away so we ignored him and made haste to the Rattles before they ate our scout or were otherwise able to escape. Oddly enough, as the scout followed them into the hole, they jumped back...polarizing themselves...and allowing our fleet to land and grab points. It seemed they had a couple friends, since an Arazu uncloaked and began damping whoever he could and a Falcon joined to try to save their friends. I'm fairly certain one of the pilots was dual boxing, but I'm not sure who. I called the Rattles primary since we could reach them. A couple fleetmates took it upon themselves to drive off our new, annoying recons. The Arazu was driven off, but the Falcon was stubborn and held his ground.
That is hardly the sign of a good Falcon pilot. We exploited it.
Our scout burned out in chase, an easy task since the Falcon went a measly 200 m/s, and chipped away at him. He had gotten jams off on a few of us, but not enough to make a difference and the first Rattle's shields buckled surprisingly easily. Ah, PvE Rattle fit that makes for passive recharge and resists. Not a great fit to be caught in if ADHC shows up.
The second Rattle had tried to burn off the hole, only getting 20km before all our webs brought him to standstill. He soon followed his brother into explosive nothingness. The names make me think dualboxing and would explain the bad tactics. Or the simple fact that they are carebears in space that is inherently dangerous may be plenty of reason.
The Arazu came back shortly to make another nuisance of himself, but it didn't take long until he fled yet again. The Falcon was finally out of the picture as well and woke up somewhere else. Mixed railguns on a Falcon, lolwut? And as he was melting, a corpmate of his tried to save the day in a Blackbird. Points for effort!
Then it was just a matter of looting the field, popping the wrecks and making our way home. I am quite satisfied, although it was truly more of just a gank than a fight. I am fine with that, blood is blood.
PvP stories worth telling are getting harder to come by for me nowadays. :sadpanda: Perhaps I'll have to start linking our Wormhole Fundamentals series so people get better ;P 1k views and rising :D
Fly dangerous
-Mem
I had put my son to sleep a bit ago and just finished a game of LoL. A corpmate alerted me to a potential target list of 2 Rattlesnakes and 2 100mn AB fit Tengus. Despite the many disappointments I've had as of late, I got on and hopped into Connemara Love, my wonderfully neut-y, dps-y, drone-y Legion. Breaking the tank of two Rattles is usually a tall order, especially since we didn't have too many people around to respond.
Our scout was on grid with them for some time, just watching. They were aligned to a planet, but otherwise doing absolutely nothing. Perhaps they were waiting to run a site or were just AFK. As he approached to go for a tackle, we made our way through the wormhole chain to get ready to pounce. They warped off, meaning they must have had cloaky eyes along the chain somewhere. So he followed to where he thought they went and found the Rattles jumping through a hole. We all began to get ourselves there as quickly as possible and jumped through to the target system.
As we loaded grid, there was a Tengu sitting on our hole. He seemed to just be watching, 90km away so we ignored him and made haste to the Rattles before they ate our scout or were otherwise able to escape. Oddly enough, as the scout followed them into the hole, they jumped back...polarizing themselves...and allowing our fleet to land and grab points. It seemed they had a couple friends, since an Arazu uncloaked and began damping whoever he could and a Falcon joined to try to save their friends. I'm fairly certain one of the pilots was dual boxing, but I'm not sure who. I called the Rattles primary since we could reach them. A couple fleetmates took it upon themselves to drive off our new, annoying recons. The Arazu was driven off, but the Falcon was stubborn and held his ground.
That is hardly the sign of a good Falcon pilot. We exploited it.
Our scout burned out in chase, an easy task since the Falcon went a measly 200 m/s, and chipped away at him. He had gotten jams off on a few of us, but not enough to make a difference and the first Rattle's shields buckled surprisingly easily. Ah, PvE Rattle fit that makes for passive recharge and resists. Not a great fit to be caught in if ADHC shows up.
The second Rattle had tried to burn off the hole, only getting 20km before all our webs brought him to standstill. He soon followed his brother into explosive nothingness. The names make me think dualboxing and would explain the bad tactics. Or the simple fact that they are carebears in space that is inherently dangerous may be plenty of reason.
The Arazu came back shortly to make another nuisance of himself, but it didn't take long until he fled yet again. The Falcon was finally out of the picture as well and woke up somewhere else. Mixed railguns on a Falcon, lolwut? And as he was melting, a corpmate of his tried to save the day in a Blackbird. Points for effort!
Then it was just a matter of looting the field, popping the wrecks and making our way home. I am quite satisfied, although it was truly more of just a gank than a fight. I am fine with that, blood is blood.
PvP stories worth telling are getting harder to come by for me nowadays. :sadpanda: Perhaps I'll have to start linking our Wormhole Fundamentals series so people get better ;P 1k views and rising :D
Fly dangerous
-Mem
Saturday, July 14, 2012
The Rumor Mill
I tend to try to stay away from rumors since they have a tendency to make you look like a fool. But Jester, over at Jester's Trek alerted me to one change and other sources led me to the second that has me all but jumping in my seat with joy.
"In other news, dictors no longer automatically generate 60 seconds of aggression just for the act of dropping a bubble. I've tested this on Sisi and it's implemented there and I understand it's now been implemented on Tranquility as well. If true, this means that defensive bubbles on gates are once again a go for all us dictor pilots. It also means that to aggress a dictor will again require player action."
That is certainly an interesting mechanic change and one that will hopefully make the life of a dictor pilot easier to handle in kspace. Not that I fly them or care about aggression since :wspace: but hey, something someone else can enjoy is fine with me.
The second rumor? Drumroll please
Self Destructs Generate Killmaills! \o/
For something this amazing, I am rather surprised by CCP for making this a ninjaedit. I mean, now we can engage capitals (esp the Russians) and not care if they SD since we get it anyways. The first killmail of contention was an Aeon and then supposedly a second confirmed SD on TQ.
Pretty freakin' sweet if you ask me. So THANK YOU CCP!
I'm happy, are you?
-Mem
"In other news, dictors no longer automatically generate 60 seconds of aggression just for the act of dropping a bubble. I've tested this on Sisi and it's implemented there and I understand it's now been implemented on Tranquility as well. If true, this means that defensive bubbles on gates are once again a go for all us dictor pilots. It also means that to aggress a dictor will again require player action."
That is certainly an interesting mechanic change and one that will hopefully make the life of a dictor pilot easier to handle in kspace. Not that I fly them or care about aggression since :wspace: but hey, something someone else can enjoy is fine with me.
The second rumor? Drumroll please
Self Destructs Generate Killmaills! \o/
For something this amazing, I am rather surprised by CCP for making this a ninjaedit. I mean, now we can engage capitals (esp the Russians) and not care if they SD since we get it anyways. The first killmail of contention was an Aeon and then supposedly a second confirmed SD on TQ.
Pretty freakin' sweet if you ask me. So THANK YOU CCP!
I'm happy, are you?
-Mem
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Wormhole Fundamentals
If you're looking for a new way to learn about wormholes or just want watch a great video about them, look no further.
As of yesterday, Adhocracy has launched our wormhole walkthrough video series: Wormhole Fundamentals.
This will be a series of videos centered on different aspects of wormhole life and give detailed information about each. It is a collaboration between many of our corpmates, including yours truly. In fact, by the time I was able to draft the first video script we had topics and scripts being generated faster than I thought possible. And if you're wondering whose bedroom voice is in our debut video...that's me too! ;D
I'll be narrating as many videos as I can, but I won't be the only one. As of now, it is myself and Admiral Tomahawk generating voiceovers. Since this is a collaboration, however, you may find other voices along the way.
I have had and am having a great time with the project and hope that you all like it just as much. Of course, this wouldn't be a shameless plug without me asking you to share it with your friend and make sure anyone and everyone interested in wormholes gets to see it.
We have quite a comprehensive list of topics that will be coming soon, but feel free to leave a comment with anything you may want to see specifically in the series.
Hope you enjoy!
-Mem
As of yesterday, Adhocracy has launched our wormhole walkthrough video series: Wormhole Fundamentals.
This will be a series of videos centered on different aspects of wormhole life and give detailed information about each. It is a collaboration between many of our corpmates, including yours truly. In fact, by the time I was able to draft the first video script we had topics and scripts being generated faster than I thought possible. And if you're wondering whose bedroom voice is in our debut video...that's me too! ;D
I'll be narrating as many videos as I can, but I won't be the only one. As of now, it is myself and Admiral Tomahawk generating voiceovers. Since this is a collaboration, however, you may find other voices along the way.
I have had and am having a great time with the project and hope that you all like it just as much. Of course, this wouldn't be a shameless plug without me asking you to share it with your friend and make sure anyone and everyone interested in wormholes gets to see it.
We have quite a comprehensive list of topics that will be coming soon, but feel free to leave a comment with anything you may want to see specifically in the series.
Hope you enjoy!
-Mem
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Alliance Tourney X Vamps Up
I was able to catch a few matches over at the ATX live feed today. They just signed off for the day with more to come tomorrow, of course.
It seems Minnie setups are the flavor this year. The first match I was able to catch was a mirror fight with both sides fielding two Sleipnirs, a Scimitar and rounding of the team with Merlins. This meant that there was considerable dps and rep power on either side, bringing it down to pilot skill and strategy.
It was quite interesting to watch since the blue side (forgive me, I don't watch names usually) seemed to use their Scimi as bait that kited the red and took the punishment. The blue, in the mean time, was pushing hard on one of the hostile Sleips. This is where viewers got to see the Ancillary Shield Booster in effect, with the Sleip pulsing his shield back to full. But it was apparent that they were simply diverting attention, since they soon switched to the red's Scimi and melted it just before they lost their own. Their diversion has pressured the initial Sleip into burning most of his charges and as his Scimi comrade exploded, he soon followed without enough charges or support.
While the Tournament is not a representation of true Pvp for multiple reasons, it is nonetheless fun to watch. Pitting teams against one another that may never have encountered each other in the game to prove themselves worthy opponents is engaging. Planning only lasts until the first projectile flies, after all. Those that can adapt and overcome on the fly come out on top, skill and flexibility over numbers on paper, as the above match shows.
ATX is also the time of year where you can get friends interested in Eve. You may not be able to find pvp when they show up at your house and wonder what you're doing, but this provides a sure way of showing them what really makes internet spaceships fun. More new blood, especially if they stay the course despite the massive learning curve, is always good for a game.
Enjoy the show and let me know which you thought best
-Mem
PS Keep the music low when not on matches...SO MUCH DUBSTEP/TECHNO/ELECTRONICA.
It seems Minnie setups are the flavor this year. The first match I was able to catch was a mirror fight with both sides fielding two Sleipnirs, a Scimitar and rounding of the team with Merlins. This meant that there was considerable dps and rep power on either side, bringing it down to pilot skill and strategy.
It was quite interesting to watch since the blue side (forgive me, I don't watch names usually) seemed to use their Scimi as bait that kited the red and took the punishment. The blue, in the mean time, was pushing hard on one of the hostile Sleips. This is where viewers got to see the Ancillary Shield Booster in effect, with the Sleip pulsing his shield back to full. But it was apparent that they were simply diverting attention, since they soon switched to the red's Scimi and melted it just before they lost their own. Their diversion has pressured the initial Sleip into burning most of his charges and as his Scimi comrade exploded, he soon followed without enough charges or support.
While the Tournament is not a representation of true Pvp for multiple reasons, it is nonetheless fun to watch. Pitting teams against one another that may never have encountered each other in the game to prove themselves worthy opponents is engaging. Planning only lasts until the first projectile flies, after all. Those that can adapt and overcome on the fly come out on top, skill and flexibility over numbers on paper, as the above match shows.
ATX is also the time of year where you can get friends interested in Eve. You may not be able to find pvp when they show up at your house and wonder what you're doing, but this provides a sure way of showing them what really makes internet spaceships fun. More new blood, especially if they stay the course despite the massive learning curve, is always good for a game.
Enjoy the show and let me know which you thought best
-Mem
PS Keep the music low when not on matches...SO MUCH DUBSTEP/TECHNO/ELECTRONICA.
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
Freedom Looms
To my readers in the States, Happy 4th of July. I hope you enjoy grilling in the hot sun, drinking, and then sating your innermost pyro with grand displays of disregard for safety by exploding things on our day of Independence. Gotta love it.
And for those of you outside of the States...Happy Wednesday. Hope your week is just as fun.
I just got back from a short vacation/family trip back home in the north and it seems I missed something very interesting while I was there. A thread about disappoint over WiS garnered a response promising an upcoming devblog, as well as giving a video link (demo starts at 10:12) showing a feature that is being prototyped. Walking around with your avatar in structures you find throughout the universe.
Funny since, I just said something to that effect.
This prototype has been around for a few months and gives a fair amount of excitement for those who want to actually utilize their avatar in a meaningful way. But it also gives rise to a few questions.
Why not DUST?
The immediate question is simple. If you are creating a whole game based on this sort of thing for DUST, why not integrate that into a system built around people fighting? The reason given so far as I have gathered that capsuleers are getting out of their pods to explore dangerous environments is: "They are radiated and only capsuleers can survive!" The exploration is also supposed to be dangerous in other ways, at least that seems to be what's implied. Why not DUST mercs or robots since, you know...this is the future?
One may say, why not capsuleers? They are known for doing a multitude of things just because they can and it amuses them. Alright, I can buy that but there is another lore issue that needs to be dealt with first.
What happens when you die?
DUST implants and EVE implants are not the same. A capsuleer needs to be inside a pod so that when they get splattered, their grey melons get scanned and immediately sent to the new clone that is sitting in a station waiting to be loaded up.
So what happens then if you are walking around? You still get sent to that clone but your ship is chilling where you left it, read to be taken? You lose everything, as is the way of Eve? Or will you need to do a bit of training in order to leave the ship at all. New implants appear on the market that you plug in for the new fun? Capsuleers are only immortal in the sense that they can just keep swapping to new bodies. But if they run out of bodies or can't make that transfer, they disappear.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with getting this added into the universe since it just gives one more aspect for me to explore. If CCP does a great job and makes it really creepy/suspenseful/engaging/worthwhile and as long as they polish it to perfection before trying to send out some half done piece of crap, this could add depth and approachability for new subscribers.
Then again, this will be something that existing players will want as optional. Something that doesn't impact or take away from their Flying in Space adventures. Part of me understands that, but the other part of me says grow up and learn to embrace new things. Eve is CCP's IP and they have a vision that may not be identical to every one of their users'. That's ok and they have shown they can be flexible and modify their vision to our tastes. After 2 years of flying around, I really wouldn't mind stretching my pixel-y legs for a bit.
As in all things, time will tell how this develops with the rest of our universe. I have high hopes, however. For now, I am relegated to signing in long enough to swap skills. I just finished Gallente BS V so there's another horizon of progress met, eh?
Keep an eye on this space
-Mem
And for those of you outside of the States...Happy Wednesday. Hope your week is just as fun.
I just got back from a short vacation/family trip back home in the north and it seems I missed something very interesting while I was there. A thread about disappoint over WiS garnered a response promising an upcoming devblog, as well as giving a video link (demo starts at 10:12) showing a feature that is being prototyped. Walking around with your avatar in structures you find throughout the universe.
Funny since, I just said something to that effect.
This prototype has been around for a few months and gives a fair amount of excitement for those who want to actually utilize their avatar in a meaningful way. But it also gives rise to a few questions.
Why not DUST?
The immediate question is simple. If you are creating a whole game based on this sort of thing for DUST, why not integrate that into a system built around people fighting? The reason given so far as I have gathered that capsuleers are getting out of their pods to explore dangerous environments is: "They are radiated and only capsuleers can survive!" The exploration is also supposed to be dangerous in other ways, at least that seems to be what's implied. Why not DUST mercs or robots since, you know...this is the future?
One may say, why not capsuleers? They are known for doing a multitude of things just because they can and it amuses them. Alright, I can buy that but there is another lore issue that needs to be dealt with first.
What happens when you die?
DUST implants and EVE implants are not the same. A capsuleer needs to be inside a pod so that when they get splattered, their grey melons get scanned and immediately sent to the new clone that is sitting in a station waiting to be loaded up.
So what happens then if you are walking around? You still get sent to that clone but your ship is chilling where you left it, read to be taken? You lose everything, as is the way of Eve? Or will you need to do a bit of training in order to leave the ship at all. New implants appear on the market that you plug in for the new fun? Capsuleers are only immortal in the sense that they can just keep swapping to new bodies. But if they run out of bodies or can't make that transfer, they disappear.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with getting this added into the universe since it just gives one more aspect for me to explore. If CCP does a great job and makes it really creepy/suspenseful/engaging/worthwhile and as long as they polish it to perfection before trying to send out some half done piece of crap, this could add depth and approachability for new subscribers.
Then again, this will be something that existing players will want as optional. Something that doesn't impact or take away from their Flying in Space adventures. Part of me understands that, but the other part of me says grow up and learn to embrace new things. Eve is CCP's IP and they have a vision that may not be identical to every one of their users'. That's ok and they have shown they can be flexible and modify their vision to our tastes. After 2 years of flying around, I really wouldn't mind stretching my pixel-y legs for a bit.
As in all things, time will tell how this develops with the rest of our universe. I have high hopes, however. For now, I am relegated to signing in long enough to swap skills. I just finished Gallente BS V so there's another horizon of progress met, eh?
Keep an eye on this space
-Mem
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)