Eve

[Jonathan]

Right clicking on anything gets you a context menu. Right click in empty space gives you a context menu with a list of interesting places in that solar system and is pretty much the easiest way to fly around in a solar system.

To make jumps, right click on something (Asset location, People & Places item, Map system) and choose Set Destination. Then left click the autopilot button (big bluegrey A to the left of the dial).

That's 80% of the tutorial right there.

[Alan]

So, how long before Dave has the most powerful and wealthiest character in the game?

[George]

So, how long before Dave has the most powerful and wealthiest character in the game?

It will happen exactly twenty four hours before Dave has no character in the games but a lot more real money.

[Jonathan]

War's over, though we still have a wardec on an ally of the original enemy. I realized paying retail prices for PvP ships is a losing proposition. My corp has lots of blueprints for noob ships and plenty of people researching them. I bought skills to do some manufacturing which I should have trained up by Tuesday. I can reprocess my loot into ships I can fly, so I don't need any miners. For tech 2 ships, I will need minerals from miners, but I can't fly tech 2 ships yet. I'm not going to get into research or mining, but it is convenient to be able to build cheap ships and equipment.

[Jonathan]

Got into a new frigate over the weekend. Now I can comfortably tank any spawn in .5 security space. It's nice not to need healers since there are no classes; I can self heal all day long. Definitely get shield boosters or armor repairers ASAP, Dave. Even the civilian shield booster is a big help.

I'm still debating how to get the isk for a cruiser: either popping rats in .5 space and running some missions, or making runs into .4 space.

.4 space is where the newbie island ends, basically. There's still police, but they only guard the jump gates. And the NPCs will spawn in cruisers, sometimes. I'm not sure if I can take a cruiser with my current ship. I could always just run away when I see one. And, of course, there's still the risk of getting ganked by someone. What I really need to do is gang with some other new player. One who I can trust not to gank me.

Nice thing about the kill missions is that the rats spawn when you accept the mission, so you never have to wait for a spawn. No "kill 20 foozles, and oh, by the way, foozles spawn every 15 minutes."

[Dave]

I swear I meant to play this game, but i am beginning to develop alan-itis where i forget what i've installed.

[Jonathan]

http://www.razorfield.com/games/eve.htm

Review written by someone in my corp with level cap chars in WoW and DAOC. It seems more or less correct. As a postscript, I'd add that the incentive for random players to group is nonexistent. You group with corp members or allies thereof, or you don't group.

I was recruited by several corps before I joined my corp, so there is a very strong incentive for corps to recruit new players.

[Jonathan]

Started ratting in .4 space over the weekend. Still flying a frigate, but I can take out NPC cruisers with very little difficulty. Small and fast 4tehWIN! After I move I should have enough skills to handle my own cruiser.

[Jonathan]

Got another wardec from a different pirate corp. Apparently Eve pirates like to talk like pirates. Yarr. I currently have no internet so I haven't been able to die like a n00b.

[Jonathan]

Still subscribed. I am starting to treat it more and more like MMO Stars!. The fighting and the shooting is all very nice, but I rarely log in on a Friday or Saturday night when the real PvP is likely to happen. If I'm doing resource management and building things, then I'm free to log in the morning before work and "play my turn."

[Jonathan]

My PvP skills have progressed to the point where I don't get pod-killed after losing my ship. Yep, pirates fear my running away skillz. Perhaps soon I shall start running away before I lose my ship.

Heh. I am a crafter. I didn't plan to; it's just a good way to make isk without having to be online. Yesterday I made tractor beams for a couple of corp members and they gave me enough to build a cruiser. My first one, as a matter of fact. I got sidetracked with the crafting and market skills for a month and a half. If you plan your character creation right, you can be flying a cruiser in two weeks, easily. I just didn't plan very well.

[Jonathan]

My corp will be joining a zerosec alliance soon. Means full fleet PvP and territorial defense because the alliance is at war with two other alliances. Also means access to the highest level modules and ships, which are player-crafted. I'm investing all my resources in the corp, so I should have significantly more cash in a few weeks. I can "power level" (as much as you can pl in Eve) anybody if they want: set you up with a good template, skills, and gear. If you sub I can get you into my corp, too.

[Jonathan]

http://www.eve-online.com/alliances/a_655846070.asp

After 3 am tomorrow, F13 should be the newest corporation in the OSS alliance. OSS is allied with ERA. We're going to be occupying the big red blob labeled ERA in the top of the map.

http://www.eve-wiki.net/index.php/Resou ... liance_Map

OSS is the same alliance that Goonfleet is in. Goonfleet is 1500 somethingawful.com forum goons who joined Eve this year. They fly around in cheap frigates and basically swarm other fleets to death. So awesome.

[Jonathan]

I got ganked for the first time yesterday. All my other deaths were semi-on-purpose as I was trying to attack someone. This time, I really didn't mean to fight. I was just soloing some NPCs while I was moving my ship around. I happened across this pair of low-security guys (means they attack other players) so I warped to another asteroid belt. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I should have left the system or docked.

We were all in cruisers, but they were set up for ganking and I was set up for PvE. Also, I suck. They were running missiles and drones. Drones are actually good for PvP because they don't tank, they deal damage.

Anyway, I target an NPC cruiser. They warp after me. I should have run away immediately. Instead, I freakin' aim all my guns at the freakin' NPC, to claim it. Because I didn't want them to steal my spawn. So dumb. I envision them all mentally shrugging and saying, "Whatever." Then they shoot me. Actually, first they scramble and jam me so I can't run away or target, then they shoot me.

To my credit, I did try running away after they started attacking. It's just that these are reasonably competent PvP players who were looking for that, so I failed. Also, I did manage to flee the scene in my pod so I didn't have to spring for a new clone. I think I engaged my heal, but the combat log doesn't mention it. Not sure if I did and it just doesn't show up, or if I clicked it after I was already dead.

------------------------------------------------------------



Gamelog

Listener: Dwindlehop

Session started: 2006.05.16 06:07:10



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[ 2006.05.16 06:07:33 ] (notify) Warping to Taisy V - Asteroid Belt 1

[ 2006.05.16 06:08:17 ] (notify) Warping to Taisy VI - Asteroid Belt 1

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:32 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your 720mm Howitzer Artillery I lightly hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 48.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:32 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your 720mm Howitzer Artillery I hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 57.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:32 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your 720mm Howitzer Artillery I hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 63.1 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:39 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your Scourge Heavy Missile hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 110.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:39 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your Scourge Heavy Missile hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 110.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:41 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your Scourge Heavy Missile hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 113.6 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:42 ] (notify) Lord Spidey [HMMH] has started trying to warp scramble you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:42 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your 720mm Howitzer Artillery I hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 57.5 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:42 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your 720mm Howitzer Artillery I lightly hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 56.3 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:42 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your 720mm Howitzer Artillery I lightly hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 54.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:45 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Thunderbolt Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 204.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:45 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 103.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:45 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 103.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:46 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 103.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:46 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 17.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:46 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 19.3 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:47 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 103.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:48 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your Scourge Heavy Missile hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 123.8 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:48 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 19.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:48 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey strikes you perfectly, wrecking for 47.6 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:49 ] (notify) 'Arbalest' Heavy Missile Launcher deactivates because it's target, Guristas Ascriber, is not locked.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:50 ] (notify) Refri [HMMH] has started trying to warp scramble you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:50 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey barely scratches you, causing 9.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:50 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 16.0 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:51 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your Scourge Heavy Missile hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 120.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:51 ] (combat) <color=0xffbbbb00>Your Scourge Heavy Missile hits Guristas Ascriber, doing 120.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:51 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] lightly hits you, doing 89.5 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:51 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] aims well at you, inflicting 160.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (notify) Warping to Taisy III - Minedrill Refinery prior to making docking attempt

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey barely scratches you, causing 8.9 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (combat) Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey barely misses you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] places an excellent hit on you, inflicting 174.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] barely scratches you, causing 78.3 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] hits you, doing 119.5 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (notify) 720mm Howitzer Artillery I deactivates because it's target, Guristas Ascriber, is not locked.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:52 ] (notify) Unable to perform because you are warp scrambled.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:53 ] (notify) 720mm Howitzer Artillery I deactivates because it's target, Guristas Ascriber, is not locked.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:53 ] (notify) 720mm Howitzer Artillery I deactivates because it's target, Guristas Ascriber, is not locked.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:54 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 5.3 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:54 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 5.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:54 ] (combat) Refri [HMMH] misses you completely.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:54 ] (combat) Refri [HMMH] misses you completely.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:54 ] (notify) Heavy Missile Launcher I deactivates because it's target, Guristas Ascriber, is not locked.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:55 ] (combat) Refri [HMMH] barely misses you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:55 ] (combat) Refri [HMMH] misses you completely.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:55 ] (combat) Refri [HMMH] barely misses you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Thunderbolt Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 61.3 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 191.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 191.4 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 5.6 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey lands a hit on you which glances off, causing no real damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (notify) Heavy Missile Launcher I deactivates because it's target, Guristas Ascriber, is not locked.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 140.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] aims well at you, inflicting 168.1 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] places an excellent hit on you, inflicting 216.8 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:57 ] (combat) Refri [HMMH] lands a hit on you which glances off, causing no real damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:58 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Scourge Heavy Missile belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 243.6 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:58 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] places an excellent hit on you, inflicting 309.0 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:58 ] (combat) Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey lands a hit on you which glances off, causing no real damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:58 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 16.8 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:09:58 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] lightly hits you, doing 146.7 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) Guristas Ascriber barely misses you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] barely scratches you, causing 124.8 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey heavily hits you, inflicting 19.1 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Acolyte I belonging to Lord Spidey hits you, doing 15.1 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] hits you, doing 156.1 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) Guristas Ascriber barely misses you.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] lightly hits you, doing 143.1 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:00 ] (combat) <color=0xffbb6600>Refri [HMMH] hits you, doing 160.2 damage.

[ 2006.05.16 06:10:05 ] (notify) Autopilot engaged - Because my ship blew up and they're not scrambling my pod, I can engage my autopilot.

[Jonathan]

Lately though, I’ve developed a rather unsavoury habit. The Badger MkII is my hauler of choice, and it comes with far more equipment slots than you can helpfully use for hauling, so I was experimenting with a junk-loot favourite, the ‘Passive Targeting System I’. It’s a device that lets you target lock another player, without them getting yellow and red reciprocal flasheys on their Overview to warn them that you’re doing so. They see nothing. Then I use my ‘Ship Scanner I’ and ‘Cargo Scanner I’ to look inside their ships. These two devices are not counted as ‘Hostile Actions’, so I don’t get killed by the police for using them, and the people I’m scanning have no idea it’s happening.

This is amusing. I didn't even think of doing this. Of course, this is what all those high sec pirates are doing. Damn thieves.

[Jonathan]

Hell, I just realized I had a named missile launcher on my sploded ship that was worth more than the ship itself. I was just using it because it was awesome. I wished I had sold it so I had enough to buy another ship right now. I got the insurance payout, but market price for ships in my region is too expensive. My corp will sell me a cheap one, but we don't have any building minerals since we just moved.

[Jonathan]

I scrounged together the minerals for a new ship from junk I had lying around. Crafting 4 the win.

[Jonathan]

Triumph in the face of defeat. Sorta.

So I was docked in a conquorable station in Tribute when Dusk and Dawn took over the region. When I logged in, D2 owned the station and I had lost docking rights, fitting rights, and cloning facility rights. I waited until the afternoon and undocked to make a run for it, thinking that they'd tire of running their gatecamps, but no. I got podded, so I lost my clone, and I couldn't buy another while I was in a D2 station.

So now something real was on the line: 5% of the skills I've spent the last 3 months training. I waited for my corp to negotiate a 24-hr NAP with D2 so I could leave unmolested, but D2 was disinclined to acquiesce to my request. The server happened to go down unexpectedly last night, though, so I logged in as soon as it was up and ran like hell. There were a number of D2 folks already logged back in, but nobody had a gatecamp set up yet, and I made it out. Fun!

[quantus]

Interesting, you got saved by the universe temporarily crashing. I wonder if there's an equivalent in real life...

[Jonathan]

My corp withdrew from that alliance. We're now shopping around for a new one, and hope to have a new 0.0 home by next week.

The amount of money I can make as a non-vet in 0.0 is amazing compared to the empire spawns. I have to group with someone because I can't tank the big spawns, but the way the combat works in this game I am genuinely useful in my cruiser even in level 3 missions or big bounty multi-battleship belt spawns. The player battleship and battlecruiser pilots can't do enough damage to take out the NPC battleships, so they need my dps adder to break their tanks. And of course I have no problem hitting the battleships because that's not the way armor and accuracy work in this game. Combat between low-level characters and high-level mobs in EQ and its clones is retarded.

As in all online games, grouping is more fun than solo. It'll be really awesome when I get a battlecruiser and can take some of the larger spawns solo, because I'll be able to log in for fifteen minutes or so and make a ton of isk. Ton of isk = time for PvP.