Level 2, Vexor fitting

Today Dax Jr. made the big leap to level 2 missions. The friendly folks of my NPC corp were sharing ship fittings and exchanging advice, consulting the wisdom of players who were rolling their alts. Many were surprised that I was flying in a Thorax doing level 1 missions. Since my standing was abysmal the only choice was to grind small frigates to smithereens. I was shone with a ray of hope in the form of a skill. "Train Connections to three. That should do it." When Connections did reach 3, a level 2 agent with -19 quality became accessible. No thank you.

At this point Dax Jr. was nearing his 1.6mil SP mark, which meant the 100% bonus to training time would soon end. Worried that I might somehow gimp Dax Jr. if I didn't make a prudent decision, I googled 'learning 4/3 or 4/4.' In case you're wondering, that's basic learning skill/advanced learning skill.

To summarize my long search, the majority opinion was 4/4 ASAP within the 1.6mil SP bonus time frame. Those who are blessed with the virtue of patience will only have to wait for nine days to get their learning skills to 4/4. Not I, not the power-leveling gamer who would rather sacrifice sleep than fall behind. Ironicly, I have fallen behind just by training other useful skills ahead of the learning skills to enable my character to do something fun. Better late than never. Better now than later. EVEMon neatly arranaged the order of skills that I planned on training by minimizing the total time needed to learn them. For learning skills order matters.

In the meantime I could repeat level 1 missions to gain standing. To make it a little less boring, I bought a Vexor for the added drone damage bonus. Things went down really fast and so did my interest. I wasn't sure how I would fare level 2 missions but it had to be more challening than this. Federal Intelligence Office, the corp I am currently working for, displayed a quality 6 agent just four jumps away in its agent tab. Without any hesitation, I pack some modules and ammo then set off.

My first level 2 mission was Recon 1/3. The first wave was easily dispatched but the second wave caught me off guard. I was alarmed at the firepower the rats unleashed as they surrounded me. If it wasn't for the Damage Control Unit, I wouldn't have been able to warp out in time. The Vexor wasn't able to withstand the gauntlet and I found myself warping out a once again. The fitting couldn't get any better so I must be doing something wrong. I had grown smug by running level 1 missions in a cruiser, underestimating  PvE difficulty. Those serpentis cruisers had more range, nearly double my turret damage, and some even put dampeners on me. Getting close was not an option. In order to avoid being swarmed or shot, my only strategy was to kite them and let the Hammerheads do the job. Never had I imagined spending hours on a single encounter mission. Maybe Recon is just one of those tough missions, or perhaps I'm not ready for level 2 yet. I do enjoy the new challenge it brings though.

Below are two types of fittings for missions:

1. Mission specific resistance setup

• Lows
• Named Damage Control Unit
• Medium Armor Repairer (auto repeat off)
• N-Type  Hardener
• N-Type  Hardener
• Mids
• 10MN Afterburner
• Named Capacitor Recharger x2
• Highs
• Dual 150mm Railgun x4
• Small Tractor Beam
• Drones
• Hammerhead x5

2. Omni tank steup for missions with all types of damage

• Lows
• Named Damage Control Unit
• Medium Armor Repairer (auto repeat off)
• Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane
• 800mm Reinforced Rolled Tungsten Plates
• Mids
• 10MN Afterburner
• Named Capacitor Recharger x2
• Highs
• Dual 150mm Railgun x4
• Small Tractor Beam
• Drones
• Hammerhead x5

It is beneficial to fit a Damage Control Unit instead of stacking two Energized Adaptive Nano Membranes. Here's why.

1. Stats are penalized when stacking two EANM.
2. Fitting a DCU gives resistance bonuses to shield, armor, and hull.

I'll follow up on the fitting if I can improve on above setups.

Meet Dronicus

For the last couple of days, Dax Jr. has been roaming Gallente space searching for the right agent. There was this Internal Security agent in Haine who gave me lucrative offers and acceptable rewards. The catch is Haine is low-sec. My Thorax got a good pelting from an Omen Navy Issue pilot and his tech2 Hobgoblins near a gate, barely surviving the encounter with 60% hull. Setting autopilot in low-sec and going afk will never happen again. Learning my lesson the hard way, I drag out the local channel and constantly keep an eye out for pilots with low security standing.

My mission running came to a halt when a deep space pocket encounter was commissioned. Cheating on level one with a cruiser caught up as I could not access the acceleration gate. All my assets were kept at a station 11 jumps away so I carefully made my way back to high-sec. After deciding on the Imicus as the frigate of choice, I began fitting the little bugger with modules, some of which had to be bought at the market. On my way to pick up two Drone Navigation Computers, I discovered a Surveillance agent whose quality is 19 - and she's in high-sec. If only I had studied all the agent types before setting off to Haine. Oh well, I packed everything and began the exodus.

For hours I flew around in my pod picking up my ships and items from Trossere. Someone in the NPC corp channel noticed me doing this and asked why I wasn't in a ship. Pod travel just seemed hilarious knowing that it's safe in high-sec. Not perfectly safe, but 'whoever-shoots-me-down-will-lose-a-lot-more-than-I-do-for-sure' safe.

Finally I am ready to set off in my new frigate which I aptly christen Dronicus. She has not reached her full potential yet, but for fun's sake another trial and error is worth this cheap piece of fit. Here it is. I've already thought of improvements below.

A viable alternative would be fitting a Drone Link Augmentor in the high slot and a Sensor Booster on the medium slot. Assuming that basic requirements are met, an Imicus will be able to target enemies at a safe distance of 50km 46.86km(longer if you've got better skills), deploy three drones, and watch the fireworks go off without having to fire a single charge. Low slot modules can be exchanged with a Damage Control Unit and an Overdrive Injector System, freeing up the powergrid for an Afterburner. EHP will actually rise to 1,715 while mobility is boosted to 843m/s. The best part being, of course, that the capacitor runs permanently. The longer I looked at this fit, the more I liked it. So below is my new fit.

I leave you with a screenshot of my trusty Dronicus docking in after a day of hard work. Fly safe.

EVE Online's poor narrative

Every MMO is special in its own way and the most successful titles deserve respect for what they have achieved. When we look at the history of MMORPG in general, more often than not something new is added to an existing formula, meaning that none is completely unique by itself, and this in turn shows that all of them are subject to comparison with each other. When I first decided to write about EVE Online, my intention was to document the growth of my character in New Eden in a respectful manner. In other words, I didn’t want to criticize game mechanics or make comparisons with other MMO. But I couldn’t help but notice how flimsy EVE’s storytelling was even though it excelled in other areas.

No, Alitura, you do not understand my anger at all.

The ability to convey a convincing, or at the very least a plausible story is a key factor in raising interest. When I began the Sisters of EVE epic arc, I had high expectations, and rightly so. This game only has one epic arc for each faction: How could they possibly screw up when there are seven (including Sisters of EVE for newbies) ‘epic arcs?’ To be honest, CCP’s inability to weave decent story could be devastating if it wants new subscribers, and especially women, to join New Eden.

I’ve played World of Warcraft since open beta, and since I know no one will ever make objections on my blog, I will make brief comments on what Blizzard has done right. Blizzard Entertainment has an executive, vice president Chris Metzen, whose job is to write and monitor the storyline among many others. There are epic quest chains in WoW which are not only numerous but fun. Back in the old days, gamers had a blast revealing Onyxia, finding her twin brother and bringing him down as well. Then there was Ahn’Qiraj, followed by Naxxramas. Those were epic. There are novels that penetrate the entire timeline, a number of them about its heroes, and an ever expanding line of comics which also acts as a window to future changes in the game.

Completing a fifty-step epic quest, players are met with this. Some scripts are botched with typing errors (i.e. agent tells you to investigate a ‘personnel facility’ and in the next sentence iterates ‘personal facility’), while others have no tangible connection with a previous mission. What perplexes me is CCP’s intention behind this vulgarity. Could it be that they just wanted another arc simply because competitors were coming up with quest chains? It’s impossible to put a finger on the narrative which begins like a sci-fi mystery. Rogue drones are out there posing a serious threat. I’m suddenly thrown off track when an agent forces me to deliver a doll to the parents of a pilot I killed, ditching the story below pulp fiction. Then there’s some secret society from whence a troublemaker hails from, but it doesn’t really explain if he’s got anything to do with the rogue drones that are out there. Very impressive stuff, CCP, really. Thanks for wasting my time.

There is a clear distinction between plot and narrative. The plot isn’t fantastic for sure, but the narrative is just terrible. Despite CCP’s conspicuous inexperience in storytelling, EVE managed to grow owing much to the sandbox system. The formula was already proven by Ultima Online many years ago. Sandbox playground filled with community-intensive activities, skilled based advancement, heavy emphasis on wanton PvP, and a player-driven market are exactly the same. However, UO’s Britannia was already as colorful as it could get thanks to the decades-old franchise. Even then it had decent writers. Why can’t CCP do it right?

EVE needs dedicated professional authors to work on the lore, a long overdue homework, and upcoming expansions. To be fair, take a look at what Bioware has achieved. Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect series are solid evidence that shows when a developer wants to tell a compelling story, it does so in a mind blowing way. I’m sure their next MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic will send shockwaves across the industry for many reasons, one of the biggest being its forte in narrative. Take yet another example, but this time on the opposite pole: Players are quick to lose interest in Korean MMORPG not simply because of the grinding, but due to the nonexistence of a feasible storyline.

Hire competent writers for your own sake, CCP! Outsourcing “The Burning Life” failed but that doesn’t mean fiction work should be given up entirely. Getting players involved in fan fiction is all right, but there needs to be a canon backbone for an immersive experience. I can see so much potential untapped here, in the power of storytelling. Humans are born with it and we always want more, even if what we are served with right now is crap. Personally, I would start by giving each faction identifiable heroes. A small tip, if you will.

Thorax on a mission

As hinted on my last post - a new ship. Voila!
 

 
Now that I have it in my possession, the Thorax doesn't look as good as I thought it would be. Nonetheless I am grateful for finally owning a vessel I can bare to glimpse. Great motivation to play. Many Gallente ships have Greek names such as Thorax, Ares, and Eris. Thorax means chest plate, but the ship's notoriety for being a glass cannon makes it sound quite ironic.
 

 
The reason I hurried to fly the Thorax despite my low skill points was because I couldn't stand staring at the Catalyst anymore, and my habit of wanting to breeze through a given level of missions in superior equipment. In this case the only thing that seems to have improved is the size of the ship. Hull upgrades were only at level 2 when I was fitting Normandy JR2(a la Mass Effect), therefore my options for passive tanking were energized plates, not membranes.

Even though the DPS is dreadful I am happy with the results I saw on chapter 6 of The Blood-Stained Stars. The roar of medium turrets is menacing, unlike its small counterpart for frigates which sound like firecrackers. Meanwhile I've decided to concentrate on drone skills and by the weekend my DPS should increase significantly when I pick up Drone Interfacing. Gunnery will follow shortly. The first few days training learning skills put off a great deal of interest in the game but I am glad that those days are behind me even if they're not over yet.

Hopefully I'll become a better pilot by the time I am ready to move on to the next ship.

Mission progress & limited shortcuts

Dax Jr. is now at chapter six of the mission arc in that horribly fitted Catalyst. One ugly ship, if I may say so. It looks like a WW II era aircraft that somehow traveled through time to become a Gallente ship. I will even go as far as blaming the destroyer's design for my slow progress. Hopefully I'll replace that piece of abomination with one of the most aesthetically pleasing ships in approximately thirteen hours.

I understand and respect the design philosophy for each faction, but that does not necessarily mean I have to agree with the way a certain class of ship looks. The news is the next expansion, Tyrannis, will bring changes to existing models such as turning asymmetrical ships proportional. Of course diversity is important and some hulls look great while defying conventions. I am glad CCP realized something had to be done years after releasing EVE.

Flying a Gallente ship feels a lot like playing a hunter in WoW. Loading ammo, getting in range, and controlling drones(pet) in tandem are the same. EVE does not provide as many shortcuts for players but there is a way to manage those drones just as easily. The key is to find a comfortable setup for shortcuts. I did this:

Alt-1 All Drones: Engage
Alt-2 All Drones: Return and orbit
Alt-3 All Drones: Return to dronebay

Normally I would launch drones just before closing in on my target and give the engage command once I'm done locking it. By then the ship has aggro and the drones can safely orbit the target and put it down. Saves time and it's a whole lot better than having to click each drone.

Due to the conservative attitude of the developer, EVE Online has not seen any customized UI, add-ons or in-game macros which can significantly improve gameplay experience. On this front, I have to make comparisons with other MMO's out there - I'd have all my shortcuts bound additionally to Alt-1~3, Shift-1~3, Q, Alt-Q, E, Alt-E, Alt-R, F, Z, X, C, V, and seven mouse buttons for games such as WoW or Warhammer Online and I always needed more bindings. EVE could really use shortcuts for improved ship control, such as approach, and combat that are not supported in the client.