EVE

Finally Flying #EVEOnline

stargrace December 31, 2010 3Comments

I’ve been wanting to fly an Orca for a very long time now. This came with two hurdles to cross, number one I had to be able to train and afford the skills to fly it. Number two I had to be able to purchase one of these massive ships which sell for roughly 450,000,000 ISK give or take. It wasn’t really worth while for me to try to invent and build one myself, so I decided to go the “saving up” rout. Thanks to some help from Ethomas in corp, I was able to afford one yesterday – AND fly one.

This ship is amazing. I have to admit, she is now my ultimate favorite. First of all the ship comes with a lot of fleet bonuses. Mining bonuses. Good thing I started up that 2nd account again eh? Now I can box my mining runs. The room that this ship has is astounding, and the bonuses to cargo just make it even better. It comes with 31,000m3 of room in the default cargo hold, which I brought to 40,000m3 by adding one cargo expander. There is also an ore hangar, which carries 50,000m3 of ore. A corp hangar can be found on the ship with another 40,000m3 area. There’s also a maintenance bay with 400,000m3. That’s right, need a place to dock? We can do that.

I haven’t done much but hang around HQ asteroid belts so far with my little retriever working hard not too far away, but I am planning on scanning down some sites later today with the helios and getting more use out of her. Ethomas is also working his way towards a hulk so we’ll have a few more taking advantage of her fleet bonuses.

I named her Asteria, after an amazon. The name means “in the sky” which I thought was quite fitting. I’m actually planning a few roleplay posts centered around obtaining this ship so look for those in the future. For the people who follow me on twitter and who have heard nothing over the last two days except me go on and on about this ship – I apologize, hehe. It’s just one of those grand moments in MMO gaming that we all wait excitedly for. Where we accomplish some major goal, take down a massive encounter, or something else on our personal agendas.

I hope everyone has a very happy (and safe) new years – happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Flying a Noctis, 8 days from an Orca #EVEOnline

stargrace December 21, 2010 1Comment

I absolutely love the new Noctis I’ve been flying around the skies of New Eden. I spent some time fitting it with the following:

Salvager
Salvager
Salvager
Tractor
Tractor
Tractor
Tractor
Tractor
10mn micro
Large shield extender
Exp cargo hold
Exp cargo hold
Signal amp II to increase locking targets from 10 to 12.
Medium salvage tackle x3

It salvages like a dream, and even more exciting is that I’m only a few days away now from flying my dream ship, the Orca. I still can’t quite afford one yet but if I keep at it I should be able to shortly after I can fly one. I really miss having my 2nd account in times like this, so I can fly a mining barge around while my Orca hauls. I know I’ll get a lot of use out of it none the less, and as each day passes by I get more and more excited.

I still haven’t taken the Helios out for a ride yet, I have to be in the right mood for that one. I’ve been working on my manufacturing and invention on a daily basis, but I’ve been letting PI slack in the background. Spending so much time setting up my extractors each day and unloading my items (another reason I want the Orca, I tend to fill up quickly when I unload all my planets) is a little daunting, and I’d much rather spend my in-game time doing something else. Maybe I’ll get back into the mood for it, we’ll see.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Ok EVE, You Got Me #EVEOnline

stargrace December 17, 2010 1Comment

I have been spending quite a bit of my game time playing World of Warcraft, mostly due to Cataclysm releasing and the majority of my friends heading out that way. On Thursday I received an email that was tempting me back into EVE Online – and by Friday I was hooked again. To start things off CCP removed the learning skills that players could obtain in game. These skills were a bit redundant they explained, spending time learning skills so that you could learn other skills. I never gave it too much thought but in the end it made sense. They reimbursed players for all of the skill points spent which in my case was 400,000 or so. Not exactly a huge amount compared to some long time players but still enough for me to get a little giddy over.

In that email it was also mentioned that I could activate my account for free for five days. Everyone loves free stuff, so why not. On top of that offer came a new ship, the Echelon which is also equipped with a Sansha Codebreaker, specifically for Incursion. Tempting me first with the return of skill points, then free days, and a free ship was concluded by offering me 60 days at $20, and by that point my will was broken.

Pictured above is my brand new Noctis. This ship is a bulk salvager and I spent some time yesterday fitting it and training the skill required to fly it. Then I took it out for a spin and I have to admit, I am LOVING this ship. It runs smooth, quickly, and it does its job incredibly well. I headed out to asteroid belts which are typically filled with trash from hulks passing through killing rats on their mining runs and made quick work of all the materials floating around in space. While some players may not care too much about salvaging I tend to pick up every piece that I can because they’re incredibly handy for making rigs.

My ship collection is growing by leaps and bounds and I couldn’t be happier. I am now 9 days away from flying an Orca, that’s what those skill points went towards. I’m still 100,000 ISK away from purchasing one of these enormous ships, but I’ll get there eventually, not to mention actually fitting one. This ship has been my ‘dream ship’ for a while now, and I get giddy thinking about how close I finally am.

The Dominix is my ship of choice for PvE encounters, and with the completion of some drone skills I’m ready to take on harder missions. I just need to find the time (and a mission giver some place close to me). With my ship collection so far including the Hulk (mining), Helios (scouting), Noctis (salvaging), and Dominix (PvE) I’m feeling pretty happy. There are always more skills to learn and that’s the point of a never-ending MMO cycle, but I feel as though over the last few months that I’ve played I’ve finally come to a ‘comfortable’ point in game. I enjoy crafting and invention as much as ever, and I think I’ve finally gotten a grasp on a little more than the game basics. Of course I say that and then read a “real” EVE post and get as confused as I did on day one, but it’s all in good fun.

Happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!