EVE

Where Was I Again?

stargrace November 9, 2015 0Comment

[17/50] One game that I’ve been longing to get back into but never made the time for was EVE Online – and today I decided that enough was enough, it was time to dust my ships off (again). Of course that means I don’t have the faintest idea what has changed, what I was doing, or what I want to be doing. Typically when I return to EVE Online the biggest changes are UI changes. I start slow. First, figure out where I was docked. No big deal, I was right where I left off at my “home” base. I use the term loosely, my stuff is spread all over the universe. Home is with the Gallente Federation, and while my stuff may be all over the universe, most of my ships and fluff items are all in one spot. I looked through my collection of ships and decided that I’d get familiar with the basics, first. That meant making sure my ships were insured and then heading out to a nearby asteroid to mine while I decided what I wanted to work on next. With EVE, it’s very simple. I love exploring, I love missions, and I love crafting. Sure, I’m a carebear, I admit it. That’s part of the fun of EVE though, you can make what you want of the game. In my case, it’s better to start small.

I’ve kept my skill points running while my account has been active, even if I haven’t been doing a whole lot of playing. Right now I’m working on Research Project Management 5, which will finish in 3 days. I’ve got 28,407,784 skill points total – which is very little by EVE terms, but I’m still proud. Anyway, I think my alt has one of my hulks that I built, so I found a second one and gave it a name before insuring it and taking it out for a spin. I flew to a nearby asteroid, a few Serpentis wrecks scattered around and one person mining but aside from that the area was pretty quiet. Exactly as I left it, so nothing has changed there. I thought there used to be a way for me to scan to see the volume of ore in a given asteroid but for some reason I couldn’t figure out how to do that any more. In any case, I settled in for some quiet mining, easy enough. That part is like riding a bike. You never really forget how to do it. Filled up my hull, decided not to bother with cans, and headed back home.

Looking through everything, I decided that my next step would be to get back into invention – except that required me to go around collecting all of the datacores that I had stored up at various locations. I’m currently working with 4 R&D agents. One is level 4, and the rest are lower. I had been working on raising my faction so that I could work with more agents last time I played. One of my Agents has 23,500 RP built up, so I should get a nice haul of datacores to last a bit. Once I collect those I’ll haul them to my invention area and probably start up with some project or another. I haven’t quite decided yet.

Then there’s PI to go over and re-learn. I’ll also need to figure out what I want to work on next as far as skills. I think I still have some refining skills that could use some love, gas and ice mining skills maybe. Missions are easy enough to run in the Tengu with my PVE fit, but I’d like to work towards a new toy. Then of course there’s also the idea of subscribing my second account so that I can haul with my Orca while I mine. A trap I tend to fall into every single time I play EVE.

In any case. It’s nice to be flying the skies again. Lets see how long it takes me to get back into things.

Gaming

That Summer Burnout

stargrace June 20, 2015 1Comment

It happens every year around this time. I can’t figure out what I want to play and so I spend the majority of my time bouncing in and out of various games, hoping one will catch my attention for longer than 20 minutes. Then I feel bad when it doesn’t. It could be the amazing weather, stresses from work, watching friends and family all do their thing while I’m across the country, or something else. I have no idea. I just know that normally when I have a bit of free time (and I’m at home) I think nothing of what game to play and I just do it. These days though I’ll log into 4-5 games only to wander around aimlessly and then decide they were not what I wanted to ‘do’ after all.

I managed to resist every sale on steam – even though there are quite a few DLC I’d love to own on my wishlist. I just didn’t think I was gaming enough to justify the cost at the moment. I’m tired of Early Access games. While I understand that crowdfunding and EA games are a fantastic way to get indie developers into game releases, I’ve just been burned and frustrated too many times. The latest is with Windborne, which sat on my wishlist for over a year before developers announced that they just don’t have the funds to continue.

I can understand that. I understand that we live in an age where there are lots of games out there, and to create something that’s going to be profitable is hard. It’s still frustrating as a player and as a potential investor in these games. I miss the day when I could purchase a completely finished game (or at least what I would consider ‘finished’). There are some great Early Access games out there, but the chances of me being interested in them when they finally release are pretty slim.

What have I been playing lately? Well. The list isn’t that long, but like I said I haven’t been doing a lot of gaming.

Wurm Online: In summer my Wurm interest flags a bit, but I’ve still got two active accounts and deeds, and I still check in daily to take care of crops and animals. I know my interest in this one will pick back up after summer, it always does.
FFXIV: I keep trying to be interested in this one, and it’s just not happening. I still have 44 days active on my account but something about the game is just not appealing to me lately.
WoW: I still have time left on my account, but honestly I just haven’t been playing. Garrison grind is a thing, and I just don’t like it. Not even pets are able to keep me entertained these days.
WildStar: I play daily, and I still enjoy it quite a bit but I limit my time so that I don’t get burned out. Since I work for NCSOFT on WildStar it’s also pretty much a given that I’m playing it daily.
EQ/EQ2: As much as I love the Ragefire server, it’s hard to get into if you’re not already in a community or with established friends. I was hoping it would be more like the communities of days gone by, but so far it hasn’t been and that bugs me to some degree. Instead I’ve been playing EQ2, my old haunting grounds. I’ve been clearing out older heritage quests and playing in my guild on my own, we’re level 78, and I’m having quite a bit of fun with that. My defiler is still only level 96, but I’m not really in a rush to reach level 100. I don’t even know what is available to do at level 100.
EVE Online: I don’t play nearly as much as I should / could / want to, but I do have an active subscription for a year, and in the meantime my skills are training up. I know this is a great game to pop into when I can here and there, so I haven’t been concerned about my lack of playtime.
GW2: Still working on my mesmer, on a new account. Right now she’s 49, which is great but I’d still ideally like to reach 80 before the expansion hits, and maybe get another character or two up there on the new account. We’ll see how that goes. It’s hard when I don’t really have any inclination to play.

Hopefully I climb out of this rut I’ve found myself in before too long. I imagine when fall rolls around I’ll be back to my ‘typical’ gaming self, whatever that is. In the meantime, happy gaming, no matter where you find yourself!

Gaming

What am I playing? LOTS!

stargrace March 15, 2015 4Comments

I’ve probably played more games in the last week than I did most of last year. Part of that is due to having a bit more time on my hands than normal (hopefully a temporary situation that will be resolved by the end of this month) and part of that is because there are just so many wonderful games out there.

EverQuest2: My defiler is still only level 95, but she did manage to reach level 100 in tailoring. Crafting is an odd duck with the latest expansion, Altar of Malice. Doing the crafting quests themselves won’t get you to level 100, and grinding out writs goes quite slow – however, doing the daily craft mission will easily net you 30% experience, and doing the weekly got me an entire level. Missions re-set on Wednesdays. You can find me in game on Antonia Bayle as Stargrace.

Cities: Skylines: This game just released, and it’s so much fun. In fact it’s everything that I wanted from SimCity, at half the price. There’s an enormous mod community and enough content to keep me satisfied for quite some time. Well worth the cost, and I highly recommend it if you’re into the city building games at all.

Elder Scrolls Online: I just started playing this. It apparently starts going free to play on Tuesday. I’ve had a subscription for quite some time because I did some alpha testing on their billing system, but I never actually played. It wasn’t because of any drastic reason, I simply didn’t have the time. The game is beautiful but I’m not far enough into it to make any other calls about the game quite yet.

EVE Online: Still training skills, still working on faction, PI, and all of that good stuff. EVE Online is still one of the best games I have to relax with. That’s right, even though the skies are filled with pirates and horrible people looking to scam and pod you, it’s still relaxing.

FFXIV: I’ve started a new character on Cactuar. I’m hoping to go white mage, but I’m taking my time and things are moving along slowly. I believe my character name is Velours Reveurs for those looking to add me to their friends list. This game is absolutely gorgeous, and I’m hoping to keep it on my rotation. We’ll have to see how things go though.

Minecraft: I’m running The Dark Trilogy as a server right now for some friends. I’ve created a portal to the Twilight Forest, as well as a portal to the Nether. There are some really awesome mods in this pack, and I’m having a blast. I’m hopping to get some nether quartz so I can make some furniture that comes in a specific pack. Furniture like refrigerators and televisions. Mods really do make this game.

Sims4: Still working on my legacy family. Tristan is going to be the next person to carry the legacy name, and so I’ve been preparing him for adulthood. Right now he’s best friends with a feisty redhead neighbour girl, and they’re promised to each other. Meanwhile Jessica will probably just move into the basement (that’s right, Sims 4 is patching in basements!) and Elizabeth will age gracefully, as she watches her children carry on.

Wizard101: My life wizard is level 27, and I’ve been questing in Marleybone. It’s the home of cats, dogs, rats, and proper manners. Based on 19th century London. It’s also my favourite zone to date. It has been some time since I’ve played and it’s interesting getting back into things, but this is still a fantastic game no matter your age.

WoW: This has been taking a back seat to other games, but I still log in to check my garrison resources and to trade and do the dailies. As others have mentioned, by the time you take care of all of the garrison chores, my game time is already spent for the day. On one hand it’s great to have a reason to log in every day but on the other hand it would be lovely to play the game instead of just playing the garrisons.

The Secret World: A handful of combat wombats have decided to start up in the Secret World. We’re playing the Dragon faction, and while the game has never been a genre that I’m completely comfortable with, it does have one of the best (IMO) quest systems and story lines that I’ve ever participated in. Playing with friends makes it seem a little less scary, and even though I’ve just started (again) I’m looking forward to playing.

Wurm Online: Now that my guard tower is completed, it’s time to work on the rest of my deed along with taking care of my horses. I’ve been trying to breed 5 speeds for a while now and to also breed out the grey colour. It’s coming along well, but it requires time. In between that I’m trying to decide which skill to work on next.

Those are the games that came to my immediate mind when listing what I’m currently actively playing. There’s others I’ve left off the list on purpose – like GW2. I want to get back into the game but I just can’t seem to find the motivation to keep playing. Since it’s a buy to play game, that’s alright. I’m also still playing WildStar, but again it’s very casually and sporadic, so I don’t feel comfortable putting it up there with my ‘most played’ games. What about everyone else? Where are you spending your time these days with so many options available? Let me know in comments!

Gaming

Missions, Missions, and more Missions

stargrace March 13, 2015 0Comment

I’m making pretty good use out of my Tengu, running missions to earn faction. Right now I’m at 4.86 standing with Douvolle Laboratories, and I need to raise it to 5 in order to work with the research agent I have my eye on.

Meanwhile, I’ve got 5.37 standing with CreoDron, and I need a standing of 7 in order to work with an R&D agent over that way. I know I’ll get there eventually, but it does mean that a lot of my game time is taken up by running missions. I’ve been doing security ones because they’re quite fun and a lot faster than doing the mining missions that I used to run. Plus I get a lot of loot from the wrecks of ships. Now that I have my trusty mobile tractor unit tucked away in my inventory hold, salvaging ships is much easier. I decided to keep my fit with 5 missile launchers + 1 salvager, I know I can carry around another item that will let me swap out that salvager so I can use 6 launchers while in space, but for now the cargo hold doesn’t have a lot of room and I can’t be bothered, I’m getting along just fine with my current make up.

Meanwhile the 2nd account is flying a hulk and working on training some mining crystals. The Orca & Hulk combination is a nice steady one that rarely gives me any issues. Still I prefer to spend more of my time blowing things up with missiles than I do mining, these days.

Fly safe!

Gaming

Mobile Tractor Units?! I’m in Love

stargrace February 22, 2015 2Comments

I’ve been doing a lot of mission runs lately in order to get my faction up for R&D agents (so I can purchase those all important datacores if you recall). It’s very relaxing and low stress which I know is rare in EVE Online. One thing I always dislike about running missions is the clean up process that I have to do after each one. Now I know you don’t HAVE to loot and salvage wrecks, and in most cases you may not even want to because the items are not ‘that’ valuable – but I loot everything I can and I salvage for parts afterward. Unless you’re running a second account with a salvage fit, this can be incredibly time consuming and boring. You have to be within range of each wreck, so you typically need to either beam it all in closer to you (which of course takes up a precious slot on your ship, multiples if you’re trying to go even faster) and you’ll also need a salvager of some sort so you can scan the wreck for parts after you take the loot.

Then some friends told me about mobile tractor units, which I had never heard of before. These are little stations you can drop out in space and they act exactly as a tractor beam would. They pull all the wrecks to the unit, and then they loot everything off of it so that you can just fly up and open the cargo hold and collect your spoils. Since it also moves all the wrecks together on its own you’re also able to salvage everything MUCH easier without requiring a brand new fit for your ship. I recently replaced on missile launcher (so I’m down to 5) with a salvager instead just for this purpose.

You should have seen the smile on my face. I’m much happier not needing a brand new ship or fit in order to loot after a hefty mission run, and my second account (which I did activate) can go about her way without needing to come to the beck and call of my main account who has completed a mission. Over all, this is probably the best bit of information I learned this week.

Where Was I Again?

That Summer Burnout

What am I playing? LOTS!

Missions, Missions, and more Missions

Mobile Tractor Units?! I’m in Love

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