I love the reading The Escapist, particularly the video reviews by Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw on Zero Punctuation. His review of EvE Online is really funny because in parts, it is quite close to the truth.
Related Links
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-punctuation
http://www.fullyramblomatic.com/
The Escapist Reviews EvE Online
Ramains of the Day
Last night B13 and myself became trapped in wormhole space after one of our fleet caused the collapse of the exit wormhole, returning to back to Empire. Initially we were dismayed at the situation, but then we received a comms in local, a request from another pilot to exit wormhole space after being trapped for 3 days!
Needless to say that this poor fellow was charged 30million isk with the promise of leaving via the wormhole we entered, he was then led to a safe-spot and murdered by our group. He wasn't happy, but he got what he paid for, he got out.
3 days! I'm not sure if that is true, and when asked if he returned to the same system he entered he declined to respond, funny that. Needless to say it got me thinking, would it be possible to live in wormhole space, farming the DED's, gas clouds and the asteroid belts and taking advantage of naive pilots who stray into this realm?
At the time of writing our group is still in wormhole space, exploring the system and farming what we find all the while scanning for new wormholes. We are no longer within the original 'unknown' system as we have already travelled through another wormhole we've found into another 'unknown' system. I wonder long we can keep jumping?
We could, theoretically remain indefinitely. Our only problem at the moment is on-board cargo space. After just one day we are all full to bursting with loot, minerals and salvage that we cannot continue looting without clearing the cargo somehow.
So the next wormhole we hope to find back into normal space will be a welcomed discovery, but only to un-load our cargo. We plan to return, scanning, farming and pirating for the next few days. Now there are better and much more effective ways to aquire isk, but few are as dangerous, or as much of a challenge as the one we find ourselves in.
I figure that 10 days should be an adequate test of this theory. If we survive the adventure then we may make it a regular event, perhaps calling in support in the form of a hauler or even a Capital, to provide us with the cubic meters to loot to our hearts content. Bringing a capital ship into wormhole space is risky, but done correctly, who knows what you could get in here. Only time will tell, and we appear to have plenty to kill, in every sense of the word.
Nexus - The Jupiter Incident
I had played this game quite a lot, until I found EvE Online. If you want to get away from EvE Online for a while, then this game may have what you are looking for.
It has many great features, and graphically it can still hold it's own against many modern games. I have never before seen an asteroid field dealt with so effectivley as this game. They are massive and very densely polpulated by 'roids.' The weapon effects are cool too as are the ships themselves which have retro thrusters all over their sufaces to control attitude, yaw and roll (a feature I'd wish they'd employ within EvE Online). Played with very much the same sort of mechanic as EvE Online, shields, armour, hull and utilising weapons such as lasers, missiles and ECM, Nexus - The Jupiter Incident is worth a look.
Related Links
Nexus - The Jupiter Incident
War Has Come To EvE Online
Another movie by KyokoSakoda. This time showing the build up to war for the Empyrean Age expansion. Again, well produced and plenty of action (not a bad soundtrack either). I tip my hat to you sir, keep up the good work.
The Angel Cartel (push eject)
I found this movie on YouTube. It's a fan made video by KyokoSakoda. Visit the link to see more of his great EvE Online videos. I have posted it because it is an awsomely compiled video and I have a soft spot for the Angel Cartel, and indeed piracy.
Related Links
http://www.youtube.com/user/KyokoSakoda
Can't Sleep?
My camera drones were able to grab this image of the Sleepers as B13 and I engaged them for the first time. Unlike anything seen before, these vessels are equipped with some sort of laser which can cause some serious damage very quickly. Be prepared to run!
Advanced Scanning Techniques
NOTE: These techniques were developed based on a zero deviation assumption. These techniques can be used with deep space probes but the deviations make it very impractical. The best time to use these would be when you are narrowing down the site with core scanner probes and after reducing your scan radii, you only get a ring or dots (This because the deviations are much smaller).
Get a decent fix using 3 probes: Once you have 3 probes in space, you will have 2 dots as your result. If you then move one of the 3 probes and scan again, you will get 2 dots again but one of the dots will have shifted. The dot that didn't shift is where the site is.
Tiree-Catryes planar method for 3 probes Once you have the ring with 2 probes, Drop a third probe and move all three probes into the plane of the ring. This should make the two dots right on top of each other.
Get a decent fix using 2 probes: Once you have 2 probes in space, you will have a ring as your result. If you then move one of the 2 probes and scan again, you will get another ring but shifted. The site has to be on both rings so remember where the first ring was and look for the spot where the second ring goes through the same spot. The site will be there.
Get a decent fix using 1 probe: Theoretically possible but what a headache. This is however your last resort, when everything fail this will let you know where the site is with a very good degree of precision. You'd have to remember the signature strength of the site, move the probe, scan again, and look whether the scan strength increased or decreased. Good luck with that though.
Taken from the Advanced Scanning Tutorial - EvE Online Wikipedia
Futher Reading
wiki.eveonline.com Apocryphea exploration
Apocrypha Scanning Tutorial
Wormhole Exploration Guide Part 1
EvE Online Development Contributions
This is a link to my development discussions, and general ranting on the EvE Online forums. Bear in mind that I only rant at EvE's short-commings because I love the game so dearly.
If you have ideas and want to say something that you would like to see added, changed or removed from the game then contribute to the relevant discussion threads.
CCP appreciate the input from all of us, most of the time.
Related Links
My Forum Threads
EvE Online Forum
My God...it's Full of Stars!
There was a white flash, an incredible sound of bending metal and then a low dull boom vibrated throughout the entire superstructure of the ships as they were propelled trillions of kilometers in an instant.
NOXx> B13? Sit-rep!
B13> All green, no problems here. And you?
NOXx> Yeah - all good. We should get moving...lets scan ahead and warp to a safer area. Fleet warp in progress.
NOXx instructed both ships to warp to the nearest planet on scan with his mind. Destination - Planet IV, orbiting an unrecognised white dwarf star.
B13> Again no local beacon. There is no-one here but us, or we just can't tell if anyone is here?
NOXx> I don't think anyone is here, but we'd best be careful, Try another scan from this planet...
The two ships rolled from warp space and came to rest in orbit around the 4th planet. B13 launched several probes and instructed them to scan the entire system. After a few moments the probes preliminary results were in.
B13> We appear to have ourselves some sort of structure, towards the centre. Let me lock it down...just a moment...
NOXx> What sort of signal?
B13> Not sure, It's difficult to say what it is. I've never seen a signal like this before. We should take a look?
NOXx> Roger that. Repositioning - fleet warp initiated.
NOXx willed both ships to power up their warp drives with his mind. They rotated together and warped in perfect synchronisation. As the warp field collapsed they came to a shuddering stop.
NOXx> Weird. What kind of structure is that?
B13> No idea...it looks like an acceleration portal of some sort, Let's take a closer look.
As the two ships approached the structure, both pilots were unaware of movement to their right.
B13> It appears to be made of an unknown alloy, my salvager can't extract from it. The beam is being absorbed. Perhaps a little nick to test the strength.
B13 armed a weapons turret with a lead charge, locked onto the structure and fired. The round collided with the metal with a flash, but no damage appeared, no scuff, no melting. Nothing at all.
B13> The lead charge...it just bounced right of the surface and shattered. No damage to the structure.
NOXx> Stop shooting at it damn-it! We have no idea what it is?
Mr NOXx looked to his right as he noticed a glint of a metal shape in the darkness.
NOXx> Damn! We have movement...22 degrees right.
Both ships camera drones swung around and focused their electronic eyes on the target.
B13> Is that a ship?
NOXx> No flag, no ID tag, no idea.
B13> There's another over to the left, and another...
As the ships edged slowly closer their hulls became more vivid but failed to match anything seen before. Their blackened hulls seemed to absorb the light so well that they were very difficult to make out properly, judging the size of each vessel was difficult.
B13> Aura thinks they are vessels of some sort, she's identified their masses as battleships.
They continued to watch the objects move across the sky, for the moment seemingly oblivious to their presence when suddenly the target acquisition alarm sounded. They were being targeted by the unknown 'battleships.'
B13> Erm...NOXx? We are being targeted!
NOXx> Well I suppose they are ships then.
B13> Yeah, and they appear to be hostile. Shall I engage?
NOXx> No - not yet. I want to see if they do first. Activate your tank.
B13> Way ahead of ya'.
A moment later a white blue beam eminated from one of the unknowns and struck B13's ship. There was a very loud thud, then a low grumble as B13's shield absorbed the first salvo. The impact caused B13's ship to 'jump' as the energy in the beam was dissipated around the ship.
B13> That first shot alone took more than a fifth of my shield! That's awesome damage.
NOXx> Agreed...I think their intentions are clear. Fire at will!
B13> Oh yeah, returning fire...
Both pilots undocked their sentry drones which proceeded to fire upon the enemy vessels. B13's first target was taken into armour within 3 salvos from his drones.
B13> Excellent. How are you doing NOXx?
NOXx> Great. They don't appear to be very tough...
The targeting alarm sounded again, this time NOXx felt a little uneasy as he registered 8 more ships approaching, apparently of the same configuration as the first.
NOXx> Erm, we have more enemy ships arriving behind us...
B13's target span around violently, before imploding in a cloud of white gas, spewing debris from within it's burst hull.
B13> Yes!..He's down!
The second groups' weapons were now brought to bear on the two pilots. As the first shots hit their armour and Shields, both ships lurched backwards from the explosive force of the attack.
B13> Shields down! Into armour now. That really hurts!
NOXx> My shields are falling, now at 50 percent.
B13> Just keep at them!
Moments later another 8 ships appeared on the grid, only this time they'd warped immediately within firing range. They were upon them and inflicting heavy damage within seconds.
NOXx> Damn! 8 more targets, I don't think so B13. We should retreat.
The ferocious attack had taken its toll on NOXx's shield which was nearly spent, approaching his armour layer fast. B13's ship had lost its shield but was armour tanked instead to prevent catastrophic failure of the hull plating. Even so B13 was finding it a strain to manage the incoming damage, and his own capacitor was slowly being drained. He had to constantly inject massive capacitor charges into the ships energy matrix to prevent his armour tank failing but he knew he would not last long without support.
B13> Perhaps you're right NOXx, that last shot just broke my tank, by a long way too.
NOXx> Roger that, re-aligning to the wormhole.
NOXx once again instructed both ships to prepare to warp, both of them lurching and stuttering as they struggled against the impacts from the enemy ships weapons. NOXx's ship caught fire as the final shot broke through his thin layer of armour and struck hard into the structure sending chunks of metal into the void. NOXx could feel the ship un-balanced as it entered warpspace, leaving a trail of orange plasma across several million kilometers in it's wake.
Both ships ground to a halt and sat motionless surrounded by the red glow of heat, the metal structures popping and clanging as they cooled.
NOXx> Destination reached. Are you okay pilot?
B13> Well that went well.
NOXx> Indeed, I need to repair this damage, look, I'm on fire! I don't think the repair paste will fix this one. I'm going to inform the CEO of our discovery. Maybe we can convince him to assemble a small fleet.
B13> Are you sure you want the Corporation involved? I thought this was our discovery, our pot of golden omber?
NOXx> Well...he may be a cynic, but he is not afraid of much, and he's always interested in new 'business'. I think he could help, and we'll never keep this secret for long. Sooner or later more pilots will find this wormhole, just like you did. And when they do this virginal territory will be blown wide open.
B13> Perhaps you're right. So what do we do now?
NOXx> We head back home and refit. I'll go talk to CT.
B13> You're the boss.
NOXx> Indeed.
Both vessels slowly turned on their axis and accelerated into warp towards home. They will return, but next time things would be different.
Apocrypha Scanning Tutorial
Since the launch of Apocrypha on 10th March 2009, scanning has seen some changes, some more profound than others. The system is now much more fluid and user friendly than before and is a welcomed change to the game. Used properly it can make you rich with salvage and rare minerals, find hidden complexes and take you places you never imagined.
Further Reading
Advanced Scanning Techniques
Wormhole Exploration Guide
B13
A very much feared and capable pirate forged from an industrial slave wasteland.
B13 has known only pain for most of his years as a slave on Sarum Prime. His childhood was not pleasant and gay, but harsh and cold, full of doubt and fear. The reasons he kills the way he does are his own, but he finds comfort in others misery.
Freed from a life of slavery during the rebellion, he became an unlikely ally of Mr NOXx, a tale which will be told someday.
He can be found exploiting the greed of the care-free pilots who venture into wormhole space to find riches and fame, only to find death and pain. This defines B13. If you see his name on the local beacon, heed this warning.
Mr NOXx
Mr NOXx was a deadly assasin who killed in the name of the Emporer. A pilot from Sarum Prime and an advocate for the older traditions of Amarr. He is a lover of slaves in every sense of the word. His actions caused him to be rejected by the Amarr Empire, hunted and persecuted from the Amarr Navy for a life of crime and self indulgeance on the outer rim.
After 2 years sitting on the brink of the known galaxy he returned from the edge to reclaim his identity before the darkness inside consumed all that he was.
Bitter and twisted from his life as an outcast, he roams the skies preying on the weak and foolish. With the help of B13, his closest yet most unlikely ally, he is rediscovering his identity as a pirate, killing in the name of the Sarum family.
Wormhole!
B13 made a fascinating discovery, instead of scanning down a ship or structure while looking for hidden belts to mine, he found a signal which refused to identify itself. He Contacted Mr NOXx over the comms system, whom suggested it was a ghost signal. "He doesn't get this sort of thing anyway." B13 thought to himself. He willed the ship to keep scanning.
His persistence eventually paid off! He had homed his signal enough, so that his warp drive could lock onto a target and warp to its location.
Usually when one probes close enough to a signal the probes can tell what they are before visual contact is made, not in this case however.
B13> 10 seconds to warp bubble collapse NOXx
B13’s ship began to vibrate as it shuddered from its warp field and back into to normal space.
B13> 3..2..1..warpfield collapse..reducing speed...Eh? What in the hell is that?
NOXx> What do you see B13?
B13> I’m not sure, but I think it’s a tunnel of some sort…a wormhole!
NOXx> Oh yeah? Okay…I’m on my way. Stay there. Don’t do anything.
B13 was not one for being told what to do. B13 willed his thrusters to edge further forward to get a closer look. It was magnificent, like a giant glass dome, pulsating from all sides, and in the centre the vague images of a distant system somewhere.
Mr NOXx arrived just in time to see B13’s ship disappear into the wormhole forcing the light to flex and buckle around the perimeter.
NOXx> Damn!..B13!
B13's ship appeared again but not in the star system he was but somewhere else. Somewhere strange and alien somehow. His camera drones worked overtime to keep up with his thoughts as he searched the sky.
NOXx> B13? Can you read me?
B13> Err...yeah…You gotta see this!
NOXx> What is it?
B13> It’s another star system…location - unknown! And I’m getting no local at all, no-one else is here. The interstellar beacon seems to be malfunctioning.
NOXx> Are there any stargates or stations?
B13> Not that I can see. Come on through!
NOXx> Not without knowing that this wormhole is reversible. You come back through, then we can return together knowing that we can get back.
B13> Roger that, returning to you.
Without fear or hesitation B13 fired up his engines, swung his ship around and proceeded back towards the centre of the wormhole. As he approached the terminator once more the entire entity flexed and pulsated as his tiny Covert ops frigate was slung from one end of the galaxy to the other in an instant, back to known space. Mr NOXx saw him appear suddenly in much the same way as from a stargate. He deduced that the same effect was happening, but in a natural and incredibly powerful way. Kind of like comparing a light bulb to lightning.
"Incredible." Mr NOXx thought.
B13> We should bookmark this spot on both sides
NOXx> Agreed.
Mr NOXx's mind flooded with the possibilities of this discovery.
NOXx> So there were no other ships there? And no local beacons, and no stations?
B13> Not that I could see.
NOXx> Interesting, this may be just what we have been looking for. I may be wrong but I bet this is not the only wormhole in space. And that fact that this one is in empire suggests to me that wealthy merchants, traders and explorers may use this space for their own purposes. Which in-turn means a target rich environment. No concord, no bounty hunters, just us and them. For a while at least.
B13> You mean just like null sec but without the damn mileage?
NOXx> Precisely. No blockaids, no sentry towers.
B13> We could do well here!
NOXx> Indeed. Okay, if you're ready we'll go through together...
The giant wormhole observed the two tiny vessels approach its event horizon. As they were swallowed by the entity space and time appeared to flex as they dissapeared and they were propelled into the unknown once again.
Further reading
http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/Wormholes
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