Game Juggling and Frustration Management

My previous post mentions that I’ve basically been hopping from game to game to find enjoyment, but I think it’s time I learned to do a bit of game juggling.

Currently, I have a six-month subscription to EVE on a new account, and at the same time, I will be enjoying Gulid Wars 2 and The Secret World and what they have to offer, slowly but surely. I don’t want to make any of them a main game (unless I think all three are my main game), but all of them provide something different and appealing for me.

EVE: Internet Spaceships and Sandbox goodness

The Secret World: The lore and mythos is intriguing, and Investigation missions are boss.

GW2: Free-to-play fantasy with action combat and potential longevity.

 

I’ve never really tried to multitask gaming before, so if you folks have any ideas on how to best juggle games, let me know!

 

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On another note, I’ve been dealing with some frustration regarding my connection to the Internet recently. I had trouble patching and playing certain games, and more recently, certain sites, like MMORPG.com (my workplace, basically) and Steam’s Store pages (Missed the last few days of the Steam Sale as a result) do not load properly, making it difficult to actually read or click anything.

I’ve been managing the frustration by focusing on other activities, but I’d just really like for my connection to be stable so my browsing and gaming can go back to normal again.

Quantum Game Leaping

I don’t ever remember stepping into a quantum accelerator, but I do remember sitting in front of a computer, writing this blog post, mostly because I’m doing it right now.

It seems that I’ve become the epitome of a quantum game leaper. Or hopper. Or Hip-hopper.

WHATEVER.

The point is this: I spent a month and a half in LOTRO and currently have a three month sub there. I switched to RIFT for five days, then moved to The Secret World for two weeks, then Star Trek Online for one week, and now I’m contemplating going to EVE Online to round out the pre-GW2 time.

At the same time, I want to maintain a sub to The Secret World, mostly because I want to see what Ragnar and Funcom do with their commitment to monthly updates. So… we’ll see what happens.

For now, I’ll keep leaping, striving to put right what once went wrong, and hoping each leap will be the leap home.

Is *insert name here* Evil? No, Just Stupid.

So there’s this story in EVE Online about a guy who said stupid things while drunk under the influence of his own ideas and a crowd that tends to support his viewpoints.

If you’re wondering who I’m referring to, I’m talking about Tobold at the moment.

Nope, not that Mittani fellow. Tobold.

The basis for his consternation lies in the events of Mittanigate, wherein a CSM player (and Council of Stellar Management) chairman named The Mittani seemingly encouraged other people into goading someone to commit suicide.

The fallout of this event was The Mittani (Alexander Gianturco)’s resignation from the CSM, the revocation of his CSM position in its entirety and a 30-day banning for The Mittani’s account (not sure if this still holds) a day later, a boatload of people going nuts everywhere regarding bullying and other issues in relation to this particular event, The Mittani (both character and person) refocusing his efforts on pretty much creating havoc across New Eden, and Tobold saying stuff again.

Now, I read Tobold’s writings, and I can see where he’s coming from, but sometimes, I think he’s preachier than I am, without trying to see what everyone’s viewpoint is on a particular issue.

I asked Syncaine to help me get more insight into everything by providing me with clarifications regarding what happened, minus his personal commentary. From what he’s told me, and from videos I’ve seen and posts I’ve read, all that’s happened is that a drunk guy (The Mittani) decided to be a complete tool and tried to get other people to be a dick to someone. The other guy didn’t quite care, and according to Syncaine, said recipient of the bullying in this case was even joking that maybe he should kill himself to get Mittani in trouble.

Dissecting the scenario, all I can see are the following:

1. The Mittani decides to be drunk and stupid.

2. People in the EVE community decide to act stupid as well.

3. Outrage spreads over the occurrence of stupidity.

4. Recipient of bullying doesn’t give a damn, and also says something stupid that makes light of suicide.

5. Reports that aren’t updated exacerbate matters.

6. Tobold says Syncaine and The Mittani are evil, which is stupid, because Syncaine is about as opinionated and well-spoken as Tobold and had his words taken out of context, and the Mittani, as we’ve discussed earlier, is stupid.

7. Errybody in the club getting tipsy stupid.

What does this lead to? Simple… People are idiots. They can be mean-spirited and follow the flow of discussion to an idiotic conclusion. Worse still, they can choose to follow an agenda of their own that misrepresents ideas to further their thoughts.

Whether that last bit refers to Gianturco’s campaign, Tobold’s writings, Syncaine’s writings, or my writings… why not just lump them all into a ball of stupid, call it a day, and focus our efforts on just being nicer people to everyone in general instead of being stupid dicks online.

That’d be the smartest outcome out all this, I’d reckon.

The Metamarket and the EVE Writer Project #TweetFleet

The EVE Writer takes off!

Without meaning to, I found out that a term I made up happened to be a word that some people actually use for the exact purpose I made it out to be.

The term I coined in my head was “metamarket,” and it refers to the creation of a market related to an existing product that adds value to the already existing product by virtue of that additional market being established.

I’ve told a handful of people that I wanted to establish some kind of metamarket to make ISK in EVE Online. As far as I understand it, even when you’re not playing the game, the mechanics of the game allow for blogs and websites to get some kind of ISK funding if they have advertisements, such as Eve News 24 or the EVE Battleclinic.

For me, that means that EVE has a sense of forward progression whether you’re in-game or out of it. As your skills train, you progress forward and gain new skills to help you become a better pilot. At the same time, with an existing metamarket, you also get the benefit of in-game monetary gain if you play your cards right in the physical world.

That made me want to think outside the box and see what else could be tapped as a business venture for my personal enjoyment, allowing me to further appreciate this intriguing out-of-game mechanic that ties in well to the universe of New Eden and increase my in-game assets as well.

To that end, I looked at my strengths and realized that since I enjoy writing, I might as well tie it into the EVE infrastructure somehow. After some consideration and a few hours of free blog building on WordPress, I came up with The EVE Writer, a place where players who want to haveĀ  announcements and advertisements tailor-made for their needs can invest some ISK into getting quality write-ups.

Whether they want advertisements for their corp on the forums, an announcement of a new feature for their EVE-related tool, or an editor for their EVE RP piece, I aim to provide that service. Folks who prefer to focus on doing what they do best, whether it be industry, PVE, PVP, or app creation, can let me handle how to tell everyone about what they’re doing in a positive, well-written manner that makes everyone happy.

That said, I hope advertising this here and through various means can reel in some curious folk who’d like to try out the service. In the meantime, I shall focus on real-life stuff and not get overly excited about this metamarket idea, as it can always blow up in my face.

Cheers!

The Best Advice To New Capsuleers #TweetFleet

When I play video games, I have this horrible tendency to min-max my actions . It’s just how I got used to playing console games; worse still, it translated into a desire to do things expediently in MMOs.

Now EVE is a big place, with many different things to do and a lot of skills needed to properly accomplish those tasks. The one thing I knew I wanted to do in the long term was to eventually build ships, but I also knew that I had to make money to get the materials and blueprints and skillbooks needed to both build the spacecraft I would be using and fly it properly without losing it in a firefight.

To respond to that scenario, I asked myself, “What do I want to do?”

I wanted to do Planetary Interaction. Then someone told me in the forums that I might not get a lot of money or be able to properly invest in Planetary Interaction as a newcomer to the game. I reconsidered my plans to follow this route.

I followed up that thought with the possibility of doing missions and farming the standings and research points needed for datacores to make the ships I wanted to build. The information was at my fingertips, when someone told me that I wouldn’t be able to make good use of the information I had because I wasn’t training the right skills to level 5. I reconsidered my plans to try this out in the interim.

At a loss, I asked the members on the EVE forums about the best way to skill my character so I could do Planetary Interaction, Missioning, and Industry at the same time, effectively. To that end, Mara Rinn and RavenPaine gave me the best advice I could ever really ask for.

Mara Rinn told me to “Fly spaceships for fun, not profit.”

RavenPaine said, “ISK is very important, but FUN is more important. Make sure that your chosen path (paths) is fun and interesting for YOU.”

Of course, they were right. In the past, nearly every console and PC game I had spent hours obsessing over with min-maxing and “getting everything right,” I ultimately never finished. In MMOs, I got burned out from wondering if I was strong enough, or made enough DPS, or if I was looking at the right database entry for a questline I needed to finish to get better loot that was only incrementally more powerful and not even visually shown on my character.

While in EVE, information and knowledge (and website tabs with guide entries) is definitely important, worrying about maximizing ISK all the time makes it a job: one where, unless you trade in the black market, you don’t even get paid in food-buying money for. It’s an approach that can drive me away from playing EVE, if not from burnout, then from fear of being ganked and losing a virtual ship because I couldn’t fly it right.

I’ve chosen, in that regard, to not worry about maximizing ISK. Instead, I want to do the three things I feel like doing (PI, Missions/Datacore gathering, and building stuff) as best as I can WITHOUT worrying about the min-maxing of stats and the optimization of my skill queue.

Sure, I’ll still be a nervous wreck at times wondering if I’m doing the right thing. That’s to be expected as a new capsuleer. All of it, however, is part of the capsuleer’s experience in space. With a future that reaches up to distant stars, who says we have to stay focused on a single shining beacon of light? New Eden is mine to explore, and I hope to get many good memories out of flying here.

An Incursion Back Into EVE Online #Tweetfleet

Late last week, I went back into EVE Online after a long hiatus. I was really afraid to go back and play the game because I’d forgotten how to fly the ship and do everything, but it seems I’m slowly getting the hang of it again.

I’m currently running the Blood Stained Stars Mission Chain for money, while I try to figure out how to skill my capsuleer and earn money. My long term goal has always been to make my own ships, but earning the money, material, and skillbooks necessary to make them well and fly them properly is going to give me some issues.

I do hope I can get a better understanding of the big picture soon enough, as I’d like to make some headway into my own ventures eventually.

Till then, some links.

My Post on the EVE forums asking for the skills I ought to look for and level up.

My EVEBoards character profile, listing my skills at present.

Mastering the Fundamentals: On the New Player Experience of EVE Online #tweetfleet

I am what can be called a new player in EVE Online.I played for 21 days as part of a trial back in 2011 prior to the Crucible expansion, and I enjoyed my time in New Eden.I didn’t sub due to some financial issues that have sorted themselves out, but well… now I’m not sure what to do.

I want to go back to playing the game, however, there is always this hesitation to do so mostly because I have completely forgotten how to do most of the basic stuff in the game. I cannot, for the life of me, remember how to operate my ship, or engage in combat, or loot, or create chat filters to ask people how to do basic things, and I’m afraid that I will be seen as a troll or be treated unkindly if I ask the most basic of questions that are probably answered by doing the tutorial.

While I can reread the tutorials (if I can remember how to get to them), I wouldn’t be able to really do them until I undocked and went into space. Unfortunately, what scares me about that is the possibility that of someone in Highsec, commiting suicide runs at my ship for the hell of it, and I lose a perfectly useful starter ship.

What I’d really like is for aspects of the tutorial to be repeatable without any rewards in order to hone and remember basic skills, because without those basic skills, I’m nothing more than a pod waiting to be sunk.

What would be useful would be official tutorial videos on the basics with the UI magnified to that you can both read the instructions and see the text so you remember what you’re looking for. (very useful for learning something like scanning as well as ship maneuvering). Knowing, for example, when to go approach at X distance versus orbiting at Y distance would be very useful for me as I have very little PVP or even PVE combat experience.

While I could go on and talk about skills training (which I find to be a treat when I find new skills and learn them!), I know I’m not the person to talk about specialization and core competencies. My wish, therefore, is that any new player experience allow for the basics to be taught well and for chances to those skills to be honed further or relearned be given a place of importance for the enjoyment of newbies like myself who take a while to adjust.

A Pre-Skyrim Plan of Action for Fun and Gainful Employment

Recently, I learned that I would need to find a new job in order to pay my bills and to fund the adventures I write about on this blog, as well as any site revamps I would have liked to have done.

I’m a bit miffed that, from a full-time job, my pay would be delegated to a per-article-when-needed status, but I can’t help that. The economy’s tough, and the project I was working on needed to get money to start properly. What I can change, however, is the feeling of helplessness I feel from being newly unemployed again (or perhaps underemployed).

I will be getting my final paycheck soon, and I want to make the most out of the time prior to Skyrim’s release by making sure I have enough money to purchase Skyrim without worries while engaging in games that interest me, writing about playing games, and finding a new job.

That said, I have readjusted my plan of action for the coming weeks.

I will temporarily halt my plans to have a custom website theme made for Games and Geekery.

I will take the yearlong cheaper hosting offer that was mentioned by @G33kg0dd3ss before

Prior to the release of 11/11/11, I will be job hunting, and I WILL find a job before Skyrim.

Instead of subscribing to EVE Online, I will resubscribe to World of Warcraft for one month. An explanation will follow below.

Upon finding a new job and receiving my first paycheck, I will subscribe to EVE Online and consider continuing a subscription to World of Warcraft. I may also play LOTRO during this time.

Now, I’m somewhat emotional at the moment, and the WoW thing is a spur-of-the-moment decision, but I decided to find something that allowed me to follow a storyline, however, themeparky, just so I could enjoy playing without stressing too much. EVE is a sandbox game where I have to make my own long-term decisions as to what to do or where to go, so there’s more pressure there to do well than in WoW. If I can find a casual guild on an Oceanic server, I’ll be set, and I won’t have to worry about enjoying myself for a month or so.

That said, I’m weighing my options regarding the job thing, but if you guys know of anyone looking for a video game news writer, I’m more than ready, willing, and able to apply.

Cheers!

It’s Okay to Not Play #TweetFleet #EVEOnline

There’s a funny thing I’ve realized about EVE Online. I find that I’m not as obsessively playing it as I should to make ISK, and I’m perfectly okay with that.

I’m just letting my skills train, which I check through EVEMon. While that’s happening, I can focus on work, try a different game (like Battlefield 3), or get more sleep.

I honestly thought EVE would make me tense all the time, but I’ve come to realize that by choosing what I want to do, I have the right mix of freedom and restraint, which is a nice thing to have. I don’t have to keep up with anyone else except myself, and if I can find a corp that supports that kind of playstyle, then I should be enjoying my time in the game and out of it a lot more.

Appreciating New Eden #EVEOnline #tweetfleet

Stream of consciousness post stemming from a few days of play. I wanted to write more, but I’ve been unable to do so due to my ISP keeping me from accessing Games and Geekery, and only Games and Geekery.

My plans for being in New Eden did not involve being shot down by NPCs because of sustained radioactive damage from a bloody rock that I couldn’t maneuver away from quickly enough. But it happened, and so I must accept it.

My plans for being in New Eden involved Planetary Interaction, PVE Mission Running, and an attempt at getting the necessary skills up to pilot a Dominix in the future with drone capabilities. Sadly, Trial players can’t actually train all the skills necessary for PI, and so I must accept it.

I want this game to succeed for the very reason that makes it niche: it is a world where the interactions make the game richer and more varied, where the systems are complex, and where the questions you ask yourself are as important as the choices you make.

What I’ve realized is that this is a game where the metagame is as important, if not doubly so, as the actual game. It’s also one of the most complicated, intricate webs of learning I’ve ever become entangled in.

Folks who want to do well must invest money into subscriptions over a long-term period, or at least enough to make enough in-game money to purchase PLEX to continue a subscription. To make the most out of your experience, the social aspect of the game involves not only finding a good corp, but finding a good corp that shares your timezone and general core values as a player or human being.

Skills get trained over the course of minutes, hours, and potentially, days. Knowing what you want to do is paramount, but when you start out, everything seems viable, and the way you train yourself in the beginning can only be good for the long-term survivability of your pilot as it takes minutes to begin.

Beyond a certain point, you have to start making big decisions. Do I take the cheap ship out and make less money from an activity, or risk losing a more expensive ship for a greater gain? Do I train the shorter timed skill first, or the more important skill?

Perhaps the one thing that made me appreciate the game, even in this short term I’ve been playing, is that there are fundamental hidden questions in everything you do in EVE Online.

“Do you give in to baser instincts in the name of new experiences and ‘fun’?”

“Do you treat EVE as a game, as a test, or as a business?”

“Do you sacrifice your core values for virtual goods and does it affect you on a personal level?”

I like asking myself these questions, and I like that it makes me think philosophically. I do believe I would like to devote more time to exploring this game on a subscription basis. My only concern is finding a AUS/NZ corporation to join that fits my schedule, and figuring out if I get to keep my free 21 days if I subscribe immediately,

In any event, I guess I’ll be looking at virtual stars in addition to LOTRO and Skyrim for the time being.