EVE Blog Banter #16: The Three Pillars of Wisdom

Welcome to the sixteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The third Blog Banter of 2010 comes to us from ChainTrap of the Into the unknown with gun and camera EVE Blog. He asks us: "Eve University turns six years old on March 15th; six years spent helping the new pilots of New Eden gain experience and understanding in a supportive environment. EVE is clearly a complicated game, with a ton to learn, so much that you never stop learning. So, the question is; What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out? Or what have you learned in the interim that you'd like to share with the wider Eve community?"

Having roamed the far reaches of New Eden over the last 6 years, I've had the chance and the opportunity to share through this blog a plethora of information. Information I would wish had been shared with me when I was still wet behind the ears as a capsuleer. But that is the process of learning, and looking back at the past, looking at your past mistakes, your past ambitions become obvious as foolish and silly meanderings.

If I could go back with the knowledge I currently possess, I would share with my younger self the following...

Train those Learning Skills - One of the first thing a new capsuleer does is spot the biggest, meanest ship he or she can find, look at the skills needed to fly one and start learning and buying those skills. Anyways, that what I did. Even as a Carebear. I think that it was years later that I came across "Learning Skills". What the hell? What are those? When I realized the months of training I could have shaved off, I felt like an idiot. I wish I had been told to split my training between learning skills and the other skills.

The 10 Commandments of New Eden - I wish that somewhere will missioning or mining I had had the chance to find these 10 pieces of advice. I originally wrote them almost 2 yeas ago, but they still hold very true today:

1. The only place where you are safe in EVE is either docked or offline, otherwise you're mostly fair game.
2. You will eventually get podded. It's nothing personal.
3. So make sure your clone is up to date
4. At any given time, make sure you're always training a skill.
5. EVE is like a sandbox with landmines. Deal with it.
6. You're flying in a cocoon full of liquid, known as a pod. Not behind the controls of a ship.
7. Flying a ship anywhere in EVE is like gambling, only fly what you're willing to lose.
8. CONCORD exists to punish, not protect.
9. If you're going to be in a low sec system for a while, create 2 or more safe spot, just in case.
10. Pirates are not griefers, they're as much a part of EVE as you are.

The right Corporation make all the difference - This is probably the most important aspect when starting in EVE, and the main reason which sees so many newcomers leave New Eden. It took a few years for me to find the corporation that matched my playing style, my availability and goals within EVE. Years later I would write this article in hopes to avoid the bunny hopping I once did early in my career.

Much more pixels could be laid down on these screens in hopes of sharing all the wisdom us old capsuleers have. But I believe it all boils down to the above.

EVE Online is not a game. It's a world. Virtual yes, but the implications of that difference make it that much more complex. That much more enjoyable. Full of unknowns, of opportunities, of dreams.

Fly, whether safe or not, but make sure to enjoy the ride!

List of Participants

• Coming soon...

EVE Online Wallpaper Competition - Millions of ISKs at stake!

This is a guest post by Xiphos83 from A Misguided Adventurer. You can follow him @Xiphos83.

The EVE Online universe is a captivating and awe inspiring world to view. Wonderfully detailed ships, planets, and effects grace our screens and create a canvas of color rivaling many of the other MMOs out there. The changes CCP Games has made to the environment over the years have simply been stunning and it's time to do justice to this graphical wonder.

I, @Xiphos83 (formerly of A Misguided Adventurer) am teaming up with CrazyKinux to give away some always in demand ISKies and encourage capsuleers out there to put their creative caps on, take some screenshots and build wallpapers that we can grace our gaming machines with.

RULES:

• The entry fees will be a measly 10 million ISKs to be transfered to the in-game character "CrazyKinux". Only those who have deposited their participation fees will be eligible for the draw.
• The contest will require that you create a wallpaper of a minimum size of 1280 x 1024 in one of two categories from screenshots taken within EVE Online - Action or Scenic.
• Themes: Action (being war, mining ops, ratting, etc) and Scenic (planets, stations orbiting moons, etc).
• All images incorporated in the wallpapers must be from EVE. Whichever way you decide to incorporate your screenshots into the wallpaper is up to you, as long as you stick to the Scenic or Action theme.
• You may submit one (1) wallpaper to each categories, but no more.
• The judges will be Brendan of Massively, CrazyKinux, and Xiphos83.
• Submissions will be gathered on one of CK's Flickr Set, where size, date up submission and artist will be mentioned (and linked back to whenever possible) <-- Update
• Contest ends on March 26th, 11:59 PM EDT.

Now comes the juicy part.

The entry fee will be a measly 10 million ISKs and the winners will split the pot! Additionally, CrazyKinux will donate 15 million ISKs to the pot and I, Xiphos83, will be donating 100 million ISKs. So even if we have 1 person apply, there's 175 million up for grabs. That's a few new ships with fittings to boot.

Additional Donators:

• Crovan - 50 million ISKs
• Krispy Dingo - 50 million ISKs

You will have 14 days to submit your entries to CrazyKinux, so get out there, fire up your Velator of Doom, and start snapping photos!

Remember, the more participants, the bigger the prizes will be!

Good luck to you all!

[UPDATE: After much back and forth with the #tweetfleet and in view of your comments, we've decided to ask for a minimum size wallpaper (1280x1024). This way, almost everyone can partake in the competition and no one is left out!]

An Introduction to Planetary Interaction [video]

Planetary Interaction (PI) is almost upon us! With the next EVE Online expansion, the industrialist will have a ball with the planets of New Eden. No longer will they simply be decorations for the capsuleers enjoyment. Much work remains to be done until its release, but we got a glimpse of what the Devs are working on - or listening to - these days following the latest Dev Blog by CCP Hammerhead "Livin' on a Prayer".

The fine folks of EVE University were also kind enough to put together the following How To video, based on the current state of PI on CCP's Test server SiSi, as well as a short Guide. Enjoy!

Additional EVE bloggers commentary on Planetary Interaction:

• Diary of a Bored Spacemen: Planetary Interaction
• The Hydrostatic Capsule: PIN Cushion
• I am Keith Neilson: Dev Blog Breakdown – Special Edition
• Morphisat’s Blog: Planetary Interaction on Sisi
• EVE Online Wormholes: Planetary Command Center
• Diary of a Bored Spaceman: A Sneak Peek at a Planetary Scan
• The Midnight Sun: Making The Game: Planetary Interaction In Wormhole Space
• More to come as they are found...

Have you seen Treenara's new look?

On the left the old Treenara - On the right the new Treenara

I've been playing the same character, Treenara Mazouk, since October of 2004. What you might not know this, but Tree (that's what my corp mates call her) was not my first character. My first character saw the day in August of 2004, her name was Saoundra Meezo, she was Amarr. I've always had a preference for the Amarr, both in their dramatic character looks and in their ship designs. But shortly after starting off in New Eden, some buddies of mine created Gallente characters. Since I wanted to play with them and did not want to travel all the way to Gallente space, I simply "rolled" a new character, and Treenara was born.

Fast forward 6 years and though my friends no longer roam New Eden, Treenara is still my faithful companion and will shortly hit the 60 million skill points! Suffice to say her "looks" have become something very familiar to me. And so earlier this week, I decided to give her a little makeover and took advantage of CCP's Character Portrait Swapping. After creating a new character of the same gender, race and bloodline, I proceeded to do the swap for a mere $10 fee.

Though I was all excited about the change, even after a few days, the old portraits still have yet to change. And I know all about deleting the portrait folder and all that. The forum avatar still shows the old portrait, and even the API feed used by EVEMon still has the old Treenara.

I'm hoping that I won't have to wait much longer for the switch to occur. I just don't see myself waiting until Incarna for Treenara's look to get refreshed! Where are those Icelandic Trolls when you need them! Where's my $10 value?

TRON LEGACY - Official Trailer #2

Very few movies had as much impact in nurturing my inner Geek as much as Wargames and TRON. As I explained to a friend earlier today, back in the early 80s I had very friends to share my passion for TRON. Personal computers and the networks that were about to connect them all were not things pre-teens were known to discuss, much less take pride in having an interest in.

Fast forward 30 years, and the situation has flipped completely; a 180 in the perception of Geeks! This coming December, there will be one such Geek enjoying the benefits of this cultural shift!

For unable to view the video due to their geolocation, view it here.

I can barely control my glee!