An Exploration Tutorial Video

This is a full blown steal from Morphisat's post, but I had to add it to my videos and guides. Please visit his blog and shower him with comments to make up for my rip-off. I owe you one mate!

Finding Agents and increasing your Standings in EVE

Finding good agents is an activity which is at the core of the EVE Online PvE game play. And since you need a standing of 0.5 to join your faction of choice and participate in Factional Warfare, I thought it would be a good idea to provide a list of resources that are helpful in finding the best agents.

Whether it's to increase your standing, or to get better loot and rewards, finding the best agents maybe something that's a bit of a mystery to new players. Here below I've listed 4 great resources to help you do just that.

• How To Find An Agent in EVE Online, courtesy of The Ancient Gaming Noob
• The Path of Acceptance..., courtesy of Van Hemlock
• Video Tutorial: Finding Agents, courtesy of EvE Cast
• EVE-Agenture, a great site to help you find agents

The EvE Cast video tutorial is also available on YouTube for those who don't mind the low quality. I do recommend that you download the original which is of better quality and thus easier to follow - your choice though. Here it is below.

As for increasing you agents "effective" standing (not the faction though), make sure that you've trained the following 3 skills to level 5 for the best results: Connections, Negotiation and Social. You'll see a dramatic increase. There are plenty more Social skills to train, but with these you're off to a good start!

Out of Eden: Space Siege Trailers

For a guy who's currently unemployed, let me tell you that I'm keeping myself quite busy! And though a lot of my time these days is spent thinking, breathing and living the life of an EVE capsuleer (besides all the RL chores that keep popping on the endless list - you married guys know what I mean!), there are times when I'm doing geek stuff which isn't related to EVE. Really!

The following video is one of those things that catches my attention. As the title of this post suggests, this is not related to EVE. I'll use the "Out of Eden" prefix for anything and everything that is not related to EVE Online, because I'm a neat freak and like to have things in order!

The two trailers below are of Space Siege, an upcoming RPG from Gas Powered Games; the same guys behind the Dungeon Siege (DS) series and the recently Supreme Commander RTS (which I haven't played). I've been through all the DS series and really like the style and approach they've taken. Though the original DS was simplistic in its approach, I liked the fact that your character would increase in skills depending on the type of combat it used. It was simple, yet effective.

Now the fact that this new game will be space-based is a real bonus. Don't get me wrong, I really like the Fantasy settings, but Science-Fiction has always been the preferred setting - whether it's in movies, books, video games or RPGs. So I'm really excited about this game. I'm currently reading Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson (and highly recommend the Malazan Book of the Fallen series), but if I look at my bookshelves, most of it is filled with sci-fi stuff - I. Asimov, F. Herbert, R. Heinlein, A. C. Clark, KSR, S. R. Donaldson - even the RPGs - Heavy Gear, Jovian Chronicles, Core Command (all from DreamPod 9), Traveler or Robotech. Though I do have a lot of Tolkien and Forgotten Realms!

Since I devote a lot of time to EVE, I like my other games to be easy to pick-up and start playing. So I'm looking forward to this one! What other games keep you Out of Eden?

Blog Banter #3 : Games you should play to get to know me

Already a month has gone by since the last Blog Banter. How time flies when you're having fun!

This month's banter is on the topic of "What game(s) would you suggest someone play if they wanted to get to know you better?"

In my case, we're definitely talking about multiple games even though one takes most of my time these days - EVE having the honour.

Now let's see. What games help you understand who I am? What have been the games which have brought me the most pleasure over the years? Would that help me pick games that can define me? Let's make a list and see.

Games that I've particularly liked over the last, say 10 years:

• Diablo II (RPG)
• Neverwinter Nights (RPG)
• Dungeon Siege (RPG)
• Battle Realms (RTS)
• Homeworld (RTS)
• Halo (FPS)
• 1701 A.D. (RTS)
• Gears of War (FPS)
• Mass Effect (RPG)
• EVE Online (MMORPG)
  
• Starcraft (RTS)

As I mentioned in the last Banter, I've spent a lot of time in EVE over the last 2 or 3 years. But I still give these games a few hours once in a while. There's something about these games, even replaying them for the nth time, that does something to me. Brings me joy and a sense of accomplishment many other games don't achieve.

I've purchased and played many more games since I started gaming back in the late nineties; as one can see from my collection. But the games above hold a special place in my heart. And I guess if you want to know who I am, you're going to have to go through these.

Which reminds me that it's been a long time since I last played Homeworld. Now if you'll excuse me...

Blog Banter is a group of bloggers passionate about anything and everything video games. On a monthly basis we get together and write-up a series of articles on a specific subject and then link to each other. The brainchild behind this idea is fellow blogger Hawty McBloggy (aka bs angel). I just love her quirky articles, always uncovering interesting and fun stuff. A must read!

If you're interested in participating, just contact bs angel for more information. Enjoy our stories!

Blog Banter #3 participants : Silvercublogger, The Average Gamer, Game Couch, thoughts and rants, Delayed Responsibility, Boom Stick Brigade, Boom Stick Brigade 2, CrazyKinux's Musing, Gamer Unit, Draining Souls.net, 8-Bit Brigade, Zath Games Tech, Arm the Flag, Lou Lantos, Hawty McBloggy

EVE Online reviewed in GFW latest issue

It's not every day that an MMORPG which is about to turn 5 years old get a review in a mainstream gaming magazine. Well EVE did just that in the March issue (#016) of Games for Windows -The Official Magazine. In the Updates section (on page 83) they review Trinity an 8 out of 10 score. On the plus side they mention that visual update that came with the patch is simply gorgeous and that there's new content. On the down side, they complain (with reason) that the agent missions need an overhaul. Couldn't agree more with this review. Unfortunately, they mess-up the DirectX version saying that the overhaul bring DX10, though in reality, Trinity is DX9.

As well, they review a a series of PCs as part of an Ultimate Gaming Machine competition, and one of these PC, the one from Commodore Gaming, has an EVE Online skin.

Quite cool to see EVE still getting some press after all these years! Guess CCP's hard work over the years is paying off.

Blog Banter : Rehabilitating the gamer in you

Happy New Year to you all!

First post of the Year! Wow, this makes it the fourth year of this blog. 2007 was an amazing year for the CrazyKinux's Musing. I won't go into details today as I plan to do so in a later post, but just to give you an idea, I had almost 55,000 visitors this past year (over 80,000 page views), which is almost 10 times as much as 2006. Let's see if we can do better this year.

Back to this post!

You're probably asking yourself what this blog banter is all about.

Well, Blog Banter is a group of bloggers passionate about anything and everything video games. On a monthly basis we get together and write-up a series of articles on a specific subject and then link to each other. The brainchild behind this idea is fellow blogger Hawty McBloggy (aka bs angel). I just love her quirky articles, always uncovering interesting and fun stuff. A must read!

The links to all the participant's articles can be found here and if you're interested in participating, just contact bs angel for more information. Enjoy our stories!

The subject of today's blog banter is New Year resolutions (as it pertains to gaming). The subject was chosen about a week ago, and I've been thinking all week about what mine was, but I just couldn't nail it. Then I figured it out, I'm a gamer with a split personality. For me there are two types of games: those you play on a PC, and those you play on a console. I've written a few articles about this in the past.

The split is as follows: FPS, Racing and RPG/FPS are games I prefer to play on my XBOX, while RTS, RPG and MMOs are games I can only enjoy on a PC.

Now over the last few months, I must admit I had been neglecting my XBOX 360. It would've been gathering dust, were it not for my daughter's Baby Einstein DVD's. I had to do something about it. Things weren't right. The console/pc balance was off, my gamer equilibrium was all out of whack.

Things needed to change.

Over the holidays, I gave the XBOX a good kick in the butt. Loaded Gears of War and ripped through some Locust Horde! Played some more Halo 3 and gave Mass Effect a quick spin.

Which brings me to my resolution for the year and the subject of this post. It's all about balance. Wax in, Wax out. Ying and Yan. Chi and Li. PC and Console.

So my resolution for this year, my goal, is to balance my gaming time between my PC Gaming and XBOX gaming. Between EVE Online and my other PC titles. Don't get me wrong, the main focus of this blog will still be EVE Online. You'll just have a chance to read up on what else I'm playing. Maybe a few articles on how an EVE FPS would look like. Or which current RTS would lend it itself well to EVE.

So there you have it! I've been rehabilitated and am all the better for it. How about you? What's your New Year's resolution?

What kind of gamer are you: PC or Console?

I have an XBOX and a PC, and have a good number of games for both. I used to play games on my XBOX a lot more in the past, but as time goes on, I find myself more and more doing so on the PC.

In the end I have to admit that I'm a PC Gamer. Consoles are great, and the XBOX 360 is a sweet piece of gaming machine, one that I might, make that will, get eventually - Gears of War and Mass Effect anyone.

I was looking at my Gamespot profile earlier today, and realized that I not only owned more PC games than XBOX games, but that most of my tracked ones and the ones on my wish list were also PC games.

And that's largely the results of the types of game I like to play: one MMORPG in particular (EVE not to name any), as well as RTSs and RPGs. Most of the FPS games that I play, I do so on the XBOX. Don't ask, it just feels more natural to me.

There are three gaming magazines that I read, "EON" (subscription), "PC Gamer" and "Games for Windows - The Official Magazine". For someone so into EVE as I am, E:ON is a godsend! Such a fine piece of journalism, short stories and informative articles on game play. PC Gamer is a magazine that I'll pick once in a while, only if it has an article on an up and coming game I'm interested in - or when they have those "Build your Dream PC" special issues. As for GFW magazine, I've bought all first three issues, and so far I must say I like what I see. I think Microsoft is finally stepping up to the plate and acknowledging how important PC as a platform is. And GFW is a huge step forward.

So how about you? PC or console? And whatever the platform, what gaming magazine to you read? Please feel free to use the comments to voice your opinion.

[gaming] [mmorpg] [eve online] [pc gaming] [xbox] [console] [eon] [gaming magazine]

Gaming: Computer Games Magazine to Launch New Publication

It looks like we'll soon be getting a new gaming magazine dedicated to MMORPG. Indeed, the folks behind Computer Games magazine will soon release MASSIVE Magazine. Personally I'm very much for this, and will certainly check out the first issue.

From the media kit they offer, it seems they know pretty well their audience and have done their homework. SO far so good.

About MASSIVE Magazine:
MASSIVE Magazine is the ultimate guide to the world of massively multiplayer online games. It covers the games and culture with a progressive and breezy editorial style produced by the top writers in the industry. Issues of MASSIVE will include features on the games, their communities, guilds, profiles of top players, and other features that will make the magazine a part of the MMO world.

Plan of Action:
Aggressive promotion campaign scheduled at Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and all other retailers.
Included DVD with demos
Rate base: 100,000 on newsstands
Bigger size: 9"x—10.875"
Newsstand price $5.99-compared to similar publications which are $9.99-this will be a great deal!
Plan to go quarterly starting January 1, 2007

Our Readers are Your Customers:
Reach over 5,000,000 gamers
Typically male
Average age is 26 years old
Average gamer plays 22 hours per week
source: www.nickyee.com/daedalus/gateway_demographics.html

Congrats to Nick Yee (from the Daedalus Project) by the way, for being quoted as a source - that's what good research is for.

Over the last few years I've slowly reduced my number of magazine subscriptions from about 7 to currently 2 (well actually 3 if you count E:ON). And with all the blogs, gaming sites, web 2.0 sites and others that I read daily, it would have been impossible to read all of them had I kept all my subscriptions. Now, with a magazine geared towards MMORPGs, I'm glad I didn't.

[gaming] [mmorpg] [magazine] [computer games] [massive]

Gaming: Windows Vista review on Gamespot - Part 3

The third part of the Windows Vista review, Windows Vista Part 3 - Networking and Security, has been available for sometime now.

Some of these security features will make for a welcomed improvements of XP. And the various new (updated) protocols that Vista will support will be interesting to have if the improvements they claim to add are actually noticeable to us users and not just to testing softwares.

[Gaming] [Microsoft] [Windows Vista] [PC Gaming] [Upgrade] [Video Cards]

Gaming: Windows Vista review on Gamespot - Part 2

The second part of the Windows Vista review, Windows Vista Part 2 - Navigation and organization, has been available since mid-last week. This time they go over "Searching" where we learn that Vista will use meta-tagging for easier and faster searches. The article also covers "Organization" and the new "Explorer" interface.

Overall things should be faster to find and Vista takes away some of the difficulties of filing numerous items. It's a shame WinFS won't make it until after Vista ships as this would provided an even better user experience. Guess you can't have everything at the same time.

[Gaming] [Microsoft] [Windows Vista] [PC Gaming] [Upgrade] [Video Cards]

Gaming: Windows Vista review on Gamespot

So by the end of the year, if all goes according to 'the' plan, we should finally get a long overdue update to the Windows platform. Long overdue because if you've recently taken a look at Mac OSX than you know that 'we' on Windows are seriously behind in terms of a having a modern, sleek, powerful and stable os. It's really funny when you think about it, because it used to be the opposite; before OSX the Mac OSes were lagging behind Windows in a number of features.

Having said that, this is the year where we PC gamers need to think seriously about the next iteration of Windows, how this will affect our gaming experience and what we need to do to take full advantage of Vista's capabilities.

There's a running article over at Gamespot Video: Windows Vista where you can read about it. I'll certainly keep an eye on it. Speaking of being on the lookout. I came across this disturbing piece of information over at Firing Squad which after some exhaustive research has found out that none of today's graphics card will be able to fully support Windows Vista. Disturbing news to say the least.

If you have other information on this matter, please let me know. I'll keep you posted.

[Links: Windows Vista]

[Gaming] [Microsoft] [Windows Vista] [PC Gaming] [Upgrade] [Video Cards]