EVE Online Speedlinking for April 14th, 2008

I've done it! I've actually stepped into the land of Azeroth and rolled up Tarakk, a Tauren 7th level Warrior. I've only got 10 days to enjoy and play with my fellow podcaster in crime. Yep, they're the ones responsible for getting me into this mess, errr I mean new MMO.

In the mean time, enjoy these EVE links, while I get this standing fat cow, oops, I meant to say Tauren, to go kill some more puppies, birdies and other weird beasties!

• The Presentation of Candidates... - Van Hemlock on the CSM election.
• Tip of the hat for GFW - Games for Windows switches to digital format only.
• The Profusion of Interdiction - Where Wilhelm sees Interdictors everywhere!
• Spaceships of EVE Online (Wiki) - Old, but still very useful
• Halada's "The Complete Miner's Guide v2.2" - If mining is your thing!
• EON Magazine Survey - Zapatero wants to pick your brains...
• Eden Explored - An in character diary of an EVE explorer. Very well done!
• What do space jockeys do for fun? - A noob's take on EVE.
• Warp Drive Active #154 - The ultimate link bait!
• EVE Online Pirates - As if we needed more of these guys around!
• The Drone Bay #6 - In case you missed it!

The Drone Bay: Episode 6 - Yes, I Assure You We're an EVE Podcast!

Virgin Worlds Link


Show notes:

Yes, I Assure You We're an EVE Podcast!

Five points for the movie reference in this episode's title! Yes, HordeCast was a cruel, cruel joke. Some of you got the joke, some didn't. If you didn't, we're sorry for scaring you. It's safe to come back now, the nasty Orcs are gone. We're back and talking about EVE again so...

Bring on the Drones:

In the weekly recap, Al and Crovan giggle at their own hilarious with regarding the April Fool's episode, and share the woes of everyone's limited playtime. CK shares a great resource for the upcoming CSM elections.

The DON'T PANIC topic for this week is mining. Crovan is allergic to Veldspar, so CK steps up as the mining sensei.

In the listener feedback section, a question is answered, the guys answer one piece of criticism, and Al and Crovan once again giggle about last week's show. Al is sorry. Crovan is not.

This week's out of game discussion is about...another MMO that Crovan refuses to name in the show notes for fear of mail bombs.

Keep sending us your mail! We love it! We need it! Stroke our egos! Flame us! We don't care, just send us more mail, or I'll put more exclamation points in next week's show notes!!!!

This week's music bed is "Forever Lost" by AlienHand. Go to the link to check out his other great stuff!

The guys had a pretty tight recording this week, so no blooper reel. Instead, please enjoy a really funny machinima version of re: Your Brains by Jonathan Coulton.


Contact Info:

GAX Online Group: The Drone Bay

E-Mail:
dronebay[at]gmail.com (comments/questions for everyone)
crovan[at]eve-mail.net
crazykinux[at]gmail.com
alsedrech[at]gmail.com

Skype: Dronebay

Blogs:
Bitter Old Noob (Crovan)
CrazyKinux's Musing
The Littlest Drone (Alsedrech)

The Drone Bay: Episode 5 - The April Fool's episode!

[Though this is being posted way after this episode came out, I still want to be able to keep track of them chronologically. In the future I'll be posting as they get released! Promised.]








Virgin Worlds Link


Show notes:

Episode 5 (Or perhaps the new Episode 1 is more appropriate): Format Changes

We're a bit short on show notes this week. Suffice to say that there are big changes coming for The Drone Bay, and we hope you'll stick it out with us. CK was unable to join us, but Al and I soldiered on without him again. Look to see him back next week as we continue with our new format.

Until next time, lvl 22 war LFG for SFK. As always, you can e-mail us at dronebay[at]gmail.com.

The new format may require a new e-mail address, so be on the lookout for that.

[Wink Wink!!!]

17 Free MMORPG Trials

If you've ever wondered what it was like to play an MMORPG (or another if you're already playing one) well now's you chance. FilePlanet has put together a collection of Massively Multiplayer Game Trials - 17 in all.

Some of these are the usual big one: World of Warcraft, Dungeons & Dragons, Star War Galaxies, Everquest, and of course EVE Online. I might try WoW and DDO to see what they're like now and how much has changed since the BETA trials I did a few months ago. Well it only seems to be a few months ago to me.

But what ever you decide to do, if you've never played EVE Online, do yourself a favor and go through the 14-day trial! You'll be happy you've joined the greatest MMO Community in the universe.

[gaming] [mmorpg] [free trial] [wow] [eve online] [DDO]

Gaming: World of Warcraft, the new golf course?

It use to be that deals would be brokered on greens where corporate executives would meet for a game. The golf course was where the real wheelin' and dealin' happened. How things change! This News.com article tells the story of a few high tech execs that now meet over in World of Warcraft, have some fun killing orcs and other baddies, exchange ideas and hammer potential RL deals.

Enjoy: Power lunching with wizards and warriors (C|NET News.com)

[Gaming] [MMORPG] [World of Warcraft] [WoW] [We Know] [Guilds]

RF Online, the lore...

One of the most important aspect of an MMORPG, often overlooked, is the background story, the lore. While a game is being developed it helps create the mood, the atmosphere and provides hints and teasers as to what to look forward to in the game. When the game is live, it keeps the story moving forward, keeps the players interested, wanting more. It's crucial, specifically in an MMORPG.

Last Monday, RF Online released the 1st chapter of its lore, and quickly followed with chapters 2 & 3, on Friday. And...

...I'm disappointed. It sounds somewhat childish, even goofy. I'm mean the "Arcane Club". Please!! I just don't know. I was expecting some much more from such an original setting. I really hope they either change the lore or at the very least tweak this story so that it has a bit more weight, and can hold it's own. Look at the lore of WoW, or EVE Online. I mean here are stories, legends, that have substance, content and bring the reader into the virtual world.

Now, I may be over reacting at such an early stage in the development of the game, and as the months go by, I'm sure more content will be added, which will bring the RF Online alive. It's just not off to a great start so far.

[UPDATE: I've since given RF Online lore a second read, and I have to say, it's not as bad as I thought at first. I'm curious though, because it seems they've updated chapter 2 and 3 since they appear to have been modified after Friday.]

Keep your fingers crossed until then, and in the mean time, enjoy this article over at MMORPG.com with Michael Rowland, the RF Online Community Manager.

[RF Online] [MMORPG] [WoW]

World of Warcraft having record sales in Europe!

Well Blizzard is doing it again, and again. There's a slew of articles talking about how World of Warcraft (WoW) is a hit in Europe following its success in Korea the previous month, and North America late last year.

Sales rose to 280,000 on its first day, it had sold over 380,000 on its openning week-end. This shows how a well executed MMOG can be a very successful enterprise, and that should be a lesson to the "Earth & Beyond", "Wish" and other failed attempts.

Head over to GamesIndustry.biz, joystiq.com, Gameplanet, TotalVideoGames, Eurogamer.com, to read up on it.

Lets just hope that Blizzard has learned from its overwhelming success in NA last year, and that it now has the infrastructure the massive amounts of european players having fun in this World of Warcraft!