The 101st Post (Don't Mention the Launcher)

So this WAS TO BE my 100th post on Sand, Cider and Spaceships. However, due to Starship Trooper sized bugs in the 14th March Eve Online update which gave me 4 hours of trying to get the game to work, I didn't post this. After a great idea in the bath, I raced dripping to the computer, got Eve to work and then posted the "Bodgit and Scarper" solution for others who are stuck.

So the original 100th post was going to be a bonus dual topic post! Firstly something appropriate for my 100th post and then a battle report that shows Karma is a real thing!

Part 1 - 100 Reasons Eve is Bloody Amazing!

So I thought why not list 100 reasons why Eve Online is the greatest computer game there is, for my 100th post?

Then I really thought about it and found a good reason why not, 100 is a bloody large number (not as large as 6000 which is the number of Eve players who cannot get into the game due to the launcher bugs). So instead I went for 10!

10 Reasons Eve is Bloody Amazing!

1. It's Elite, 30 years or so on.
Elite was one of my favourite games on my old rubber-keyed Spectrum 48k. Trading, mining, fighting it was all there in wire-framed glory. Eve Online is Elite's son, all grown up. Cobra MkIII FTW! There was no "Docking request accepted" from the back of the station in those days! You had to fly to the door!

2. It's Sci-Fi.
If I have to compare Eve to a sci-fi program I always go for Firefly/Serenity. But there are similarities from every sci-fi program you can think of. Star Wars, Star Trek, Lexx, Firefly, etc, etc. If you like sci-fi, you'll love Eve Online.

3. PvP Actually Means Something
In most MMOG's when you die it's a minor inconvenience. You might need to do a "corpse run", you might have a small repair bill, you might have to have 15 minutes downtime from resurrection sickness. But that's it. When you die in Eve your ship is gone, it's fittings are probably gone (unless your buddies looted it) and you've lost something. Your going to need to make cash to replace it. This will take time and effort. This makes PvP meaningful. How many games can make your hands shake in PvP?

4. You Choose Your Career Path and There are no Limits to Character Development
In Eve you can learn any skill, and there are a lot! In other games you have classes or careers which define what you can and cannot do. Choose a priest and you'll never, ever, be able to pick up a two-handed sword, ever. In Eve, every door is open to you. I can fly logistic ships (healer), ECM Recons (Crowd control), heavily tanked ships (erm... tank), heavy DPS ships (DPS.... obviously), Interceptors (scout), Command ships (Buffs). Some I can fly well, others not so well. However, there is nothing in game that I could not use if I wanted to train for it.

5. There is Minimal Grinding
Progression in most MMOG's is done through the acquisition of experience points (XP). Find monster, hit it over head till it's dead, find another monster, hit it over head.... and repeat. In Eve skills train over time like in real life. There is grinding in Eve for example standings or sec status. But generally it's limited.

6. The Backstory is Amazing
Like all sci-fi things, a good back story is essential. And Eve has perhaps one of the best. Years of novels, chronicles, scientific articles, fan fiction, fan videos. There is a huge wealth of information out there which gives Eve an in-depth and immersive story.

7. Eve is Social
You CAN play Eve solo. If you do you are missing out on a MASSIVE part of the game. From 900 man fleets to just you and a couple of mates having a laugh and a roam in small, fast ships. As they say, you can do it on your own, you can do it with someone else... but it's always better in a group!

8. Eve is beautiful
If a picture can paint a thousand words, can a screenshot do ten thousand?

9. It's a Sandbox
The game gives you back, what you put in. Don't do much? You won't get much back. Work at it and there is no limit. Look at Mitten's (The Mittani). He's just a player... with 6000 other players under his command and a small galactic empire of his own! Scams, betrayal, war, peace, politics, spying. It's all in Eve, and it's all created by the players!

10. The Game Developers Listen to the Players
CCP are not perfect. They occasionally get things wrong (wow was this an understatement when I wrote it at the start of the week). So do we all! But they listen, they take comments on board, they change! What other game this size can you chat to Dev's (or spam the CEO with whines) on social media so easily and make your voice heard?

Bonus 11th Reason.
Now I've done my 10 I'm seriously thinking I might have been able to do 100 as there are still a lot of great reasons I've not listed!

Part 2 - It's all on the Wheel.

The other night, one of our guys spots that there is an unusual number of people in a dead-end system near us, so goes for a look. A bit of scanning reveals some dreadnoughts at a POS. The dreads and POS are sat there and are all same corp. Another dread arrives, and the others open up on him.

We assume the corp member they are battering is either a new member who they have led into a trap (recruit a dreadnought pilot, light cyno for him, kick him from corp, gank him) or did something VERY wrong (slept with CEO's wife etc?).

Anyway we see our opportunity and get things ready.

They pop their corp mates dreadnought (probably no longer their "mate" to be honest) and we use that wreck as a warp-in for our own cyno ship. We drop them, kill them and debate the true meaning of Karma.

Unfortunately I was in bed at the time so missed the fun. But was a laugh reading about it next morning!