EVE: Farming Blood Raiders, big and bigger versions

Posted on September 13, 2016 by SynCaine

My ratting adventures against the Blood Raiders continue. I’m loving the Rattlesnake, as it handles everything including Sanctums just fine (25m or so per tick with those), and with the passive shield tank, it’s very minimal in terms of clicks, so I’m ratting while surfing the net or watching a stream. Yet another bonus of having a monitor that support 3440×1440; plenty of pixels for lots of windows. Additionally I just love the look of the Rattlesnake itself, always have.

I also got and sold my first 10/10 escalation, which netted me 80m. Not a bad return for creating a contract with a bookmark in it and having Lucky Runners do the work, but considering the 60/40 split Runners take, and you only get paid for the drops, not the bounties, I’m now extremely temped to attempt the site myself and horde all 200-300m for myself. The big problem is I’d need to use a Rattlesnake (I don’t have the skills to fly the Vargur), but with a different fit from my passive tanked one. That’s another 2b or so, and I really don’t want to learn (and very likely fail) in a 2b ship. The 10/10 site is deadly in the third room, but it also looks like a lot of fun. A project for another time.

One cool event I was part of was killing a Blood Raider dread spawn, the first I’ve seen. The bounty on that was 60m, and the wreck was worth another 30m. I didn’t solo it, but it only took a minute to have two carrier pilots come on over and help out. KarmaFleet is cool like that, and so far I have experienced zero ratting drama in terms of sharing sites or loot.

I did resub my second account. He will fly along my main in a Noctis to salvage, and he also has maxed PI skills, so I’ll set those up as well. The big bonus with that account is he had over 10b worth of ISK and ships scattered about in high-sec. This means I can now easily afford a carrier, but with the Rattlesnake being as effective as it is, I might hold off on that purchase for now. That ISK does put me within striking distance of a Super Carrier, though I’d need to train a few skills to do that, and my main has 50 days of training I’d really like to finish up first. Plus until Goons have a Keepstar we can all use, a space coffin isn’t what I need right now.

 

 

Posted in EVE Online | 6 Comments

EVE: Gevlon is still losing at EVE even when he is pretending to no longer play

Posted on September 12, 2016 by SynCaine

Can’t start a corp that lasts longer than a minute, can’t try impacting null without Lenny blowing him out of the water, can’t successfully tinfoil for longer than an hour, and can’t quit EVE despite saying he isn’t going to play/talk about it anymore. Gevlon everyone, the EVE content pack that keeps on giving.

Posted in EVE Online | 6 Comments

EVE: Living it up in Delve

Posted on September 7, 2016 by SynCaine

Life for me in EVE continues on. Goons have now taken almost all of Delve, and KarmaFleet has made 7G-QIG our home. For the first time since joining goons I’m doing more KF-based stuff than alliance stuff, and it feels good.

My main focus right now is ratting, in part for the ISK, but also because hanging out in the standing fleet is a good way to get to know people and joke around. Leadership is very active in the standing fleet, and we have PvP, PvE, and Industry people all chatting about everything and nothing as we all grind away at our wallets.

I initially started ratting in a Myrmidon, but it was a bit brutal. It couldn’t handle the hardest sites, and drone agro was a constant issue. I have since switched over to a bling-ish fit Rattlesnake, which handles all sites like a boss. Ticks are coming in at around 15-20m for normal sites, although this should improve as I refine my methods. I also need to remember to deploy the mobile tractor unit to gather loot. I’ve been calling in newbees for salvaging, and don’t have plans right now of getting an alt out to run two accounts (though it’s very tempting, especially once I start running escalations and will need a scout).

In terms of combat ops, those have been going up both for Delve cleanup and also when an FC wants to go out and get some kills beyond Delve. I was recently on a very fun Astro fleet that took us through five or six wormholes before dropping in on an ongoing fight. Being back in WH space was a bit nostalgic.

Using the Goons hauling service, I’ve also started dipping my toes into shipping items from Jita to sell in our staging system. Nothing major (1b+) yet, but it’s something fun to do and also gives me a feel for what sells and how fast. If it goes well perhaps I’ll focus more on this, or maybe even get into production (one of my inactive accounts has the skills for this already trained).

Good times all around, and basically everyone in the game is expecting some interesting times come November and the release of the unlimited trial accounts.

Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments

EVE: I don’t think he is the only one

Posted on September 1, 2016 by SynCaine

From a comment at Polygon about EVE have an unlimited trial (or if you are bad/lazy, going F2P):

I’ll probably give this another shot once the f2p launches. I have tried in the past but was overwhelmed by the multihours long tutorial and vast multitude of options. And the interface was too daunting. Then my month ran out and I didn’t want to have to start forking out money to be confused for another month. But if it’s free! Then I can continue to be bewildered. – Tyreal

I think a lot of people are underestimating how big the crowd is of people like Tyreal above. It’s mostly a mental thing too; just having that timer ticking in your head that if you aren’t playing ‘enough’, you are ‘wasting’ $15 a month. Remove that mental timer, and some people are now far more likely to keep poking at a game, and every time they do that’s a chance for the game to hook them.

I also think this will have more of an impact because EVE, more than most games, is one where coming back to give it another shot is actually successful. This happens both with new players who finally crack that barrier of entry, and to former vets who come back and have the spark reignited. The saying that no one truly quits EVE is true for a reason.

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EVE: Now with a not-exactly F2P option

Posted on August 31, 2016 by SynCaine

The line between a F2P option and an extended/unlimited trial continues to get blurred, this time by EVE Online.

In some respects, this new option gives people access to all of the game (high sec, low sec, null, and WH) for free. On the other, it limits what ships you can fly and how you can fit them enough that beyond a time-uncapped sample, I doubt a lot of people who stick with the game are going to remain as F2P alpha pilots, which is why I don’t really view this as ‘true’ F2P. F2P to me means you can access most if not all of the game without paying, just that usually that access is more difficult to grind to. Here, no amount of time will ever get an alpha pilot into anything bigger than a cruiser, or allow them to fit tech 2 equipment, or train certain skills like cloaking.

Is this good for EVE? Of course. EVE’s biggest issue since… basically launch has been its ability to retain new players. It a hard game to get into, both from a mechanics perspective and because its a true sandbox that really doesn’t hold your hand while it shows you the pretty sights, so anything that gets someone over that hump is a plus.

Now this being EVE it’s likely (odd are currently set to 100%) that someone will find a way to work some ‘unintended consequences’ our of this. That’s a risk you take when adding anything to EVE, but its especially high when you allow unlimited alts to be created. But like I said, IMO its a worthwhile risk, and CCP going in this direction allows them to capture some of the ‘I’ll only try it if its F2P’ crowd without shifting the focus of EVE all together. They don’t need to add (another) cash shop to make this work, or ‘tweak’ SP gains to ‘encourage’ visiting a shop.

Posted in EVE Online, MMO design, RMT, Uncategorized | 9 Comments

Over two years playing Clash of Clans!

Posted on August 29, 2016 by SynCaine

I have now been playing and blogging about Clash of Clans for over two years (first post using the CoC tag is dated June 11th, 2014), and I just now hit Town Hall 10 on my main account. The funny/sad/good part is that TH10 isn’t even the top anymore, as SuperCell added TH11 somewhat recently.

I made the move up to TH10 with more than half my walls maxed for TH9, my AQ at 30, and my King at 25. Initially I was going to get the king to 30, which would have meant most if not all of my walls were also maxed, but considering how much research is required at TH10 (over a year straight at this point I believe), and the fact that our clan needs more TH10 players to help balance us out, I made the jump a little bit earlier than planned.

Its a bit surprising that in the last two+ years, CoC has been my most consistent game. LoL is close, but I’ve recently greatly reduced my time with the game, especially ranked play. In a lot of ways CoC scratches the itch that MMOs occupied in the past. It’s an enjoyable progression ‘grind’, its PvP, and it has a fairly strong social aspect both around clan management and also clan wars. Plus right now I get my truly ‘massive’ content from EVE, where joining fleets is easy and frequent, with everything else handled for me.

CoC is also a consistent time sink, one that you can adjust as needed. If I have more time, I can do more farming which speeds up progression a bit. If I don’t, I can simply collect resources and participate in clan wars, which slows progress but doesn’t mean a total stop, plus I can still experience the best part of the game (clan wars). Much like an MMO, the game is constantly being updated, both in terms of balance and also for new content. I mentioned the addition of TH11, but between the major updates smaller stuff still gets added, which usually changes up the meta and gives you new ‘stuff’ to upgrade.

Our clan, “Supreme Cream!”, currently has a few open spots, so if you are interesting in joining, either as an existing player looking for a consistent war clan, or someone totally new looking to get into CoC, look us up and mention the blog.

Posted in Clash of Clans, Inquisition Clan | Comments Off on Over two years playing Clash of Clans!

More on Mordheim

Posted on August 26, 2016 by SynCaine

My Mordheim review can be found here. This post is a bit of an update, as I keep playing the game and I’m liking it more and more.

One of the things Mordheim does great is mix in randomization in the maps. I’m not 100% sure on this, but I believe both the starting locations and certain details (like whether a doorway is blocked, if a staircase is collapsed, etc) are randomized, so even though you are playing on the same general map, the randomization really forces you to adjust your strategy and change things up. This is a great example of taking something that is difficult to do in real life, and using the extra flexibility a video game version gives you to make the experience better.

I also like the story missions, as they have all (so far) played very different from the normal missions you do, and have been a real challenge. Early on the game is brutal because your margin for error is so small. If one mission goes badly, you might end up in a real hole in terms of money or wardstone, and that might spiral into the warband total imploding. Later on, once you have a bit of gold stored up, one bad mission isn’t the end of the world (though it can still sting, especially if it really goes bad and you get a lot of injuries and lost gear). This is important because the story missions tend to be tough, both because of the surprises and because of the unlimited reinforcement mechanic. I’ve failed a few, which set my warband back, but it wasn’t total game over, and made finally beating that mission feel even better.

Finally, I really like the depth of the game. From the different weapon and armor choices, to enchantments, to how each class within each warband differs, there is just a lot of ‘stuff’ in Mordheim that will keep you entertained mission after mission. That I think is the biggest surprise for me; even after dozens of normal missions, and after seeing the (relatively) same maps and faced the (relatively) same warbands, I still feel surprised and entertained by the game.

Again, I highly recommend the game. It really is a gem, and should be getting more attention. Ping me on Steam if you want to play a friendly match or two.

Posted in Random | Comments Off on More on Mordheim

My top 10 Steam titles in terms of /played

Posted on August 22, 2016 by SynCaine

I like to look at my Steam ‘most played’ list, in large part because it combines the enjoyment of numbers and the strange addiction of lists. It’s not a complete view of my gaming history, given that my Steam account is only 7 years old and not all games are played via Steam, but it’s still pretty close. The biggest missing titles are MMOs, specifically EVE and WoW, both of which I have easily 1000+ hours with, and League of Legends (also very likely a 1000+ hours title). Mobile gaming has also racked up hundreds of hours between CoC, BB, and now CR.

My top ten played, along with hours.

  1. Mount and Blade: Warband – 597
  2. Age of Wonders 3 – 327
  3. Civilization V – 292
  4. ARK – 254
  5. Payday 2 – 234
  6. Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – 210
  7. Might and Magic: Heroes VI – 197
  8. FFXIV – 172
  9. Fallout 4 – 165
  10. Total War: Warhammer – 113

Two things go a long way to rack up hours with me; multiplayer (either co-op or 1v1 matchmaking) and mods. Warband being at the top is in large part due to the Prophecy of Pendor mod, which I have easily spend 300+ hours with. Skyrim also got a lot of play due to mods. Age of Wonders 3, Civ 5, ARK, and Payday 2 all benefit from multiplayer.

Interestingly, the only titles on the list likely to move up are Fallout 4 (still playing),TW: Warhammer, which I will return to at some point to play the DLC and potentially mods, and parhaps FFXIV once life settles down a bit for my wife and I. ARK is a maybe, but its an impossible game to play casually, and I don’t see a window for that one coming back again. Warband is getting a sequel ‘soon’, as is Civ V, and eventually Skyrim will as well. M&M Heroes has a sequel (reportedly a rather bad one), and I haven’t heard much about Payday 2 getting one (as the game itself still gets updates and DLC).

The list is also a reflection of different games playing differently. I’d say easily dozens of the hours for Warband are watching a siege battle play out as I’m either out of ammo or dead. ARK is similar, but instead of a siege it was waiting for a dino tame to finish. In multiplayer games like AoW3, Civ V, and Heroes, time was spent waiting for another player to finish their turn. This results in a much slower pace, and so the same content gets ‘stretched’ out over more hours. That sounds negative, but I don’t actually view it that way, as even in waiting, I was still ultimately entertained by the entire experience (otherwise I’d have stopped playing).

Games like Shadow of Mordor are the exact opposite. I have 17 hours with that game, being about 60% of the way through it, but I already feel done. That 17 hours was really good, especially the first 10, but its just not a long-term game. It’s too much coming at you all the time, and that’s just not sustainable.

I don’t think I’d go as far as saying that /played is the be-all-end-all of judging a game, but I also have a hard time thinking of a more important metric. My top 10 is pretty accurate in terms of the games I’ve enjoyed the most over the last 7 years, and I just find it almost impossible to move a game with even 30 hours /played above something I have 200+ with.

Posted in Civilization Series, EVE Online, Final Fantasy XIV, League of Legends, Mount and Blade: Warband, Random, Steam Stuff, World of Warcraft | 6 Comments

‘Female Protagonist” – More harm than good

Posted on August 17, 2016 by SynCaine

The all-female lead Ghostbusters movie bombed recently. I didn’t see it, mostly because I don’t care for that franchise and because previews looked terrible, but also in part because ‘all female’ or ‘female lead’ marketing puts me off. And not just for movies.

Steam has game tags, and one of those tags is “female protagonist, and basically every game I see with that tag I almost instantly dismiss (it also doesn’t help that, as far as I’ve seen, those games also just generally look terrible). This isn’t because I ‘hate women’, or even because I don’t want to play a female character or watch a movie with females in primary roles. I’ve played Queen Elizabeth in Civilization and Ashe in LoL, ok?! (read in “I have lots of black friends” voice).

What I am avoiding however is being force-fed ‘female power’ during a movie or a game, and such tags, or in the case of Ghostbusters, such a strong marketing push around the actors being female, generally do that. I’m for equality, in that I don’t want to treat women differently than men. There is no ‘male protagonist’ tag on Steam, and if there was and it was used the same way the female protagonist tag was used, I’d avoid those games too.

I also think such heavy-handed positioning doesn’t really help you succeed, or even drive your message home to ‘convert’ anyone. I don’t think I’m alone in that such marketing pushes people away, and I also don’t believe it draws others in to replace those it repels. Did a lot of people see Ghostbusters in large part because they wanted to support an all-female cast? The results suggest ‘no’. Same for the Steam tag; do a lot of gamers seek out and purchase games based on that style of marketing? I certainly don’t, and I don’t see those titles on the top charts either.

Tomb Raider was (is?) a successful franchise, mostly in gaming, but also with some cross-over into cinema. The lead was a female. But was that point ever driven home as hard as it was for Ghostbusters? In other words, let the product’s quality itself do the talking, and if it results in a certain subset of the population feeling good about that or identifying with it, that should be viewed as a bonus, not as the focus. Because when you do make it the focus, you overshadow the other aspects of the product that most people are actually interested in, like is movie X worth seeing, or is game Y fun to play.

Posted in Random, Rant, Steam Stuff | 36 Comments

Fallout 4 – Far Harbor thoughts

Posted on August 15, 2016 by SynCaine

With the Nuka World DLC coming August 30th (and based on the trailer, looking amazing!) I need to finish up the Far Harbor DLC sooner rather than later. I’ve done the main quest line, and some of the side content, but I feel like I’ve got at least 5-6hrs of ‘stuff’ to still do.

Far Harbor overall has been really, really good. The environmental effects, mostly the fog, are a great addition and give the island a unique feel compared to other areas of Fallout 4. It still feels like an area in a Fallout game, but there is no mistaking you are on Far Harbor when you are there. I also like the overall layout, as it doesn’t feel forced in terms of guiding you through the story, and most buildings are in spots that seem fairly logical.

The main storyline was very enjoyable, thought it felt slightly short. That feeling comes from the fact that since you must can pick one of three major resolutions, you don’t see the other two resolutions play out. That means the total content of the main storyline is decent, but you don’t see all of it on a single playthrough. Having a single save file at the very start is smart if you want to see all three sides fully. (Or you can just read a wiki about them like I did.)

Length aside, the story fit the area, was interesting, and tied the three major factions on the island together very well. It was a really good showcase for the Children of Atom faction, who were not a major feature in Fallout 4. New armor and weapons also fit into the theme of each faction, be it harpoons or radiation-flavored weapons. New enemies also help, although none of them I’d call instant classics that need to be brought along going forward.

To me the mark of good DLC is if it gets you more enjoyment out of a game you originally enjoyed. I loved Fallout 4, and Far Harbor continued that love. Well worth picking up IMO.

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