Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Blog Banter #5: To hell with Myth Drannor!

Welcome, welcome to the 5th installment of Blog Banter, the monthly blogging extravaganza headed by bs angel! Blog Banter involves our cozy community of enthusiastic gaming bloggers, a common topic, and a week to post articles pertaining to said topic. The results are quite entertaining and can range from deep insight to ROFLMAO. Any questions about Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

I missed the last Banter, so when bs angel sent out the email for this month's Banter, I immediately set aside some time for it. There was no way I was going to miss two in a row!

The topic of this month's banter is how flawed games prevented us from completing them. Interesting. Easy choice.

I say so because, if there is one game that I think of when I hear the word flaw, one game which I tried again and again to "get into" and complete, that would be: Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. It's one major flaw: the interface. Funny in a way, since the topic of our latest Drone Bay podcast was the EVE Online overview and how one could customize it to his or her liking.

Pool of Radiance was my first PC game. The first I bought myself, the first that I had anticipated, the first I had counted the days before its launch. I even bought a new graphic card for it, because my PC at the time, an IBM PC300, wasn't up to par. I remember loading it and launching the game the first time. The excitement, the trepidation! And then... the disappointment.


At first I thought it was me. Somehow I just didn't "get" the menu interface Stormfront had created. When I would approach a monster character and engaged it in combat, I would clumsily fumble trying to cast the right spell, or use the right weapon. Only to realize that I had selected somehow the wrong one. This kept happening over and over. For sure, as time went on, I would become more comfortable with the interface. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Now, I'm not saying that the game wasn't enjoyable; the setting was great, the story was captivating, the graphics (back then) looked great, and eh, this was D&D! But for me, from the moment I started the game, the interface was a flaw I just couldn't get past. No matter how much time I'd spent trying to familiarize myself with it, it just didn't get through my thick skull. So I quit and moved on.

My next game was a gift from a friend at work. And what a game it was! Diablo II! Now there was a game with a simple, effective, easy to pick-up interface. That's what all developers should strive for. The interface of a game is something that they just can't get wrong. If they get it right no one notices, but if they get it wrong, they whole game is tainted by it. I don't mind a complex interface, or else I would go nuts playing EVE! But I, for one, am a follower of the "easy to learn, difficult to master" mantra. And that applies beautifully to a game's interface.

So how about you? What game(s) have you played and couldn't complete because of a perceived flaw you just couldn't get past?

Check out these other Blog Banter articles! Silvercublogger, Unfettered Blather, Triage Effect, Gamer Unit, Delayed Responsibility, Man Bytes Blog, Zath!, Draining Souls.net, Game Couch, 8-Bit Brigade, thoughts and rants, Hawty McBloggy.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

A great video to setup your EVE overview!

You've got to hand it to them, the Goons know their stuff! And they also have some great simple videos to help their members. But who's going to stop there.

Following our last Drone Bay podcast, where we covered the overview setup, I though I'd share with you a short video that was done for the Goons, but which can be applied by anyone. It's a visual version of what Crovan and I explained during the podcast. It might be a year old, but it still helps. Of course, you'll still want to experiment and come up with you own version of this setting. But it still gives you a good start. Enjoy!



Thanks for the help NecroticBudz!

Monday, April 28, 2008

The Drone Bay: Episode 8 - I smell BACON!











Virgin Worlds Link
EVE Forum Link (please bump!)

Show notes:

Episode 8: I smell BACON! Episode 8 is here, and it's time to fry up some eggs, because BACON's on the plate!

Bring on the Drones:

In the weekly recap, the big news is the Re-Release of BACON.

The DON'T PANIC topic for this week is the interface. Learn to set up your overview, and also don't miss Crovan and CK's number one interface tip for surviving in 0.0/lowsec!

Mail gets answered, as usual. Keep sending us questions/comments! Also, please review us on iTunes. We're in the "New and Notable" section under Games and Hobbies already. Thanks for the support so far! Also, if you have an idea for a mini-segment (2 minutes or under), then record it as an MP3 and send it to one of the e-mail addresses below. We'd love to get some good listener content!

No bloopers, but a fitting out track.


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)

EVE Online Speedlinking for April 28th, 2008

Another week gone by, wow! I guess the amazing weather we've been getting here in Eastern Canada has meant that I spent a lot of that past week outside. Guess time flies when its spring and sunny outside. Today though, we've got rain and cooler weather. Perfect for speedlinking, so here goes.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

EON #011 - Table of Content

EON Issue 011This latest issue is probably the best issue so far. And I'm not saying that because my name (p10) and blog (p77) both appear in this issue. This wouldn't be the first time.

My relationship with EON goes back a long time. Some may remember that I had a picture of me and my better-half in issue #003. Once you've stopped starring at Lacy and Melissa, you'll notice me on in the bottom middle photo. Big smile, dark blue shirt next to the cute brunette in a turquoise top (my wife), yep that's me! That was back in 2006 at the Las Vegas Player Gathering.

Anyways, back to why I think this is the best issue so far. I say so because of the quality of the articles, news and chronicles. Now I haven't gone through the whole issue, but with what I read so far, I really look forward to the next issues.

In our digital day and age, where important gaming events come-up weekly, if not daily, EON still manages to get me excited about upcoming events (Fan Fest 2008), guides (Insider's Guide series) and upcoming products (EVE novel, EON Special Issue). And before I forget, anyone who's ever read an issue of EON, please take the time to complete the EON Survey that Zapatero has put up. It's time well invested in the future of this precious publication.

Table of Content - EON 011

  • Page 6 --- E-ON Upfront (News)
  • 14 ---- EON Awards 2008 - The Winners
  • 16 ---- Post Cards from the edge (Screen shots)
  • 18 ---- Chronicles: If it's Good Being Free... by David Alexander Corno
  • 22 ---- In Crowd: Elisabet Gretarsdotir (CCP Employee Interview)
  • 24 ---- The History of New Eden (Part Three)
  • 31 ---- In Character: Fantome (Player Character Interview)
  • 32 ---- Alliance Profile: Archean Cooperative
  • 34 ---- First Pilot's Club
  • 42 ---- In Character: Schani (Player Character Interview)
  • 44 ---- Cover Feature: One Alliance to Rule Them All
  • 50 ---- In Crowd: Kristin Dor Sigurbergsson (CCP Employee Interview)
  • 52 ---- In Character: Voogru (Player Character Interview)
  • 54 ---- Testflight: Marauders (Golem, Kronos, Vargur & Paladin)
  • 62 ---- Chronicles: Looking After Your Own by Richard James
  • 64 ---- Insider's Guide: Starting Out (Part Two)
  • 70 ---- Insider's Guide: Fleet Setups
  • 76 ---- EVE Directory
  • 78 ---- Teh Funnies (EVE Humour)
As always, this latest issue is a must for dedicated EVE players. I strongly suggest that you order it or better yet, subscribe!

Monday, April 21, 2008

EVE Online Speedlinking for April 21st, 2008

Well, to say that the past week has been very busy would be an understatement. With the Source Code leak and other news items, today's speedlink list is extensive. Enjoy!

On the whole Source Code leak tempest (in a glass):
As for the real links of interest to you and I, here they are:
Till next time, fly safely!

Sunday, April 20, 2008

EVE Online Postcard for the week of April 20th, 2008

Gallente Iteron Mark IV warping

During the past week my corporation, Phoenix Labs, has had a few mining operations in which I participated as the hauler, moving the mined ore from the belts to the nearest station, where it was processed. In this screenshot we can see the Gallente Iteron Mark IV (or III?) that I used to move the precious ore around.

I've been warping in EVE Online for almost 4 years now, and even after all this time, I find myself mesmerized by the beautiful backdrops.

I can't wait for the Trinity update that will see belts, planets, moons and other elements upgraded to the current graphic engine.

The Drone Bay: Episode 7











Virgin Worlds Link


Show notes:

Episode 7 is upon thee! Cower in fear! Also, little to no WoW talk this week, we promise.

Bring on the Drones:

In the weekly recap, Crovan edits out a sneeze, but forgets to edit the part where he warns that he's going to sneeze. Also, EVE's source code gets out, and is posted with a chatlog. Drone Bay says Just Say No to source! Also, CCP hires garbage men in Trinity 2.3.

The DON'T PANIC topic for this week is the market. Be a day-trader! Watch out for market bubbles!

In the listener feedback section, the guys discover that their Skype voicemail works! Yay! Please get in touch with us. We want to hear your dulcet tones. Also, discussion ensues about how hard EVE pwns WoW vis-a-vis PvP.

A new segment, titled "Tool Time" debuts this week. The first tool featured is EVEMon. If you aren't using EVEMon, you are wrong!

More mail this week, which was good. This week, though we are now welcoming/inviting you to share your own expertise with mini-segments! If you want to record something that is under 2 minutes long in mp3 format, has good audio quality, and is something you think we would find to be quality work, send it on! I recommend using Audacity to record/encode the mp3, since it's free and rather easy to use. You will need to download a file library to encode mp3s, but all the links are on the Audacity site. In a pinch, you can send us a wav file.

No bloopers this week. Not because they didn't happen, but more because Crovan left them in in order to simulate "live conditions". We are still contemplating taking the show live in the future, at least for the recording process.

This is a taste of the insanity likely to ensue. Enjoy!


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)

CrazyKinux's Musing Design Poll


For those of you who visit the blog and don't just read them through RSS readers, you'll have noticed that I gone from a 3-column back to a 2-column design. I did this because as I sat down yesterday morning for my usual week-end clean-up, I kind of noticed that with the 3 columns it was getting visually very crowed.

Now what I like about the 3 column was the fact that the blog page wasn't too long, since I had widgets on both sides, cutting in half the length of the page. The down side was that it was too busy - for my taste anyways.

This is where you come in. I need your opinion. I've set-up a poll on the top right column and would like to know where you stand on this matter. If you want to let me know, please fill in the poll and add your comments to his post. I'll make sure to take into account every opinion.

CK out.

EVE Online Blogroll lovefest!


Last Update: March 16th, 2011  ---  Recently Added: 11  ---  Recently Removed: 0

I thought I'd also add the blogs of fellow EVE players as a searchable post. It'll be easier for them to show up in searches. If you know, or have, an EVE Online blog and keep it updated regularly, then please let me know and I'll add to this post and the blogroll.
  1. 8 to Infinity Bit Gaming's Thoughts and Ramblings 
  2. 99 Red Beacons 
  3. .5 or Higher!
  4. /random
  5. A "CareBears" Journey
  6. A Ghost Blog
  7. A Grim Journey
  8. A Missioneer in Eve <-- New URL
  9. A Mule in EVE
  10. A Prayer for Freedom
  11. A Reaper in EvE 
  12. A Scientist's Life in Eve 
  13. A Scout's Domain 
  14. A Vasty Nothingness
  15. Achernar: eve
  16. Addicted to EvE
  17. Adventures in Mission Running
  18. Adventures of a Clone and His Pod (The)
  19. Adventures of Eirellle (The)
  20. Aeon's EVE
  21. Aeroxe's Assault 
  22. Agent EVE
  23. Aggressive Tendencies 
  24. Akikio's plog
  25. All Alone In The Night 
  26. Amieta's Journal
  27. Ancient Gaming Noob (The)
  28. An Amarrian Capsuleer 
  29. A rabbit's adventures 
  30. Ardent Defender 
  31. Ashireka's Adventures In EVE
  32. Astral's EVE Trial by Fire 
  33. Autopilot Disabled
  34. Axinex - Miner, Maker, Hunter 
  35. Bacardi and Quafe
  36. Baling Wire and Girders
  37. Bald Buccaneer (The)
  38. Bastards (The) - VB Sarge
  39. Black Rabbits Hole (The) 
  40. Blastrad tales 
  41. Beginnings of Piracy (The) 
  42. Biomassed, Perplexed and Langour
  43. Bitter Old Noob
  44. Blacklight
  45. Blackshell Ship Log 
  46. Blastrad tales 
  47. Blood-Thirsty Miner
  48. Boom! Hull-Shot? 
  49. Break Vol
  50. Breakin' Rocks In the Hot Sun... <-- New Blog
  51. Broadside
  52. Brutor Bullfighter 
  53. Burrito's Quest to Universal Domination
  54. Caels Caldanhai, Inc.
  55. Caldarian's Kanji Travellar
  56. Capsuleer 
  57. Captain Serenity 
  58. Captains Log (The)
  59. Carebear in Disguise
  60. Cataclysmic Variable (The) 
  61. Center for the Regression of the Human Condition 
  62. Chimps in Space
  63. Citadel Enterprise 
  64. Clan Oriana (The) 
  65. Cle Demaari: Citizen
  66. Cogito Ergo Yarr
  67. Congo Free State
  68. Confessions of a Closet Carebear 
  69. Confounded Capsuleer 
  70. Corp of None
  71. Corpse Collection Point
  72. Costolle Military Assistance Corp
  73. CrazyKinux's Musing <== THIS BE MINE!!
  74. Criminally Yours
  75. Cyberea - Personal Log <-- New Blog
  76. Deadly Nightshade
  77. DeafPlasma's EVE Musings
  78. Death's Sweetest Kiss
  79. Declarations of War - Revisited
  80. Deep Space Transponder
  81. Defias Blog (The)
  82. Demigodess with a Conscience 
  83. Dense Veldspar
  84. Depths Unknown 
  85. Destination: Cruel World 
  86. Developer Updates
  87. Diary of a Bored Spaceman 
  88. Diary of a Garbageman 
  89. Diary of a Pod Pilot 
  90. Diary of a Space Jockey
  91. Dobbers View (The) 
  92. Doubt the Stars 
  93. Down The Rabbit Hole 
  94. Drew Jerac's Log 
  95. Drifting through the Stars
  96. Duct Tape Engineering V 
  97. Durzo Chronicles (The) <-- New Blog
  98. Dwarf In W-Space (A) 
  99. Easley Thames 
  100. Easy Company 
  101. Ecliptic Rift 
  102. eddiesleaze
  103. Edge of the Galaxy 
  104. Enrage Merc (The) 
  105. Escape Velocity
  106. Escoce - EVE Trader
  107. Et Tu, Brutus? 
  108. EVE A to Z 
  109. Eve Blasphemy 
  110. Eve-cast 
  111. EVE Chick
  112. EvE Chronicles by Von Richtburg
  113. EVE Fail Posting
  114. EVE Hub
  115. EVE Illectrocuted 
  116. EVE is broken
  117. EVE Journey
  118. EVE Maps
  119. EVE Network News
  120. EVE Newb
  121. EVE on Real Life 
  122. EVEOGANDA
  123. Eve Online Day By Day <-- New Blog
  124. EVE Online Pictures
  125. EVE Online Portal (The)
  126. EVE Online Postcards
  127. EVE Online Reviewed 
  128. Eve Online Strategy 
  129. EVE Online Trader
  130. EVE Online Wormholes
  131. Eve Opportunist 
  132. EVE's Parity Bit 
  133. EVE SOB 
  134. EVE Ventures 
  135. EVE What?! 
  136. EVE-Pirate
  137. EVE-Sweden
  138. EvE-Toast 
  139. EVE-Yarr
  140. EVEolutions
  141. EVEtastic 
  142. EVE's Weekend Warrior
  143. EvilFree's EVE Online Blog 
  144. Exiles's Flight 
  145. ExtraVehicular 
  146. Facepalm's Ramblings
  147. Faction Warfare Military Career Center 
  148. Faint Resolution
  149. Fang (The) 
  150. Fiddler's Edge 
  151. Finders & Keepers
  152. Finraer's Folly
  153. Flashresh - A Pirate
  154. Flee on Sight 
  155. Fly Reckless
  156. Flying Free - Formely Known as Tyrodia's EvE Blog 
  157. Flyin On The Edge 
  158. Flying Rust <-- New Blog
  159. Free2Kill 
  160. Freebooted
  161. Friends of Sharuveil
  162. FTLOL Corp
  163. Genius? Insane? I Prefer Visionary
  164. Ghosts Report (The) 
  165. Grieflogs 
  166. Gun Turret Diplomacy 
  167. Hallo, Can I Violence UR Boat? 
  168. Hardcore Casual
  169. Helicity Boson
  170. House Theodoulos (The)
  171. Hydrostatic Capsule (The) 
  172. I am Keith Neilson
  173. I am ... Micheal Malone 
  174. I May Find Peace Within The Emptiness 
  175. I will bring salvation to my people
  176. I will try to find my place
  177. Im Wurmloch
  178. Inanity and Doom
  179. Independent Analyst (The) 
  180. Industrialisms
  181. Infection Vector
  182. Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
  183. Insanity by Increments - E-UNI Logistics 
  184. Inside of nowhere (The)
  185. Interstellar Privateer 
  186. Into The Pink 
  187. Into the Unknown
  188. Into the unknown with gun and camera
  189. It's a miner's life for me
  190. It's Not About Living Forever 
  191. Ivy League & EVE University
  192. Jae's Journal <-- New Blog
  193. Janet Davy - Piracy Logs 
  194. Journeys of a Baroque Pilot 
  195. Jump On Contact 
  196. Jumping through wormhole
  197. Just a Girl in her Thorax
  198. Kallaran's Blog
  199. Kane Rizzel - A Pirate's Perspective
  200. Katana in the Swirling Blackness 
  201. Kill Ten Rats
  202. Kirith Darkblade - EVE Pirate
  203. Kokuryu - An EVE Pirate Blog
  204. Krispy's Korner « My little EVE space 
  205. Kyle Langdon's Journeys in EVE
  206. Lab Utopia 
  207. Lady in Space
  208. Laedy in Red 
  209. Latro's Bunker 
  210. Letrange's EVE Blog
  211. Letters from the Front <-- New Blog
  212. Let's All Kill My Brother 
  213. Life among Pirates - The Romance and the Reality
  214. Life in EvE 
  215. Life in Low Sec
  216. Life in my Hole 
  217. Life is Cheap 
  218. Life Most Ordinary (A) 
  219. Life Of a Caldari
  220. Life of a Coolguy 
  221. Life of a Dead Jester (The) 
  222. Life of a Pirate Queen (The)
  223. Life of a Student (The) 
  224. Light of the Stars (The) 
  225. Life, the Universe and Everthing
  226. Linked Dreams 
  227. Living A Lie
  228. Log of a Black Ops Pilot
  229. Logs of a Brutor
  230. Lolion Reglo's Captains log
  231. Lord Zekk's Yaarmachine 
  232. Lost in New Eden 
  233. Lost In Space 
  234. Loyalist (The)
  235. Lub's PvP adventures
  236. Mad Rant
  237. Make way for the fail train
  238. Making Iskies in Eve 
  239. Maniacle Machinations
  240. Matari Reflections
  241. Max Torps' Blog
  242. Merry Life and a Short One (A)
  243. Miner's Blues 
  244. Misguided Adventurer (A)
  245. Money or Meteors
  246. Morphisat's Blog
  247. Munich Mataris
  248. Musings of a Casual Industrialist 
  249. MushskiC's Marshmallow Mountain 
  250. My Life in EVE
  251. nanonyous' EVE and CG den 
  252. Nashh Kadavrs EVE Blog
  253. Necro's World
  254. Nemesis Nation
  255. New Eden according to the Prophet
  256. New Eden Experience (The) 
  257. Ninja Hi-Jinx 
  258. Ninjas and Pirates and Stuff 
  259. Nosce te ipsum
  260. No War Too Small 
  261. Norse for Courses 
  262. Nukes Thoughts
  263. Nullsec Carebear
  264. Nursultan's Pirate Blag
  265. Odinsdagrting
  266. Ombeve
  267. OMG! You're a Chick?! 
  268. Omnis Arcanum of EVE 
  269. One Tired EVE Pilot
  270. One-Man-and-His-POD 
  271. One Unit of Prop Comic 
  272. Onei Robotics 
  273. Onslaughts of an Outlawed 
  274. Ore, Pirates, and Pods 
  275. Orphaned in Eve 
  276. Other Side (The)
  277. Our EvE
  278. Out of Sinq
  279. Oz's House of Evil Dead
  280. Panicking and EVE 
  281. perbastet
  282. Persephone's YarrJournal
  283. Personal Files, Ciarente Roth
  284. Phaze-9
  285. The Phoenix Diaries - The diaries of a capsuleer (and associates) 
  286. Pirate Kaya (The)
  287. Pocket Pairs & Pod Pilots
  288. Pod Blog 
  289. Pod Cast!
  290. Pod Journal (The) 
  291. Pod Splatter 
  292. Podded: The EVE Online podcast for you!
  293. Podlogs
  294. POS Life 
  295. postings from the edge
  296. Prano's Journey 
  297. private files: Hakatain_YVG:0453365
  298. Progression's Horizon 
  299. Punishment
  300. Purely Business <-- New Blog
  301. pΘtshΘt
  302. Qash In Eve 
  303. Rackin' up Bad Karma 
  304. Ralpha Dogs (The)
  305. Random Drivel
  306. Random Posts from Auga 
  307. Rants of a Jaded Miner <-- New Blog
  308. rantuket 
  309. Reckless Rifter (The) 
  310. Recon Report (The) 
  311. Red Vs Blue 
  312. Reformed Anti-Pirate (The)  
  313. Republic of Tyrants 
  314. Rettic's Log: The Chronofile
  315. Revolting Carebears 
  316. Rifter Drifter
  317. Roc's Ramblings
  318. Road to Recovery (The)
  319. Roving Drone (The) 
  320. Rum and Ransom: Journals of a Space Pirate 
  321. Rustbucket Outlaw (The) 
  322. Sand Box Journals (The) 
  323. Scary Door (The)
  324. Scrap Metal & Faction Ammo 
  325. Scram Web 
  326. Scuttlebutt 
  327. Semper EVE
  328. Sequential EVE
  329. Serious Thukking Business 
  330. Shaymac: Lowsec Lay-about 
  331. Silver Night's Fiction
  332. Skillpoints 
  333. Skyes Super Happy Fun Pirating Blog! Wait what?
  334. Sleepless in Space 
  335. Smart Fun with Big Guns
  336. Smokes Black Aces
  337. Soft Diamond 
  338. Sooner or Later
  339. Soulprayer.de (German)
  340. Speed Fairy
  341. Surviving within the Void
  342. Sweet Little Bad Girl
  343. Tai One On
  344. Tales of a Low Sec Pirate
  345. Taliac Mining 
  346. TeaDaze.net 
  347. Tech 2 Duct Tape 
  348. Tetras Eve Blog 
  349. Thinker's Pod (The) 
  350. Thoughts from an Accidental Minmatar Revolutionary
  351. Thoughts from The Void 
  352. To Boldly Go <-- New URL
  353. Touching the Heavens - Crorono 
  354. Travels of Black Claw (The)
  355. Travels of The Ronin 
  356. Tul's Sapce Stories 
  357. Tulirs Ramblings 
  358. Tuskers Public Relations (The)
  359. Undarum & Crew 
  360. Uninvited But Not Unloved 
  361. Van Hemlock :: EVE Online
  362. VelociLogic
  363. Venom's Bite
  364. Victoria Aut Mors 
  365. Vive Virtual
  366. Votrian's EVE Blog
  367. Wandering Druid of Tranquility (The) 
  368. Wandering the Void…my EvE musings <-- New Blog
  369. War and Politics 
  370. Way of the Gun <-- New Blog
  371. WH - Dwellers 
  372. Where ever I may roam
  373. Where the frack is my ship 
  374. Wild at Heart
  375. Winterblink: EVE
  376. Woe (The) 
  377. Wotlankor - Warpdrive Initiated
  378. X1376's Space Odyssey
  379. Yarr Yum
  380. Yarrbear Tales
  381. Yo Ho! A Pirate's Life For Me!
  382. Yosagi Yojimbo 
  383. Your Money or Your Life
  384. Zargyl - A Sebiestor Scholar 
  385. zealot (the) 
  386. Zen and the Art of Internet Spaceship Maintenance
  387. Zero Kelvin
Updates:
  • September 5th, 2009: Removed all Gamescribe blogs since its shutdown.
  • September 26th, 2009: Added a bunch of new blogs!
  • October 5th, 2009: Updated A Mule in EVE's URL
  • October 8th, 2009: Major overhaul of the two lists, which I've merged back into one master list (Podlogs blogs and the rest of the EVE Blogs). I'll be adding more blogs soon and tweaking the existing list!
  • November 4th, 2009: Added a few new blogs, removed some duplicates and updated the URLs of a few.
  • December 6th, 2009: Added a bunch of new blogs! Welcome to the family guys!
  • March 18th, 2010: Added 22 new blogs!
  • March 19th, 2010: Added 12 more!
  • March 21st, 2010: Added the last 17 missing blogs!
  • March 31st, 2010: Added 7 new blogs.
  • June 22nd, 2010: Added 33 new blogs. OMG!
  • July 2nd, 2010: 9 new blogs added.
  • August 4th, 2010: Updated Zargyl's URL
  • September 3rd, 2010: Removed outdated blogs and added new ones.
  • September 9th, 2010: More blogs added!
  • September 23rd, 2010: Added new blogs!
  • November 11th, 2010: Removed over a 100 dead blogs.
  • November 12th, 2010: Added 17 new blogs.
  • November 19th, 2010: Updated the URL of 2 blogs
  • November 27th, 2010: Added 4 new blogs!
  • December 22nd, 2010: Added Brutor Bullfighter.
  • December 24th, 2010: Added Thoughts from The Void
  • February 14, 2011: Added a bunch of new blogs!

Friday, April 18, 2008

EVE Strategic Maps will ship late, and that makes me happy!














Why you may wonder? A worthy questions which deserve an explanation. Last week, while waiting for EON issue #011 to arrive, I ordered Serenity Steele's EVE Strategic Maps.

I hadn't planned to order it so soon, but when I got the MMM Publishing newsletter, I just couldn't resist.

I had to get it.

Since then I did receive my EON issue (and will be posting the ToC soon), but I was still waiting for my ESM.

Well it seems I'm going to have to wait a bit longer then expected. But it's for a good cause. Earlier today I received the following email from MMM Publishing:

Thanks for ordering EVE Strategic Maps, which we were expecting to begin
shipping within the next 10 days.

However, we have just returned from CCP’s Iceland HQ where we discussed some exciting new content which will slightly delay the shipping of EVE Strategic Maps, but will in fact put you well ahead of the rest of the player base.

Why? There is, as you may know already, an expansion coming in a few months, which will introduce completely new content to the world of EVE. So although your copy of ESM will arrive a couple of weeks later than planned, it will now contain advance information, allowing you totake advantage of the knowledge of this new content before anyone else. CCP has agreed to exclusively reveal this data to us now, wellin advance of it ‘going live’, in order that we can ensure the first run of EVE Strategic Maps includes the most accurate information possible.

As you read this, Serenity Steele is busy exploring this new contentin his Polaris Frigate, plotting the data and mapping every system,planet, moon, asteroid field, ice field and jump gate. With EVE Strategic Maps on your desk, you can be ready to take control. We will email you again to let you know when your copy of ESM is on the way, but for now thanks for your patience. We promise you will not be is appointed.

Regards The E-ON / ESM team

Priviliged information eh! Well I can certainly wait a bit longer for that! If you haven't ordered your copy, now's a great reason to do so. Or else you can wait for my review once I receive my copy.

Cheers!

Thursday, April 17, 2008

My Top 10 EVE Online posts

I thought I'd give you the Top 10 list of posts (or pages) for CrazyKinux's Musing - that is the posts or pages with the most visits. Though it may change in the future, the top ten posts have been pretty stable over the last few months, with very little change in the order.
  1. EVE Online Guides
  2. Video of EVE Online avatars walking through station
  3. EVE Online Ship Setups
  4. 10 sites for every new EVE Online Player
  5. Finding the right corporation in EVE Online
  6. What's the longest you've gone without playing? An EVE Online poll.
  7. EVE Online Screenshots links
  8. EVE Online Corporations links
  9. EVE Online Alliances links
  10. An amazing EVE Online wallpaper from Meritus

So, is your favourite in there? What is you favourite post? What do you think I should write more about. Less about. This site is as much for you, as it is for me. So I'd very much appreciate you comments and feedback.

Let me know what you think!

CK out!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

An EVE Online noob in training

For the last 14 months I've been working on a top secret project. A half-clone of myself is beeing trained in the rudimentary aspects of EVE: the ultimate EVE noob. There she is! Watch out Goonswarm. Move over BoB. You just don't stand a chance! =)

All kidding aside, here is a picture of my daughter with her EVE Noob bodysuit, which I purchased a few weeks ago. I had promised you a picture way back then, and there she is. Ain't she the cutest! Now if you'll excuse, I have to go change, now that she's spilled the beer I was drinking in the EVE mug I also got back then.

Cheers

Monday, April 14, 2008

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!

Cool Caldari Drake Battlecruiser video

Came across this really cool video entitled "Drake. Designed to change your life". It was posted today on Daily Motion by EVEAnon26. I don't know if the video is from him, but it's really cool to see EVE ships this way. If you know more about the video, I'd love to know about.


Sunday, April 13, 2008

EVE Postcard for the week of April 13th, 2008

Royal Khanid Navy Assembly Plant in Kihtaled

Since my return to the Khanid Kingdom, I've been running missions and mining for the corp. This screenshot was taken while docking at an Royal Kahnid Nay (RKN) station while doing the "Pirate Intrusion" mission given to me by agent Umid Ashain. I'll have more screenshots of this particular mission soon.

Just so you know, that little dot on the top right corner is my Vexor on its way to the station docks!

Fly safely in the mean time!

Thursday, April 10, 2008

EVE Online Mobile Skill Planner is upon us!

Actually it's been in the works for a while now. This is something that I kind of had on my wish list and which I was looking forward to.

Now it seems that with the latest version (3.1.3) it will run on handsets, as long as your device needs to support MIDP 2.0 and CLDC 1.1. The gentlman behind this effort is Jaabaa, who posted about it on the EVE Forum wayback in June 2007, and who's latest update (see the edit note) is earlier this March.

The video below, though dated back to July of 2007, still gives us a good idea of what this mobile application looks like.




So it's not the full EVE Mobile edition, and you can't actually change or set skill training. But we're getting closer people. I guess you could call it EveMon Mobile Edition!

If anyone from CCP is reading this, please, oh please make this application official and allow us to change our skills in training. Once we've got the door open for skills, then we can add other mobile features (access to station facilities, chatting, monitor markets, escrows, etc. - hell, even voice chat now that EVE Voice is out; ok that may be pushing it!).

If anyone knows about a more recent video, please let us know.

For those that have handsets that comply to the spec requests, here's where you can download the application.

CK out!

An Amarr mothership or a Kushan station?








Earlier this week I was flying to a new system in Khanid space and came in to a station from a point of view which reminded me of the Homeworld mothership. As you may recall, I'm currently playing (or trying to at least) Homeworld 2.

So the image of the Kushan Mothership was fresh in my mind when I came across this Amarr space station.

It's as if they were separated at birth!

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)

Monday, April 07, 2008

The CSM, the Candidates and You!

It's been a few days now since the Call for Candidates ended and the voting begins in less then one month - on May 5th to be exact. Do you know who you'll vote for? Do you at least know who the candidates are? Do you know what there platform is?

If you answered no to any of these questions and you consider yourself a dedicated member of the EVE Online Community, you need to do your homework! You're taking part in one of the most interesting MMO experiment, one where an elected body from the player base, has a chance to influence the developers of an MMO. You need to give this the time it deserves! This is for YOU the players.

A while back I mentioned the Candidate Infozone which Winterblink had put together to try to make some sense of it all. Today, I came across two new EVE-Forum threads which should help us all in choosing our representative within the CSM.

First is the Special CSM issue of EVE Mag. This issue has interviews with about half the candidates, each going through a series of questions, giving us a good idea as to where they stand and what the believe in. Candidates which have not gone through the interview can still contact Ikki Phoenix, EVE Mag's editor, to get theirs in. He will update the magazine as new interviews become available.

Last, but not least, we have the Council of Stellar Management website, brilliantly put together by Serenity Steele, who is also the one behind the EVE Strategic Maps! The site lists all the candidates, with links to their blogs, information on their platform, forum statics, etc. Very well put together and a must for anyone considering to vote intelligently - which is all of us, right!

So suffice to say, we've all got a lot of reading ahead of us, if we're going to make this CSM work and do a proper job at representing us.

The CSM's success will be a result of our efforts and our will to give it the chance it deserves.

EVE Citizens, you have a duty to fulfill!

Sunday, April 06, 2008

EON Issue #011 on its way right now!

The latest issue of yours truly's favourite EVE Online magazine is on it's way, having shipped out on the late last week. Here's what's coming up in this next issue, though I will have a detailed ToC (table of content) of the issue when it gets here, as usual!

ONE ALLIANCE TO RULE THEM ALL? - Why are Julius Caesar, JRR Tolkien and Isaac Asimov meeting in a smoky station bar in the Drone Regions? And why does CCP's Greyscale appear to be preening his mechanical feathers? Why, they have come together to plot the conquest of 0.0, of course! In order to ponder the ultimate military conundrum of EVE, Terra Nova's Nate Combs has assembled (in his own head, we might add) a stellar cast of some of the greatest thinkers in history and had them play out a bizarre thought experiment to consider the motivations and make-up required of an alliance in order that it might rule all others. Don't worry, Greyscale's wings are purely cosmetic.

MARAUDERS - Last issue we brought you a Testflight on the best budget cruisers to take into PvP. This time we try out what are among the most expensive (and apparently the most versatile) sub-capital ships on the market: the much-talked about Marauder Battleships. How should they be used on the post-Trinity battlefield, if at all, and what mods should you fit? Answers inside.

BACK IN THE DAY - With each successive patch and expansion EVE has been evolving to the point where the original game from 2003 is almost unrecognizable. Speaking to a bunch of crusty EVE veterans we catch a glimpse of what EVE was like then, what it's like for them now and ask whether the changes made have been for good or for ill.

HISTORY OF NEW EDEN - PART III - The Great Northern War saw the winding down of pirate corp mOo and the wind up of Band of Brothers, in-between which we saw the rise and fall (and rise again) of many alliances across EVE. Most importantly New Eden's first big bust-up formed the blueprint for every major war that has followed. EVE-History.net's Reiisha looks at how it started and chronicles the slow grind of it's eventual end.

PLUS - Tony Gonzales on EVE's first novel • Tuxford on being Tuxford • A noob joins EVE university • Profiles of voogru, Fantome and Schani Kratnorr • ...and lots of other stuff

WDA: Industry finds its place with the collective

The Warp Drive Active: Industry podcast has finally nudge itself a spot within the VirginWorlds Podcast collective. Though Benilopax and Lavista Vista have got a few shows under their belts, it took a while before the show got its spot.

Whatever the reason, they're now here and you should definitely add them to your list of regurlar EVE podcast - along with Warp Drive Active (The Original) and of course The Drone Bay. Shows #1, #2 and #3 are now available for download.

And please take the time to let them know what you think of the show.

Good work guys!

EVE Online Speedlinking for April 6th, 2008

Quiet week! Enjoy!

EVE Movie Trailer: CVA The Amarr Empire

Looks like fellow capsuleer swp(ws) is putting together an EVE Online movie - "Curatores Veritatis Alliance The Amarr Empire". And from the looks of the trailer he's just released, we're going to be impressed. Once you've seen the trailer below, head over to the EVE Forum thread and let him know what you think!



Friday, April 04, 2008

Battlestar Galactica Video Recap

Now that BSG is finally back on the air, you may have wondered where the frak we had left off. You're not alone. I found this great little video over at Voodoo Extreme that recaps the last 3 seasons and gets you up to speed for tonight's episode. You can even download the piece. Very well done!

Enjoy!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

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!!!]

EVE Online Speedlinking for April 1st, 2008

I know I'm a few days late for last week's speedlinking, but eh, no ones perfect! So here goes...

That's it for now!