Friday Video: Mass Effect 2 "Prelude to E3" Trailer

Just enjoy the video!

EVE Blog Banter #8: Care for a little game of SecWars?

Welcome to the eighth installment of the EVE Blog Banter , the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here . Check out otherEVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month's topic comes to us from me, Ga'len at The Wandering Druid of Tranquility. He asks: "What new game mechanic or mechanics would you like to see created and brought into the EVE Online universe and how would this be incorporated into the current game universe? Be specific and give details, this is not meant to be a 'nerf this, boost my game play' post like we see on the EVE forums."

EVE Online Speedlinking for Saturday May 23rd, 2009

Over the last week the EVE Blogging Community literally exploded with over 200 new EVE blogs! First there was the Podlogs EVE blogging platform which launch on May 11th. With some great looking themes for all your capsuleers' content, it currently lists almost 50 EVE blogs.

Then came GameScribe, launched earlier this week as part of contest with some great EVE Online loot. The results of weeks of work and preparation by @AnMiTh, the genious behind Titan Weekly and the EVE Network News, the site now bosts more than 170 blogs!

Suffice to say, I'm hard at work trying to add all those blogs to my EVE Blogroll!

Before the explosions of new blogs happened, a few new EVE blogs had gained my attention. These are listed below.

New EVE Blogs:

• Matt's Blog - EVE Online
• GetThePod.com
• One Tired EVE Pilot
• EVE Journey
• The Loyalist
• Bump in the Night
• Zoology – Predators and Prey in New Eden
• SCC-Lounge
• The Nude Nerd
• EVE Blogging Platforms:
• GameScribe
• Podlogs

EVE Chronicles

• Houses of the Holy

From the Community:

• West Karana, EVE Online: A noob in New Eden
• The Ancient Gaming Noob
• Buy Your EVE Fanfest 2009 Pass with ISK
• Buzzard – No Skill Left Behind
• Kirith Kodachi over at EVE Tribune, Stealth Nerf / Un-Nerf
• Roc's Ramblings, Faction Warfare 101
• Articulated Sky, CSM 2009: What’s in it for you?
• CrazyKinux's Musing, EON issue #015 Table of Content
• Nursultan's Pirate Blag, Mission Busting Tips

Various:

• CCP Games won a Media Momentum award earlier this week, for Vision & Future Growth Potential (See page 6)
• Only 2 days after placing my order on Amazon.ca, I received Doug Chaing's "Robota" graphic novel and Daniel Simon's "Cosmic Motors: Spaceship, Cars and (sexy) Pilots of Another Galaxy" (more info on the latter in an upcoming post!)

Oh by the way, readers familiar with the EVE Speedlinking series will have noticed that I've once again moved the day of the week when I post the lists of links. Life being what it is, it's much easier for me to post these posts over the week-end then it is during the week. Thus the new schedule. Hope you don't mind!

EON #015 - Table of Content

I'm was usually pretty quick to post the EON table of content when I got my issues in the past. Unfortunately I was still very much taken away by Real Life's responsibilities when I got the 15th issue of our beloved magazine.

Once I got it though, I was quickly caught-up in the richness of this latest issue. It's got some great articles ranging from Finnigan's Quaterly Alliance Report, to the Clear Skies II interview, to the brilliant and no less scary "The End?" essay on the possible Big Crunch of New Eden. And lets not forget the chronicles, the "Beginner Ships" article, and much more.

All in all, an issue that everyone who's put an effort into, should be proud of! When anyone in the press cries wolf saying that Print media is on the verge of implosion, I look at my issues of EON and shake my head.

Good work Zapatero! Great results guys!

Table of Content - EON 015

• Page 6 --- E-ON Upfront (News)
• 12 ---- Quarterly Alliance Report
• 16 ---- E-ON Awards 2009 - The Winners
• 18 ---- Postcards from the Edge (Screen shots)
• 22 ---- In Crowd: Greg Kruk
• 24 ---- Clear Skies 2
• 31 ---- In Character: Svetlana Scarlet
• 32 ---- Alliance Profile: Ushra'Khan
• 34 ---- Chronicle: Grandma's Letters, by Tom Czerniawski
• 40 ---- Cover Feature: The End?
• 46 ---- Alliance Profile: Morsus Mihi
• 48 ---- In Character: NTRabbit
• 50 ---- Chronicle: Prequel to Dark, by Paul Dunthorne
• 52 ---- Testflight: Beginner Ships
• 65 ---- In Character: Sheriff Jones
• 66 ---- In Crowd: Pall Ivarsson
• 68 ---- Insider's Guide: EVE API, by Capsuleer creators PyjamaSam and Roc Wieler
• 72 ---- Insider's Guide: Production - Part 2
• 80 ---- EVE Directory, by my friend LaVista Vista
• 82 ---- Teh Funnies (EVE Humour)

Defense Grid: The Awakening ...is beyond addictive!

Sometimes you only have a few minutes to get into a game and have some fun. In this regards an MMO like EVE Online might not do the job (though that may soon change with the mini-games in WiS like SecWars). That where a good tower game like Defense Grid can be a god given! I came across this treasure of a game reading my latest CPU magazine. The guys at Hidden Path have don't a great job and the rush you get as you near the completion of a level is priceless!



At $20, the game is a bargain (I got it through Steam at $5 during a limited time offer I imagine).

If you're looking for a simple strategy game that quickly pulls you in, then Defense Grid: The Awakening is it!

Robota: one robot movie I really wish got made!

I can't recall the first time I laid eyes on Robota, but I do remember that I was blown away by what I was looking at! In 2003, the illustrated book by Doug Chiang and Orson Scott Card about a mysterious fourth planet of the solar system named Orpheus was published. The book is a work of art, literally!

Unfortunately, there have been few updates to Chiang's website since late 2005, and no recent news about the movie. The following clip were dug up, but I don't know if they're unique works, or part of an actual movie. In today's CGI movie, I just don't understand why this movie project never moved beyond the early stages.

If you've got any information, I'd love to know more!

Making the most of the EVE Online Free Trial

Massively multiplayer online games come in two distinct groups, and I'm not referring to genres here. At one end of the spectrum you've got the "theme park" flavor - WoW being a well known example - and at the other the "sand box" flavor - in this case EVE Online. Neither games can be fully understood in the first few weeks of playing, but in case of the latter, it's even more difficult to truly appreciate the possibilities and the fun that comes with this approach to MMOs.

EVE's always been the black sheep of the MMO world. Most of the EVE veterans have seen the EVE learning curve graphic and can testify to its accuracy. So what do you do if you're curious about EVE and want to have a look? Is the 2-weeks trial offer enough to give you a glimpse of the EVE we know. Where do you start? What skills do you train? What profession do you go for? The fact that you can be anything you want, change your career path at any given time is all fine and dandy, but to a new player it all means nothing.

Unless they can accomplish something rewarding early on, the thought of controlling a vast thousand-member alliance, or trading across vast regions of space, is nothing but that, just a dream. And it's very easy to get bogged down with the day-to-day operations familiar to capsuleers. Which is what @daniel_carvalho experienced when he gave EVE a try. Thanks to the quick intervention of @hi7ch, @Scopique and I we managed to get him to give it a 2nd chance. But what about the others?

What can be done to give the new capsuleers a glimpse of the action and thrill of EVE? Can that be done in under the 14-day trial?

This is where the recent two-part article by my mate @JohnBatDell come in. His article entitled "From peon to pirate" (read part 2 here) helps new capsuleers steer a quick path to excitement and PvP. It's a simple approach and a great example on how one can capture some of the essence of New Eden. But his is not the only advice noobs should follow.

I've decided to put together the following list of articles for new players in an effort to see more MMO gamers enter and enjoy the riches of EVE. If you've been following me on Twitter, you would have seen one of these tweets a few times. This post will allow me just to send these new players just one link.

• Dee Carson's insightful article on which skills to train at first
• @JohnBatDell's "From peon to pirate" (read part 2 here)
• 10+ post for new players to EVE
• What WoW Players should know about EVE
• EVE Online from a Second Lifer perspective
• Massively's Brendan Drain and his exhaustive EVE Online new player guide
• On why we play EVE (Blog Banter #2)
• Euro Gamer's "Gettting into EVE"
• EVE Fitting and Ship acronyms and terminology (EVE Forums)

I don't assume that this list is complete, and so expect it to evolve over time. If you've written an article you think would benefit other newbies then let me know. I'm not looking for an exhaustive guide, just something simple, but I'd be happy to add it to this list.

See you all in space! Fly safe or reckless!

Friday Video: Mass Effect 2 Teaser

This up coming Wednesday I'll be attending the IGDA's Montreal Chapter meeting on "BioWare on Mass Effect 2 iterative level design" with Corey Andruko - (Project Manager) and Dusty Everman (Lead Technical Designer). I'm really looking forward to their presentation and to learn how they approached level design this time. Bioware's always been a favorite studio of mine.


I loved the original Mass Effect, despite the XBOX 360-version interface issues. I loved the visuals and storyline they build with this franchise. I can't wait for more!

Shepard dead? WTF!!!

Newest EVE Online Blogs to be added!

Well it's Friday! And in the tradition of my ol' EVE Online Speedlinking days, when I had the time to roam the intertubes freely without the worry of a full time job, I've put together a list of the new EVE Blogs that have recently been added to the EVE Blogroll.

Please take a moment to visit each one and drop a few comments to let them know they're part of the family.

Welcome guys, we're happy to have you on board!

• Zargyl - A Sebiestor Scholar
• R3volv3r's Blog
• A Pirate's Life For Me
• Shard (The)
• From the Desk of the CEO
• Once More From The Beginning
• Journey to New Eden
• Latro's Bunker
• EVE Online Postcards

Now, go on and comment!

Mr. Invisible: 50 days to Covert Operations!

As I've recently mentioned, I'm currently training to play a different role within Phoenix Labs. I'm also tired of getting stranded in low sec or on the other side of a gate camp. Flying incognito seems like a sexy way of moving around New Eden. Screw the Pirates! :p

Using EVE Mon (@EVEMon), and based on the advice from far more knowledgeable pilots than I, I've put together the following skill plan. This includes the skills needed to fly the best reviewed Helios loadout (as provide in EVE Mon). I've been "informed" by this favorite utility of mine, that I should train some more Learning skills in order to save 5 days of total training. OK, then, but they're still boring skills!

I've put in a request to the Phoenix Labs Corp Request Department, and should be receiving 7 skill books I'm missing. Until I get those, I'm training Electronic Warfare IV. Which finishes in 35 minutes actually, and though I know I've got another skill in my queue, I just can't remember it now. Thank god for the EVE Training Queue! I've been dreaming of that forever!

I'll be able to fly the Helios as a Covert Ops pilot sooner than in the 50 days needed to train all these skills. In a month and a half from now, I'll just be impossible to find! Call me Mr. Invisible!

Anyways, your advice, comments and praises are always welcomed! Here's the 50 day queue:

1. Logic I
2. Focus I
3. Logic II
4. Focus II
5. Logic III
6. Electronics Upgrades V
7. Covert Ops I
8. Gallente Frigate V
9. Jury Rigging I
10. Astrometrics I
11. Minmatar Drone Specialization I
12. Cloaking I
13. Jury Rigging II
14. Astrometrics II
15. Cloaking II
16. Jury Rigging III
17. Electronic Superiority Rigging I
18. Electronic Superiority Rigging II
19. Astrometrics III
20. Electronic Superiority Rigging III
21. Cloaking III
22. Astrometrics IV
23. Astrometric Pinpointing I
24. Astrometric Pinpointing II
25. Astrometric Pinpointing III
26. Cloaking IV
27. Covert Ops II
28. Covert Ops III
29. Covert Ops IV
30. Electronic Warfare IV
31. Astrometric Pinpointing IV
32. Electronic Superiority Rigging IV

32 skills; Total time: 48 days, 21 hours, 49 minutes, 16 seconds; Completion: 6/30/2009

40 New EVE Online Blogs: How's that for a healthy Blogging Community

Following my recent addition of 23 new EVE Online blogs, here I go adding another 40. Ok, so removing the 5 outdated blogs, we're still adding 35 active blogs. That's pretty amazing, considering EVE "only" has 300,000 players! I do realize that some of the blogs below aren't necessarily "new". They just were'nt on my list, and so are "new" to the list.

Before I let you go through the list, I want to thank Ga'len, the wandering druid of tranquility, without who's help I could not have update this list as I have done over the last few days! Thanks again mate!

1. Hardwirings and all that 
   
2. Vikarion 
   
3. Why So Sad? 
   
4. EVE Hub 
   
5. Agent EVE 
   
6. Eve Maps 
   
7. Discovering EVE 
   
8. 500 kills  
   
9. Fly Reckless
   
10. Flying Ducktape  
    
11. Ghosts of Lowsec
    
12. Internet Chieftains 
    
13. It's Just Business
    
14. Kalazar Zachan  
    
15. Kill Ten Rats 
    
16. Larkonis for CSM
    
17. Logs of a Butor  
    
18. Melindhra's Universe 
    
19. Personal Files, Ciarente Roth 
    
20. Pod Pilot 
    
21. Podded:  The EVE Online podcast for you!  
    
22. Ramblings <-- Out of Date
    
23. Rancer Defense League 
    
24. Red Mist 
    
25. Rishal's Return 
    
26. Sandwich 
    
27. Dookagala <-- Out of Date
    
28. Skyes Super Happy Fun Pirating Blog! Wait what? 
    
29. Addicted to EvE 
    
30. Adventures of a Pirate-Wench 
    
31. Aeon's EVE  
    
32. Blacklight 
    
33. Not So Blinky Blinky 
    
34. Etherium Reach 
    
35. EVE Online Ships <-- Out of Date
    
36. EVE Online Wormholes 
    
37. Speed Fairy 
    
38. Eve Online 0.0 Experiment (The)  <-- Out of Date
    
39. New Eden Diaries (The)  
    
40. Pirate Bay (The) <-- Out of Date

That's a grand total of 235 EVE Online Blogs, 94% of which are still active! I'm impressed!

Training for Covert Operations - The Art of Espionnage

I've been playing EVE for almost 5 years now, and in this time, I've done lots with my main (and my only character really). From mining by myself (which I still do) or as part of a corporate operation, to trading across multiple regions, to running missions (3 at a time thank you very much!), even to a fewmedium and large PvP encounters.

Yet, as I mentioned recently in the 7th EVE Blog Banter, there are plenty of things I'd like to try. Amongst them, the art of espionage and covert operations.

In order to reach such a noble goal, I've relied on the expertise of my corporation; finding out what skills I need to train, and to which level. The list below is provided through Phoenix Labs Member Only site. It's a list of the skills needed, according to our in-house experts, in order to perform at the necessary levels.

The ones in bold red are the ones that require further training in order to meet the desired skills of expertise. As you can see, I'll need to request Cloaking and Covert Ops, in order to train them to level 4 each. These will be the ones in my training queue over the next few weeks.

Skills Required for Gallente Covert Op - Frigates
(Skill Required-Level Required-My Current Level)

Electronics ::

• Cloaking-4-0
  
• Electronic Warfare-4-2
  
• Electronics-5-5
  
• Electronics Upgrades-5-4
  
• Long Reange Targeting-4-5
  
• Propulsion Jamming-3-2 (currently in training)
  
• Sensor Linking-3-4
  
• Signature Analysis-3-4
  
• Targeting-3-5
  
• Weapon Disruption-3-2
  

Engineering ::

• Energy Grid Upgrades-3-4
  
• Energy Management-3-4
  
• Engineering-3-5
  

Gunnery ::

• Gunnery -3-5
  
• Small Hybrid Turret-4-5
  

Navigation ::

• Acceleration Control-4-5
  
• Evasive Maneuvering-4-5
  
• Fuel Conservation-4-4
  
• High Speed Maneuvering-4-4
  
• Navigation-4-5
  
• Warp Drive Operation-3-4
  

Spaceship Command ::

• Covert Ops-4-0
  
• Gallente Frigate-5-4
  
• Spaceship Command-3-5
  

I'd be curious to get your opinion on these requirements. Remember that these are not the minumum levels required to actually fly a covert ops frigate. They're meant to be the minimum corporate requirements as Phoenix Labs experts see it.

Do you think that they're adequate? If not, then why? What skills have YOU trained in order to perform as a covert ops pilot? I'd really appreciate to know more.

HALO: LANDFALL - A Neil Blomkamp short film

I know we're not Friday, so this can't be tagged the Friday Video, but I just couldn't wait! Just watch and enjoy!


This film is a result of the collaboration of Bungie Studios, WETA Digital, Origami Digital, and Neill Blomkamp.

The EVE Blog Banters

Now that we're past our 7th edition of the EVE Blog Banter, I wanted to have a place to list them all under one location - just as I have for the list of EON issues. Which reminds me that I need to post the Table of Content for the last EON issue I received.

How to participate: Email me a request at CrazyKinux@gmail.com and I'll add you to my EVE Blog Banter mailing list. Then, a week before the next EVE Banter, you'll get an email with the instructions and the introduction to add at the beginning of your post. That's it! Every one is welcome to participate!

So expect the list of banters below to grow over time, as I add one more every month!

1. October 29th, 2008 - Exotic Dancers, Corporate Meetings & more
2. November 26th, 2008 - Space, the Final Frontier...
3. December 22nd, 2008 - Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
   
   
4. January 30th, 2009 - The Game with the Thousand Faces
5. February 27th, 2009 - Leave what you know at the door please!
6. March 29th, 2009 - Nowhere to go...
7. April 30th, 2009 - Eh, nobody told me you could do this in EVE!
8. May 26th, 2009 - Care for a little game of SecWars?
9. June 30th, 2009 - If I were a CCP Dev I would...
10. July 29th, 2009 - It's just a game!
11. August 31st, 2009 - The Few, the Proud, the next Tech 3 ships!
12. September 30th, 2009 - Tying the dots and locking me in!
    
13. October 27th, 2009 - Your mission, should you decide to accept it...
    
    
14. January 12th, 2010 - A beginning is a very delicate time...
15. January 25th, 2010 - Why We Love EVE Online [List of Participants]
16. March 15th, 2010 - The Three Pillars of Wisdom
17. April 19th, 2010 - The Ladies of New Eden [List of Participants]
18. June 16th, 2010 - The Heroes with a Thousand Faces
19. July 20th, 2010 - Growing Pains
20. August 23rd, 2010 - Care for a little griefing tonight?
21. September 29th, 2010 - The Lure of the Wild
22. October 26th, 2010 - Home Sweet Corp
    November 15th, 2010 - No Banter
23. December 16th, 2010 - Rome wasn't build in a day, neither was New Eden
    
    
24. January 13th, 2011 - Be, all that you can be, and so much more!
25. More to come...

Enjoy the hours of reading if you're catching up!

[EVE Online Forum Thread]
[Delicious Tag: eveblogbanter]

The EVE Blogosphere is alive and well, thank you very much!

I hadn't updated my EVE Blogroll since early last February. During this time, a multitude of new EVE-themed blogs popped-up. The list below includes the ones that either emailed me directly, or posted a comment on the blogroll post itself. I do know that there a few that are missing from the list that Ga'len keeps and I promise to add them over the next few days. It's good to be back at the helm of the EVE Blogging Community. I missed the camaradrie very much over the last few months. But am now fully back!

1. Corpse Collection Point
   
2. Criminally Yours
   
3. Escoce - EVE Trader
   
4. EVE Guru
   
5. EVE Online - A Ghost Blog
   
6. EVE Online Portal (The)
   
7. EVE-Yarr
   
8. Fumbling in Space
   
9. I am Keith Neilson
10. In the Depths of EVE
11. Into the Unknown
    
12. Katzukov Industries
    
13. Life of a Pirate Queen (The)
    
14. New Eden according to the Prophet
    
15. New Edener (The)
    
16. Once more in the Void
    
17. Persephone's YarrJournal
    
18. The Eagle : The Cold : The Darkness
    
19. Treenara's Adventures
    
20. Tuskers Public Relations (The)
    
21. Venom's Bite <-- Updated URL!
    
22. Waypoint Reached
    
23. Where ever I may roam

If your blog isn't listed on the EVE Blogroll, or you know of an active blog that isn't, please leave title and url in the comments below and I'll make sure to add it. Thanks for being my eyes!

Friday Video: Black Prophecy Cinematic Trailer

I've got to be honest, when I first saw a trailer for Black Prophecy, I was impressed. Really impressed.



Though this latest trailer's visuals are awe inspiring, I'm definitely not impressed with the voice over. Sounds like some sort of comedy trailer.