CrazyKinux's Musings: January 2011

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Come on CCP! Where the frack is my Beer Ship? [VIDEO]

As we head closer and closer to Fanfest 2011, I thought I'd remind those who've been, and those who'd like to attend, at the sort of geeky humour we're soon to witness!

Now, seriously, forget Incarna CCP, and give us all Beer Ships next Christmas!

Monday, January 17, 2011

Speedlinking New Eden & more - The January 17th, 2010 Edition

With part 3 of Incursion coming later this week, we've got a bonanza of posts today. Hope I didn't miss any this time! Also, be aware that the recording for the next New Eden Chronicles is scheduled for the 28th, once Sansha's shown his face in Empire. Finally, I'm off to Las Vegas for the remainder of the week. Fly safe till then!

Friday, January 14, 2011

Friday Video: What's so wrong with being a boy these days? [VIDEO]

Not EVE-related, but I thought you would all be interested in the topic of this TED presentation.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

EVE Blog Banter #24: Be, all that you can be, and so much more!

Welcome to the twenty-fourth 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 or so 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 to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month's Banter topic comes to us from the ever helpful Eelis Kiy, capsuleer behind the "Where the frack is my ship" blog. She asks: How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE? Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa? Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently? Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it? Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

In a world such as EVE Online, with endless possibilities, it's easy to see why the attraction of developing an alter ego would be there. Let's try to answer Eelis' questions!

How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE?

I've got two characters in EVE, Treenara Mazouk my main, and CrazyKinux, an alt I created to prevent someone else from impersonating me in-game. In both cases though I'm pretty much myself whenever I log into New Eden. It didn't use to be like this in the past, but these days, a lot of my involvement in-game happens through the EVE Channel. I spend a lot of time chatting with a multiple of folks, some in channels, some in private convos. Either way, I'm pretty much the same out-of-game, than in-game. Makes you think though. Maybe creating a 3rd character, unknown to all, and completely different from me. Food for thought!

Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa?

I would not say that all great Corp or Alliance leaders are also great in the real world, but in today's global work environment, the skills one builds in-game, can certainly be applied if one works in an environment where your team members are spread out over multiple time-zones and geographies. There's a great research paper that was put out by the folks from @Seriosity on behalf of IBM on this very aspects of MMOs (see Virtual Worlds. Real Leaders). And though it's specifically takes a look at Word of Warcraft, it could be applied to other MMOs as well.

Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently?

My real life occupation deals with sales/marketing/communications, so in a way you could say that everything I do related to EVE Online, this blog, the blog community, Blog Pack and Blog Banter does in a way fulfill itself in part do to my real world job skills.

Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it?

As I've stated above, I'm pretty much the same in-game or in-real-life. Though I'm curious to explore the darker sides of my personality in an online EVE alter-ego. Muhahahaha!!!

Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

They've certainly grown my social network way beyond anything I would have imagined. As such, I'm much open to engage with other in or out of game, to create new friendships where none existed before. EVE has allowed me to develop a global (worldwide) network of friends which is integral to my enjoyment of the game and the community that we've built around it.

Long Live EVE Online. Long Live the EVE Blogging Community!

List of participants:

Tuesday, January 11, 2011

Get ready for a deluge of posts in the next few days!

As part of my "2011 Blog Revival Initiative", I'm working on a bunch of posts that should have been posted some time ago, but which I plan to post over the next few days. Don't think that this will be my new blogging schedule or that this will be the sort of blogging I'll now focus on. Once these are done, I'll start using a new blogging schedule I'm working on and revisit some old blog series from the past.

Speaking of which, if you have ideas, series or topics that you would want me to explore, please let me know in the comments below.

Stay tuned!

The Ultimate Guide to EVE Online - ISK Guide 3.0 [FREE]

Late last week, I was ask to share with you some good news from our friends at MMM Publishing. Now I'm usually not the type to repost directly information that's being past on to me, but hey, this is EON, this is the "new and improved ISK Guide" and hell, it's FREE! So without further ado, and even though you may have already seen it on a few other blogs, here is the low-down!

ISK 3.0 - INDUSTRIAL-SIZED KNOWLEDGEBASE

The ultimate strategy guide for EVE players, from the makers of EON magazine

London, England - January 6, 2011 - MMM Publishing, a leading publisher of online gaming
magazines, has announced a new "EON Presents..." publication for players and fans of the award-winning science fiction universe EVE Online. This February "EON presents... ISK 3.0" will be released as a free pdf download, offering all EVE players the most exhaustive and expansive strategy guide that's ever been compiled in the game's eight year history.

Like previous "EON Presents..." projects (EVE Strategic Maps, EVE Career Guide), the ISK 3.0 guide is a collaborative effort between EVE players, CCP Games and the design and editorial teams of MMM Publishing. Previous versions of the "Industrial-Sized Knowledgebase" have been downloaded by almost 40,000 EVE players and the vast compendium is considered by many to be EVE's de facto player manual.

The new expanded ISK guide has been updated to include recent changes brought to EVE
Online as part of the Incursion expansion, including adaptions to character creation, skill training
and planetary interaction. It has also been completely redesigned to be easier to read and reference important sections, with new images and tables within established chapters on getting
started, ship fitting, manufacturing, trading, exploration and combat. "EVE players have been crying out for a comprehensive strategy guide since the game first came out" says EON editor Richie Shoemaker. "With ISK 3.0 people are going to realise that the wait has been worthwhile. Compiled over many, many months it's an incredible piece of work that we're proud to help bring to EVE players."

Beyond the release of ISK 3.0 the team will begin work on a premium edition of the guide that
will be available to buy as a digital publication alongside EON Digital. The extended 500-page
guide will also be available to pre-order from the EVE Store as an exclusive and limited edition
print publication. Price and publication details will be announced at a later date.

"Creating ISK has been a labour of love for many months and we intend to keep updating and
releasing newer and better versions of the guide for as long as people want to read them"
said ISK’s creators Gábor Várkonyi and László Lipták. "Our dream is to eventually have a
professionally published edition in my hand and after having published EON magazine for six
years, MMM Publishing are the best people to make that dream come true."

ISK 3.0 Lite Edition will be freely available as a pdf file from February 1, 2011 from
www.isktheguide.com, www.eve-files.com and all good EVE fansites. The digital and print
Premium Edition will follow in the spring.

Contact: Ian Bond, MMM Publishing Director, info@mmmpublishing.com
http://www.EONmagazine.net
http://www.facebook.com/EONmagazine
http://www.isktheguide.com
http://www.mmmpublishing.com

About MMM Publishing
MMM Publishing is a London-based publishing company specialising in community-driven
games magazines aimed at the players of massively-multiplayer online games (MMOGs). Since
2005 MMM Publishing has worked alongside industry-leading developers like CCP Games,
Sony Online Entertainment and Codemasters to help enliven the experiences of players across
the world. MMM Publishing's leading publication is EON the official EVE Online magazine. Now in its sixth year of successful operation, EON is published quarterly and sent out to more than 80 countries worldwide.

Don't you love FREE stuff? Especially when it's this good!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Speedlinking New Eden & more - The January 10th, 2010 Edition

It's been a while! Here are the articles, posts and videos that got my attention these last few days!

Sleepless in Space: The Downward Spiral of Low Sec

The Downward Spiral of Low Sec? I Don't Think So | Guns Ablaze

Friday, January 07, 2011

Friday Video: Could this be a new DUST 514 Trailer by CCP Games?

OK, clearly the video below - Mass Effect 3 Trailer - isn't the one we're all anticipating. But it does have that dirty, gritty, war-is-a-shit-whole feeling to it, which is what I expect the next DUST 514 trailer will look like. Based on the only DUST 514 trailer CCP has been so kind to release (over a year ago I might add - and nothing since!) we can certainly expect a very polished FPS. Let's just hope that it will have the appeal and breadth of the Mass Effect series!

If you were CCP, what sort of trailer would you release to really get people's attention? I'd love to hear your thoughts on that one!

Hope you'll forgive the tease! Fly safe!

The Great EVE Blog Pack Clean-Up - Early 2011 Edition

It's that time of the year again. Those of you that have been reading this blog for sometime now know that every now and then I do a little clean-up operation with the EVE Blog Pack membership. Call it a "shake n' bake" ops if you will. Though I try to enforce the Pack's Rules & Regulations on a regular basis, sometimes a good good ol'fashion clean-up is just needed.

So, as I've done in the past on numerous occasions, I'll be retiring all non-active blogs, blogs that have not had a post in over a month, or who's owners have asked to be removed (yes that does happen!).

So all of you who've always wanted to be part of the Pack, this is once again a chance to be part of this elite group! Hell, I might even re-apply myself! As I tweeted yesterday, I invite you all to submit your blogs or those you enjoy who you see as a good fit for the Pack. As long as they abide by the Rules of the Pack, I'll be willing to consider their inclusion.

So far, here's the suggestions received that I'm considering:

Plenty of great blogs out there, so please keep those suggestions coming!

Looking forward to the next iteration of the EVE Blog Pack!

Wednesday, January 05, 2011

Planetary Interaction, like you've never seen it before - "Modern Times" [VIDEO]

Thought you guys would enjoy!
MODERN TIMES from BC2010 on Vimeo.
D.O.P: Richard Mountney
Lighting and Camera assistants:
Simon Mountney, Tom Mountney and Robin Mair
Film Excerpts and Music used under a strictly non-profit basis.

Tuesday, January 04, 2011

Basic Tackling 101 Tutorial [VIDEO]

As I get ready to dibble and dabble in PvP, videos like these will become very valuable to me.

If you're aware of other (better) videos, please post the links below in the comments. I'll make sure to showcase them some time in the near future!

Monday, January 03, 2011

2011, the year of rebirth, and so much more...

It's that time of the year. The time when you look back at the last 12 month and assess what you've accomplished, what you weren't able to do, and weigh all of that. Looking back, 2010 wasn't as bad as I imagined it. I was happily surprised that I had actually written more posst in 2010 than I had the previous year.

Nevertheless, its a far cry from what I had done in 2008, the year where I created the EVE Blogroll, the Blog Pack and the Blog Banter. I guess that's what having a full time job and kids does to you! I could go on and tell you about the number of posts I did, or the comments that they generated. I could also look at the total number of pageviews, or visitors that the blog had, but that's not the purpose of this post.

What I want to focus on right now, is the future. The future of this blog, as well as the future of my gameplay. Blogwise, I want to refocus this blog on EVE Online, with more guides, more updates on what I'm doing in-game, more focus on what the conversation is in the EVE Blogsphere, or the TweetFleet. I probably will continue posting non-EVE related material, but I want enough EVE-focused posts that it will seem more like an "EVE Blog", rather than a "Geek Blog"! See what I did here! :p.

Of course the EVE Blog Banters will continue, and I'll certainly try to give you a better heads-up, as well as participate more so than I have recently done. The New Eden Chronicles podcast with @MaeveTrinity, @Ardwulf and @Memoocan_NEC will continue as well (on a side note, we're still waiting for Apple to get its act together and list the podcast on iTunes). So please let us know your thoughts and requests!

I also want to put more focus on my gameplay and relate to you what I'm currently doing in-game. That's something I used to do years ago, but had stopped to put more focus on the EVE Community. I'd like to share that with you again.

I still have a bit of catch-up to do on my emails. So if you've written to me about getting added to the EVE Blog Pack, or for some specific request, do not despair. I WILL REPLY to you!

So here's to 2011, year of rebirth, year of focus! And thanks for sticking around for so long. Your company has been a treasure of inspiration!

Fly safe!

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