Rag and bone spacemen

I may have spent forty million ISK on the research project management skill training book recently but I also made back thirty eight million ISK from the market. When I log in I find that I sold a batch of cruise missiles and two batches of heavy missiles, along with a good selection of modules. Whilst I was watching plenty of science fiction at a film festival it seems that New Eden was alive with capsuleers replacing or upgrading ships.

It is good to see so many of my modules selling well. I may have produced a couple of lines that have failed to make much of a profit but overall the modules I am making have been good choices. Of course, with so many sales made over the week my stocks are significantly depleted, I can't remember the last time I had so few open sell orders. Some of the orders have lapsed and I will need to track down the unsold modules dumped in to station hangars and either relist them, in the same station or finding a more profitable outlet, or regrettably melt them down in to constituent minerals and manufacture something that sells.

As it happens, my week of strong sales coincides quite nicely with finishing training in refinery efficiency V. Combined with my previous training in metallurgy V I can now train in scrapmetal processing, which reduces the waste involved when refining modules and ships in to their base minerals. It has been almost a month since I aimed to train this so naturally I shall spend a little while training in the skill, with 5% decrease of waste per level, and then put this training to good use.

I have quite a bit of loot stockpiled at my old Caldari Navy mission base and, having moved region to work with a level three Core Complexion, Inc. agent, I also see that I have a fair few modules waiting to be melted down at what I tentatively made my home base about six months ago. It is possible that some of the looted modules will sell on the market for a good price but others won't and now that I am manufacturing my own items for sale each available open order has become more valuable. Rather than have a dozen open orders for a dozen different single items it is far more profitable to have each order hold a hundred or more units for sale.

I'm not entirely sure what quantities of minerals I will be able to extract from the modules, and I am almost certain I will need to get hold of a huge pile of extra tritanium for missile production, but whatever I am able to refine will cost me nothing in ISK values. Even with the minerals being available effectively for free I know the value of labour in New Eden and will still take in to account the mineral costs in production. The difference will be that my wallet will not see a sharp drop before a steady increase, reflecting the market purchase of minerals and subsequent sales, only the steady increase.

It is going to take a little bit of time to replenish my stocks, mostly spent hauling minerals between bases and modules to markets, but this next batch will be entirely profit. I may even finally break the one hundred million ISK mark, although I suspect I'll want to grab another expensive skill book soon to boost my production capabilities. At least I will feel like I can afford it easily.

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Tags: eve online, industry, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Just deserts

One of my annoyances in MMORPGs is a lack of personal responsibility that comes from a sense of anonymity and few, if any, consequences from anti-social behaviour. There are occasions that can elicit rebuke from a GM but, in general, it is possible to act like an oaf and treat others poorly without any fear of repercussions. I can get quite frustrated when my only options to deal with rudeness are to reward the behaviour, by leaving the area so that I don't have to put up with it thus letting the player continue in peace, or by resorting to the same underhanded tactics, propagating the idea that it is okay and expected to act like a buffoon. But sometimes it is possible to make a point.

I am in Dalaran awaiting the start of the next battle for Lake Wintergrasp and have taken the initiative to start the first raid group. I invite a few of the people lingering in front of the portal and start to promote them to assistants within the raid, a standard courtesy to allow everyone to invite others to fill up the raid and provide a better co-ordinated force against the Horde in Wintergrasp. With the raid filling up nicely I trot over to the fountain and start fishing. I have never been a fan of fishing, but the new change that allows anyone to fish in any body of water regardless of skill gives me the opportunity to be at least a little productive whilst I pass the time waiting for Wintergrasp to start. It was always odd before to find out that I am not skilled enough to dangle a line in some water.

As I fish out rags and driftwood, clearing the water for others to find fish and coins, the raid becomes full. And then I notice something odd: one player leaves the full raid to be replaced quickly. It is not odd that he is replaced quickly, as there is plenty of interest in Wintergrasp at certain times, but that he should drop out in the first place. What piques my interest is that I recognise the replacement character. Earlier in the day I was building up another Wintergrasp raid and someone runs in to the area by the portal ten minutes before the battle is due to start and tells everyone to ask him for an invitation to form a raid. I found it queer that he would run in to a group of around twenty people and assume that he will be the de facto raid leader, particularly when the raids normally start forming fifteen or more minutes before the battle. But I think nothing more of it as he asks me to invite him and his friend, which I did with no fuss. It is this friend who has now replaced a different member of the raid, hence my suspicions.

I don't want to accuse anyone of impropriety with only a hunch, so I find out who left the raid group and ask him personally why he left. The reply comes back that he didn't leave but was kicked out, which is what I suspected. I apologise and try to get him back, kicking out the replacement, but he points out that he would probably just get kicked out again and lose his place in the second raid that is forming. He is right and I do not relish the idea of removing the assist flag from over thirty raid members to right this wrong, and although I recognise one of the pair of miscreants I cannot remember the name of the other. Instead, I ask politely in raid chat for people not to kick others from the raid group solely to make room for friends as it is rude and inconsiderate, which is unsurprisingly met with silence.

The bare-faced cheek of the situation irks me. Not only is it incredibly rude to boot someone from a full group there really should be no burning need to be in the same raid as friends in Wintergrasp. There are no limitations on player numbers in the zone and any communications you could have with your friends will either be stymied by not being in the same group anyway or unaffected if using external channels. If the convenience of being with friends is truly desired you ought to accept the burden personally by dropping out of the raid and forming a second one so that you can be together. It certainly is not acceptable to kick out and inconvenience other people to suit your own purposes.

Then I have an idea. I certainly recognise one of the pair and with them sticking together so closely it stands to reason that they are in the same guild. I find out the guild of the character I recognise, then I see how many members of the Outlaw Stars are online currently. With only a few of the guild on-line it is easy to recognise the name of the other member of the pair from earlier. With no ceremony I kick him and his partner from the raid group. It is perhaps a harsh measure to take, so close to the start of the battle for Wintergrasp, but I consider it to be just, equal to the iniquity they displayed. And as I had mentioned earlier in the raid chat channel that I quite clearly noticed what had happened I am sure they knew why they were being kicked out. Indeed, confirmation comes in the form of swearing at me in a private whisper, so I feel safe to assume they know who kicked them and for what reason. It is pitiable how they consider themselves treated poorly when they showed no concern about doing the same to another earlier.

I think I did the right thing under the circumstances. I could not simply let people act like jackasses and have them believe their behaviour was appropriate or condoned. It clearly isn't offensive enough to provoke sanctions from a GM but I had measures available to me for player-based justice, and I took them. My only concern now is what petty retaliations I can expect from the Outlaw Stars. I would hope that being shown what it is like to be kicked from a full raid group will make them correct their ways and act more charitably towards others in what is essentially a co-operative game, but instead I fear that I will be a target for unwarranted reprisals. Of course, there isn't too much that they can do, but if they get in to the same raid group as me for Wintergrasp I may find myself kicked out in short order. I will have to deal with that if it happens, and will not be giving any Outlaw Stars assistant privileges in any raids I lead, and hopefully it won't spoil my enjoyment of the regular PvP battle.

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Tags: mmorpg, wintergrasp, world of warcraft

Ice floe, nowhere to go

With penguins on icebergs greeting travellers by sea Northrend is clearly a cold continent. Although there are some regions of relative warmth, where hot springs break the surface or mountains provide shelter from prevailing weather conditions, others are covered by permafrost and ice. Lake Wintergrasp is such a frozen place, where the bodies of water contain perpetual chunks of ice floating on the surface. Whilst these floes can cause a few moments of panic when hitting your head trying to surface after mining ore underwater, I had considered them to be nothing more than cosmetic enhancements to the aesthetics of the zone. In a battle for control of the zone I find out there is more to their presence than a place to stand whilst fishing.

In trying to defend Wintergrasp fortress from the onslaught of the Horde the southern towers can be a vital target. The destruction of any tower lowers the morale of the enemy, weakening them a little, and should all three be demolished the enemy is shaken sufficiently that they will rout ten minutes earlier than an invigorated enemy. Whilst the fortress itself obviously needs to be defended there is a clear benefit in sending small vehicular forces to attempt the destruction of the southern towers. And if a strategic advantage is not enough motivation there is also a daily quest to participate in the destruction of a tower, offering gold, Stone Keeper's Shards and bonus honour on success.

So it is that I jump in to the gunnery position of a siege engine as it trundles out of the Sunken Ring workshop heading to destroy the southern towers. A secondary task is to reclaim the workshops in the south of the zone, for better access to reinforcements for tower assault. Rather than head over the bridge the driver alters course away from the road, with a confident shout of 'Short-cut!' over the noise of the siege engine. Although the route will take us away from the already-destroyed Firewatch Tower and thus shorten travelling time my experience in riding through the region mining leads me to believe there is no short-cut between the eastern and western bridges, with water entirely dividing the north and south zones of the region between them. But fortune favours the bold and I am prepared to find out if there is a short-cut for future efficiency.

'Preparing to submerge, cap'n!', I call back, after it becomes clear that there is no dry path to the southern buildings away from the built roads. Even though the vehicle will take damage from being underwater, with a good head of steam we should be able to make it to the other shore with enough structural integrity to do some damage at our destination. And all would have been well except for the floes mentioned earlier. When trying to pilot the siege engine out of the river the ice floes all along the shore prevent us from breaking the surface, causing the vehicle to seize in short order and leaving us swimming for dry land. It's not a problem, as we assault the workshop quickly and get a new siege engine to destroy the towers, and it is good to know there is no short-cut for vehicles.

It is interesting to be shown how an apparently cosmetic feature of the landscape is actually a considered and potentially vital design decision to bottleneck vehicular routes by forcing them to cross at the bridges instead of allowing fully open ground battles. Whilst Wintergrasp fortress can be assaulted from all sides there are clear paths that can be used to defend the southern towers, again giving an advantage to the attackers and helping to allow the control of Wintergrasp, and thus the Vault of Archavon, to be balanced between Alliance and Horde as equally as possible.

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Tags: gnomesblight, mmorpg, pvp, wintergrasp, world of warcraft

Business is booming

Being somewhat occupied with cinema over the weekend left little time for visiting New Eden. Indeed, because of travel time in and out of London, feeding myself and catching up with sleep the most I could manage was to check my status using Capsuleer. I expect to find a layer of dust covering my ships when I get back.

After spending forty million ISK on the research project management skill book recently, almost half my capital at the time, I have been expecting to rely on a steady stream of business to get my ISK back up to a more comfortable level. I have some large sales of missiles in a few locations, as well as taking care to ensure good stocks are available of various modules that have proven to sell well so far, so that I don't sell out over the long weekend when I am not around to manufacture more.

During quiet moments I call up Capsuleer to check to see how well my modules are selling. I make a million ISK here, five hundred thousand there, which whilst not particularly lucrative at least shows my modules are selling steadily. What surprises me is when I check a couple of days later to see a thirty million ISK jump in income! I know I had a lot of stock tied up in the market but I wasn't expecting to make so much ISK so quickly.

I imagine that most, if not all, of my missiles have sold, at the very least, and it will be interesting to get back to New Eden to find out where and with what I made my millions. No doubt I have some stock to replenish but I may delay any major manufacturing for a few days. Rather than scoot around the region looking for mineral bargains my skill training to refine minerals from salvaged modules is close to fruition.

Of course, it remains to be seen how efficiently module refining can supply my manufacturing processes and even if it is at least adequate it will still rely on my running encounter missions for the salvaged loot. If nothing else, it will provide further guaranteed profit from encounter missions, giving a good excuse to get out in to space and blow up rats occasionally, which can only be a good outcome.

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Tags: eve online, industry, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Capsuleer 2.0 available

Capsuleer is now at version 2.0 and is much improved over its initial release. The pilot information screen familiar to users of version 1.0 is still present, detailing the skill being learnt and its completion date and time, your skill point total, and the ISK balance of your wallet, but there is much more to be explored in the new version of the iPod Touch and iPhone application. On top of the familiar pilot information you can see the values of your attributes, such as memory and perception, as well as what implants you have installed and your current clone grade.

Details of the skill training queue have been implemented in Capsuleer version 2.0, showing not only your current skill in training but also what you have set in the queue. With a skill library implemented you can select any of the skills either in your queue or learnt or injected by your character and call up specific details about what characteristics determine the skill's training, how long it would take to train to the next level, and what benefits your character will gain from learning the skill.

There are other nifty features to Capsuleer 2.0, including server status, on-line news from CCP and the EVE Blog Pack. I still mostly use the application only to monitor my skill training and wallet balance, which is really useful to be able to do without logging in to EVE Online itself, but the ability Capsuleer offers to poke around the skill library is a nifty feature that helps with working out future skill training plans more than just knowing when the current skill training will end. It is definitely worth upgrading to the latest version.

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Tags: capsuleer, eve online, ipod

Sci-fi London Film Festival 2009

The beginning of May brings with it six days of sci-fi films and panels at the Sci-Fi London Film Festival, 2009 marking the eighth year of the festival. With a bunch of tickets bought in advance a few friends and I spend the best part of the bank holiday weekend watching new, classic and obscure sci-fi films whilst munching on popcorn.

The first film we plan to see is Eraser Children, the film festival happy to host its world premiere. Sadly, the screening is cancelled —the first cancellation in the festival's eight years—owing even more sadly to the effective destruction of the print. With it being the print of the world premiere one imagines that there weren't any other copies floating around and hopes it is nothing more than a temporary set-back for the film-makers.

With a couple of hours to kill before the next film and no alternative plans worked out we are happy to head in to the cinema anyway and see a film not on the festival's billing, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Telling the story of where Wolverine comes from, his time spent in the military and being picked for special forces work, to getting his adamantium skeleton and claws, the film is an adrenalin-packed collection of spectacular action scenes and exciting fights strung together with the finest wisps of plot that look like they will snap under the pressure of any examination. It is an entertaining film, as long as there are no expectations of depth or coherency.

Returning to the film festival we amble over to our next scheduled screening to see The City of Lost Children, with Marc Caro introducing the screening. The appearance of the co-director was unfortunately beset by poor microphone placement, making everyone strain to hear what was being said, and the questions being asked by a podcaster who was either criminally unprepared or a poor interviewer. It is lucky that Caro was charismatic enough to elaborate on the questions and effectively guide the introduction himself. As for the film, it is the first time I have seen it, so I am pulled in to a dark world where children are being kidnapped to provide dreams for a clone who has no ability to do so for himself. The film is peculiar but quirky, with fabulous visuals and some dark humour.

We return the next day of the festival to see The Mother of Invention. Following Vincent Dooly as he strives to win the coveted young inventor of the year award in the last year he is eligible to compete the film takes a mock documentary approach as we are shown Dooly's incompetence at inventing and integrating in to everyday life. Despite being laughable there is a certain tragedy to the man that makes him a sympathetic character even in his most embarrassing moments, particularly when pitted against his arrogant and bland inventor nemesis. The Mother of Invention is a wonderfully funny comedy and although an occasional scene away from inventing can make it seem a little unfocussed it can be forgiven for allowing us a look in to more facets of Dooly's life and mind. A questions and answers session follows the film where we are presented with an informative and amusing recollection of anecdotes from the film's production by the cast and crew, who were present for the screening. It is interesting to hear about a couple of the inventions that were left out of the film, how they were nearly arrested with their main character dressed as a space cowboy, and baffling how they are still looking for a distribution deal. Hopefully The Mother of Invention will get a deservedly wider distribution than film festivals soon.

The Clone Returns Home is a Japanese film exploring the ideas of human cloning and its effects on memory and the soul. When an accident in space claims the life of an astronaut a clone of him is created. The procedure goes a little awry and the clone escapes the medical laboratory and starts a long journey back to his childhood home. A second clone is created and sent after the first. What happens then, and indeed before that point, is largely impenetrable, but it is compelling enough to try to decipher. At least, it is for most people, as a few actually walked out of the screening of this film. The programme draws a similarity to Solaris, which seems apt if only because of the extended scene lengths with little occurring. The Clone Returns Home is beautifully shot and is probably interesting, but I need someone to explain it to me.

With time pressing on a couple of the party head home leaving two of us to remain for an all-nighter. I was lucky enough to bag some tickets in the draw for the Star Trek All-nighter, with Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, Voyage Home, and Undiscovered Country played back-to-back from midnight until the early hours. It is perhaps the only draw I have participated in where I felt that I had both won and simultaneously lost in equal measures, but I am quite looking forward to at least a couple of the films on show. Wrath of Khan is still an excellent film, full of character conflict and excellent performances and still looks impressive enough for futuristic space drama. Both Search for Spock and Voyage Home create a seamless continuity across the sequels and offer a reasonable amount of entertainment once the ludicrous initial plot is glossed over. Search for Spock leads us to believe that Spock's body should have been returned to Vulcan, as it is the Vulcan way, but I am left wondering why present Vulcan crew member Lt. Saavik didn't consider mentioning this at all to anyone before or during the funeral aboard the Enterprise, whereas Voyage Home involves a bevy of absurd contrivances to get the crew of the Enterprise wandering around present-day San Francisco for some fairly shallow humour.

Both the third and fourth Star Trek films feel more like extended episodes, which is quite disappointing after the excellent second feature film, and when combined with the awful fifth film makes me wonder how the sixth was made. But, of course, the sixth film was made after the success of the Next Generation series to reconcile the changes in the time line between the new and old series and to create an opportunity for feature films starring the new cast. With Nicholas Meyer, director of Wrath of Khan, at the helm again the story and performances shine. There is plenty of animosity between the Federation and Klingon Empire and a real sense of hostility present amongst the diplomatic parties, leading to the betrayal and subsequent detective story intermingled with the incarceration and escape of Kirk. Undiscovered Country is another great film with a suitably climactic ending. I am glad I slept through the more boring parts of III and IV so that I could enjoy VI in all its glory.

Ending this year's film festival is a double-bill of 20th Century Boys parts one and two, a Japanese film about a book of prophecies some children wrote with innocent motives that was later subverted by members of the group to become terrorist aims by making the prophecies true, framing the original author as the terrorist leader whilst grabbing power for themselves. The second film is set fifteen years from the end of the first and shows how the cult started in the first has grown to be the sinister political power controlling Japan, with a second book of prophecies revealed to show a masterplan to further the destruction of mankind whilst turning the leader in to a deity. The structure of the first film can become a little confusing as time jumps from the future to the present and back to the past for a fuller narrative that involves the children writing the book of prophecies and seeing it being acted out years later, but intrigue and suspense is suitably built-up along with a real sense of paranoia concerning the cult and its actions. A third part to 20th Century Boys is being released later this year, which promises the cult trying to bring about the coming of the apocalypse and will definitely be worth looking out for at Sci Fi London's Oktoberfest.

It has been another good year for Sci Fi London with a vibrant atmosphere again and some great films that I perhaps would not have got to experience otherwise.

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Tags: 20th century boys, eraser children, film, sci fi london, star trek, the city of lost children, the clone returns home, the mother of invention, x-men

Oh, what a giveaway

After a shaky start I have managed to get the hang of jousting in the Argent Tournament, defeating valiants and champions alike in quick order for the daily quests. My warrior, Sapphire, has already become a champion of the Exodar and Darnassus and is now jousting for Gnomeregan whilst working to gain champion seals for pets and mounts. On the way to becoming a champion I help the Argent Crusade in their investigations in to the mysterious Black Knight.

The Black Knight is the tournament's current master jouster, having defeated all who challenge him. However, the Argent Crusade are not convinced that he rose to the top using entirely honourable means, particularly with other expert jousters falling to unfortunate accidents. It may not be possible to interrogate the Black Knight directly, not without any substantial evidence, but there may be another way.

Crusader Rhydalla at the Argent Tournament Grounds explains to me, 'Every day, the Black Knight's squire, Maloric, makes a big show of heading to Crystalsong Forest with his axe over his shoulder. He wants us to believe he's chopping wood, but he never returns with more than a few twigs.' That sounds suspicious, so I am to investigate what he is up to. To achieve this, it it suggested that I 'find a way to distract or incapacitate him and search him. If he's up to something, we'll know it.' I'm on the case.

It all sounds rather curious and intriguing, with machinations from the Argent Crusade to try to unmask whatever devious deeds the Black Knight is up to, if anything. Is he behind the disappearances of the other jousters, is his squire a pawn being used for devious means to work his way to the top, or is the Black Knight simply the master jouster he appears and an unfortunate victim of circumstances hinting at non-existent foul play? What has the squire got himself involved in and what could he be carrying that would implicate him in this mess?

Unfortunately, despite the attempt to build up intrigue and suspense it is somewhat deflated when looking at the quest log to see what is required before the quest can be considered complete:

Murderer's Toolkit: 0/1

It doesn't really leave much to the imagination. Perhaps it would be better to find simply some 'tools' that can later be revealed as a murderer's toolkit by the quest NPC.

Of course, you could say that it is just another quest, one more item to collect from one place to return to another, a bit more gold and reputation to accumulate, but that is precisely why paying attention to the detail of quest text matters. Because the vital clue of the quest's investigation is given away early there is little reason to proceed except for gold, reputation and to further the chain, all rather mechanical purposes that leave the RP out of MMORPG. If the quest had been designed with a little more thought it could have drawn players to want to reveal more of the depth of the story and characters.

The current structure of the quest There's Something About the Squire merely reinforces the notion that there is no need to read the accompanying text beyond its stated goal. Maybe the designers believe that no one reads quest text and thus take less care over something that apparently gets ignored routinely, or maybe this kind of poorly structured text is a clear example of why no one reads it in the first place, but removing any suspense in this way can only propagate the lack of time given to become more immersed in MMORPG quests.

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Tags: mmorpg, sapphire, world of warcraft

Improving my project management skills

Sales are going quite well in the regional market of New Eden I've been exploiting. I still have quite a lot of stock to sell but turnover continues at a modest pace and can provide bursts of income by monitoring my sell orders and adjusting prices where necessary. I even found another gap in the market, where some specific modules were strangely absent from a Caldari Navy station with a mission agent, with an initial batch of modules selling well there.

A healthy amount of profit showing in my accounts makes me ponder again getting the skill book for research project management, which would allow me to work with more than one R&D agent simultaneously. The forty million ISK book is still a hefty purchase for me, but as my balance has risen steadily with only the occasional dip when buying large quantities of minerals for manufacture I feel comfortable in knowing I can make that ISK back again given time. And I will need to work with more than one R&D agent if I am to commit myself to inventing Tech II equipment.

Having gained access to a low quality level three manufacturing agent it stands to reason that the quality of R&D agents now available to me has also improved. A search for suitable agents, offering either mechanical or electronic research projects, shows that there is another agent available that I can work with of higher quality than my current agent. Not only that, but he is based in the station of my new level three mission agent, which is convenient and may encourage me to complete the regular R&D missions.

I could simply ditch my previous R&D agent, after picking up the available datacores, and start work with the new one, but as business is good and I will need the skill book eventually I splash out and buy it. It only takes an hour before I will have the skills to work with two R&D agents at a time, which again can be improved for the future when I get access to the few mechanical engineering R&D agents in Core Complexion, Inc. Putting my forty million ISK training to use for an hour seems like a good excuse to interrupt my current plan to work towards scrap metal processing for refining mission loot in to manufacturing minerals efficiently.

I take advantage of the training time to move my ships from my short-lived mission base, picking up a handful of datacores whilst passing through the my current R&D agent's system, before settling in the new station, where I introduce myself to the level three agent and get a second R&D agent working for me. I am now gaining datacores more than twice as quickly as before and hopefully it won't be long before a level three R&D agent becomes available to me for even faster gains. I'd better get working with my mission agent to improve my standings further.

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Tags: agents, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic, tech ii

Moving up in agent level

My agent may have got wind of my whining about getting a succession of mining missions, as the next mission I am offered is a simple courier job. If that weren't enough to keep me happy, once I complete the mission I get a mail from a storyline agent asking for help. It looks like I'll be reaching my current target of a standing of 3.30 with Core Complexion, Inc., to gain access to a level three agent near by, sooner than expected. There is another level three agent that doesn't require quite as much standing to talk to but as he is based in low-sec it would be better to gain that little bit more to stay safe.

I call up my journal to get the details of the storyline mission and find that my agent wants some scordite ore. I could just buy the ore from the market, as there is bound to be plenty of it available, but because it is a common high-sec ore, and I have been out mining fairly regularly on missions lately, I decide to hit a local asteroid field to get my own. I won't even need to swap ships, make multiple voyages, or use a jet can to mine the ore, as the amount requested will fit easily in the White Cat, my mining Osprey. All I need to do is find a suitable scordite asteroid, which should be easy enough, and mine it until my hold fills up. That will even give me some ore to spare, all without the small risk of getting my can flipped.

My endeavour faces an initial set-back when I notice that my current system doesn't have a single asteroid belt in it, but I jump one across to the system of the storyline agent and am welcomed with plenty of choice where to mine. Warping to an arbitrarily chosen belt brings up dozens of asteroids in my overview of many different types. With plenty of scordite rocks to pick from I pilot the White Cat close enough to fire up my mining lasers and a couple of minutes later I have a hold full of scordite ore. A quick trip to the storyline agent's station, less than one AU away, and I accept and complete the mission quickly.

Having completed the mission I check my standings with Core Complexion, Inc. and see another suitable jump thanks to it being a storyline mission, but it's not quite enough to move on from my recently new agent. I head back for more assignments and luckily get a couple of courier missions in succession, the culmination of which gets me to a personal standing of 3.30 with Core Complexion, Inc. With the low quality level three agent now available to me I face another move of my mission base, almost a blink of an eye after moving it to my current agent. The gains from working with a level three agent will be worth it, though.

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Tags: agents, eve online, mmorpg, penny ibramovic

Level two mining missions

There doesn't seem to be much variation in the level two mining missions agents are sending me on, although I suppose there are only so many ways you can ask someone to shoot a stationary rock. Hmm, there's a thought: the rock doesn't have to be stationary. How about trying to mine exotic materials from a comet hurtling through the system, or prevent a meteor storm from hitting a station by mining the rocks to oblivion within a certain amount of time, both of which would require some sort way to stay within range of moving objects, perhaps with a reverse-effect tractor beam pulling you to the object. But I digress.

Two types of mining mission continue to crop up. The first is to wander up to a big floating rock and fire mining lasers at it until they all shut down from the ore being depleted. This couldn't be simpler. You warp to deadspace, find the only asteroid in the pocket and start mining. With this simplicity of mining comes the requirement to bring back a few thousand cubic metres of ore, no doubt more than your mining cruiser can carry. Mining the necessary amount will require transferring most of the ore to a jet can, which will need to be done every couple of cycles to prevent wasted cycles from your ship's hold being full, before swapping ships and bringing back a hauler of some kind to get the ore back to the station. It is simple, if time-consuming.

A sub-type of this mission is when the deadspace pocket is frequented by rats. Every now and again some rats will turn up and start shooting you, which might sound threatening but it serves to keep you awake at the keyboard, helpfully ensuring that you are alert enough to keep transferring your cargo to a jet can and not losing precious cycles by overfilling your hold. Of course, this would be more effective if Apocrypha had working sounds of cannon fire and missile explosions. But apart from these infrequent interruptions, you're still just shooting at a big floating rock.

The second type of mission has you turning up in a deadspace pocket to find a little under a dozen smaller rocks in space, which collectively just happen to contain the exact amount of ore that your agent is asking for. Because some distance between the rocks isn't a sufficient enough inconvenience they all also happen to be floating around a massive but geologically uninteresting rock, what we in the scientific community call a 'contrived obstruction'. You need to fly around this obstruction and mine all the asteroids until they are depleted to complete the mission.

However, this second type of mission isn't as awkward as it first seems and even offers advantages over the first type. Even though there is a large obstruction that you have to work around to get to all the asteroids it is normally possible to position your ship in such a way that the rocks get divided in to two groups, with all rocks in each group able to be within mining range at the same time, reducing the amount of positioning required. Another benefit to this division is that only one jet can should need to be dropped—and its contents subsequently retrieved—because the amount of ore required for this type of mission is significantly lower than that of the first type.

Rather than dropping all ore mined in to multiple jet cans around the obstruction, which is perhaps a natural reaction when mining, note that the total ore from several of the rocks will fit in a fair-sized mining cruiser's hold. It is thus best to mine from as many asteroids as possible before popping a jet can. Transfer everything to the can and then move to mine the remaining rocks. It is quite possible that the rest of the ore will fit in your hold, letting you return to the station with your current load and needing to head back to deadspace only having to grab the one jet can without wasting time manoeuvring for a second. Of course, a tractor beam on your industrial ship would speed up either process.

Despite the obstruction and multiple targets of the second type of mission I prefer to be sent on that type instead of the first. The amount of ore required for the mission is small enough that the rocks are depleted after a couple of mining cycles each, which, despite being a minute long, offers greater interactivity for the capsuleer. It's possible to wander from rock to rock, inefficiently mining from each in turn, but with good use of the tactical overlay and a survey scanner it is possible to position the ship for efficient mining and decide which rocks to lock on to and mine first. Except for a lack of anything shooting at you it can feel almost like an encounter. Or, at least, salvaging after an encounter.

I hope to be running level three missions for a Core Complexion, Inc. manufacturing agent soon. It will be interesting to see if there is any further variety in mining missions.

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Tags: eve online, mining, mmorpg, penny ibramovic