Even Death Knights love a squirrel

My Death Knight, Gnomesblight, has escaped from the control of the Lich King. The introduction to the Lich King and the Ebon Hold is a fascinating, immersive experience that uses instanced world regions to show the passage of time to great effect, enabling a full story to be told about your character as a heroic personality. Once out of the grip of the Lich King and in to Stormwind my concerns about Death Knights not appearing quite as evil as their image suggests are realised.

Despite being granted an initial high-level of skill with first aid and riding the Death Knight starts with no other professions, having to learn them from scratch. I don't think I missed a step that granted automatic skill increases as there were other Death Knights standing around the forge and anvil banging out copper bars and low-quality pieces of armour with me. It's not terribly evil or impressive to be killing 5th level kobolds to be able to mine copper. However, considering the tale of the Death Knight being an agent of the Scourge and breaking free to be pardoned and welcomed by the king of Stormwind it could perhaps be seen as a redemptive measure, the opportunity for the Death Knight to show allegiance to the faction through a humble expression of labour.

It is also an odd decision to have 58th level Death Knights effectively forced to run through all the of the low-level regions looking for crafting materials, denying them from any low-level characters who have a more legitimate claim on them. It's not just that the Death Knights can wander through the mobs with impunity but they also have swift steeds to help them race to mineral nodes or herb patches, which must frustrate new players or alts that are trying to gather materials themselves. Perhaps Blizzard is assuming that just about no one is playing low-level characters any more, trying to get at least some use out of all the old regions.

To be fair, it also lends the Death Knights some image of being evil, selfishly grabbing anything they want without regard for the effects of their actions on others. And despite having written that the act of mining is not quite the image I expected the Death Knight to exude doing so in low-level regions actually gives me the feeling of an uncompromisingly vicious character. As I hack away at a mineral vein, if a kobold miner wanders a bit too close to me, even if he is no threat, it takes barely a second to raise my hand and strike him down with my Icy Touch before I casually return to mining.

It finally feels perfectly in character to destroy anyone or anything in my path, whether a threat or not, just because of my background. Mobs will feel my wrath because I feel like exerting it. I need no reason to wreak death and destruction, for I am a Death Knight.

Of course, it is then a shame that some of the achievements aren't removed from the Death Knight characters, as it undermines this evil a little bit. So far I have earned the 'Make Love, Not Warcraft' achievement for hugging an enemy character after death—which I suppose is actually a little morbid and not so bad—and have been running around showing my /love for all the cuddly animals found in the world because of the 'To all the Squirrels I've Loved Before' achievement. It maybe would be better if the achievement were tweaked for Death Knights such that the critters need to be /loved, then squished dead and /laughed at. I should start doing this anyway, I have an image to protect.

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Tags: death knight, gnomesblight, mmorpg, world of warcraft, wrath of the lich king

The race to new content

With the release of the second World of Warcraft expansion, Wrath of the Lich King, there has been a lot of buzz about people racing through the content. Some of the commentary has been about the folly of racing to 80th level, as well as a more overall amazement at so many players apparently blind to the beauty in the world around them. In attempt to strike a balance I shall try to look at both sides of the argument.

It is true that there is a whole new continent to explore, with many new zones and regions within those zones that have been carefully crafted to instill a sense of wonder in to players. Although many of the quests still rely on killing ten rats or collecting ten rat ears the new scenery, unexplored and potentially dangerous areas, and as-yet-unknown interactions between players and creatures offer a wealth of discovery and entertainment. Yet there are many players who seem to be ignoring most of this world, racing through the content until there is nothing left worth achieving within the world. Any world mobs are no longer a challenge for the powerful 80th level character and any loot found will be immediately discarded as worthless because of the superior equipment already found in instances or crafted. Surely, reflects the player still in the starting zone, these people are missing out on a whole world of content leaving themselves nothing to do, as he stands atop a cliff and basks in the view of penguins on icebergs and mighty fleets of ships, all bathed in the light of a glorious sunset.

To some extent the more casual player is right. Those who have raced to 80th level have missed out on savouring the sights and sounds of the world. But are they really missing out on a grander scale? First, let's see why they may be racing through content to start with. The raiders have all got excellent equipment, no one can deny that, but the good raiders also bring a lot of skill to the characters they play. These are the players who maximise their damage, healing, or threat output whilst balancing with the needs of a large team and remaining mobile and aware of their surroundings, ready to adapt to changing circumstances. Abilities and rotations are worked out at length on test realms or in controlled environments to maximise efficiency. Even as a relatively simple player I can blast through the standard world mobs with no problems and teaming up with just one more person removes any kind of challenge from standard world encounters, so it should be no surprise that someone ready to kill the mightiest enemies in the game would find it even easier.

Raiders soloing world content, or pairing up for efficiency, will breeze through world mobs like they aren't there, because they are good at what they do. I don't think anyone who sees me play Super Mario Bros. would complain that I am not taking time to enjoy the different scenery in all the worlds but would more likely be impressed with the speed and fluidity with which I can race through the levels with practiced ease. Maybe we shouldn't criticise raiders for destroying world content so easily but instead recognise how they've managed to own the class they play to the point where they really seem heroic.

As for raiders bypassing content you just have to ask yourself what they are going to do now they are 80th level. It is easy to mock them for missing out on the world experiences but it perhaps ignores just what raiders do: they fight in raid instances. There may be plenty of world content to keep most players entertained for a long time but there is, or will be, just as much raid content that is as at least as well-designed, crafted and awe-inspiring than the world content, and quite often is even more dramatic and impressive! Whilst many people worked their way through the pretty landscape of Nagrand in Burning Crusade the raiders were in the lofty Karazhan, moving to Gruul's Lair, and onwards to Mount Hyjal and the imposing and mighty Black Temple. Surely, reflects the raider, these players are missing out on many vast dungeons full of the most challenging content by dragging their heels in boring fields, as he stands in an intricately decorated hall that has been designed and crafted to the highest standards, waiting for the order to attack a boss that could wipe the whole group if someone sneezes at the wrong time.

The content in the raid instances is truly epic, with incredible scenery, monsters and fights simply not seen elsewhere. The casual players may scoff at the raiders hidden away in instances not seeing the wonders in the world, but the raiders could rightfully scoff back as they enjoy the immense depth and challenge of the raiding instances that almost no casual player will get to see.

It may seem foolish to rush past content to get to the 'end' of a game, but it would be prudent to realise what the 'end' means for different people. For casual players, reaching the level cap probably means the end of much interesting content, perhaps reluctant to delve in to instances to grind for gear and in no mind to dedicate hours each day to raiding, leaving playing an alt as the best option. For the raider, the end is something different. Indeed, the end of the casual player's game is, in fact, the start of the raider's game, which will only end when all the raid bosses are defeated and the character has a full set of the highest-tier equipment. From this point of view, raiders are far from rushing through the content of the game, they are rushing to get to a point where they can begin their game. And looking at it like that, who can blame them?

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Tags: mmorpg, raiding, world of warcraft, wrath of the lich king

Pet sounds

My EU-based protection warrior, Tiger, teams up with Melmoth's paladin for some wide-eyed, happy-to-be-here exploration of Northrend. On the gryphon flight to Menethil Harbour to catch the ship to Howling Fjord, still avoiding the Borean Tundra for now, Melmoth remarks on how the hunter class always seems to get an update that is determined to irritate every other player. This time it is not an overpowered ability but their new pets. Specifically, the new pets that are so heavy footed that they make loud stomping sounds with every step they take. To illustrate this nicely, jumping off the ship to reach harbour ten minutes earlier than had we stayed aboard for the ship's entire route, a hunter's flaming green hound's steps come boom boom booming out of my speakers unnecessarily. Just in case it isn't clear, the annoying stomps are still apparent whilst it is walking underwater.

I'm sure that hunters think their imposing pets are terribly impressive and fun, stomping around causing all that noise. They must do, because it seems every bugger has one. I have a different view of them, one that I wonder if it would change the hunters' views were they to consider it. These noisy pets are the equivalent of the bass-heavy loud car stereos of boy racers who cruise through town centres. Sure, they think they are really cool. They think having a booming bass announcing their presence is a status symbol. After all, everyone turns to look at the source of that impressive thumping. All who pay attention must obviously be enjoying the shared cultural experience, admiring the incredible sound, in awe of the power that must be controlled to produce it!

That's probably how hunters see it. In truth, I imagine it is only other hunters who see it that way. Every other player turns to look to see what the booming noise is simply because it is annoying. We are not admiring the stomping sound, we are wondering what the racket is, hoping it will go away. We are not in awe of the power and status of the character to have a pet like that, we are wondering what moron is selfishly inflicting their unshared personal preferences on everyone around them. The attention you are getting, hunters, is negative and we just want your annoying pet to please bugger off.

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Tags: melmoth, northrend, pets, world of warcraft, wrath of the lich king

Weekending

At the start of the weekend I got the EU version of Wrath of the Lich King installed. I couldn't resist having a quick run around as Tiger in Howling Fjord. I was happy to explore the new scenery for the most part, although I picked up a few quests here and there in the wilderness. In my travels I found a small gathering of turkeys and ran around killing fifteen of them in three minutes, getting the Friend of Fowl achievement. I'm not sure that I've spent a more useless few minutes in my life. And if that weren't bad enough, there is a quest just down the road that asks you to train a falcon to kill the turkeys, so although the achievement seems a silly bit of fun it also denies quest mobs to players. I'm not quite sure of Blizzard's motivation here, apart from to anatagonise players.

In the far west of Howling Fjord I stumbled upon an Alliance keep that launched from the cliffs a goblin's captured zeppelin, using it to bomb pirates to keep them from attacking. Unfortunately, there are not enough pirates and cannons for the several people on the zeppelin all to be able to complete the quest easily. After the first pass more characters boarded so I headed off to do something more rewarding. I popped back later to have a second attempt, hoping to get the few more kills I needed, when another character pointed out that if we teamed up it would run much more smoothly. Well, damn, I've been solo for so long that I hadn't really thought about it and he's spot on. The few of us on the zeppelin formed a group and each of our bombs dropped counted for all of us, rather than just the one who dropped them. The quest was completed quickly and the player was praised for his helpfulness and spirit, however obvious it ought to have been in the first place.

I didn't play too much this weekend, because I was also trying to download my copy of the US WLK expansion, which a friend had kindly made available for me so that I didn't have to wait for the game to ship across the Atlantic Ocean. The large download, and some hiccups in the transfer, made other on-line gaming a bit laggy so I found other activities to keep me busy.

I cleaned and tidied a bit on Saturday and vacuumed on Sunday. They might be chores, but I do them infrequently enough that it makes me feel good that I finally get them done. It also has the pleasant side effect of making my home rather more cleaner. I should do this more often.

On Sunday I popped in to London with Zoso to see some stand-up comedy. It was a regular stand-up show hosted by Richard Herring but with a special line-up for the night, as it included his old comedy partner Stewart Lee, as well as a few other faces from their late '90s Sunday lunchtime show TMWRNJ. We enjoyed highly entertaining sets from small-faced Trevor, Stewart Lee, Richard Herring, and Nostradamus, before Lee and Herring came out to rattle off a bunch of catchphrases to uproarious laughter. An unintentionally amusing moment occurred during the intermission when, as Zoso and I tucked in to some ice cream—why there was no jelly I don't know—some people walked past and we overheard a woman say 'I don't know who that second bloke was, Stewart something...'. Madam, he is the jazz comedian. It was a most entertaining evening.

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Tags: comedy, mmorpg, tiger, tmwrnj, world of warcraft, zoso

Realm first 80th level achievement title

I recently wrote about the dubious value of the Going Down? 'achievement' in World of Warcraft, where Melmoth left a comment about the fuss of there being an achievement in place for being first in the realm to get to 80th level on release of the new expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. I've been pondering more on some of the achievements and, with a few realm first messages popping up on the servers it got me thinking.

With the release of the previous and first World of Warcraft expansion, The Burning Crusade, there was at least one person who raced his way to 70th level. The first person to reach the level cap received quite some publicity, positive and negative, for having done so. It was thus inevitable that more players would try to achieve the same feat in getting to the new cap at 80th level, with or without an achievement system in place. However, that still does not mean that Blizzard should make the race legitimate and reward players in-game.

On the one hand, the players are speeding through content in a matter of a few days that is meant to last the best part of two years. On the other hand, the content can be enjoyed at a more casual pace a number of more times with different characters, even with the same race and class, so arguably no content is lost. My concern is not so much with those that achieve the realm first of getting to 80th level, it is more with all of those who are racing to get there who are not quite quick enough.

By all accounts, getting to 80th level so quickly requires heavily dedicated playing, unsurprisingly enough. Spending many consecutive hours behind a computer, taking time off from work or school and other commitments and activities, all for a chance of attaining an honour that means nothing outside of the gaming community, and little even to most people who play the game. To be beaten to the realm first by another player denies this minor reward, effectively wasting the player's time even more than it was to start with.

At least Blizzard have achievements in place for each race and class, as well as the first 80th level character overall, so there are opportunities for multiple people on each realm to receive some notoriety. Even so, I wonder how many people will have spent long, tiring hours behind a keyboard only to see the realm first message appear that applies to their race and class when they are half-way through 79th level themselves. I wonder what wave of emotions they suffer through when that happens.

I was thinking if there might have been a way for Blizzard to acknowledge the competition to become the first 80th level character whilst not exactly encouraging it. I came up with the idea of adding a suitable title that could be applied to a character's name for the achievement. Achieving the realm first of an 80th level character could earn that character the title of 'Knobhead'. It would be exclusively reserved for players who get to 80th level first, so it could be shown off as a matter of pride if it mattered enough, but at the same time it might really narrow down the competition to get there first.

The title would be entirely optional, of course. You wouldn't be forced to spend the rest of your time in game being known as 'Knobhead $charactername', but I think that's the genius of it. You can either care enough about the achievement to want people to know you as 'Knobhead', or you realise that perhaps it isn't as much of an achievement as you first thought and decide to remain anonymous. It's something Blizzard can think about for the next expansion.

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Tags: achievements, mmorpg, world of warcraft

A good reason to enjoy EVE Online

One good reason to join a corporation in EVE Online is that you can then take part in fleet operations and say things like 'roger that'.

I must try working an 'aye cap'n' or two in to the mix.

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Tags: eve online, mmorpg

The 'broken heart' seatbelt advertisement

There is a public service advertisement on TV and radio at the moment that is confusing me. The advert aims to get more people to wear seatbelts when driving. To encourage the use of seatbelts the advert highlights that, in the reconstructed accident, it is not the impact of the driver's head on the windscreen that kills him, neither is it the impact of his ribcage on the steering wheel. The driver dies because his internal organs are not slowed down at the same speed as his body when it hits the steering wheel and the continued movement of the heart literally rips it away from the arterial vein. So we are told to wear a seatbelt.

This confuses me because I don't see how wearing a seatbelt would help in this case. The driver and car are moving at the same speed before the crash. At the moment of the crash the car is decelerated rapidly but, if he isn't wearing a seatbelt and is thus not secured, the driver will continue moving as before, as inertia demands. What has not happened is that the driver has not been thrown forwards. There is no extra energy pushing him forwards that causes extra stress on his body when he is decelerated by the steering wheel that would be prevented by wearing a seatbelt, he has simply continued moving at the same speed as before the impact. And whether wearing a seatbelt or not, the driver's internal organs will be moving at the speed of the car prior to impact and will continue to move at that speed until acted on by an external force.

Had the driver been wearing a seatbelt he certainly would have been restrained and held in his seat, thus not hitting the windscreen or steering wheel, but he would still have been decelerated just as much as if he had been stopped by the steering wheel when not wearing a seatbelt. It is true that the seatbelt would have prevented the head and ribcage injuries, but the crux of the advert's argument is that it is neither of these injuries that kills the driver, only the sudden deceleration of the driver's internal organs. That deceleration would surely be the same whether the driver is wearing a seatbelt or not, as the seatbelt cannot restrain a person's internal organs, only his body.

I imagine the advert is preying on people's ignorance and trying to scare them in to wearing a seatbelt, which is rather disappointing.

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Tags: advertisement, physics

Paradroid

A disturbing message has been received. The robots on several spaceships have turned rogue, their programming corrupted. All humans on board the ships have been killed. There is not much hope in sending in human forces to regain control of the ships, but a small influence droid could be sent aboard to penetrate the defences and slowly but surely remove the robot threat. Such is the story behind Paradroid, an excellent computer game for the Commodore 64 written by Andrew Braybrook.

The influence droid under your control can subdue the robotic forces in two ways. First, it can use its weapon to destroy the robots, removing their malignant presence on the ship. Although it is possible to destroy a robot through impact damage, by repeatedly bumping in to it, this method also damages the influence droid or its host and is only advised as an emergency act. Second, the influence droid can hijack a robot's systems, rewiring its circuitry so that the influence droid takes complete control of the host, hence its name. Whilst blasting other robots is fun there is a need to hijack robots, as they become far more powerful than the influence droid can hope to best in combat. Even then, hijacking a robot is more difficult the more powerful it is, making it almost necessary to hijack your way up the class structure.

A hijacked robot, whilst under your control, is still fighting the influence droid and the drain on the power systems of the robot will cause the robot's circuits to burn out eventually, with the destruction occurring the more powerful the host robot is. The influence droid needs to swap hosts regularly in order to maintain a suitable level of power, both in terms of electrical power and of might. Being in control of another robot also offers a level of protection to the influence droid. The destruction of the influence droid means the end of the game, with the rebellious robots still present on the ship, but when the influence droid is in control of a host the destruction of the host leaves the influence droid intact, if dangerously low on power.

The transfer game, invoked when hijacking a robot, is also quite clever. It is a simplistic mini-game with you aiming to take control by being able to assert more control signals than the host robot. The influence droid gets three assertions to make, with other robots getting more as their level increases. The assertions only last a limited amount of time before running out of energy, so it is possible to delay controlling a line until later and relying on the host's assertion being overwritten by your own, but with only a short time allowed to hijack the host delaying can result in some frantic action. There are also splitters, repeaters, combiners and bit changers in the circuits, with each robot's circuits arranged differently, offering opportunities for a single assertion to change multiple lines or for the assertion to be permanent, for example.

Part of the skill in a successful transfer is choosing which circuit path of the two available would either help you or hinder the host more, again with only a short amount of time to choose. With luck and skill it is possible to hijack a high-level robot from the influence droid, but this should be an act of desperation and not attempted as a matter of course. A successful transfer destroys the current host and places the influence droid in the new host. An unsuccessful transfer still destroys the current host but also the potential host, and destroys the influence droid if it isn't in a host, so care must be taken choosing which robots to hijack and when.

Each robot, including the interface droid, is assigned a three-digit number. The first number assigns the class of the robot, with the remaining two numbers referring to the model. Although the representation of the robots is rudimentary it works surprisingly well. This is helped by the style of the text making the '001' of the influence droid look like a pair of seeking eyes, giving your connection with the game a more human feel. There is no stylistic difference between the robots encountered beyond their class and model number but the three-digit number conveys sufficient information in a tidy package, effectively giving each robot a 'level' and allowing the player to 'con' every encounter.

The series 1xx, 2xx and 3xx robots are all unarmed and harmless to encounter, with the 476 being the robot with the lowest model number to have its own weapon, a single powerful laser. The influence droid will take advantage of any weapon the host is armed with, falling back to use its weak dual laser weapon if the host has no weapon. The 6xx series robots are sentinels, the 7xx robots have disruptor weapons, the 8xx are heavily armed and armoured security robots, and the 999 robot, the only 9xx class, is the command robot.

The disruptor weapons of the 7xx series robots provide an interesting diversion for the player. Unlike the laser-based weapons all other armed robots have the disruptor is not directionally fired. Instead, it is effectively an EMP blast that damages all robots visible on the screen. With the designers realising the potential problems this causes all 7xx series robots are hardened against the disruptors they carry. Whilst it is possible to destroy a disruptor-carrying robot with normal lasers the lack of aiming required for the disruptors to hit makes engaging one in conventional combat a risky endeavour, particularly when there are several to destroy in quick succession or simultaneously. In most cases the best choice is to use the influence droid to hijack their systems and take control of the robot. Then you have another problem. Whilst it is possible to blast screens of low-level robots at a time you cannot destroy another 7xx series robot whilst controlling one yourself, as the disruptor has no effect and the influence droid's lasers are bypassed.

On the positive side, other 7xx series robots cannot harm you either, so you can leave them alone and regain control of another deck before returning to replace your waning robot with another disruptor-capable unit. This highlights the strategic elements that are available in Paradroid. Whilst it is possible to go deck-to-deck killing or hijacking robots as you go there are methods that are more likely to produce successful results. It would be possible to hijack each 7xx series robot in sequence, wiping them all out in one go, but then you wouldn't have the destructive power the disruptor possesses once the final 7xx host's circuits are close to burn-out. And whilst the low-level robots seem like easy pickings it is unwise to go on a rampage early on in the mission. Taking on the 6xx and 8xx class robots is dangerous and can often lead to a host being destroyed, leaving your influence droid vulnerable. If you have already wiped out the lower class of robots your only choice will be to fight on or try to hijack a higher class of robot than is straightforward, whereas with some low-class robots still around you can safely jump in to one of them for to give both a better chance of survival and hijacking a stronger robot.

Whilst it is a good idea to fight your way to the top quickly the more powerful droids also burn out much more quickly, adding a sense of urgency to the action. You need to avoid heavy fire when around the highest-level robots and as your best bet of defeating them is often to hijack at least one you will have to manoeuvre in to close contact, making it a risky prospect. It is possible to be destroyed whilst trying to get close enough to hijack a robot, so it is recommended that hostile robots are approached not directly but using a curved path. Once you are in the robot you need to incapacitate the others and find a replacement for your quickly degenerating host. Although the 999 robot is the pinnacle of design on the ship the best use you can make of it when hijacked is not to run around flaunting your powers but to find a computer terminal and plug yourself in quickly before it rejects the influence droid as a host.

The terminals dotted around the ship give access to information about the current deck's layout and the schematics of the lift system. They also offer security information about all the robots on the ship, although clearance is required to access the security information. The clearance is based on the robot's class and model, with access only available to your current robot level and below. As the influence droid, model 001, you only get access to yourself. Moving up, the 302 robot—the fastest moving robot on the ship, by the way—gives access to anything numbered below 302. Hijacking the 999 command robot thus gives access to any and all security records, allowing information to be revealed about all the weapons and systems of any robot on the ship. This is good information to know, as the numbering system allows for quick identification of the robots and it can be vital to know whether to hijack the slow 614 robot of the powerfully armed 629 when they are next to each other.

Points are gained for destroying or transferring to robots, with the amount gained based on the class of the robot engaged. At standard green alert conditions you just get the points scored, but at amber and red alert conditions your score is multiplied for each kill. The ship enters a higher alert level based on the number of robots killed per second, and you really need to go on a rampage to get invoke red alert.

There are plenty of clever touches in Paradroid. One clever aspect is the abstraction of the controls. Even though—as with most, if not all, games of the time—you are clearly moving some kind of avatar on the screen the plot of the game gives reason to the control system. The player is not actually represented by the character on-screen but is in remote control of the influence droid sent to quell the robotic rebellion on the spaceships. As you are in direct control of the droid's movements and actions it is easier to get more involved in what little story there is, with the possibility of being able to become immersed in the idea that what you are seeing on the screen is what the droid is beaming back from the ship. This is not to say it was difficult to become immersed with moving a small pixellated represenation of a man or car around a screen with a joystick, more that the immersion won't be broken by realising you are using a joystick in such a fashion when playing Paradroid.

The game also only shows you what the influence droid can 'see'. Even with the overhead multi-directional scrolling decks of the ship allowing the player to see more than just the room the influence droid is in, if a robot is behind a closed door, or even just around a corner, the game won't display it. This adds an excellent element of suspense when exploring the ship, particularly the high-level decks, as you really cannot be sure what is behind the next door until you open it. Don't worry if you think this means that you will have trouble ensuring you've destroyed all the robots, because once a deck is clear of robots—and the influence droid is the only robot capable of using the lift system on the ship—the lights switch off, dimming the entire level.

The advanced graphics, atmospheric sounds, clever interface, and addictive gameplay made Paradroid one of the best games of its day. The blend of action and strategy, exploration and discovery, let the game appeal and offer a rewarding experience to many players. It was successful enough that it was re-released under the title Heavy Metal Paradroid a couple of years later with some coding changes that smoothed the scrolling and added extra ships of robots to defeat. Paradroid is an 8-bit classic.

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Tags: 8-bit, andrew braybrook, c=64, paradroid, retro

A new Drake

Maybe it was the World of Warcraft Halloween and Scourge invasion events combined, the sudden rush of my small guild trying to reach 70th level before the Wrath of the Lich King expansion is released, the return of Melmoth to Azeroth EU, or simply a bit of ennui, but I haven't been a capsuleer in New Eden much recently. I think my skill training plan of getting all my level one learning skills up to rank five doesn't help, as it is essentially a month-long endeavour with no incremental improvement in skills beyond gaining skill points more quickly. It isn't interesting but it is a good long-term plan that will lead to faster improvements once finished. With skill switching only required once a week and so much change occurring in Azeroth and Outlands my time in EVE Online has been limited. I was concerned that I have been letting down my new corporation, being unavailable for a few operations, so I dedicated some time to spaceflight.

I turn up as a few members of the corporation are about to run some level four missions as a fleet, gaining some quick reputation and security status increases. Being a mostly PvP corporation the most active members end up with a negative security rating, making it difficult to fly in high-sec space, because of the loss of standings that are incurred when initiating combat with another pod pilot. Heading out in a fleet to complete legitimate missions with a member of good standing, who has access to high-quality level four agents, will boost ratings quickly and rectify the losses, so mission running is occasionally scheduled to keep everyone at least close to the good side of the law.

I missed out on the previous level four mission running because I only have frigates and a PvP cruiser in my hangars, and I don't want to head in to a level four mission in a frigate. I could still have had my old mission runner on stand-by had I not lost my Drake to a gate camp from my own carelessness. There seemed little point in replacing the Drake immediately, as having moved half-way across the galaxy where a different faction was in charge my access to agents has been limited to low-quality level one agents and my need for a strong mission-running ship non-existent. There is no point buying a battlecruiser when acceleration gates only allow frigates through. With an occasional level four mission operation occurring I now have an excuse to buy another big ship and, feeling a little homesick for Caldari space, why not another Drake. I know how to fit one and make it a decent shield tank, after all. I broadcast to my corporation that I am buying and fitting a Drake and they tell me that I can come out and join them when I am ready.

I have my new Drake and christen it Lightness of Being, although I thought I had a better name lined up for my next ship. When taking her out of the station for the first time I witness something I find quite captivating. I warp to a stargate and see a Caracal a few hundred metres off my starboard bow, following me almost exactly in warp! It is possible to warp together as a fleet, and I find it quite cool to have several ships all warp together in formation, but this is impromptu: two separate pilots flying at 3 AU per second close enough to wave to each other out the window, if we had windows. It is quite a cool experience.

After flying through what seems like all of New Eden to pick up modules and set myself up in a convenient system, I am ready. I have shield extenders, shield hardeners, heavy missile launchers, shield power relays and a ballistic control system fitted. I park Lightness of Being in a suitable station not only close to where the mission operations occur but, I discover later, in the station where the agents are located, my instincts kicking in when selecting a station. I carried a shuttle with me to that station so that I can travel to and from the Drake and my level one-running frigates more quickly instead of relying on the Drake itself.

The buying and fitting of the Drake took a fair amount of time. Once I am ready and meet up with the fleet I am only able to pick through the hulls of level four mission wrecks for recoverable modules as the mission is completed. The capsuleer with access to the level four agent has to head back to base for the evening as well. This turns out not to be too much of a problem, as the corporation boss has access to level three agents and we continue mission running with those instead. The missions are completed quickly and efficiently, with little time for picking through the wrecks' holds, let alone salvaging anything. The security status gains and bounties are the required reward for the time spent, particularly when completed in a small fleet.

Mid-way through the first mission, surrounded by frigates and cruisers firing cannons and missiles in my general direction, I realise that I have completely forgotten to insure the Drake against accidental explosion. If I happen to lose the uninsured Drake I will have spent tens of millions of ISK for the privilege of travelling home in a pod. Granted, the chances of my losing a Drake in a mission have decreased rapidly since I first became a space cadet but I cannot forget how I foolishly lost my previous one. In-between stages of the mission I jump to a station and take out a platinum insurance policy. Shortly afterwards, my boss tells me that he has never insured his own mission runner, thinking it a waste of money for a ship that is not likely to be in any danger. I suppose you gain a different perspective when you face more challenging targets most weeks in low-sec, and I can see myself moving towards his philosophy for mission runners.

I am only able to complete a few level three missions, having spent most of my time in New Eden fitting a battlecruiser, but I enjoyed myself and got more involved. I felt the spark of EVE Online touch me again and I know I'll be returning sooner rather than later. I have my own missions to run, a Drake for corporation mission running, and a couple of PvP ships for roaming operations. Everything is coming together.

Posted in Gaming | Comments Off on A new Drake
Tags: drake, eve online, penny ibramovic

The Death Knight is just a man, or gnome

Death Knights are coming to World of Warcraft. I'll admit that I really don't know much about the world's lore but it is a pretty evocative class name. Whilst the other classes—druid, hunter, mage, paladin, priest, rogue, shaman, warlock, warrior—certainly conjure up images of adventurers they don't really compare to that of the Death Knight. This isn't your ordinary knight, chivalrous in conduct and expert in battle, someone who would be as comfortable at a dinner table of kings as riding in to combat, this is a Death Knight. The Death Knight evokes images of an evil being stopping at nothing to defeat anyone who stands in his way, crushing women and children without consideration. This is a heroic class that demands respect.

There are plenty of commentators who have already voiced concern about gnomes being an allowed race for Death Knights, their short stature and pink hair making something of a mockery of the class. I am tickled by something different. Whilst the ordinary classes don't seem too out of place in mining ore or plucking herbs and using the gathered materials to learn a tradeskill such as blacksmithing or alchemy it can still seem a little incongruous. When tasked to defeat a mighty warlord or repel an undead invasion it can be somewhat comical to have someone stop for ore or to pick a flower, but just think what it will do to the image of the Death Knight when he does the same.

Here is this mighty fighter, evil and relentless in purpose, pausing in his tracks to pick up some peacebloom. You quake in your boots as a notorious Death Knight storms towards you, before he steps to one side and takes a pickaxe to a copper vein, whistling as he works. I can imagine the Death Knight crafting evil potions in his alchemical laboratory, perhaps like Raz Frostwhisper, and forging mighty weapons and armour imprinted with skulls, but surely he should have minions for gathering the required materials. It somehow seems beneath a Death Knight to bother with such matters.

Not only that, but the crafting process realised in the game doesn't reflect the nature of the Death Knight either. Alchemy is more like using a junior chemical set and blacksmithing creates mostly gaily coloured non-descript armour and small unthreatening daggers and maces. It doesn't seem particularly powerful. And then the Death Knight needs to get rid of all the unwanted excess. I can just see one bargaining with a common vendor about how much the dozen copper daggers are worth, or standing in the auction house with everyone else trying to sell his wares or buy a bargain. I would bet good money that Lady Sylvanas Windrunner never had to do that.

The idea of hero classes is a good one, allowing access to more interesting features that are only available once some knowledge and experience of the game has been shown. It is a shame that the powerfully named Death Knight will be demystified and shown to be just another class, undifferentiated from any other except by name, by all the menial actions they still need to perform. Unless they cause herbs to wither in to special evil herbs in their presence before calling forth a small army of skeletons with massive scythes to gather them, or melt the ore out of the rock with a death-ray stare and collect the molten metal with their bare hands, the Death Knight will fail to live up to its image.

Posted in Gaming | 1 Comment »
Tags: death knight, world of warcraft, wrath of the lich king