Goals update update

NB my mid-September note updating some gameplay goals -- or the short, short version below:

• Train up to use tech 2 modules on Eemiv's main mission-running ship
• Clone Eemiv and stick one copy amid the dangers of low-security space
• With Dengar, participate in two RvB weekend events
• Stretch goal, not time-bound: train Eemiv up for flying logistics (i.e., essentially, medic)

I gave myself a two-month window and should've added a fifth goal, to wit: post an update two months later so that I'd have at least one post in November.

I'm giving myself a 60% success rate on these. Here's the breakdown:

• Modules: done and on time. When I began Eve, I decided to wring myself an early advantage by cashing in (rather, ISKing in) Plex to buy more-powerful (than even T2) but easier-to-fit faction modules. However, faction and higher level modules just aren't worth the real or potential expense: the real cost being the much higher price tag without that much more power, and the potential cost coming from carrying around all that bling to become a target for gankers. (There's really no such thing as "solo" play; even if I'm content to shoot NPCs, anyone else can scan my Kronos, do a cost-benefit analysis, and decide to blow me up while compatriots raid my corpse.) Anyhow, I've sold back the faction modules, and it's nice to have back some of that ISK with which to play the market.



Typical jump clones
From Sony Movie Channel

• Clone: I modified the goal a bit and it's still in progress. The biggest hang-up here is that I just didn't invest the time to wrap my head around jump clone mechanics. I had an errant (mis)understanding that jumping between clones requires both the current and target clones to be at stations with medical bays. I was having a devil of time (indeed, utterly failing) at finding a good home base for Eemiv: a station with whose owners Eemiv had good standing, access to level 4 missions, and close to a trade hub to get loot onto market. But, just yesterday I carefully read up on jump cloning and got my facts straight: medical bay only required to create the jump clone; afterward, jumping can happen from non-medbay stations. Eemiv now has a jump clone with a ship -- but, rather than winnowing in on low- or null-security space broadly, I'm going to send him into a wormhole again pretty soon, hopefully better trained and equipped than last time. I like the exploration component of Eve. So, goal amended and delayed, and work continues. As an aside, I like the clone changes coming this week and am curious about the additional clone mechanic shifts CCP has alluded to.
• RvB weekend events: I tried. I logged in for a cruiser event, decked out in a Thorax, but there were no fleets. I bounced between three jump gates in the neighborhood and saw maybe one ship, neither friend nor foe, who promptly jumped out. Weird. I didn't log in for a second weekend event because they were generally free-for-alls, and those just don't interest me right now. Goal not met.
• Logistics: kinda sorta, in that I shifted it from Eemiv to Dengar. I initially envisioned Eemiv as a bit of a free agent, tacking onto missions in local chat as people requested. But, I figure this would be more useful if I did it with Dengar, where logistics piloting for a group can more readily be useful. Dengar is trained up to fly a tech 2 Oneiros logistics cruiser, but I'll try experimenting initially with a less expensive tech 1 Exequror. I definitely need to further investigate good fits for these hulls.

So, what now? By the end of the month, I plan to

• Have Eemiv run a hacking, relic or data site in wormhole, low-sec, or null-sec space.
• Have Dengar fly logistics in an RvB fleet once
• Train Eemiv to fly assault and covert ops frigate
• Assess Eemiv's skill training plan to identify when best to remap his attribute points, thereby adjusting the rate at which certain skills train. The character will be able (but is not compelled) to remap his attribute points come February.
• Report back to the blog my progress on the above!

And the stretch goal: have Eemiv or Dengar join a new corporation. I would like to be more engaged with other plays in blowing up internet spaceships, and I'm starting to feel the confidence now to do that. 

My initial anxiety at doing this was in-game, i.e. not being able to afford to get blown up a lot as I learned the ropes. Frankly, my anxiety about trying to get more involved now involves the real word: I'm going to be a father in February, and I hesitate to jump into a group I soon won't be able to do much for. But, there are large groups out there that I'm sure can absorb "real life" just fine. And, besides, there's only so long as I can go without kicking myself for coming up with reasons not to do something. If fatherhood is going to mean less time for flying around, well darnit I better get in as much flying and pewpew! as I can now.

Goals update

In March, I laid out goals that I ended up accomplishing two months later. Along the way, an underlying goal for myself was to figure out what gameplay styles I liked and to identify what, if anything, I'm playing for. Time, I think, to lay out some new goals now that I'm more attuned to the game. Within two months, I want to

• Equip and operate Eemiv's Kronos Marauder with tech 2 equipment. Tech 2 modules have a performance edge over basic "tech 1" modules, but they require higher levels of skill training. For example, to mount 425mm Prototype Gauss Guns on the Kronos, Eemiv needed to train the Large Hybrid Turret skill to level I. To equip the tech 2 425mm Railgun IIs, Eemiv needs Large Hybird Turret to level V and Sharpshooter to level V (about four weeks' additional training time) ...  and when that's done, he needs to train Large Railgun Specialization to level I (just an hour -- but, several more weeks if I decide to bump that up Level V, too). Not all tech 2 modules have such steep requirements; the ship already mostly has tech 2, but there are some holdouts. Tech 2 modules also generally require higher resources from the ship -- power supply, computing power, etc. Fortunately, Eemiv has already trained up most of the core "fitting" skills that affect these systems to level V. I did a quick sketch of the math, and it looks like meeting this goal will require at most a month's time if I plunge right through it.
• Create a jump clone of Eemiv and move one of them out to low-security space. I enjoy high-security space mission running, but it's time to get my feet wet living and playing, too, in riskier low- or maybe even null-security space. Jump clones are a carbon copy of the character and, once every 24 hours, you can swap from one to the other. Therefore, I can e.g. jump over to my high-security clone after work and fly a mission for some ISK, and then on the weekend set out for more lucrative looting in low-security areas.
• Participate in at least two RvB weekend events, including one that involves flying and fighting in cruisers. This is for the Dengar character, and a chance for me to get more comfortable with PvP. Two weekend events might not seem like much, but even this might be a bit of a stretch because of a few competing real-world priorities.

I also have one stretch desire, not time-bound so it isn't a goal per se: train up Eemiv for tech 2 logistics ship piloting, and get experience supporting other pilots. This is a career/skill track I'm increasingly curious about, and even leans toward my playstyle in e.g. Team Fortress II and Battlefield: Bad Company II, where I often was a medic.