[ First of all, something really needs to be done about this logo >cough< ]
Rixx has been in the Tuskers for a few days now, mostly I've been moving that horribly loooong distance between Lisbotrain and Hevrice. Those 3 jumps can be murder! I joke, but actually this is one of the hardest moves I've made. "What!?", you say, "But Rixx, you've moved from one end of the Underverse to anudder!" That is true, oh true believer, but hold steady whilist I 'splain.
First of all, having been in one spot for so long (for me anyway) means I've collected a lot of stuffs, both purchased and looted from hapless pilots. In addition, I have this nasty habit of fitting ships, as of Monday I had 47 completely fitted ships in my hanger, plus about 12 half-fitted or un-fitted for one reason or another. Not to mention the fact that my trusty wife (and transport pilot) Ana is still in Lucifer's Hammer holding down the CEO fort until Friday. So three jumps isn't far. In some ways it would be better if it was, because Carrier jumping three jumps seems a bit silly.
Oh I will be using the Carrier, but hopefully only a few times. The rest I'm planning on moving manually over time. The best thing about being three jumps away is that it is only three jumps away, if I need something it isn't far.
Meanwhile I continue trying to help my former Corp and Alliance mates find new homes. Most have already moved on, some in interesting directions, while others are still looking. Hopefully most will be sorted soon.
I'm itching to get busy killing things, but I'm taking it slow until at least next week. There are some interesting complications inherent in me being in one Corporation while my wife is still in another Corporation/Alliance. While moving I'm often undocking on Burn Away or Lucifer's Hammer pilots. And while I'm comfortable not engaging for the next few days, that isn't going to last forever. But everything should be settled by this weekend and we can all move on in our Eve journey.
For me, I'm looking forward to next week. To being nothing more than another footsoldier in a Corporation for which I am not even a Director. Albeit an incredibly handsome, talented, super popular cunning warrior member... but still, it sounds incredibly relaxing to me right now.
Keep the courage.
Once I get on a roll regarding changes I can sometimes take things a little far. I know this about myself and freely admit it.
So, regarding yesterday's post about Twitter Hats... please ignore it.
I'll try to limit myself to one or two hats a day and continue dropping unsuspecting hats on people, those that ask and those that don't. The original goal was to be-hat all members of the Tweetfleet - so we'll stick with that goal for now and see how things go.
So, while change is good, some changes can be changed back.
As all things change, some things also must come to an end. The same holds true for Twitter Hats, the Tweetfleet Craze that started life as an angry protest and ended up somewhere to the left of vanity and right of badge of honor, must also come to an end.
As much as I've enjoyed making hats for everyone, I can't go on doing it forever. So 19 hats from now, when the total hits 152 hats, I won't be making anymore daily hat avatars for Tweetfleet.
Now, those who remain without hats, do not lose heart. Am I a cruel, heartless person? No, I'm not. (I'll answer that for you!) So I will put a hat on anyone that requests it, but it will be loaded onto the Twitter Hat page for you to download and won't be posted on Twitter. Does that make sense?
In other words I'll stop making daily hats to replace my own Twitter avatar with and will instead create hats only on request. Those new hats will be loaded onto the Twitter Hat page to take their place amongst the collection. You can download them there and use them however you want.
152 hats is a lot. Plus it is the exact number I need to complete the Twitter Hat Commemorative Edition Wallpaper.
Everything changes. In fact, life is little more than the constant adaptation to change. Accept it, fight it, whatever your choices you must face it. And so it is here at Eveoganda.
You'll notice we are sporting a new banner today. That is only the beginning of some new changes you'll be noticing over the coming weeks.
BLOG PACK
During the last few weeks I have purposefully let the Blog Pack sit and sink in. But now it is time for some changes. By this time next week we will have some new members on the BP and some of our older members will be retiring due to inactivity. In addition, I will be introducing some Blog Pack Badges that you can use on your sites to help promote not only your own membership in this group, but the Pack in general.
More on those developments as they happen.
EVE LINKS
In addition I will be updating the Eveoganda Eve Links, adding some new resources/blogs and removing any that are no longer relevant.
MOBILE
I finally got around to enabling the mobile design on Eveoganda, so if you visit from a mobile device you'll notice that the site is now formatted properly. It is actually pretty darn cool and I've spent some time this morning checking it out on my iPhone. Looks good and is extremely easy to navigate.
RIXX
Oh, and Rixx is now a member of The Tuskers.
More changes on the way.
Nothing lasts forever. Especially in Eve. Just ask any of a number of Alliances or Corporations I've been a part of during the last three years. Those that might still remain are often not what they once were. Some, a few, are even bigger than before.
My plan to remain in Lucifer's Hammer sounded all noble when I said it, but on further reflection it seems more boring and stupid than anything else. As more and more of my Corp m8s bail to other shores, the Corp chat window has gotten pretty darn lonely.
And while a certain lonesome nature prevails within my soul, when it comes right down to it, I need people to fly with. Fellow pilots, buddies, compatriots, the like ilk doods who enjoy fighting and killing for pleasure.
So it is time to close the door on Lucifer's Hammer and move on to something else. I already transfered CEO roles to my "wife" Anastasia and she'll be holding down what remains of the fort until this Friday. On Friday anyone still remaining in the Alliance will be kicked and she'll transfer CEO roles in Lucifer's Hammer to someone else. That will effectively end my control of both entities.
There isn't much fun in lingering. So what to do next?
I briefly considered many options, but to be perfectly frank, there was only one option that really made sense to me. Given the fact that we've been flying together and against each other so much the last six months or so, and that I have a tremendous amount of respect for everyone there that I know, (plus they are close, so I can avoid moving across the universe again! lol) joining The Tuskers seemed like a natural decision.
I'd like to continue to focus on solo and small gang fighting, it remains the one area that I feel I need more work on. Having grown up in Null Space I sorta skipped over the whole "frigate" phase of my career, I still cringe when I jump into anything that isn't a Rifter. Having gone pretty much straight to BC and Ceptor, frigates being mostly a death trap in Null. ( I said mostly, there are exceptions.)
The point being I'm done with Null, been in many, many wars, fought in big fleet fights, watched Alliances fall apart - including my own now, oh joy - and even though I've spent the last nine months of so fighting the life of a pirate, I still don't feel like I've gotten the full enjoyment of it. That's mostly because of the added responsibility of running a Corporation and an Alliance. Which doesn't always mean what you might think.
But that's a topic for another day. I've filled out the forum application and so we'll wait and see what happens. One door closes another one opens, and the journey continues. I'm very excited about this chapter and looking forward to whatever it might hold.
Although hopefully it'll be as a Tusker. Finger's crossed.
Gooder Eve is an on-going series that attempts to prod the Eve Universe into motion by suggesting ways in which it could be made gooder. These suggestions range from the serious to the silly, but each one is intended to start a discussion, engage your brain and hopefully start the ball rolling in new and interesting directions.
Recently the concept of Time Dilation has been introduced to the Eve Community. Or, as fans of The Matrix might call it, Bullet Time. The concept is simple, the Eve server acts in an adaptive manner to constrict "in-game" time when the load becomes increasingly heavier. The heavier the load, the slower time acts within the game. It is hoped that by manipulating the fabric of space-time, server lag can be better dealt with.
Which is all fine and good, and a subject worthy of an additional post.
But it brought to mind something else that has been nagging at the back of my brain. ( And credit to Angor Mau for bringing it to my attention earlier this week. ) If we are going to be warping time in relation to server lag, perhaps now is a good time to think about time in Eve on a more majestic scale.
New Eden is a big universe. The scale and wonder of what CCP has built for our enjoyment is truly remarkable. But have you ever noticed how small it is starting to feel? This is just a perception, which is the heart of space-time relativity in the first place. The perception of time has as much to do with actual time as the hands on a clock. Eve might be big, but you can sure get from one place to another PDQ.
And this isn't just a function of Jump Bridges, Cyno Fields, Jump Freighters and other instantaneous modes of transportation either. Although they certainly play a role. It also has to do with warping from one place to another. The other night I went on a quick jaunt North in my Vagabond. 17 jumps in less than thirty minutes. I wasn't burning, it could have gone quicker.
My suggestion isn't radical. It is simply this, to slow Eve down about 10-15%.
To return a touch of the majestic to the Universe we love. Eve has sped up over the last few years and no doubt the universe has gotten smaller. Maybe it is time to pull that back a tad? To give us all a little more time and room to spread our wings? Room you say?
Well one way to achieve this would be to simply (lol) make New Eden 10-15% bigger. To stretch it out a bit overall. This would screw with jump distances and bridges and cynos and whatnots, but maybe that isn't such a bad thing? Another way would be to make everything slower, but I prefer the bigger method.
Ok Rixx, this is weird. No one is asking for this and you've gone off the deep end. Possibly. On the other hand, just because no one is asking for something doesn't mean it is a bad idea. I think the more you consider this the more you'll start to think it makes sense. Or perhaps you have an alternative solution?
Majesty. Size. Wonder. It is space after all and it should take some effort to get from one side to the other. A little more effort, just a touch, could return some much needed majesty to the universe of New Eden.
What are your thoughts?
I've made my share of mistakes in Eve. And I've always been man enough to admit to them, learn from them and try to avoid making the same ones again.
Leaving my Corporation back in the early Summer when my son went into the Hospital was a mistake. I should have just gone AFK and let the chips fall until I could get back. Of course, at the time I wasn't sure I would be coming back. I came closer to quitting Eve at that moment than I have before or since. Hindsight.
That decision effectively killed my Corporation. It wasn't a decision made in a vacuum however. At the same time as my son's illness, two of my Directors were threatening to leave the Corporation. Those threats also led to the decision to leave.
I've been back now for over three months. Nine months since I re-started the Corporation. The person I started it with, Angor Mau, is not playing Eve anymore. My Alliance Exec has been gone for over two months. I have a blank portal page that I don't have access to. I cannot get to my TeamSpeak server, the forum, or the killboard. There are two Corporations wanting to join the Alliance that have a combined 97 members, more than doubling the current size of our merry little group.
It felt like the Chinese Hell of a Thousand Paper Cuts.
And then Steve Jobs died. And I was reminded of a quote of his, which I paraphrase, "Look in the mirror every day as if it was your last, would you be doing what you are doing?" I had to answer no.
As hard as it is to admit to yourself, Lucifer's Hammer died three months ago. It died when two people you wrongly trusted took half your members with them, under what turned out ( I discovered yesterday ) to be a false pretense. It is also hard to admit that you can't do this alone, that bringing new member corporations into this situation is wrong. That every day you keep hoping the course will be corrected, all while feeling guilty for those that have come on board.
I know. This is Eve and I should just do it anyway. But I can't do that. So instead of watching it all die a horrible death, like a beautiful race horse with a broken leg, I decided to kill it myself. Not violently, like some rage quitting fool, but honorably and with some amount of dignity. No one will probably care one way or another, but I will.
We had an awesome run. From January to early Summer Lucifer's Hammer was on fire. We had a great team of pilots and we all worked extremely well together. We had a blast in RK and with giving them Hell for the whole stupid small neuts thing, we enjoyed our day in Muppets and the subsequent trolololololol over the lost blue freighter, and we really built a decent Alliance with some great Corporations.
For every single pilot that came thru those doors, for every Corporation, I say thank you. Thank you for believing in us, in me and our vision for Lucifer's Hammer and the Burn Away Alliance.
As for me I am staying in Lucifer's Hammer. I said before that I wouldn't be leaving and I meant it. A few of our pilots are also staying, but we won't be actively recruiting any time soon, if ever. Right now I just want to simplify my Eve. My RL is more complicated than ever and I just want to focus on becoming a better pirate, pilot and player for the time being. Goodness knows, for some reason, I'm apparently not very good at anything else.
