August 2007 in Review

The Site

This is my twelfth month in review post, which must mean that this blog is approaching a one year anniversary some time soon.  I don’t think I will do a similar “year in review” post. I will save that for the calendar year.  But I have been thinking about what goofy metrics for the last twelve months I can put together.

August has been quite a busy month for traffic to the site, and this week in particular has been very strong.  No records set for page views on a given day, but the average number over the last few days is higher than normal.  The increase in traffic seems to be mostly due to my having two posts up about the Tabula Rasa beta.  Currently if you Google “tabula rasa beta forum,” one of my posts is the top item.

Also for August, I will have to check with CrazyKinux to see who won his August Challenge.  Does the winner get a shirt?

New Linking Sites

Most Viewed Posts In July

  1. Play On: Guild Name Generator
  2. Tabula Rasa Pre-Order
  3. Five EVE Online Wishes
  4. Tabula Rasa Beta Forum Access!
  5. Legends of Norrath
  6. LOTRO Update August 20th
  7. EVE Online – The Tutorial
  8. How To Find An Agent in EVE Online
  9. Five Coming Signs That WoW is Mainstream
  10. 100,000

Best Search Terms of the Month

ONline gaming depresses me

[I figure this was my wife.]

Best Spam Comment Title

cash fast make money

[I haven’t seen a “make money fast” message slip through a spam filter in ages!  Next I’ll see something about the “Good Times” virus.]

EVE Online

This has been my #1 game for the month of August, which surprises even me.  It is a sure sign that I have found a hook in the game to keep me interested.  I have been primarily involved with mining and refining ore and selling it on the market.  I have also spent some time running missions just to keep my faction going up with the Caldari State.

I have generated a little bit of interest in the game with some friends of mine, so we might actually get somebody else in our little test corp.

And speaking of corps, I do need to find some good “how to” items on corporations.   The little corp that Potshot and I run is useful and we’re fine with us and our alts all being director level, but it would be nice to know what we’re doing.  The corporation interface is not… intuitive.  At least I do not find it so.

Also, a few people have very nicely left comments about actually helping out in-game.  I haven’t responded to any of those, partly out of laziness, but mostly because my play schedule for EVE has been pretty irregular.  I think the Twilight Cadre will have to create a public channel so people can drop in and say hi.

EverQuest II

If it wasn’t for the fact that I have been playing so much EVE, I would have been on a tear in EQ2 with my ranger.  Even without spending too much time in game, Selirus is up to level 43.

I have not touched Blintz, my swashbuckler, all month.  He is still sitting at level 57.  Now that Gaff is back playing EQ2 and levelling up two more alts, I think my best bet is to hook up with him when he gets those two in their 50s (they are approaching level 20 I hear and will no doubt be 40 before I get home from work today) and try to ride the Gaff level elevator into the 60s at least.

Other EQ2 related items on my mind:

EQuinox – will have to dig into it this weekend.

The new Station Launcher – Where is it?  Or when is it?

Support – SOE STILL has not gotten back on my support ticket regarding sales tax charged for my copy of EQuinox.  I guess I am going to have to kiss that $1.07 good bye.  But worse than that, this isn’t the first time I have had a support ticket go unanswered by SOE.

Lord of the Rings Online

The neglected MMO.  We had another fellowship fiasco Saturday night where we took on a quest in the North Downs that was beyond the capability of the four of us.  Since then life has gotten in the way a bit, at least for me, so we have really just worked on a series of smaller quests in the North Downs.  Nomu is up to level 27, but I have not done anything with my alts and I have not paid much attention to trade skills.

Tabula Rasa

I bought the $5 pre-order box off the shelf at Fry’s.  For a preview of the game, it is totally worth it.  The game itself is interesting.  The controls are different until you get used to them.  I am not sure if it will end up being something I want to play long term, but I have had fun for the few nights I played.  Of course, I have broken the NDA with a couple of items in comments appended to my two posts on the game, so NCSoft will probably banish me from the game.

Wii

Sonic and the Secret Rings.  What a crappy game, mostly because it doesn’t use the Wii remote very effectively at all.  But my daughter thinks “Hedgie” (Sonic) is cool and enjoys playing the mini games.  We had this game out from GameFly for a month before I finally convinced her to let me send it back.

Now we have a GameCube game, MarioKart Double Dash. This was recommended by a co-worker.  Only I cannot figure out how to make it work.  Do you need actual, wired, GameCube controllers to play GameCube games on a Wii?  I suppose I had better get out the manual.

Podcasts

Hey, I was on Shut Up We’re Talking #6 along with a lot of other people.  I’m the one who spoke the least I think.  Which was probably a good thing for all concerned.  My run on even numbered shows is probably at an end.  Darren and Adele will be recording #8 tonight or tomorrow I bet, and I won’t be a part of it.  I’d probably talk about EVE too much.

I have been off the podcast wagon somewhat this month.  Everybody is out of town, so my commute to work has been very short.  That and titles from my two-books-a-month Audible.com subscription are starting to pile up, so I have been catching up on Len Deighton at the expense of MMOs. (Two more Bernard Sampson books to go.)

Even so, I never miss an episode or VirginWorlds (at least when Brent is hosting) or Warp Drive Active (EVE is what I have been playing, plus they gave me a free shirt).

Upcoming

So was I right last month when I said there would be more EVE coverage?

Probably more of that, plus something to commemorate one year.

I read a book about Virtual Worlds this month.  I should probably turn that into a post.

Plus, my wife bought my daughter an online game… and regretted it within hours.  That tale of woe coming up in September.

10 thoughts on “August 2007 in Review”

  1. Debes

    Don’t worry, can’t be more erratic than mine. I “run” a corp, but they’re 6 of us, all with director access like yours..I have played around with the interface some and can give you some tips, though..might make a post of it.

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  2. Wilhelm2451 Post author

    Potshot was teasing me the other day about how the posts here have become something of a help-line for my labors in EVE. I do try to not just say, “Hey, how do I do this?” Rather, I try to come up with a plan and present it, which may have some educational value, or I go off and do something silly and report on my complete failure, which at least has entertainment value. (Plus that whole negative example thing, which gives meaning to much of my life!)

    Expect a post soon about how we have totally screwed up our attempts to hold a corporate vote on a motto for the Twilight Cadre and how I nearly declared war on the Caldari State.

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  4. Two Hammers

    Wii Technical Assistance:

    Yep, you need to plug actual GameCube Controllers into your Wii in order to play MarioKart. That’s how my daughter and I work it at least.

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  5. Wilhelm2451 Post author

    As I suspected. I hopped onto eBay and put in a last minute bid on a pair of in-box GameCube controllers. A $6 bid and they were mine.

    Of course, as is usual on eBay, the shipping charge was $15, but at least the controllers will be on their way to me next week.

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  7. thecatwhisperer

    Hehe.. i’m the only one in my corp.. I made it so I’d have division storage ;)

    I have the bad luck that every corp i join starts out as a friendly mining/rat hunting corp., but when I dissapear for a few weeks (get deep into anotehr game) i come back and they’ve turned pirate, all my mining/hunting buddies have scattered to the winds and i’m in the middle of a battle zone… I’ve lost at least 2 apocs that way.

    So now I play it safe. My own little corp.. in a run-down, neglected part of mid-low sec space.

    In LotRO, I’m also playing in the North downs… I play that game in spurts… 5-10 levels at a time.

    Er.. I’m babbling.

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  8. Kilanna

    Um, correct me if I am wrong, but I am pretty sure at lvl 57 Blintz can group with lvl 70 without the need to mentor. It is how Kil got almost a lvl each night when she joined her guild. I tagged along on runs through Den of the Devourer, OoB, CoV, Kaladim, Achadechism – awesome xp for a quick instance run, and awesome loot drops.

    Good to see Gaff back too :)

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  9. Wilhelm2451 Post author

    Yes, I could group with Gaff’s 70s. But he isn’t really playing them and it would require him to come out and work on stuff that I could actually hit.

    The way he goes, he’ll catch up to Blintz with his new alts and I’ll be able to work with him at close to the same level. Until he leave me behind again. But I might make 62 in his wake at least.

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  10. syncaine

    This is quickly becoming one of my ‘must read’ blogs each day. Great job and I look forward to more EVE posts! I’ve had you on my buddy list for some time now, and I see you pop online often, one of these days I’m actually going to say ‘hi’, haha.

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