I think I had an authentic null sec experience last night in EVE Online.
I was logged on for a couple of hours and didn’t get to shoot a single thing.
Not that I did not have things to do in the game. I was still getting things configured, making sure I had channels visible in their own windows, installing the standard set of Goon provided overviews, getting on the right Goon comm channels, and tinkering with ships and training.
At one point I had commented that I was going to need a bigger monitor with all of these things on screen, at which point Gaff said that you can play EVE without seeing space.
Picture me with big, glassy wet eyes, a tear rolling down my cheek, say, “Not… see… space?”
Space is one of the bits of EVE I love the most, the feeling of being in space, of being a small ship, insignificant against the backdrop of infinity.
Well, I have mapped the UI toggle to an easy key combo, so I can glimpse space without obstructions when I have the chance. I have, after all, built up a whole blog dedicated to looking at EVE.
I did not have much to see in any case at that point, as I was working on getting plugged into the right communication network with yet another commo app, Mumble.
There was a fleet op going on, but I just missed it. The fleet was set to leave about the time I logged in and there was no was I was going to catch up, not the way I navigate at the moment.
I am pretty lost out there. I thought odd-ball names in Caldari space like Uosusuokko were tough to remember. Null sec was named by the Cat in the Hat in the scene from the animated TV version where he and Thing 1 and Thing 2 are conducting their search.
“We’ll name this system RP-3T9!”
“And this adjacent one?”
“Call that one WT0-159!”
Or so it seems to me at the moment.
So I lean on Gaff… a lot.
“How do I get back to where we were yesterday?” I asked, “I want to get to my PvP Drake.”
He’ll link me a nice map. But I don’t remember the name of the system we were in. Plus there was a jump bridge in there somewhere, and that isn’t on the map… and I don’t remember what system that was in either. (Or how to use it, for that matter. That took me a minute.)
And so he had to spoon feed me directions… again.
So I did not make it to the Op, but I was able to tune in and listen. Comms for the op were amusing. I managed to get on the right channel and did not disgrace myself or my corp with microphone issues. I just quietly listened.
It did not sound like anybody on the op was getting to shoot all that much either. The opposing alliance appeared to have completely missed the whole State of the Goonion broadcast, which was up on the web moments after it was finished, and in which The Mittani clearly stated who we were going after along with when and where. The OPFOR also seemed somewhat indignant about the Goons bringing super caps to an operation after The Mittani was so much in favor of the super cap nerf that came with the Crucible expansion.
As I was listening, I eventually made it to my PvP Drake, which was parked in the station named “Mittaningrad.” I got it out, imported overviews, loaded up ammo, and got myself into position to join any additional wave that might be headed out to join the op. There was a rumor of such at one point.
Outside Mittanigrad – UI Turned Off!
The follow-on wave never materialized and the op broke up as people on the East coast decided it was time for bed. There was another op scheduled a half an hour later, so I stayed online, listening to comms, while paying bills and doing other administrative items at home.
Then it turned out that the fleet that was forming really wasn’t suited for a Drake, or so I understood, and probably wasn’t a good place for noobs in any case. So I called it a night at that point and went and played something else for a while before going to bed.
This morning my time and during the peak time for European players, there was a giant battle. I hear we won.
I wonder what will be going on tonight.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 