Elonian Nomad - 3rd Strike

[from Simoun Ibarra's EVE Online shiplog]

While I was passing by a jumpgate in Yong, I was surprised to find 3 Sansha rats (NPC pirates) hovering near the jumpgate. The security in Yong is 0.3, so it’s not exactly one of the safer areas. Still, pirates hanging around near a jumpgate seemed wrong. Being pirates, they should have bounties, so I went back to see if I could take ‘em out.

Being cloaked, I was able to shoot some missiles first before they could lock on to me. This allowed me just a small head start as they soon proceeded to attack. Fortunately, my little ship was capable of dispatching all three of them. I got my small reward, then moved on.

I passed by the same jumpgate again shortly after, and was surprised to find a new rat floating around, probably wondering why there are 3 wrecks where his/her comrades were supposed to be. Given my limited sensors, I didn’t know if this new rat was stronger than his/her 3 comrades, so I attacked it with caution. This rat turned out to be made of less stuff than the leader of the previous pack, and so he/she quickly joined the wreckage of his/her Sansha comrades.

I was contemplating on why these rats kept appearing in an area where I’ve never encountered them before, when I heard someone on the local comm channel mentioning about a True Sansha hanging around in one of Yong’s asteroid belts. Thinking that I was a message to notify his fellows of an opportunity to collect bounty, I proceeded to plot a course for home, wondering if Yong really was such haven Sansha that all these rats start appearing.

As I was about to jump to a different system, I heard that the pilot was not, in fact, scouting for bounty, but was a miner under attack! I disengaged my auto-pilot and decided to lend a few missiles to whichever pilot was addressing the apparent distress call. It turns out that the True Sansha was accompanied by 4 rats, and that the miner was under attack and alone.

I locked-on two of them and distributed my fire hoping to weaken more ships in a shorter amount of time, but the rats turned out to be made of sterner stuff than I’d have hoped. Noticing a thread shooting at their backs, they ignored the miner and started to lock their weapons on me. Perhaps my ship could have taken on 2-3 of them, but all 5, they were too much. I warned the miner that my ship could not take this much beating and that I would warp out and return shortly after my shields have returned to their full power. I managed to take out one rat before warping out of the asteroid field, shields depleted, and armor at half strength.

The miner mentioned that I managed to draw the rats away, but that now they were targeting her/him again. It would have been a great opportunity to go back and attack while they have another ship in their sights, but my ship was so badly damaged and my capacitor drained that I wouldn’t have lasted very long if I went back right away. I informed her/him that I still had repairs to do, but that I’d be back as fast as I could, unfortunately, I was not able to finish my repairs fast enough.

By the time I was able to warp back in the asteroid belt, the rats were gone, and all that floated among the asteroid was the wreck of what was once the miner’s ship.

Shortly after, a small ship warped in. It was the miner! She/he apparently managed to escape in her/his pod before her/his ship was destroyed. I apologized for causing only1 casualty to her/his attackers. She/he thanked me for trying, given that nobody else responded to her/his cries of help, but it was of little comfort to me knowing that this miner still lost a ship.

I hovered nearby as the miner retrieved any usable cargo from the wreckage. Should the rats return, they would fire on me, and I would be able to at least buy the miner some time to safely escape. The miner finished retrieving what she/he could. The rats did not return. We said our goodbyes and went our separate ways.

On my way back home, I still felt disappointed that 4 rats got away. Perhaps if I was piloting the Caracal I was saving up for things would have been different. The miner would still have her/his ship, and I’d have had more bounty to collect. It mattered not, that skirmish was over. It did, however, encourage me to continue my efforts to get a better fighting ship. Equipped with a better ship, perhaps the next encounter will end differently.

To that end, I will continue to mine for ore and do the occasional odd jobs. I will also be on the lookout for the True Sansha that got away. Perhaps next time, the True Sansha won’t be so lucky.

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Since its release, I’ve been having some fun in the northern and underground sides of Tyria with Guild Wars: Eye of the North. It does feel a bit short, and the new skills are not as groundbreaking, but I did feel that the story and quests/missions were a lot better than the previous ones. The cutscenes and an actual story helps a lot in the experience. For an expansion, the price is practically a full new game, which might turn off some, but if you’er into the PvE, this short expansion is an improvement.

For some reason, though, I wandered around and remembered EVE Online. I remembered that there was a certain degree of local support for it, so I decided to take another look.

It turns out that the local support is not in having a regional server, but in the mode of subscription payment. Ergo, the world (or rather, the universe) where everyone in the world plays is the same world you’ll get to play in the Philippines. Given the 14 day free trial, I was intrigued enough to give it a shot. Here’s what I can say from my few hours of play.

EVE Online is a universe in its own. The freedom you have in the EVE universe appears to be as close as you can get to actually living in a sci-fi world. Everything is pretty much free form. The in-game economy is almost a self contained economy on its own. You can make alliances, start businesses, even be pirates and outlaws. It reminded me Puzzle Pirates in the sense that the world pretty much runs its own course. EVE, however, is much more vast.

I also think that the skill system they use feels very similar to real life. When you make your character, you basically setup the physical constraints of your capabilities. Like life, anyone can theoretically learn to do anything, but some people are just predisposed to excel at certain tasks than others.

In EVE, your effectivity in several actions are determined by the skills you know. Pretty much anyone can learn any skill, but your character pre-disposition will allow you to learn certain skills faster than others. Also, learning takes focus and time. If you want to do something, you gotta have the skills. Better ranks at key skills makes you more effective at a specific task.

In the same way, this “taking time to learn” is a real drag, you literally have to wait to learn. Of course, you can do other things while studying, but the time you need to spend to learn does prevent you from achieving certain things early on, even if you’re a game veteran.

EVE is a simulation of an alternative life, a life in the far future we might not live to see. My interest has been piqued.

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Just thought I’d mention these books I’ve recently been considering for purchase:

Battle Royale -  I first heard about the film years ago, and given that it was Japanese, I assumed it originated either from anime or manga.  Although there is manga avaliable, it turns out that the original piece was actually a novel (and it turns out the film adaptation actually came first).  I heard that it’s very violent, and has some similarity to Lord of the Flies.  I already saw this at a local bookstore some weeks ago, but dismissed the novel thinking that I should read the manga first.  If I only knew that the book was the original, I’d have gotten it then and there.  Now, I have to look for it again.

Hobby Games: The 100 Best -  It comes out on the 15′th in the US, I’m still thinking of how I can get my hands on this assuming it won’t be available soon locally.  Perhaps I should ask around the bookstores if they already have orders placed…

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Heard this live on the radio.

President Joseph Ejercisto Estrata (Erap) has been found not guilty of the perjury case, but has been found “guilty beyond all reasonable doubt” for plunder.  He is sentenced to “reclusion perpetua” (life imprisonment).

Given prosecution’s inability to prove Jinggoy Estrada and Atty. Edward  Serapio guilty beyond reasonable doubt, they are found not guilty.
So ends the major part of President Erap’s plunder case, a first in Philippine history.  The defendant will probably examine all legal options possible (motions for reconsideration, pardon, whatever is within their arsenal).

It will be all over the local news for sure, so most details you can glean from there.   What I’d like to know is how this will affect President Gloria Arroyo given her “Hello Garci” scandal?

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I can’t believe I didn’t score higher in tech/computers. It’s probably because I’m not a gadget freak.

— update 2008.05/08 —
While going through some website maintenance, I noticed that the image above didn’t resolve. The image is supposed to say:

NerdTests.com says I’m an Uber Cool Science Geek. What are you? Click here!”

I wish I saved the image badge, it had a breakdown on why I got the score above.  Apparently they removed the graphic badge.   I took the test again to get the new image or text (it’s text).  Now the results say this…

Your Score Summary

Seems like you have already taken this test.
Your new score will not be added to the comparison database.

For Science/Math:
 22% scored higher,
  3% scored the same, and
 75% scored lower.

For Computers/Technology:
 23% scored higher,
  3% scored the same, and
 74% scored lower.

For Sci-Fi/Comic:
 14% scored higher,
  3% scored the same, and
 83% scored lower.

For History/Literature:
 24% scored higher,
  4% scored the same, and
 72% scored lower.

For Dumb/Dork/Awkwardness:
 97% scored higher,
  3% scored the same, and
  0% scored lower.

 

From this time forward, you’ll hold the title:
Uber Cool High Nerd

Carry it proudly!

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