Thinking about… Eve Online
*This was written last month, so forgive me for being a little late to the party. 
*
In a Galaxy far far away… no, not THAT one. Eve Online has hit the headlines once again thanks to a frankly stupid player making a stupid comment at the recent Fan Fest. Worse, it has fire-balled into a rather heated debate both in and out of the game. I decided to discuss a little on what it means to me, and why my relationship with Eve Online has been something of a love/hate thing over the years.
I have been an Eve Online player for almost seven years. I find this strange, as my actual playtime is far less than you would think.
Your Alt + Enter is BROKEN!
Now, don’t laugh.
You may have noticed a lack of posts on my non-Wordpress blog. This is due to an unforeseen issue with the plumbing, and a few other things.
Long story short – I REALLY don’t know how to work FTP. And as such, I am currently up a muddy river without a breeze. Needless to say a certain amount of work (and learning) must be done before I will be able to get things moving. Sadly, I am rather busy for the next few weeks, so it may not be soon.
I shall soldier on, however, right here until the new digs are up to scratch, and I learn how to work the bloody thing.
Thanks for being so understanding (you can stop laughing now), and I shall get something up shortly.
Peace.
Your Alt + Enter is EVOLVING!
Yes, it has finally happened! I bought myself some shears and chopped off that silly .wordpress after my sites name!
Only joking. As it turns out, my brother is something of a wizz with this website stuff and has constructed a new play-area for his mad big bro, with a new logo and everything. He even moved all my toys and books over too, leaving me with the simple task of redirecting you lovely people to the new, shiny and clean home of all things gaming (and me, obviously):
Click, bookmark and have a look around. All my old articles are already over there, and I’m currently hard at work writing more spiels of nonsense for you to read while you eat your lunch.
See you on the other side! And thanks for making this blog worthwhile – you are all smashing.
Steve Fulton
X
Crusader Kings 2 – An Idiot in Charge
History is replete with tales of idiots. Not that I can think of any off-hand, as I think I may be remembered as one of them. Crusader Kings 2 has pretty much dissuaded me of any notion that I could be a clever, witty, urbane monarch – with the intellectual prowess to not only secure my country, but to fend off any number of attempts to usurp and destroy my mighty lineage.
Six months in, my bloody brother has already tried to bump me off and my kids absolutely hate me.
A Dying Breed – The PC Shelf
I was in GameStation today. Not a particularly unusual thing, in itself, but I was looking for a copy of F1 2010 for the PC and I was somewhat reluctant to spend £20 on a copy from Steam. “It’ll be cheaper than that in the shops” I assured my girlfriend as we drove along. She nodded, although clearly absorbed in trying to decide what she wanted from the McDonalds I had offered as compensation for her company.
I was in for a sad afternoon.
Recent Work: Armour and Robes
It’s been one of those weeks. You know what I mean – lots to do, not enough time, and severe frost-bite in one’s fingers. My room is cold, and no amount of alcohol or wishful thinking will heat the bugger up. I’m not complaining though, it’s not like I need all my fingers to write or play games.
I will miss my middle one though. Anyway, on to business.
Sunday Shout-out: Bedroom Gamers
Yawn. Getting up early on a Sunday feels like I’m pissing someone off. Probably me. Never mind. This picture helps -
No, this has nothing to do with the post. It's just cute.
My younger-but-getting-worryingly-bigger brother has started a small gaming clique with a few of his friends, and I thought I would give them a wee shout-out. They have a website – BedroomGamers.com - although it’s a bit sparse of content at the moment, as they are still setting stuff up.
More interesting, is their YouTube channel , a place of whimsy, catchy music and throwing small children around using fireballs in Skyrim… a statement I honestly never thought I’d write, and it scares me just a bit. They also do the invariable “Let’s Play” style stuff, with a cacophony of conflicting accents (my brother is the Scottish one) and the impulsive madness that comes from youth and/or stupidity. Look at it this way, they say stuff like this (from the “Lets Play Minecraft” video)-
“Oh, look, there’s a village!”
“Cool, let’s kill the townspeople and burn their crops!”
“Steal all the STONE!!!”
“Yeah…”
Which is utterly hilarious. Well worth a look, even if they have chosen some rather vapid names for themselves. Teenagers, eh? I wish I was still their age… Then my Godl1keStev3 moniker wouldn’t look quite so bloody stupid…
Good luck, laddies!
Star Wars Galaxies – Memories
It was almost a joke – three days before Christmas day, and one of the most eagerly anticipated MMO’s ever was released. Yeah, Bioware, like we don’t have enough to do in the run-up to Christmas. Now we have to juggle present-purchasing AND saving a galaxy far, far away.
Dicks.
Festive-shenanigans aside, it was a surprisingly smooth launch (for an MMO), with only a few minute-long log-in queues to hamper the Force-flavored joy. Even those had cleared up by the time I joined in the fun (the Thursday evening), and I settled down to play, in the hope of finding some respite for that Star Wars Galaxies-shaped hole in my gaming soul. What I actually found, was something I didn’t expect.
Regret.
Well-Seasoned Greetings!
Yup, it’s that time of year again when a fat guy in red pyjamas has made the uncomfortable trip down your rather narrow chimney (not that you noticed of course – being blitzed out of your mind on some festive rum), and we have enjoyed the extra-special night where the entire country gets so soaked in alcohol it actually floats a bit. I, for one, had a wonderful time of it all, receiving a sat-nav for my total sense-of-direction deficit, and what is probably the most comfortable jumper ever created. The magical Christmas fairies also bestowed enough chocolate and alcohol on me to make any number of ladies from the local nightclub pregnant and/or diabetic.
Oh calm down, I’m just kidding; they don’t need any help for that. It was a lovely week, though, and I’m still fighting my way through a large tin of Cadbury’s Heroes (touch any of my Fudges, and you won’t see next Christmas). Of course, my writing output has suffered a bit. My long awaited Skyrim review has become a bit bogged down with observations on stuff like “Why Lydia had to die” and “He ‘aint heavy, he’s just an orc I found, killed and felt deserved a decent burial”, although in fairness, the latter was quite a touching story. No doubt I’ll get it finished and posted at some point in the coming weeks. Hopefully. As soon as Star Wars: The Old Republic loosens it’s force-grip…
In more recent news, I did a GOTY article over on GamingDaily.co.uk, which you can read here. Any of you who have read my early blog stuff will probably guess what’s at the top spot, and for that I make no apologies – a truly outstanding game. While you are there, rather than wait for my over-baked review of Skyrim, feel free to read Craig Lager’s impassioned article naming it his number one of 2011, it kind of makes me want to play it again… read that here.
Anyway, I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and a pleasantly besotted New Year! Stay tuned for more dodgy jokes and possibly a review or two. But mostly dodgy jokes. I stick with what I know…
Steve
Starcraft 2 – Just Play It
‘The match was on “Xel’Naga Caverns” – he was the yellow Zerg and I, the red Terran. I began my well oiled anti-Zerg opener – barracks with a reactor, factory (switch for reactor), another barracks, and started rolling out the Marines and Hellions. This should be fun…’
Starcraft 2 is one of those games you either love or hate. It attracts a certain breed of gamer – the kind of chap that would consider bringing a knife to a gun-fight purely for the challenge. It can be brutal for the unprepared, a world of jargon and unexpected defeats. Full of things to remember, and worst of all, a pace that will shatter your mouse.
At least, that’s the perception.
