Gambling! That's the thing I didn't expect in M1N. The idle gambling to kill the time. We bet low-value items like lasers on how big research results would be or other minor occurrences that happen from time to time while in the fleet chat. M1N also has a privately-administered new fleet forum and it is definitely better than the run-of-the-mill forums available for free via other sites. I still personally like Forumotion a lot for my now non-existent fleet forum needs, but I admit that this is a sweeter setup.
M1N is otherwise what I expected - a sprawling triple fleet (the main fleet, the training fleet, a spin-off fleet) with a lot of members who could be called loose cannons, if that sort of behavior wasn't the M1n credo. In fact, just today there is an outstanding issue with a member of one of the associated M#N fleets who is attacking a whole other fleet and keeping them in the shipyard over a relatively minor issue. I do expect it to be settled soon.
Like the other big fleets I have been in since I started this journal (TBH, DEV), M1N has a large labcoat and a huge private area devoted to the most efficient equipment builds for both battle and research. Lest anyone think that these guys are all full-on chaos and doing craziness all the time, there is (disappointing to some, I would guess) some method to the madness. I am interested to see how organized their war efforts are.
It also appears that like DEV, there is a bit of philanthropy in the works for the future, but this sort of big players giving to the smaller looks as if it's more directed at bringing up the smaller M#N players than to donating to the game at large. This may change soon, and I certainly think that more contests that give things to regular players is a good idea. Especially since it seems these days there are contests about once a week or more often.
November 4, 2009
November 2, 2009
M1N - Day 1
This started out about how I expected.
Subject MM: Welcome to Qilapid and Quetzali!Certainly a different welcome than the Dare Devils. Should be interesting.
Please give a warm welcome to recent visitors from the Q Continuum!
I will give you the same speech I give all new recruits (along with the gift basket):
"Welcome to the M1NISTRY. We like to keep it simple, there are no lords or serfs here, and no rings to kiss; just a simple chain of command between fleet divisions.
Play as you like - and be prepared to stand up for your own actions.
Ultimately, there is only one rule: Deliver results or pay with your ass!"
TBH - encapsulated
It was fun to spend the holiday weekend back in TBH. They were my home fleet for many months as I built up my character and I owe Kelsek, Ceymz, Terarn, Ebony Phoenix and all the rest a great deal as a SP player. Also to Dream Hunter, Willowman, and the Yeti (who also left)
I can't pretend to be objective about TBH here - they're all friends and were my fleet for a long time. Kelsek's fleet leadership is quiet, logical, and smart. Nothing much has changed since I left, but they admittedly aren't the most active fleet. Once, though, they (we!) were among the most powerful and still are one of the most respected fleets in the game. I think they had the first major lab coat (enough class 3 energy techs and cyberpositronic AIs to fill a dread) for rent and have always had an interesting RP storyline. As zealots devoted to the return to Earth at any cost, there was always a great deal of fun to be had screaming "for the Mother" and calling other fleets heretics, unbelievers and infidels.
Lest you think they are an easy target, though, I would warn that this sleepy giant, once roused, is always up for a fun, fast-paced war. They may just surprise the unwary. Also, they were always a lot of fun. Which is why we got together and redid the fleet page for Halloween. I'm almost sorry to be leaving again to continue wandering the fleets.
In any case - on to M1N!
I can't pretend to be objective about TBH here - they're all friends and were my fleet for a long time. Kelsek's fleet leadership is quiet, logical, and smart. Nothing much has changed since I left, but they admittedly aren't the most active fleet. Once, though, they (we!) were among the most powerful and still are one of the most respected fleets in the game. I think they had the first major lab coat (enough class 3 energy techs and cyberpositronic AIs to fill a dread) for rent and have always had an interesting RP storyline. As zealots devoted to the return to Earth at any cost, there was always a great deal of fun to be had screaming "for the Mother" and calling other fleets heretics, unbelievers and infidels.
Lest you think they are an easy target, though, I would warn that this sleepy giant, once roused, is always up for a fun, fast-paced war. They may just surprise the unwary. Also, they were always a lot of fun. Which is why we got together and redid the fleet page for Halloween. I'm almost sorry to be leaving again to continue wandering the fleets.
In any case - on to M1N!
October 29, 2009
Lovecraftian Interlude
Left DEV today. Changed into my Halloween "costume" of Yog-Sothoth. Then I left the fleet to terrorize all equally for the 31st.
Anyway, Happy Halloween! I think I might check out M1N next.
Put on this avatar and sent the mass mail.
I also temporarily joined a Halloween fleet for us Old Ones. Here's the fleet page:Subject MM: So I was reading the R'lyeh texts
I was reading the text of the manuscripts of R'lyeh and I came across a strange passage. Upon translation, which I performed out loud, I found what seems to be the completion of the Mad Arab's summoning chant. I think I am going to have to listen to the voices from beyond. They keep saying things like, "N'gai, n'gha'ghaa, bugg-shoggog, y'hah: Yog-Sothoth, Yog-Sothoth!"
It might be better if I left the fleet for a while. I keep seeing weird things in the corner of my vision. And there looks like there's an extra dimension in my ship's cockpit...
[IA] Whispers in Darkness
So, you thought you were safe from the Old Ones?
Life is a hideous thing, and from the background behind what we know of it peer daemoniacal hints of truth which make it sometimes a thousandfold more hideous. Science, already oppressive with its shocking revelations, will perhaps be the ultimate exterminator of our human species -- if separate species we be -- for its reserve of unguessed horrors could never be borne by mortal brains if loosed upon the world.
That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.
—Abdul Alhazred, The Necronomicon
Life is a hideous thing, and from the background behind what we know of it peer daemoniacal hints of truth which make it sometimes a thousandfold more hideous. Science, already oppressive with its shocking revelations, will perhaps be the ultimate exterminator of our human species -- if separate species we be -- for its reserve of unguessed horrors could never be borne by mortal brains if loosed upon the world.
That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons even death may die.
—Abdul Alhazred, The Necronomicon
Anyway, Happy Halloween! I think I might check out M1N next.
October 28, 2009
DEV - Day 8
So, we fought a war. We (a term I mean loosely since I was mostly an observer) killed the #3 fleet on the ladders in 2.5 hours or so. This definitely shows that the magnitude of the fleet HP at the top of the level is not a problem. However, the HP differential between fleets may well be an issue. If they were able to do damage at 170% of our rate, they could have beaten us. Otherwise, they had no chance. This may well indicate a need for changing the way HP is calculated.
It has just occurred to me that perhaps the level of both fleets should be taken into account when determining war points. Perhaps the difference in level can be used to select a maximum differential between fleet HPs rather than giving each fleet an absolute number for HP.
So, after a bit more than a week, what is DEV like?
Active, involved and enthusiastic, especially if your focus of interest is maximizing your investments (in time and points) and serious game-play. These guys are very focused on being the best at the things that matter to them. In a lot of ways they constitute their own best audience. It's not so much that DEV is inward-focused - they aren't. In fact, they are actively looking for other power-levelers who share their outlook. It's that they play in a way that only other people doing the same things will appreciate. If you're not analyzing large chunks of your own statistical data about the best build against a specific NPC or looking at thousands of points spent in different stations, you're not going to be into the random chit-chat going on here.
In wars, they are all about experience. There's not a whole lot of chatter because they all know what to do. Some fleets get way more social during wars. This is not one of them. That's no indictment, just an observation.
I've enjoyed talking to the various people in DEV I didn't already know. They're interesting, perspicacious people, if dispassionate with outsiders. They were welcoming to me, though.
Hmm. I think that's about as much as I can say about this unless people have specific questions. (Hint, hint - comments!) Looks like I need a new fleet to get to know.
It has just occurred to me that perhaps the level of both fleets should be taken into account when determining war points. Perhaps the difference in level can be used to select a maximum differential between fleet HPs rather than giving each fleet an absolute number for HP.
So, after a bit more than a week, what is DEV like?
Active, involved and enthusiastic, especially if your focus of interest is maximizing your investments (in time and points) and serious game-play. These guys are very focused on being the best at the things that matter to them. In a lot of ways they constitute their own best audience. It's not so much that DEV is inward-focused - they aren't. In fact, they are actively looking for other power-levelers who share their outlook. It's that they play in a way that only other people doing the same things will appreciate. If you're not analyzing large chunks of your own statistical data about the best build against a specific NPC or looking at thousands of points spent in different stations, you're not going to be into the random chit-chat going on here.
In wars, they are all about experience. There's not a whole lot of chatter because they all know what to do. Some fleets get way more social during wars. This is not one of them. That's no indictment, just an observation.
I've enjoyed talking to the various people in DEV I didn't already know. They're interesting, perspicacious people, if dispassionate with outsiders. They were welcoming to me, though.
Hmm. I think that's about as much as I can say about this unless people have specific questions. (Hint, hint - comments!) Looks like I need a new fleet to get to know.
October 26, 2009
DEV - Day 6
Of Wars and NOMs:
War was imminent, but it is postponed. Soon we will fight a good old-fashioned war with M1N, the fleet of... chaos? Looking forward this one - should be a real slugfest.
Today NOMs became findable. That means the Nano-Optimization Modules that make the good stuff even better can be found without breaking apart weapons and shields and whatnot. The upswing in my fleeties' searching has been astounding. I have been seeing reports of 1,000 points or more being spent on searches just to see what can be found. As a player, I am looking forward to drops in the price of NOMs. As an analyzer I look forward to seeing what the practical impacts of the findable NOMs will be on their price and to see about how commonly they will be found.
War was imminent, but it is postponed. Soon we will fight a good old-fashioned war with M1N, the fleet of... chaos? Looking forward this one - should be a real slugfest.
Today NOMs became findable. That means the Nano-Optimization Modules that make the good stuff even better can be found without breaking apart weapons and shields and whatnot. The upswing in my fleeties' searching has been astounding. I have been seeing reports of 1,000 points or more being spent on searches just to see what can be found. As a player, I am looking forward to drops in the price of NOMs. As an analyzer I look forward to seeing what the practical impacts of the findable NOMs will be on their price and to see about how commonly they will be found.
October 23, 2009
DEV - Day 3
Also, a lot of these guys use SP as a break from Spy Battle, Snake Head Games's game about spies. As such, this game is a secondary focus for a lot of them, though that doesn't stop them from being power players as Star Pirates. Quite the opposite.
Since many don't really engage in the social aspects outside of the fleet, this brings the whole policy of not online attacking, raiding, or even offline attacking into focus. Interacting with other players detracts from leveling. And attacking other players, especially the online ones is interaction. Distractions like that slow down the slog to the next level.
In-fleet socializing is a whole different matter.
Since many don't really engage in the social aspects outside of the fleet, this brings the whole policy of not online attacking, raiding, or even offline attacking into focus. Interacting with other players detracts from leveling. And attacking other players, especially the online ones is interaction. Distractions like that slow down the slog to the next level.
In-fleet socializing is a whole different matter.
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