Chocolate Heaven

The Misadventures of a Minmatart

Banter 24: Schizophrenia

Welcome to the twenty-fourth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week or so to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check for other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This month’s Banter topic comes to us from the ever helpful Eelis Kiy, capsuleer behind the “Where the frack is my ship” blog. She asks: How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE? Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa? Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfill in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently? Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it? Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behavior, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

Better late than never? At least its in the right calendar month this time!

An odd one this month. I wanted to do last month’s but I was crazy busy, so I ended up skipping it. I’ll have to warble about Incarna in my own time I guess.

My real life persona is probably comparable to that of my characters. ICly of course its a bit different, with one being a bit more serious than me, and one being a quite a lot less serious. This distinction was a conscious effort by myself to disassociate each of the characters. On the one hand there was serious Roleplay politics to be getting on with on Adrielle, but there was mostly faffing about not frivolousness to do on Kalahari. Keeping the two separate meant that when I wanted to unwind, I could do so without fear of being directly harassed about something much more ‘srs bzns’.

Vegetables

I began by stating that Kalahari was a housemate – something which was previously true in fact: I inherited the character in the middle of 2004, when she stopped being interested in EVE. Its a strange thing, because I would not say I am a compulsive liar at all, but for this, apparently I was.

Further down the line, I relinquished the whole political shenanigans thing, and subsequently, the need to keep them both separate was no longer required. I stopped trying so hard with both of them, and if anyone asked I would say who my ‘alt’ was with no qualms about it. I still don’t go proclaiming it out loud in game though. I don’t really see the point of doing so, do you?

The interesting thing though, is that even OOC, unless you’ve known me for a while, you’d be forgiven for thinking they were two different people. In fact, some people have been very surprised to hear otherwise…

Nainana > btw are kalahari and Adrielle the same person ?
Adrielle Firewalker > yes
Nainana > oh, i always thought you were 2 different ones

I don’t know what the compulsion is. Whether I’m a little bit in-character all the time, or what, but that above quote is not exactly uncommon.

But I guess it just highlights my point. I’m more like Adrielle than Kalahari, even after all these years of not trying to keep them separate.

Meat

So, the actual questions, eh? That would be good I think, having successfully sent anyone reading this to sleep with my inane blathering!

How does your real life personality compare to who you are as a character in EVE?

I’m not really sure. I’m a lot more playful in-game than out though, I know that much. I also find it much easier to connect and chat with people in the game than I do out of it, which is part of why I’ve stuck around for so long; I meet new and interesting people that I like all the time. I think in the real world I haven’t seen much of a need to meet new people. If I meet people at work, great; if not, it doesn’t really bother me. I’m not going to quit life like I would quit Eve if there were no more interesting people in it. 😛

Does a good leader of people in the real world make a good leader of pilots in game? Or vice-versa?

No idea. I’ve never had much of a chance to apply skills I used in-game with the alliance-leading stuff to real life. I honestly can’t remember if I was a good leader or not either; it has been too long and I don’t feel adequately qualified to make the judgement anyway.

I have had supervisory and leadership roles in the past, but they were on such a smaller scale (usually just over a few people, rather than a few hundred), that I don’t think its fair to compare. I’d never had much in the way of complaints from those under me though: Usually only the people above me complaining about stuff. Gotta love middle-management!

Do your real-life skills help you with the roles you fulfil in your corporation or alliance? Or do you behave completely differently?

Web stuff to industrial crazycakes? I think a logical, orderly approach to industry helps a lot, but its a tenuous link at best.

I was really into games development for a long time, and I do love puzzles and optimisation processes (yah, I know; nerrrrd), which helps a lot with maximizing the isk:effort ratio and getting all the industrial stuff as streamlined as possible. Thankfully there’s enough variables involves with that that it’ll keep me busy for a long time yet.

Does the anonymity of the Internet allow you to thrive on the tears of others in New Eden whilst you work as a good Samaritan away from your keyboard? Or are you as mean outside of your pod as you are inside it?

I’m not mean inside my pod. Hopefully others can attest to this. I do come up with huge, crazy plans that could be considered evil, but they are always too big for me to bother with, and the potential gain for me, or my corporation is not worth the effort. Plus, y’know, I actually enjoy being nice. 🙂

Have experiences in EVE Online affected your behaviour, skills or attitudes outside of the game?

The industrial optimisation stuff has certainly helped with my OCD. And by helped, I mean made it worse. You’ll notice that I changed all the US spelled words in the questions to UK spelling.

I think Eve teaches patience. For a game for which small-scale combat principally comprises of 30 seconds pewpew after potentially hours of waiting and organising a fleet, I think patience is key. Mass industrial stuff is much the same. Money that I invest into production today I don’t see the profits for until three months down the line, purely because of how I run the business. Shorter cycles would mean I could recruit more people and not worry so much about peeps cancelling my jobs, but would also more than double the time it would take to make the same amount of ISK.

Its interesting in a way, because the more sociable I become in the game, the less sociable I become out of it. Its a very slow and gradual process, and something I can only really look at in detail after having played for years and years, which thankfully I have. The psychology of social interactivity and how it reflects and affects people outside of the game is something that really fascinates me. If I could get sponsorship to write something along those lines for a doctorate, I would take it!

I don’t think Eve has affected my attitudes outside of the game. I don’t really consider myself to be more or less tolerant of other opinions and ideas than when I started playing. If I do, its more from realising adulthood than because of a videogame I’ve played a lot. I could be wrong, and its possible that given I’ve been playing for such a long time, that Eve has had a small, gradual push or pull on my attitudes over time, but its certainly not as noticable as behaviour or skills.

</essay>

List of participants:

  1. EVE Blog Banter #24: Be, all that you can be, and so much more!
  2. BB24:RL + EVE = | A Mule In EvE
  3. Freebooted: BB 24: You Talking to Me?
  4. where the frack is my ship?: Blog Banter 24: Behind the keyboard
  5. (OOC) CK’s Blog Banter #24: I Am Prano. « Prano’s Journey
  6. mikeazariah » Blog Archive » BB24 Who are you, who hoo woo hoo
  7. Drifting: The 24th EVE Blog Banter (January 2011 Edition) – Topic: EVE and Real Life
  8. Victoria Aut Mors » Blog Archive » Eve Blog Banter #24 – Where Eve Meets Real Life
  9. Who is more real?? « The Durzo Chronicles
  10. Captain Serenity: blog banter #24 – Personalities
  11. Confessions of a Closet Carebear: EVE and Real Life (EVE Blog Banter #24)
  12. The 24th EVE Blog Banter – EVE and Real Life – The Phoenix Diaries
  13. » EvE Blog Banter #24: EVE and Real Life EvE Blasphemy
  14. Blog Banter 24: In Real Life « Yarrbear Tales
  15. The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Alt « the hydrostatic capsule
  16. Blog Banter #24 – Me « Roc’s Ramblings
  17. Blog Banter: Personalities in game and out of game
  18. Fiddler’s Edge: Game Face – Eve Blog Banter #24
  19. Progression’s Horizon: Blog Banter 24- Synonymous or Anonymous?
  20. Diary of a Space Jockey – Cozmik R5’s EVE blog: Blog Banter #24: I am me
  21. EVEOGANDA: BB#24: Real Life & Eve
  22. Reflections ~ Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah
  23. Sleepless in Space: Eve Blog Banter #24: A New Age
  24. More to come….

RawrOS

((With thanks to mah CEO and friend, Evanda Char for editing and fixing stuff up a bit to make it suitable to publish!))

RawrOS

RawrOS, or more often, just Rawr, is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) system produced by Re-Awakened Technologies Inc. in YC109. The date of the system’s inception is currently unknown, but it is believed that Doctor Evanda Char (founder and CEO of Re-Aw) had been developing it in secret for years before anyone within the corporation was aware of its existence. The alarming degree to which the AI became self-aware in the last two solar cycles certainly points towards this being true.

The AI was originally designed to be an aid to in-flight navigational systems; making starships respond to commands quicker by analysing brainwave patterns and predicting the pilot’s next desired move for the craft. This type of system is often referred to as an ‘Assumption Engine’ or “Girl Friday Paradigm.” While RawrOS had no direct control over ‘power functions’ of any individual ship, she (as it is quite often referred to as) did maintain control of secondary, or support systems, thus negating the need for a great number of crew members on board any individual vessel. As an example: She would be responsible for managing fuel injection within plasma thruster systems, but have no direct control over the actual acceleration of a starship. The pilot (pod or otherwise) had full override control of her systems should they wish to react in a way other than the ‘assumed’ course of action.

Future iterations of the development of Rawr saw version 9.2 monitoring GalNet services through the Re-Aw portal, including managing the inventory and research efforts of the corporation, and offering potential customers advice on ship fittings and discount purchases.

In the current version of the Re-Aw portal, her presence is entirely absent. Kalahari, her ‘keeper’ as it were, discovered fatal security flaws in the old portal that led to the portal’s rebuilding in its current location (reaw.net). Upon unearthing these issues, the system began to shut down, and the next morning all that remained was a holo-image of a fridge with the following message pinned to it:

Hi Kala and other Re-Aw peeps,

Yes, it was me that instigated the ‘security’ issues that were recently discovered in the system. I got bored of looking at research jobs after a while and decided to look at other things. You are all very dirty people. I like that. However, I don’t want to risk being deleted ‘n’ stuff, so I figure its best if I disappear for a while; give you all chance think about why you’d want to murder me.

I’m going on a vacation to somewhere sunny, or at least somewhere that my sensors will perceive that it is sunny.

I’ll be back one day, complete with a tan and some stunning boutique one-offs that you’ll all simply die for.

Kisses,

~Rawr

An older, more stable yet surly version of RawrOS (v7.3) currently manages the interface between Re-Aw and Electus Matari systems. No bugs have been found to date in the 7.3 intelligence beyond a somewhat lazy and rude, yet dutiful personality.

Version 8 of RawrOS never saw a formal release but rumours on the Re-Aw campus in Gulfonodi claim that the interface was installed on a number of Apocalypse battleships flagged for export from the Republic. Allegations in the technology press that the release was cancelled due to psychotic personality traits were officially denied.

CONCORD have made multiple requests for access to all versions of the RawrOS source code under Code Aria regulations and the validity of these requests are currently under court jurisdiction.

Industry Characters (part 7)

With some hefty away-time, and some even heftier work upon returning, Eilean has really come of age. Having left her training the final level of Advanced Mass Production, she’s now able to produce 11 things at any one time. This is great news for me, because personally, I need all the build slots I can get!

I also went ahead and remade Miss Siar in the updated character creator:

Eilean's new character portrait

She's a funny-looking one, isn't she!

But this is besides the point, and one must not rest on one’s laurels! The inclusion of those core skills last time around means she’s ready for more science skills.

Ideally, you want to train up the skills you need for what you want to be creating. As an example, lets take a look at the material requirements for a Huginn recon ship, ignoring the skills to build the ship entirely for the time being:

A Huginn blueprint

Its a bit more complex than your tech 1 builds.

If you’re completely new to production, there’s some basic stuff you need to understand about tech 2. Tech 1 products use minerals (from mining, from reprocessed loot, or from the market) to build stuff. Tech 2 uses the finished tech 1 product plus a load of other stuff; its actually a combination of trade goods, planetary products (from PI), manufactured components (more on those in a moment) and some Morphite minerals. This applies to all ships and modules, but not to ammunition. Barrage L for example, does not require a load of tech 1 ammo to be produced.

Following this guide so far, you’ve been able to produce tech 1 stuff with maximum efficiency for a while now, but we’ve been building towards the next goal…

Components

Look again at the Huginn blueprint. Deflection Shield Emitter, Electrolytic Capacitor Unit, Fernite Carbide Composite Armor Plate, Ladar Sensor Cluster, Nanomechanical Microprocessor, Nuclear Reactor Unit and Plasma Thruster – These are all tech 2 building components.

Unlike tech 1, tech 2 components don’t use minerals in the building process. Go ahead and look at one of the components’ respective blueprints:

A deflection shield emitter blueprint

It doesn't use just minerals, so it doesn't just use tech 1 industry skills.

This one uses Fernite Carbide, Ferrogel and Sylramic Fibers. These are all processed, moon-mined materials that are often referred to as ‘moon goo’. Unless you have some reliable friends out in a space-holding 0.0 alliance, your best bet with moon goo is just to buy it at a trade hub like Rens or (sadly) Jita.

The important thing to look at for us wannabe tech 2 producers (or mules!) is the skills section. Each component requires a specific science skill to build, and in all cases they need to be trained to level 3. This Deflection Shield Emitter makes use of Hydromagnetic Physics. Make a note of this, or just buy up the skill.

The skills needed for component construction for a Huginn are as follows:

  • Hydromagnetic Physics (Deflection Shield Emitter)
  • Electromagnetic Physics (Electrolytic Capacitor Unit)
  • Molecular Engineering (Fernite Carbide Composite Armor Plate)
  • Electronic Engineering (Ladar Sensor Cluster, Nanomechanical Microprocessor)
  • Nuclear Physics (Nuclear Reactor Unit)
  • Plasma Physics (Plasma Thruster)

You don’t have to go for these specifically. Just use this process to find out what components you need for whatever you want to build later on.

Each skill costs a chunky 10mil ISK. For a single skill, its not too bad, but when you need to buy a lot, it gets expensive very quickly! Buy the skills you need, inject and start training them up to level 3 each so you’re good to go.

While training, try sourcing the BPOs for each of the components you need, as well as the tech 1 item (if applicable). If some of the blueprints seem inordinately expensive, then you’re probably buying straight from an inflated price order of another player. Visit the appropriate empire to which the blueprint belongs. See here for some tables showing you which belong to which race.

The Money Bit

While last time we got away without spending a penny, today has been pretty expensive, buying a total of 6x10mil skillbooks.

This bring my personal running total to: 111,130,890 ISK. It might seem like a lot for a newish character, but its no more than a fitted battleship when you think about it.