Having far too much free time I recently decided I had to try out EVE Online. It seemed like a radically different MMORPG since it didn’t feature anything with green skin, pointy ears or giant man-cows.
Unfortunately, almost everything else that I’ve come to despise in MMORPGs was present and accounted for.
Better / different than most MMORPGs.
- Downloadable client. Cheaper, faster to get started.
- Free expansions.
- Can buy virtual game cards for real money and sell them for in-game currency to afford in-game ships or items.
- No levels, but rather skills that train even when you’re offline.
Same as most MMORPGs.
- Grind, grind, grind …
- Takes ages for a beginner to see any serious play.
- Realistically no chance to catch up to seasoned players.
- Poor / slow software development.
- Outcome is the usual combination of gear, gear level, and character level plus chance. Very little room for skill. Even Subspace favored more of the right skills.
Worse than most MMORPGs / Other gripes.
- Higher monthly fee (Europe) but game cards can be purchased in US dollars.
- Higher learning curve.
- Daily one hour server maintenance.
- A lot more time consuming to max out skills. Leveling in WoW takes months, skilling up in EVE takes a year or more.
- Persistent world. No suddenly leaving the computer. If you don’t log out at a star base you’re screwed.
- It is set in spaaace. Big and black, filled with a lot of nothingness. Terribly unexciting.
- Can’t control your own ship directly, just fly to certain points, set speed, destination.
- Can’t escape PvP, but can minimize risks in high security space.
- Bigger ships don’t make you king of the hill. Turns out the battleship I purchased (and barely could afford to outfit) couldn’t hit pesky little frigates. That may make sense in PvP for leveling the battlefield, but for PvE it’s just retarded.
Witty comments about EVE may follow.
Filed under Games by Björn Hallberg 5 months ago
Sennheiser HD-280 Pro for the HTPC and AKG K414P for portable music. I just got fed up with the wireless system I was using for the HTPC. Incidentally a pair of wireless headphones also made by Sennheiser. The hissing, the breakups, the constant changing of batteries and having another bloody power brick stealing energy. The horror, the horror. Plus the HD-280 is in another class altogether. The audio quality is crisp and superb and it is a sealed / closed headphone so no more disturbances during the summer months with the windows open.
The K414P is a semi-sealed design or whatever, but it’s enough to cut off a few dB of outside interference. It also has a much lower impedance (32 ohm) compared to my old Koss Porta Pro (60 ohm). And that saves quite a bit of battery time. Even the HD 280 Pro is only rated at 64 ohm and with a sealed design one rarely has to crank up the volume as far. Plus the Porta Pro cushions become mushy, filthy after a couple of years. And I was only able to find replacements for the actual ear cushions. Not the rectangular "spacers". So it’s an early retirement for the Porta Pro.
I also took the opportunity to replace my old MS Optical mouse with a Microsoft SideWinder gaming mouse. So far I’ve been very pleased with the model. The dpi switch comes in very handy in certain games as well as in certain applications, like Photoshop. Once again I purposely chose a wired product over a wireless. I have become far more restrictive when it comes to wireless communication over the years. Mostly because it either doesn’t work, runs on batteries or consumes far too much power in standby or while operating. Plus the poorly researched health issues. Plus possibly interference between devices. Some devices need to be wireless so it is unnecessary to squander the airwaves unless you really have to.
The mouse also came bundled with a SteelPad QcK+ Gaming pad.
Filed under PC by Björn Hallberg 6 months, 1 week ago
I finally got a new swivel chair for the workstation. IKEA Markus, a leather / mesh chair with a high backrest, approved for office use.
Also from IKEA: Jonisk floor / table lamp.
Filed under Interior Design by Björn Hallberg 6 months, 3 weeks ago
I ordered (UP) volume eight and nine of Last Order. Apparently the next volume of "Battle Angel Alita" will be out December 9, 2008 (wikipedia). Don’t know what’s up with the long delay.
I can’t say that I am entirely thrilled about the Last Order series on the whole. Less is more as the saying goes, and I would have preferred to see the mystery of the original series remain. Also, vampires … WTF?
In other Gunnm news there is no Gunnm news. I’ve heard nothing at all about the supposed movie in ages. Avatar is being released December 2009 so probably no sooner than 2011.
Filed under Books by Björn Hallberg 6 months, 4 weeks ago
I found an online retailer within Europe (Speedycom) that could supply hair gloves in both leather and neoprene. I had a couple of complaints, yes I admit the old glove had gotten a little disgusting. Problem fixed.
Really pleased with the neoprene glove so far. It’s cheaper, lighter, more flexible and it doesn’t require any sort of care.
It’s funny that after all these years I still haven’t seen another living soul with a hair glove. Which is the reason I can keep wearing them. Sooner or later they will be all the rave. Better enjoy it while I can.
Filed under Apparel by Björn Hallberg 7 months ago
I said almost two years ago that an upgrade was inevitable. But I guess I managed to hold out just a little longer. And it was Unreal Tournament 2007 (by that time renamed to Unreal Tournament 3) that became the final breaking point. That and Crysis. I doubt I will ever own a system that I will be able to run so thoroughly into the ground again. Yet, with the same intent I went for a quad core system, even though the real benefits of a quad core system may not be visible until a year or more down the line. If they will ever be, before the next technology breakthrough comes along. And yes, it did feel kind of bad going from AMD to Intel but I didn’t have much of a choice now did I.
Everything has been moving along nicely with the setup. The main gripe is power consumption, especially with the 2900Pro. The computer is idling at 137W and maxing out CPU and GPU will bring it to no less than 310W. Plus the 100W or so CRT monitor that I still insist upon using. I knew there were side effects with the 2900Pro, but the card still managed to disappoint in terms of noise level and power consumption. And ATI/AMD have managed to screw up the driver support royally since last time I looked. It has after all been a while since I’ve tried any new games that uses any of the more complex DX9 features. If I’d had another PCI-E card I would have used it and waited for the GT8800, but I was stuck with a long line of AGP cards so …
Also, I have not been able to get a good overclock with the Q6600 despite being the G0/SLACR stepping. At least not in the time it took me to lose my temper. Plus I realized that I still had to get C1E and EIST working even with an oc and so I canned that whole idea. Better to save it for a rainy day when a few percent more speed might actually make a difference.
Filed under PC by Björn Hallberg 7 months ago
I took advantage of a newsletter reduction voucher and decided to stock up on some blank media and a few cd wallets. From Luxdisc of course. Because obviously, you still can’t buy blank media in Sweden because of the statutory private copying levy collected by Copyswede. The levy is still 3,25 SEK (plus 25% tax) per dvd+r/-r disc. Plus, Luxdisc have these bargain priced cd wallets ("Dynamax") and their shipping and handling fees scale by order value, not weight or volume.
And at least in the past, I have been able to buy goods from them at the fine Luxembourgian VAT rate of just 15%. But looking at their site, it would seem this may have changed.
- Verbatim Spindle of 100 DVD+R 4.7GB 16x
- Verbatim Spindle of 50 CD-R 700MB 52x
Filed under Widgets by Björn Hallberg 7 months, 2 weeks ago
Finally some positive developments. Greater competition on the broadband market has apparently forced ISPs to greatly lower the price and ease up on the terms for ADSL even when using competing networks. In short, the benefits of TeliaSonera hardware at the switching station at Glocalnet prices. I used to have an downstream / upstream bandwidth of 0.5 / 0.4 Mbit/s. For the last week I’ve been in a limbo state with 2 / 0.8 Mbit/s.
Now it would seem someone has finally pushed all the right buttons and I have my 18 / 2 Mbit/s. Which is really marketed as 24 Mbit, but since I was only expecting 1 Mbit upload, I’m not one to complain. Last time I looked I had some 1100 meters to the switching station and coupled with the unnecessarily complex wiring I have going here I suppose this is as good as it is going to get.
Wish I would’ve had this sort of bandwidth a couple of years ago. I wouldn’t have had to run the HTPC around the clock just to sustain a torrent client. As I see it, in terms of energy savings, this bandwidth upgrade is a real money saver. A typical xvid scene released movie now takes less than 15 minutes if you can pick up good peers. And trying to build a good ratio suddenly became a hell of a lot easier on private trackers. Ironically, we have Bluray and HD movies just around the corner, so I guess the euphoria wont last long.
Filed under Widgets by Björn Hallberg 7 months, 2 weeks ago
In order to accommodate the new 24 Mbit ADSL service I had to toss my old Zyxel DSL bridge. Figuring I would still need a stand-alone bridge I went with a new Zyxel model, seeing as I’ve been impressed with the uptime and stability of the old model. I also took the opportunity to get an external hard drive that actually works.
I also had to do something about the Internet sharing issue. Despite dismal experiences using D-link products in the past I once again settled for a D-link router, the draft-n DIR-635.
Filed under Widgets by Björn Hallberg 7 months, 3 weeks ago
I finally got around to buying this caller ID device that I’ve had my eyes on for a couple of years. I was waiting for the software to mature I guess, seeing as the official development is dead and you have to rely on private NIM owners to further the product. Which they have done admirably. But of course, seeing as the device is exclusive to the Swedish market (and other DTMF systems), and isn’t for everyone, development is painstakingly slow. Nevertheless, there is software nowadays to cover the most typical usage cases.
So, what’s the point? The idea is that the various programs that interface with the NIM Personal monolith-like device fetches data from online phone books in real time as calls are coming in. And unlike most other devices, you can have a virtually unlimited call log stored in your computer, complete with the fetched data of course. It’s a wet dream for any control freak.
Power consumption is ~4W
Interface is Serial / RS-232 (buy supposedly works with USB-serial adapter)
Stores a maximum of 100 numbers, while the interface is offline.
Filed under Widgets by Björn Hallberg 8 months ago
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