Before I waffle I'll just say that I think the removal of level 4's isn't just about botting. It's an opportunity to shoehorn Alpha's into being Eve content. If Alphas are all doing solo PvE they aren't interacting. We all know CCP is about exploding it's Eve players weather they like it or not.
I found it ironic that CCP should officially promote a newbie starter guide that's out of date. It's really a decent compilation of information. https://www.thealphasguide.com/start/
Some of the information is very out of date. Some is out of date but still relevant.
Out of date? Why? For me because it still states info about level 4 missions. There are other corrections in the guides re changes CCP has made. But missioning info was one of the first things I checked.
A "well fit battleship for level 4's" could mean your not solo(not pulling the missions yourself) but the inference here for a noob is that you can indeed take a level 4 mission as you did with level 1, 2, 3.... You can't.
Yes I am bitter and twisted.
It's an official CCP tweet promoting incorrect information. Maybe CCP needs to read and correct content before actually promoting it.
It might have been correct at the time it was written but that's not the point.
Yes this is a small thing. But what big fupup's are around the corner(again).
Yes I really am that bitter and twisted!! I've endured CCP for too long not to be! So yea time to waffle.
If I wasn't a veteran and didn't keep informed..... Poor noobs....."but the guide said so!"
Yes I am still peeved about level 4's being taken away from Alpha's. Botting... Right.
It's not all bad.
The guide does show the updated 'What to do chart' from 2016.
Which brings me to another point - Mike Azariah's the only one I know on the list that would immediately get me and my alts vote(s). If we could vote....
CCP; Words may sting but silence breaks the heart!
Of all the updates I think this latest had changed the most in regard to difficulty. At least in what I've see in my 'best' save. Invasions are not so punishing, definitely not as large in numbers. Dragons also seem to have been 'nerfed'. Not that they were a problem before hand. With enough archers anything is possible.
I like that the game is still constantly getting patches and additions to it. The Warfare Update is the one that gave me the most hype so far. Yet I've only messed about with it for maybe half an hour. I thought it would have drawn me back in for longer.....
Steam sent me an e-mail saying that a wish-list item was on sale..... So I took a look. -30% off... I was tempted! In my clicking about with the DLC options I saw it was also part of a pack and that that pack was also for sale; But it had a better -% off, which caught my eye. I had all the other content in the pack. The pack had a -40% sale price plus an extra -15% off for the pack purchase. That's -55% off in total! -55% is better than -30% so I bought the pack! Cha-ching!
After Steam updated all was fine, it recognised the packs I already had and the one that was new..... Long story short it's worth checking the DLC multi packs for extra savings even in a sale!
I've not much to say about the new pack, yes new places to explore and new garages to setup. Which I saw and did. It does look good, I don't mean to say there's nothing new or that it's not worth talking about it. It is worth it. It's more the subtle differences that make a longer lasting impression. You notice the small things when you change country to country, way more than any great sweeping vistas. Slight differences in road layout's, service station positions, train crossings.
For me I really noticed the larger number of border customs checks in and out of the EU countries. A small taste of real life delay, but not too much.
I'd an interesting encounter with a speeding train... I didn't see anything coming... Literally didn't see what hit me but as I was on the tracks it's safe to say it wasn't another truck!
That was really the only incident worth mentioning. A few other minor bumps. Some more time with Raspy Doug giving GPS directions.
I setup/equipped and hired for 7 new fully upgraded garages. A bit overkill but those weren't just in the new DLC's territory. There's crossover between the old and new. With about 18 Million in the bank and a daily profit of 500k I can afford to splash out.
The micromanagement side of my brain would like to revisit all my garages to redo/resetup trucks and trailers to be 100% uniform across my vast empire.... But with 20 garages and close to 100 trucks/drivers and 120 trailers, that's a lot of work. I might do a light pass and add some extra trailers to garages that are missing a variant or two. I like to have a good mix for potential cargo run types.... Flatbed, curtain, refrigerated..... I've another 5 garages purchased that may be upgraded/used but are 'there'.
The new DLC or maybe the new patch seems to have added more varied drivers to hire. There's a lot more experienced drivers than there used to be..... Or maybe I've encountered so many new recruitment offices which allows for this.....
Another week, another bunch of mish-mash matches. Some were great, well balanced and hard fought GG's. Others were filled with cheating F***'s. It's a growing concern that seems unchecked.
Should that be such a surprise, the game was being given away not so long ago for next to nothing. That's a lot of disposable accounts.
Still I had a good few matches to level up my Support. Getting that class to 50 is the primary motivator for the game(right now). I've been good to stick to the class but it's hard not to revert to Medic or Assault when in a respawn situation. I did have to revert to Sniper a few times to keep my sanity in some matches(see the end of the video).
I think I spoke too soon about further experiences of the new Battletech content. I've encountered most of it I'm finding myself doing more and more normal missions instead of looking for new story. Loot and experiment with mech's wins again. The more things change the more they stay the same.
The more things change the more they stay the same. There may be new Electronic Warfare elements to the game but practically in a PvE setting they make for easier targets. They are easier to run down after they give an initial E-War blast. That's the real hassle, getting close to them more so than anything else. In my experience anyway.....
I've been surprised that my original Stalker Mech's setup is still so durable and adaptable to what they face. No wonder I have 2 laces setup with them....
It's been a while since I took some time in Guild of Dungeoneering. So I'm not sure it it was being so long away from the game or that a lot has changed; But I found myself having to recheck stats and abilities. Still had a few good adventures and fights......
Seeing the current Eve Online CSM vote in progress I can't vote. Alpha's can't vote and that's fair enough. Eve Online has become more restrictive for the non paying Alpha's. I had paid for two accounts for years back in the day till the souring/mystery code fiasco. That was the bulk of the straw that broke this camels back. I've waffled for a long time about that here. But to see Alpha's have level 4 mission access removed now under CCP's 'need to stop botting is very shoddy.
Typical CCP, who implement 101 new things then don't calculate the obvious. Like stopping 7 and 14 day trials and making them non-time limited. What (insert ocean of sarcasm) harm could come from allowing anyone to create an unlimited amount of free disposable accounts.... Which CCP has just given a ton of new skills/features/game mechanic access......
Removing Level 4 access peeved me off as it's my mainstay activity as a player, Omega or Alpha. Alpha's in Level 4's was a great move for me even before they had access to racial battleships. It's a challenge to try and do more with less. Less skills, less ships, less fits. Removing them has me removed from the game. I've not done much in PvE level 4's in the last few years but it was nice to have the option. It was fun to theory craft and fit ships for.....
CCP give'th and CCP take'th away. Makes me wonder why I should bother(Mystery code PTSD - TRIGGERED).
Whats next, Alpha's get reverted to time limited again. I wonder how much of a shot to the foot that would be for their active player numbers. CCP give themselves so much rope.....
Like the last event I splashed out again on the store commendation pack for the current event. The pack gives 10 of the 14 daily commendation/vouchers you need to complete the project. It's a time saver shortcut, may as well use the free zen.
Not that I'm into the main reward. Mine launchers are a niche thing. Even with the buffs they've received recently.
It's good to see the weekend store discount; It'll allow players to pickup some nice items from previous events. I have 4 of those tokens to use so I'll have to consider what to get.
I got to do a lot of bag/bank clearance in the last week. Which in turn made me see if I had useful items for my non active but ready starships. Which in turn made me dry dock all but the ships with 'decent' fits.
Not a bad start to the clearance, from 8 empty slots to this....
Then to this.
Some alts even benefited!
It's hard to not keep items, its a constant stream. Especially when you do anything reputation related. Sorting through it all is about justification, justification for keeping, justification for binning(salvage or sell). It's hard to stop hoarding. A late Spring clean is still a good thing. I also got to clear out a load of R&D/Materials.
My main ship, the Vorgon heavy escort is still my go to ship. It does everything well. Like a Swiss army knife, not perfect but gets the job done.
I'm happy with the abilities but I've no theory craft in the subject. What works well, works well...
Row 4 - Attack buffs > Row 3 - offensive abilities > Row 2 - sheild/hull rep > Row 4 - support warpin's/Misc.
The next ship I'd consider as being 'good' is the Bajoran interceptor. For the event it was released with there was also a space set which I got and fitted. A few upgrades and it works out really well today.
In messing about with it I'd forgotten how fast a ship it is. Romulan Plasma based it's a good performer. It had me reconsidering it as my main ship again.
I kept three other ships that were worthy of staying in the roster and tweaking their fit. I also added a few of the vanity shield unlocks to alter the looks of the ships.
The first ship I think I bought off the exchange. The Tholian Meshweaver. Another small fast ship.
Not a bad ship with a Withering Phaser fit. While most of the vanity looks are "fitting" for the ship I couldn't help but keep the pink on this ship. It just works! Fun is fun. So many WoW jokes.
A bit of a confusing first run out in this ship, but still it gives an idea of what it can do.
Maybe more fun than practical... For now...
The second ship was one I got a while ago, part of the store Temporal ship three pack. The raider is a good ship; But sometimes ship layout matters, even if it's one slot in a different area.
This raiders 3/3/5 doesn't work for me, my mains 4/2/5 "feels" better. I need all the hull heals I can get!! This ship is definitely 4th and it shows, the upgrades are not up there for sure. Mothballed, so why upgrade. Yet still good enough to not dry-dock. If I ever seriously use it I'll be doing a lot of fit swapping.
The third ship I have is one I thought I'd stuck in the dry-dock previously. The Fek'Ihri S'Torr Warship. The fit like the ship is a mish mash but it kind of works. Worthy of more messing about due to it's unique abilities and my 'need' to mess about with a cannon fit....
Not to move on to my other primary class leaders(primary alts?!?).... An Engineer and a Science charecter. They will need a lot of work.... Or work on the Fek'Ihri S'Torr's Mastery level.....
There's been a lot of games(A LOT) on show with E3. This time last year I had a handful of bigger PC games that I knew I wanted. This year not so much. Of the handful I do want, 2 are already on my want list.Those two are Maneater and Phoenix Point. I'm not unappreciative of new video footage but I'd prefer the games(On Steam not Epic).
I thought there would have been a new Splinter Cell game but all I got was a Team Fortress 2 style looking Sam Fisher clone in a turn based-ish game; For mobile. No thanks. So that was a let down.
Other games no matter how pretty they look I'm finding really stale... Another Doom shooter....... Another Jedi with robot sicekick slashing away with a lightsaber.....
It's all about story my *ss. I click faster through skipable dialog now than I ever have.
Another stage of my gaming lifecycle, looking for the more quirky alternatives.
The latest expansion of Battletech has given some goodgreat quality of life changes. It now takes a long time and expense to cross the stars on a 'long' journey. It feels like a large universe. What makes Battletech great has been enhanced in the expansion. It's worth the purchase. Having the season pass I'm now even happier that I got it. I've been really enjoying the game!
Headshots still feel good.
New story-lines are more in depth.
But there is a but. There's something missing. Meaningful impactful changes. Outside of loosing a seasoned pilot there isn't much to cause me to worry. I think that's because I've been so long in the game. I have a merc unit that's flush in cash and equipped with the best of the best. I'm pushing my luck in engagements because I can usually make it thought. It's great to see a good mission, good fights that leave me with a large haul of mechs/parts and a list of equipment as long as your arm. All justified that it was a good fight by my lance of pilots all being injured. Next lance up!!
I can't use the cash to buy a small moonbase. I can't use the cash to run automated merc jobs. I'm still flying around in a dropship like I'm next to broke when I'm really, really, really not.
The new flashpoint rewards of epic or rare mech/loot are anything but. That's still a problem in the game. One reward gave a 'rare' mech(it wasn't) which I sold on the spot as I'd two already(I don't use the type anyway). Not that they sell for much either because it's common muck.
One story line sees an interesting take on pirates. I played it out both ways with a save before hand and the 'righteous' fork in the road is as it says; All goodie two shoes. But the promise of the 180 flip to ultimate 'bad guy' doesn't deliver. Doesn't make you hated by all as inferenced. You get the big payday and a -10 rep hit with 1 faction and + 10 with Pirates. Not quiet a set the universe on fire moment. It felt like a disappointing let down.
So it's more a problem with me than the game. It may have taken less than a week for me to realise all this but I'm still enjoying it.
The E3 Microsoft presentation. I got to watch it but on a side screen as I was gaming. It wasn't a cringefest but it didn't awe me either.
Forza lego mode?! I didn't see that coming but then again I've not been into racing games like it in a long time. But Forza always made me think of more serious hardcore racers.... Lego? OK. Give the people what they want.....
If there were 60 games presented then I missed a lot of them.... Nothing much stuck out to me in the blurb.
I was surprised to see Mr Keanu Reeves. The look and feel of Cyberpunk 2077 does interest me. But more info needed. Time will tell if it's a game that can really deliver.
Game Pass Ultimate and xCloud interest me. The "normal" price may be a bit much. They need to win me over with better free monthly games to 'keep'. A much better offering as a presentation than anything googlish imho. There are a few games I could be interested in that are on the list of available games.
Playing a few games for an hour or a few hours, a quick look and see is fine but to justify that longterm for a monthly sub..... Is questionable for me.... I'd already been thinking of stopping XBox Gold as it is......
The Project Scarlett console presentation was interesting. I may be an XBox fan so maybe the console/Halo past tugged on the nostalgia a bit too much. Especially given my current bout of retro nostalgia(part 1 & part 2).
If you are in any way shape or form a petrol head then Motorsport Manager is for you. It's super detailed in it's take on the genre. In game mechanics/systems it's waaaaaaay to detailed for me. The more I waded in, the more I both understood and had more game mechanic questions. Decisions can be impactful in the short and longterm.
This game has game mechanics like an F1 car. Each part is linked to another which is directly or indirectly linked to something else. Etc. Etc.
For my part I'm an F1 fan, not as much as I used to be but still I'm familiar with the way that world works. So the game did appeal to me. I've been(still am) looking out a long time for good sim/management games. But to see it from this game's super detailed perspective. Well it finally broke me today. Broke me because I want a more casual game than this one provides. I've fully tapped out and uninstalled it.
It's a good game that will tick a lot of boxes for a lot of people. You can feel the pressure in a race, tenths of a second do count. Those decisions made back in HQ effect the long term on track performance. Never mind the second to second decisions in a race even if you can pause. It's a game where micromanagement pays off.
Games like this are ones I know not to fully get into because it would be all consuming. On a near 24/7 level. Far beyond "one more turn".
Create your character, Mr Manager, and for as much custom detail as you can go into, there's only one stat that really matters. Your characters backstory. Picking it gives a corresponding stat. I heartily recommend Financial, but Ex-Driver isn't bad once you 'know what your doing'(I don't).
'Financial' gives a -5% on payments. A money saver that can help more in the start. Every penny does count! 'Ex Driver' allows you a +3 on Driver feedback and also increases your drivers stat improvement value. So faster on the job training. If I could have both I'd be happier!! The other choices are more niche imho. Definitely for the more expert Motorsport Manager veterans. I ran away screaming from those choices.
Once your manager persona is created you move on to create a race team. This depends on the DLC you have. I have the standard game, no DLC so F1 single seater for me(no GT). Once that's selected you get to choose the tier you want to start in. The higher the tier the greater the difficulty. The higher the tier the more costly the people and cars(the greater the competition/challenge). Tier 3 to me sounded reasonable. Nothing like a low level team, building them up and seeing them rise through the rankings etc....
There is then some tutorial handholding or if that's been done the financial package selection. The greater the financial package the greater the expectation on your team; But also the greater the perks. This section is a bit of voodoo magic in my book. Because your decision here can have the ability to alter your games 'difficulty' for real! Stats are mentioned and generalised in ways that will matter later in the game, matter a lot. Like team marketability and sponsorship deals. Money, money, money! 'Stonewell Bank' is the medium choice here and the best to straddle the line between a rock and a hard place. Longterm thinking.
Longterm is the key. Every race at the start will lose you a lot of money. While you can take a fair few hits to the beginning bank balance, longterm losing funds could snowball out of control.
On an up note I like the games e-mail/HQ UI menu system. The game has a great UI. Massive and complex, especially in a race. Once you start to know where everything is located it's great. Not 100% intuitive but very good in a muscle memory kind of way.
As for staff (drivers, designers and mechanics) I found aiming for staffers that are on the mid/lower skill end of the currently unemployed list. Cheap but not unskilled. In a building for the future kind of mindset. Keeping the wages/bonus terms a click or two under the expected offer helps sign and keep them. Bonus's can be tricky to work out. That whole system can see you spending too much to quickly. Especially if your team starts to really perform and everyone is getting bonus's left right and centre!! I've read that some higher end staff can be 'persuaded' to join but it's not really worked out for me. Like I said bonus's can be tricky to work with. Too low and they earn them all the time, too high and they never reach them.
Upgrading your buildings at the start is also a good cash spend. Factory above all. It'll be the best thing you can do to give your team a boost(Development, Improvement, R&D(brakes), Test Track).
With all that done you can start to build some parts. You'll go through a lot of parts. Parts wear out fast and you'll see them degrade when your pushing your cars hard in a race. Having the parts is one thing but improving parts is the better behind the scenes task. Which leads on to parts performance and reliability and then onto designing and building new better parts. But that's long-term. You can start off by building some new wings (front and rear) and designing something around brakes or gearbox.
Dealing in marketability is more black voodoo that can be a massive pain to interact with. Boosting the Sponsor Appeal will give prestige (like running an F1 team wasn't enough to have prestige), which in turn will work out for better sponsor deals. Splash out on a better helipad on your HQ and they will love you.
There's a lot you can fiddle with but eventually you can click on the bottom to continue/advance time
Congratulations! You may now uncurl yourself from the fetal position and start racing in the game!
Like I said if you are in any way shape or form a petrol head then Motorsport Manager is for you. Likewise if you are into super detailed micromanagement then you'll be in your nirvana with this game. It's soooooooooooooo super detailed. I can't emphasis that enough. None of it can be done 'casual', which was my main problem with the game.
Staff management, car management, race management, parts management, sponsorship management, company management, MANAGEMENT!
The last week has been yet another mish-mash of good and bad. The good can be great matches with balance. The bad can be complete one sided poundings; So much so that it can only lead you to think a team is super coordinated or cheating. Sometimes it's both but not always. The theme of the week was Elite Elites again after all, some people are that good.
It's just super frustrating when you snipe a target then get immediately targeted by 8 players on a hillside half a map away who pin you down, then get hit with artillery or planes that could not possibly know where you are. All in the space of a second. Coordinated, ok, super coordinated fine. But when it's constantly happening, to all players on your side. That's not gameplay or super coordination...
I could waffle on about the frustrations. I'm a solo player in a multiplayer world, what else can I expect.
Given the other game/dlc releases this week I didn't get as much BF1 as usual. Not a bad thing in retrospect. Less is more when editing video(in most cases).
I don't know what it is of late but I've been jinxed with tactics in Hitman 2. Take the latest Elusive Targets, a combo duo of 2 targets that have previously appeared separately in Sapienza.
A new two for one special, both can still be poisoned with the same tactics as 'normal'.
The perfected tactic(with a lot of unlocks) is to bring 2 lethal poisons(pills and vial) as well as a pistol to take out one camera. Which is a better safe than sorry . No need to jinx it further.
Start in the kitchen(disguise),
Run out the town side "service" entrance & shoot out the camera on the right.
Jump in the fountain in the garden, drop the pistol and take the coins.
Run over to the cafe, throw a coin and poison the targets drink.
Run back to the main entrance, get frisked, jump back in the fountain.
I picked my piston back up but that's just me.
Go in the fountain tunnel entrance and run to the wine seller.
Distract the nearest waiter(enforcer)
Poison wine glass on barrel and run back out the fountain entrance.
Make way to an exit and wait for the target to be eliminated.
Simples!
My run not so simples!
My jinx was timing (as usual) brought on by forgetting to pickup a poison at the start. My non-perfected loadout was to have one poison as a pickup instead of the coins. Those coins were also unnecessary as you get the fountain ones. Returning to get the poison messed up timings even further. Which in turn brought on my attempts to alter the situation via knockouts. But I heeded my own caution and let the target swing back around and let it all play out.
The game has a first person FTL vibe, in a mish mash of play-styles and genres bound in a sci-fi theme that appeals to me.
Salvage/gathering, check
Modular construction, check.
Clone bay, check.
Alien insects, check.
Alien humanoids, check.
Alien DNA grafted human clones, check
And so much more....
The games's Steam release date is Jan 2020. The game is already available on the Epic game store for the low price of just under €7.... Including a discount on top of the €10 Epic discount(bribe?); But I'm no Epic fan so I'll wait.
All Stadia does is rub me up the wrong way. Even after that announcement I'm asking more questions.
What's this thing aimed at?
Stadia, a device for PC gamers who don't have a pc but do have great internet and other devices they can use with Stadia and a chromecast to game on....
Is this for PC games on the go? Only they say that mobile connections won't be 'optimal'. So PC gaming on any device in your own home.....
Are they trying to pull an Epic in both software and hardware....? To outdo a Steambox?
xCloud on the other hand sounds like it will be a much better implementation and amalgamation of console and PC games.
I was interested to see what the details were going to be but the more I read the more I'm 'meh' and don't care about it. I don't like subbing for game access. Even saying that I've done so for two online games in the past and still do for my XBox Gold(even if that does give me free games). I could waffle on about initial costs, subscription costs and broadband but there are still too many questions open for Stadia. I like the status quo but even the traditional consoles are declining due to the mobile/cloud 'era'.
"Mobile" games are so very temporary in my book. Why spend so much on them for so little.
Cut the rope may still be good in 10 years time but there's no guarantee you'll be able to download it. At least with WoW it's got a dedicated company behind it in an almost too big to fail kind of way.
In 2020 they say that Stadia will have a free version with only access to pre purchased games.
Sounds a lot like an offline google play library and I don't have any games I'd go back for on my list.
There is not depth to mobile gaming imho when compared to console let alone PC.
It's not the change in technology that's my real problem it's the change to the way games and gaming are presented. PC and console games complimented each other as well as with technology in the past. Today the Switch is a great example of technology used well as everyone is porting a version of their game to it. The games are not massively changed for it. You still have thumsticks and buttons. A shooter is still a shooter; But to have games on a mobile device that everyone can use across multiple different forms of hardware and many version of the same operating system HAS made the games change. Games are made to fit that mobile mould. C&C may be a mobile version now but it's not C&C even if it's still point and click.etc.
I'm getting to far into the long grass on this subject. Time will tell and either I'll be part of the changes or I'll be left behind moaning on a blog about installing games with a device the size of a desk as the new teens of the day laugh at having to consider install sizes!
*Shakes fist while yelling about kids getting of the lawn*
I've yet to fully bend my mind round the PC game without the need for a PC concept. It's not possibel. Even if it were I'd be hesitant at only owning access to a time limited experience with no future proofing.
Nes, Nes classic.... Stadia today Stadia classic tomorrow?
It's the AAA games that would be needed to win me over. Doing so would be better facilitated if we lived in a world where there was no lag, no ping at all and we were in a worldwide instant neural network. Borg anyone..... They don't have lag.... They all interface..... But even then the games I love to play on PC would be bastardised to fit the technology and I'd have to constantly buy access to it.
Really loving all the improvements, changes and additions to the game. I'm especially giggling away when driving with the new GPS voice system set to Raspy Doug. He's Doom guy...... I've got Doom Guy in the cab!!!!!!
He makes it fun to have traffic offences! At least that's my new excuse for being a woeful keyboard/mouse driver:
