MeFi Eve Corp?

February 7, 2009 9:02 PM

Is there a Metafilter Eve corporation? Should there be one?

I only played the demo once and got bored with it, but I'd be interested in taking another shot if some mefites wanted to start a corporation.

We can't let Something Awful have all the fun, can we?

posted by empath to MetaFilter gatherings at 9:02 PM (97 comments total)

My current corp (and Alliance) is pretty much my e-home, so I'm not likely to leave it to play with a MeFite corp, I'm afraid.

If you do want to take another shot, contact me in-game if you want hints/suggestions/advice.
posted by rodgerd at 9:08 PM on February 7

We'd be crushed.

That said, it's not a bad idea but chalk me up as another dood who really tried to like EVE but found it far too boring. I guess that makes me a shallow gamist or something, but the learning curve is just way too much for me.
posted by bardic at 9:08 PM on February 7 [1 favorite]

While I don't have the time to play, I eagerly await the tales of a circumcising-obese-Palestinian-cats-thread flameout leading to bloody revolution and skulduggery.
posted by Bookhouse at 9:10 PM on February 7

psst... mefightclub.com.
posted by waraw at 9:18 PM on February 7 [1 favorite]

meffy ... ght?
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 9:35 PM on February 7

The deal with EVE is that it doesn't actually take up too much of your time right? It might be fun.
posted by delmoi at 10:10 PM on February 7

"The deal with EVE is that it doesn't actually take up too much of your time right? It might be fun."

No, this is defiantly NOT the deal with EVE.
posted by Faux Real at 11:12 PM on February 7

Is this something I'd have to have taken strawberry viagra to participate in?
posted by po at 11:14 PM on February 7

No, this is defiantly NOT the deal with EVE.

Well, yes and no. You don't have to grind to improve your skills. You do have to grind ingame currency, unless you're smart enough to do industrial or market stuff or something else that makes money with minimal effort (datacore farmers, represent!).

On the other hand, some parts of the game are a huge time sink. Fueling POS networks to claim space, for example. Deep 0.0 logistics. The nice thing is you don't have to do those things.
posted by rodgerd at 11:18 PM on February 7

Yeah right, and five minutes later we are talking on MetaGoonFleetTalk once their spymasters get a hold of Cortex. No thanks.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 11:26 PM on February 7 [1 favorite]

psst... mefightclub.com.

I don't know if any of us over there are Eve players, actually. I don't think it's come up as a game people are in to. Perhaps it isn't, since almost all of us have wives, husbands, children, jobs, and all the other outward accoutrements of adult life, and it would seem that those are incompatible with playing mere games.

Our friend ColdChef is fickle, or at least has a poor memory.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 12:58 AM on February 8 [7 favorites]

EVE player here, 100M skillpoints spread across four accounts, huge industrial empire on my alts, and I was very active in the 0.0 game for a while. About to be active again.

If MetaFilter wants to do this, I will be happy to lead the initiative for both newbies and experienced players alike.
posted by arimathea at 6:18 AM on February 8

whatever eve actually is, a metafilter group would be sitting in the far corner pouting they're much too cool to enjoy pursuing whatever the goal was.
posted by krautland at 6:49 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]

"The deal with EVE is that it doesn't actually take up too much of your time right? It might be fun."

No, this is defiantly NOT the deal with EVE.

You can probably alt-tab out of EVE and get a lot of work done while your ship crawls from system to system.
posted by JDHarper at 7:29 AM on February 8

well I still have my test account for another nine days, I'd want to give it another shot.

Would be great thogh if somebody could show me how to invest this time more efficiantly and acutally get somewhere...
posted by kolophon at 7:39 AM on February 8

Perhaps it isn't, since almost all of us have wives, husbands, children, jobs, and all the other outward accoutrements of adult life, and it would seem that those are incompatible with playing mere games. Our friend ColdChef is fickle, or at least has a poor memory.

I mock the things my brain is too small to understand.
(though I will admit that after reading that entire EVE thread when I woke up the next day I do sort-of have a idea of what happened. --Sadly, it strengthened my resolve to never play those kind of games, because I'd still be crying about it if that happened to me)
posted by ColdChef at 8:03 AM on February 8

And once again, a big thank you to all MeFiteFight People for your love and generosity.


...nerds.
posted by ColdChef at 8:05 AM on February 8 [2 favorites]

Huh, a Mefi Corporation might get me to try the 14-day trial. What would it be called? The Empire Of the Snark? The United Planets Of Meh? The Hurf Durf Moon Eaters?
posted by The Whelk at 8:15 AM on February 8 [3 favorites]

And once again, a big thank you to all MeFiteFight People for your love and generosity.


...nerds.

I take this as proof that ColdChef is a great guy who really didn't need to be reminded of that, really.
posted by flibbertigibbet at 8:18 AM on February 8 [1 favorite]

I'll join a MeFi Corp. 7M skill point Caldari Baskilisk pilot. Very casual player.

I'll also thrown some ISK and ships to any newbies that want to join.

Eve mail Dunk Dinkle ingame.

I'm watching the PvP tourney live now.
posted by Argyle at 8:22 AM on February 8

seems like arimathea would be the person to set up such a corporation...
posted by kolophon at 9:28 AM on February 8

Hurf Durf Moon Eaters! (Hurf Durf Planet Eaters?)
posted by grobstein at 10:24 AM on February 8

I have no idea how EVE works, and I have two small children and a thesis to write. Still, if I have a chance to join something called Hurf Durf Moon Eaters, I may not be able to resist.
posted by Pater Aletheias at 12:35 PM on February 8

seems like arimathea would be the person to set up such a corporation...

Or he's kicked off the beginning of a big scam.
posted by rodgerd at 12:52 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

I half-jokingly suggested VGA Planets in the post. It's a DOS (and now Java) turn-based game you can play via email or ftp. Version 3 allows 11 players (haven't tried version 4, but 3 is a classic). It involves colonizing planets, building ships, and using strategy and alliances. Each race has different advantages and are based on Star Wars/Star Trek/BSG (the "Empire" can sense enemy colonies, Federation can make better use of resources, Borg has the cube and can rebuild in space, etc.).

Anyway, the first few rounds can be played in a couple minutes and it slowly goes up from there depending on how many planets you get, etc. I haven't hosted (or played) a game a looong time but if we have interest I can figure it out. Usually it's one turn a day.
posted by starman at 1:13 PM on February 8

Dear AskMe: Should I EVE it?
posted by turgid dahlia at 3:15 PM on February 8

I take this as proof that ColdChef is a great guy who really didn't need to be reminded of that, really.

ColdChef is indeed a swell fellow, and certainly doesn't need to be reminded of my deep and abiding love for all things Cold and Cheffy.

Nonetheless. Fat people and transgendered people and cat-lovers and all the rest have legions of defenders at Mefi when people dismiss them as somehow deficient, just for a laugh or otherwise, and hell, amongst all of the other very adult things I am (and the rest of us Mefighters are), we are gamers, and it doesn't seem right to just sit back and be mocked, even gently, especially by someone as well-respected as (I reiterate) our friend Coldchef.

Although, I must admit that I kinda look askance at dedicated MMO players too, so there you go. Ah humanity so proud and noble, with our rich and varied hierarchy of mockery!
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 4:11 PM on February 8 [2 favorites]

Ah humanity so proud and noble, with our rich and varied hierarchy of mockery!

Well somebody had to link to it
posted by The Whelk at 4:21 PM on February 8

The character creation/tutorial part of the game is getting a big revamp in the upcoming March 10th patch.
I'd advice those skeptical of the game's learning curve to hold off until then.
Once Apocrypha comes out though, I don't want to hear any excuses.
posted by kittenstew at 4:56 PM on February 8

we are gamers, and it doesn't seem right to just sit back and be mocked, even gently

Fair enough. I'm polite enough to admit when I am wrong. I was genuinely interested in the subject of the thread, but I chose to express that interest in a snarky, thread-derailing kind of way, and I have been on MetaFilter long enough to know that that's a poor way to start a good discussion. I should have found a question that prompted a concise, clear answer.

I sincerely apologize again to the gamers of MetaFilter for belittling (even in a silly teasing way) something that they obviously take very seriously. Please forgive my rudeness.

(and feel free to mock me the next time I hyperventilate about some new Apple product or Neil Patrick Harris project.)
posted by ColdChef at 5:48 PM on February 8 [3 favorites]

No worries, ya big lug, ya.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 6:01 PM on February 8

damn, got my ship shot down by some stupid drones again. I'm doing something wrong...
posted by kolophon at 6:45 PM on February 8

damn, got my ship shot down by some stupid drones again. I'm doing something wrong...

This is why PvP is so great. Half the players are dumber than NPCs.
posted by rodgerd at 7:02 PM on February 8 [1 favorite]

No scamming here; seriously. If people are interested, I can fund a great number of ships for us, mostly frigates. I won't be able to start this process until early March, but if there is still interest, drop me a MeFiMail and I will contact you back when we are ready to get going. (I'll create the corp, and if you want to learn all about EVE, I am happy to give people a tutorial for both "carebear" (or industrial, high sec life) and 0.0 (or "lowsec, let's kill shit"). I do not mind at all going out on runs with people and funding their explorations into the game, I have plenty of capital to go around.
posted by arimathea at 7:45 PM on February 8

Also, I will be up to date with Apocrypha, can move people's ships around to wherever we want to go using my Orcas and carriers, etc.

If we're serious about this process, i'd also like to know how many people are interested in real combat vs carebear stuff; and your time available. So make sure to include that in your MefiMail. My history in EVE has been short but colorful, and i'm capable of teaching people the basics and getting them acquainted with the depth of the game, but the payoff in EVE is largely a function of the time you spend with it, so casual players shouldn't expect the same value as those of us prepared to dedicate 6-10 hours per week.
posted by arimathea at 7:53 PM on February 8

I already gave out some cash (10M ISK) in game today to a couple MeFites.

If it's helpful, I can make a corp now for chat/fleet purposes and hand the CEO role over to Arimathea when he has the time.

Of course there is the issue of the corp name and tag. Hurf Durf Moon Eaters & MeFi ?
posted by Argyle at 7:54 PM on February 8

Or he's kicked off the beginning of a big scam.

I thought a big scam was the whole point of EVE.
posted by graventy at 9:03 PM on February 8

I am OK with Hurf Durf Moon Eaters, let's make sure everyone else is. :-)

We will not get crushed. We might get bruised to hell, but crushed will not happen. And you'd be surprised what can happen when you get enough smart people together.
posted by arimathea at 9:04 PM on February 8

Wait a minute. We already know from the thread that there's a not insignificant crossover of SA Forum members. How can we trust these new recruits!

*eyes everyone suspiciously*
posted by graventy at 9:08 PM on February 8

I'm definitely interested and am okay with HDME. Going to download the trial tomorrow (Feb 9).
posted by deborah at 9:14 PM on February 8

And you'd be surprised what can happen when you get enough smart people together.

Ewar whores, represent.
posted by rodgerd at 9:23 PM on February 8

Wait a minute. We already know from the thread that there's a not insignificant crossover of SA Forum members. How can we trust these new recruits!

I think this is a serious issue. Given the Goon spys' noted skill (not even counting the BoB stuff), I'd be very concerned.

I'm intensely interested in EVE... but my wife is kvetching that she's going to lose me to it.

Maybe it's time to try the trial.
posted by Netzapper at 9:40 PM on February 8

I'd definitely be up for this.
posted by atrazine at 10:13 PM on February 8

I'm kinda interested, but I've never played, so...lemme give it a go and see if I last.

As far as names go, what about "AMIRITE Inc."? Or "Plate-O-Beans"? Or "Haughey's Heroes"? Or "DTMFA Squad"? Or "AskMe-I dare ya!"?
posted by mountain_william at 10:18 PM on February 8

Hurf Durf Moon Eaters [BEANS].

Although bean-analysing MeFites would probably be most at home in the Star Fraction. Walloftext AMIRITE?

arimathea, if I were doing this, I'd be getting everyone who joins a corp-paid-for Agony Basics course, to get everyone on the same page for possible PvP.
posted by rodgerd at 1:00 AM on February 9

We'll make sure everyone gets appropriate PVP training. I'm not overly concerned with Goon spies. They have bigger fish to fry right now. :-)
posted by arimathea at 4:34 AM on February 9

As far as names go, what about "AMIRITE Inc."? Or "Plate-O-Beans"? Or "Haughey's Heroes"? Or "DTMFA Squad"? Or "AskMe-I dare ya!"?

Like em!.....just wanted to add "Admin Plz Hope Me" [META] and "Eleven Fourty-Two" [1142] :)

Also, to you guys wanting to get started...just wanted to warn you it will take quite some time to get up to the 0.0 level endgame that the Goons are participating in (expect atleast six months before being remotely formidable out there) so make sure you have a focused skillplan right from the start so you don't waste time. The best helper app for this is battleclinic's EveMon which has a built in skill planner with estimated times. It's a tough, unforgiving game...so don't get too attached to your posessions...and don't sweat the setbacks :P
posted by samsara at 6:28 AM on February 9

I'm a 24 hour clock to leave my old corp. After that I can make the new corp to hold it until plans solidify.
posted by Argyle at 6:39 AM on February 9

Personally, I'm all about PvP.

I'm interested in the politics.

And the lulz.

Btw, with the new changes in the system requirements, will my macbook still be able to play in a few months?
posted by empath at 9:15 AM on February 9

Okay, I'm in. I have an abandoned-for-years Eve account that's about two months into skilling up - mostly focused on knowledge skills and Frigate stuff, IIRC.

I can't contribute too much time right now (8 hours a week tops) but I can contribute a paying account and a resolve to be there when it counts.

I'm also *REALLY REALLY REALLY* good at using Excel to min-max the fuck out of Eve's character system. I did an extremely thorough analysis of the optimal advancement route back just before whatever expansion it was that rolled out DirectX 10 support. It would take some legwork to update this into something useful, but I'd be happy to help bang out a top-notch character template if anybody's interested in something like that.
posted by Ryvar at 9:41 AM on February 9

Oh, and yeah, will my Macbook Air version 2 be up to the new Eve? It can run WOW @ 20FPS, if that's any use as a reference point.
posted by Ryvar at 9:42 AM on February 9

Hurf Durf Moon Eaters!

shame there is no EveMon prog for mac. The whole skill planning thing seems to be the crux of the game. The problem is, I can't plan my skills as a noob if I don't know what I need...

And the difficulty levels are a bitch. You finish one campaign with an agent without problems, and in the next mission you get wasted within seconds.
posted by kolophon at 10:00 AM on February 9

There is a page on the MetaFilter wiki for Gamer IDs, if anyone wants to add theirs.

I'd enjoy flying in a MeFi EVE corp. I have trained Beer Consumption to five and Whining About Gatecamps to four, so I think I'd be able to make a valuable contribution.

Srsly, someone is going to hafta show me how the hell to PvP -- most of my sub-0.3 excursions end tragically (or comically, depending on perspective).

So, what, we kick this off in March?
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:24 AM on February 9

So, two things - let's figure out who is interested and get ourselves some sort of forum to meet at.

Here are the people in this thread who expressed definite interest:
empath
kolophon
Ryvar
Argyle
arimathea
deborah
atrazine

and those who marked tentative interest:
moutain_william?
Netzapper?
Pater Aletheias?
The Whelk?

We should also peruse the BoB obit thread as a source of potential recruits. I'm at work right now so I can't go through a 193 comment thread ATM.

As for a forum - what's your guys preference? Ingame corp chat? MeFightClub thread?
posted by Ryvar at 10:38 AM on February 9

Sorry, should have previewed and added BOP to the definite interest list.
posted by Ryvar at 10:39 AM on February 9

The Whelk?

I wont be able to do anything until next week, and I only have a few hours to actively do things in-game. I am also a complete and total noob. Are there grindy yet peaceful things I could commit a few hours a week?
posted by The Whelk at 11:13 AM on February 9

Are there grindy yet peaceful things I could commit a few hours a week?

I think we've found our miner.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 11:25 AM on February 9

MBA2 can run EVE but not incredibly well (but a damn sight better than some boxes). You can probably forget about fleet battles (at least major ones). Premium shouldn't have much affect on current-gen MBA or MB, and definitely won't have negative effects on MBP.

The majority of BOB pilots aren't going to want to play with a bunch of noobs, so it depends on how skilled we are in how short a time.

I have a firm belief that you can compete in 0.0 from day one if you're careful, but it largely depends on the skillpoint counts and how everyone is specced up.

I won't be able to lead this effort until (early) March, like I said, but if you want to be skilling up in the meantime, those of us starting out "fresh" should be looking to build up their skills towards interceptors. Those who have more skillpoints should be looking into things like recon ships, electronic warfare, logistics, or even fleet battleships.

New players should expect plenty of PVP but not as much PVE. I'll instruct everyone on both & missions & other stuff as needed. If you need any skillbooks just let me know.

I'll set up forums and killboards for us, I have all that infrastructure already "ready to go", including Ventrilo (voice chat since the in-game voice chat is terrible).

Most of our work will be small gang and i'll scout and command the fleet.

Expect epic failure early on but dividends quickly. EVE is not for the faint of heart.
posted by arimathea at 11:29 AM on February 9

I intend to be doing some mining myself. Low-sec mining in EVE is . . . not substantially different from a pretty screensaver that runs in a window in the background while you chat / browse the web. Requires a bit of attention every few minutes, but it's a lot like talking while driving - you're not really focusing on the driving so much.
posted by Ryvar at 11:30 AM on February 9

Mining is great and I can definitely support that with both Orca and Rorqual as needed, but we will have no immediate need for ISK.
posted by arimathea at 11:37 AM on February 9

I intend to be doing some mining myself. Low-sec mining in EVE is . . . not substantially different from a pretty screensaver that runs in a window in the background while you chat / browse the web. Requires a bit of attention every few minutes, but it's a lot like talking while driving - you're not really focusing on the driving so much.

I could deal with that. That's more or less how I use Metafilter. I'll check back in a week.

Now I need a ship name. "Passive Aggressor"? "Surely You Jest"? "Don't Mind Me, I'll Do It Myself."?
posted by The Whelk at 11:39 AM on February 9

The majority of BOB pilots

I definitely don't want to ally with BoB or former BoB. I'd prefer to just try and grab a piece of 0.0 at some point and see how things develop.
posted by empath at 12:23 PM on February 9

I think I'll download the free trial and get back to you when it runs out. If I actually pay for it I'll join up.
posted by backseatpilot at 12:37 PM on February 9

Count me in.
posted by tylermoody at 12:41 PM on February 9

I definitely don't want to ally with BoB or former BoB. I'd prefer to just try and grab a piece of 0.0 at some point and see how things develop.

Yeah, ditto.
posted by Ryvar at 1:27 PM on February 9

MBA2 can run EVE but not incredibly well (but a damn sight better than some boxes). You can probably forget about fleet battles (at least major ones). Premium shouldn't have much affect on current-gen MBA or MB, and definitely won't have negative effects on MBP.

That's fine. I have a full-blown Windows gaming rig on my desk, but it would be nice to get in some mining from the coffee shop.
posted by Ryvar at 1:45 PM on February 9

This is a good reason for me to try out the game. Downloading the client now. Count me in.
posted by eastlakestandard at 3:03 PM on February 9

shame there is no EveMon prog for mac. The whole skill planning thing seems to be the crux of the game. The problem is, I can't plan my skills as a noob if I don't know what I need...

There are now actually some basic pointers in-game about this - each ship now has a Recommended tab, which shows a cert list recommended for flying the ship; you can then go to the certs sheet and see what skills you'd need. Plug them into EveMon, away you go.

If you have an Intel Mac, you could try getting EveMon running with Wine; otherwise there's a alpha-ish port for Mono on Linux that would crash equally well under MacOS.

And the difficulty levels are a bitch. You finish one campaign with an agent without problems, and in the next mission you get wasted within seconds.

1/ If you're doing anything up to and including level 4s, just get a Drake, which will tank basically any mission in the game if properly configured. From there your only problem is that it will take you a while to pound your way through some level 4s.

A tech 1 Drake configured something along the lines of:

7 x Heavy Launchers
2 x Hardeners, 3 x LSE, 1 x Shield Recharger
2 x PDS, 2 x Shield Power Relays

...will trundle through almost all level 3 missions with Shield Op and Shield Management to level 4. Upgrade to tech II mids and low and a Core Purger rig and you will never, ever lose to any level 3, although you should use resistence amps instead of hardeners for Blood Raider and Amarr missions (dealing with NOS).

Tech II, 3 x Core Purgers, and maxed shield skills will tank every level 4 I've done.

The only reason to upgrade to a BS (Raven, Typhoon, or Domi, IMO) or Marauder for missions is to complete missions faster (and make more money).

2/ The eve-survival wiki has details on most missions in game, including recommended tanks and damage-dealing.

Low-sec mining in EVE is . . . not substantially different from a pretty screensaver that runs in a window in the background while you chat / browse the web.

Well, until the Bad Men come and blow you up.
posted by rodgerd at 3:10 PM on February 9

A couple of things:

First off, the learning curve in EVE is high. Those of you getting on trials may find the experience punishing and not fun. EVE has been described as "Excel in space". This isn't necessarily representative of real fighting out in the hinterlands, which can be a lot more thrilling. So don't let those two weeks get you down, or hold off until we're all flying around together. :-)

Secondly, I have no intentions of getting involved with BOB or Goons or whoever, just wanted to state that from the outset. We'll be independent for quite some time until we see how things develop and who is dedicating what amount of time etc.
posted by arimathea at 3:22 PM on February 9

That's the funny thing about the game...you CAN be independant...but once you start establishing 0.0 space you'll make strange bedfellows quickly, simply so they don't blow up your POSes while you're sleeping...and those loose alliances will be proned to change VERY quickly if you are set on not moving to avoid a war front.

As far as making ISK, mining is fine...but you may find it to be a more worthwhile investment building a good reputation with an R&D agent. From there you can get parts for rigs that can fetch good ISK for minimal effort (tho it takes a month or two effort to get there).
posted by samsara at 3:39 PM on February 9

(As an aside: one of the dumber bits of advice given to new players is to spend their first couple of months training their Learning skills. This is terrible advice because while, in the long run, you want those high to make it quicker to learn new skills, in the short term it's fucking boring having the basic skills you start with and not being able to fly anything. Pick things you want to try, train your basic learning up a bit, and have fun. Grind the advanced learning skills after you've had a couple of months of fun.)
posted by rodgerd at 3:41 PM on February 9

As far as making ISK, mining is fine...but you may find it to be a more worthwhile investment building a good reputation with an R&D agent. From there you can get parts for rigs that can fetch good ISK for minimal effort (tho it takes a month or two effort to get there).

Datacore harvesting ain't what it used to be, but it's still nice extra profit, especially if you keep a few on the run and just collect every few months. Nice passive income.

I don't make real money in Eve, but I know a few people who do, and it's mostly things like margin trading, selling researched BPCs, manufacturing captial components, and so on. They all have the benefit that once the hard work of setup is done they require fairly minimal oversight.
posted by rodgerd at 3:44 PM on February 9

Oh god, oh god, oh god...sweet Jesus, help me, I'm in. I haven't even downloaded the client or set up my free trial account yet, but "Excel in space" with MeFites and politics and stuff? God yes. In.
posted by infinitywaltz at 3:46 PM on February 9 [1 favorite]

(If you do decide to move datacores around, don't move them like a fucking idiot, though.)
posted by rodgerd at 3:50 PM on February 9

IRC: irc.coldfront.net #hdme
Forums: hdme.dopplershift.org (temporary address)

I'm not sure if the forum registration works in terms of email verification yet, but go ahead and give it a try and let me know.

I'll check this thread for a few more days.
posted by arimathea at 4:18 PM on February 9

Sorry, i'm an idiot, forums will be up in just a sec.
posted by arimathea at 4:38 PM on February 9

all worked out. hopefully.
posted by arimathea at 4:40 PM on February 9

Yep. There now.
posted by Ryvar at 5:49 PM on February 9

Count me in, I've had family in for the weekend and have been away a bit but am very interested; will make a char tomorrow
posted by waraw at 7:06 PM on February 9

I've downloaded the trial, and I've built myself a character. I have four ships already! Some 12 year old kid gave me some cash, and I've been playing agent missions.

So far, I'm overwhelmed, but enjoying it. I'm also progressively reviewing it over on my game review site (it's in mefi projects, if you want to check it out).

As of right now, I'm enjoying it and interested... but, my wife keeps making fun of me, so I don't know if I can cope.
posted by Netzapper at 7:28 PM on February 9

I just want say a little more to and about Coldchef and our minor butting of heads, for posterity's sake.

Over at MefightClub, I'm getting my butt kicked a bit, and rightly so, I think, for the way I brought things up upthread connected with the charity donation we made last year. During Hurricane Gustav, a bunch of the kind and wonderful game-loving folks over there had the idea of amassing some donations and sending them to the Red Cross. Someone suggested we make the donation in Coldchef's name, since he was very much in all of our thoughts, here and there, with his updates on the ground, in the Metafilter thread about it. He knew nothing about it until after the fact, basically.

But folks over there have taken some issue with my mentioning it here in conjunction with tsk-tsking at Coldchef's joking about game-geeks, and they're right. I fear I came off as a bit of a dick, and I totally did not mean to. Charity is and must be unconditional, and it was out of love and respect for CC that we made that donation in his name, and I should have found a way to express myself without bringing that up. People at MefightClub found my comment chiding the Chef as kind of crass and petty, I think, and I understand now why. As chundo said 'our generosity wasn't conditional on ColdChef respecting our hobby.'

I most definitely did not intend to be offensive or to imply that the generosity of the folks was anything but purely unconditional, and even now I do not speak for everyone there. Coldchef did nothing wrong at any point other than make a joke that annoyed me a bit. I was not intending to make him feel bad or bully him or anything of the kind, though I understand how it seems that I might have, even with the jokey language I used. Again, CC is a standup guy, and my alligator mouth often oversteps my jaybird ass. Sorry, Chef, and sorry to the folks over at the 'Club for making us look a little more like the clumsy geeks people still assume many gamers to be. I am dumb.

I just wanted to kinda wrap that up a bit.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 10:39 PM on February 9 [6 favorites]

Jeez, get a room, you two.
posted by stavrogin at 12:56 AM on February 10

No, really. That's the best way to make up.
posted by stavrogin at 12:56 AM on February 10

Jeez, get a room, you two.

HOT; TTIUWP.

And yeah, Stav, it seemed a bit dickish but the nice thing about routinely acerbic is that it makes public apologies that much more meaningful :)
posted by Ryvar at 9:06 AM on February 10

Hmm. I've tried the game before; perhaps I'll give it another go with y'all.
posted by blenderfish at 12:33 PM on February 10

Count me in as a "Maybe". I'll get the client, and let you know what my in-game handle is. At best I'll have time to mine.
posted by Freen at 2:57 PM on February 10

You absolute bastards. I lost four weeks of my life to EVE when I was recovering from an operation and couldn't leave the house. I swore off it.

Must... resist...
posted by Happy Dave at 3:24 PM on February 10

One of us! One of us!
posted by Ryvar at 4:35 PM on February 10

Ok, I guess I'm in for the time being - the free client helped assuage the $15/month guilt. I'll probably have to respin my character after I figure out what the hell is going on.
posted by backseatpilot at 11:57 AM on February 11

We're all set up and talking on the forums and I have a four-week goalset planned out to start on or about the second week of March. Feel free to activate now to start some skills training, and check the forums to find out what we need. Otherwise i'll see you guys then. :-)
posted by arimathea at 1:39 PM on February 11

Okay, I'm downloading to check out the free trial now.
posted by Bookhouse at 4:37 PM on February 11

I'll probably have to respin my character after I figure out what the hell is going on.

The next expansion will allow you to reallocate your attributes periodically if you balls them up. As an Intaki who will have trained all the leadership skills I want by March you have no idea how happy this makes me.

Also, if you haven't played with Eve, you may not realise, but there's no real lasting decisions from race, and there are no classes. You can cross skill to fly any race's ships with no penalities beyond the time required to cross-train the skills.
posted by rodgerd at 7:29 PM on February 11

s/decisions/effects/
posted by rodgerd at 7:31 PM on February 11

While I was in, I'm now officially out.

CCP is dropping their linux support with the next release (March, I believe), and I can't get the windows client to run for more than forty-five minutes before it crashes, leaving my expensive ship hanging defenseless in space for any fuckwit to come along and blow up.

So, fuck CCP and all the linux users who ignored the client in favor of fucking around with WINE forever, I'm out.
posted by Netzapper at 9:32 PM on February 11

I started the free trial. It's fun, but I can see this becoming a second job.
posted by stavrogin at 3:07 PM on February 13

OK, for those of you interested, we are finally spinning up.

forums
posted by arimathea at 5:53 AM on March 11

So, how are things going in New Eden for the Hurf Durf Moon Eaters?
posted by Kattullus at 9:15 PM on March 12