Busy, Busy, Busy

Has it really been that long since I posted anything? Wow...

My past several months have mainly been filled with EVE Online. It's an absolutely amazing game, once you get over the learning cliff. But they've made great strides over the past few years. Accessibility for newbies has never been better. Recently, they released the Apocrypha expansion and introduced Tech III cruisers, wormhole exploration, and a bunch of other cool goodies. They also overhauled the client and made it more accessible for those with lower-end computers and macs. Previously, there were two client versions: Premium and Classic. Classic has been replaced by "Premium Lite" which rather than being an entirely different client with different textures, etc; it is just the lower end settings of the Premium client. So now the cool Premium graphics are available to everyone who plays. Having just one client should definitely help the developers, since they'll no longer have to worry about making changes compatible with two different graphics packages. Back in February CCP switched the EVE database over to a 2TB RamSan 500, improving speed overall. You can read the blog with all the details on their site: http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=632

It seems like every month a new concurrent player record has been broken in the game. Its population is rising, its level of fun is rising, and I'm thoroughly enjoying every moment.

I've also been trialling various games along with John, Tantel, and others, though my heart remains firmly with EVE.

In January I tried the 14 day trial of City of Heroes/Villains. Didn't care for it any more than I did before, but had a friend in town this past week who was interested in playing it, so I dl'ed the trial again and am back at it. This is day 3 of 14, so I'll let you know if my feelings on the game have changed at all in ...say 11 days? John's been harping on me for years telling me that I didn't give it a fair shake, that the *real* game is to be had in wearing tights, forming groups, and going out and fulfilling the rigidly-defined class roles provided in CoH/V. 'Course NCSoft blocks trial accounts from forming groups, and since I tend to be a facilitator, it is frustrating to be told on one hand: group, it's the only way to enjoy the game, and then on the other, be unable to form a group without shelling out some cash. Instead, I guess I'll be spending some time scrounging around to find groups this week, to see if the claim is true that tights, groups, and definitive class roles are indeed The Path to Fun. :D

In the MMO world I've also been playing a little AoC, EQ2, SWG, PotBS & WAR.