Crucible: Thoughts

Official Eve Crucible Trailer

Well I've gotta say, Crucible seems to have had an incredibly warm reception, and I can see why. As a player who started in Apocrypha, I didn't realize how incredible that expansion was. T3's and Wormholes -- wow. I remember my thoughts about each expansion, and I've never been as excited as I have been for Crucible (although removing learning skills with Incursion was pretty nice).

To begin -- HYBRIDS. I've been primarily a Gallente pilot for quite a while, and its freaking fantastic to see a boost for them. For a long time, Gallente has had the closest range, highest damage, but most of their ships are relatively slow, and they lack the resist bonused ships that Caldari and Amarr have. I haven't had a chance to test out the new bonuses yet (increased damage and tracking for both blasters and rails), but I'm optimistic.

Tier 3 Battlecruisers are another awesome feature of the expansion. These glass cannons, or pocket-battleships as Kirith Kodachi is calling them, are intriguing to say the least. They seem to be a potentially potent anti-capital weapon with the new fighter bomber balancing. The Tr 3 BC's also give us a huge new ganking toy. I'm looking at you, Mittani (PS: Big fan of the Ice Interdiction. Not a fan as someone who needs it for his Thanatos, but I love the idea). I'll definitely pick some of these up as prices come down (200m+ for a BC? No thanks).

I am a little disappointed by the Dramiel nerf, but I understand it. All in all, it doesn't look too bad (I'm pretty sure I can still fit a dual-prop, 150mm AC/Rocket Dram with some meta 4 gear, but I haven't run the numbers yet). I was trying to go out and lose these before the patch, but I just couldn't lose one ;)

http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=14692727

http://eve.battleclinic.com/killboard/killmail.php?id=14690926

Overall, there are a ton of little features in this expansion, and all of them together should make this a great one. I'm going to pick up an Enyo at Jita tonight and see if I can undock sometime tomorrow to test out this blaster balance. Enjoy the new expansion, and here's to CCP doing more like this one in the future!

-- Rollins

The New Eden Experience: An Introduction

Hello World. Or... well, maybe Universe..

I'm your brand new host, Tommy Rollins. I've been in Eve for over two and half years now (its the whole "long time listener, first time caller" deal), but just starting to really come into my own. Let me give you a quick background about me.

I started in June 2009 (wow, quite a while ago) playing with some friends from work. I was a TOTAL carebear for a few years, and I'm finally starting to come around to the darker side of things. My first character is TFirish3 (didn't realize people used actual "names" in MMOs at the time), and he's well specialized in Gallente/Minmatar subcaps. My other primary character is Tommy Rollins, who's just getting started in RVB as a Rifter pilot.

I first started reading Eve blogs in a Solid Mechanics class in Undergrad, and I've been hooked ever since. The urge to become a member of that community has been nagging at me for a while now, so I figured I'd finally give it a go. Look forward to a post regarding the new Crucible expansion later today.


-- Rollins