Day 25 : Shiftin' Stuff

Last night I had my hauler, a lowly Iteron I class ship, going back and forth on autopilot while I watched TV. It's a good ship but even boosted by Expanded Cargo Bays I need more space. The Gallente have the largest basic Hauler type ship, the Iteron V. However, it takes a piloting skill of five to be able to handle it. I'm at level 2. I want to move stuff now, not after five days of skill training.

I have a look at the other races brands of haulers. The Minmatar have one that not only looks good but can carry more without fitting than my current hauler. It'll only take a couple of hours to learn to use it. It's not that expensive considering the amount of ore I'm now moving and it will come in handy in future. I set up the queue to train overnight for this. This morning I kit it out with expanded cargo bays and realise I've doubled my hauling capacity for little or now investment. I can put an Iteron V on the back burner for now. I'll still get there, but this will do in the meantime.

As I said, for a hauler the new ship looks good. Its a Hoarder class industrial ship. Rust coloured with a blocky body making up most of its near kilometre length. Being Minmatar construction it has solar panel fins, huge thrusters on struts and random spikes. The forward section tapers into almost its own ship. It looks a bit like George Peppards ship in Battle Beyond The Stars. I might actually call it the George Peppard. After all it did double my hauling capacity in a couple of hours. I love it when a plan comes together.

This is supposed to be the evening in the plan where I go and start a PVE chain of missions, both to see what they are like and to try and raise my ratings with some of the NPC groups. I'll need this for Research and Invention later on. I don't know much about them yet but I've got my eye on producing my own Tier II ships for PVP somewhere in the distant future. In fact I'm off out to see a friend. A non nerd who has read this blog....

It turns out that, in fact, she has not read this blog. Sue. Get reading! Great evening though, and she is a top cook.

Back to EVE.

So why are a series of logistical exercises so exciting? What governs my ability to be thrilled by shunting ore from one place to another? In part the thrill that it might all go wrong. Someone might take offence to my AFK mining, someone might decide to destroy my ship just for the hell of it. Someone might even decide to destroy me because they've read this and like destroying things. There are all kinds of people here. I'd like to think the majority are creator types. Even the Goonswarm ( if they still exist - I'm still a bit hazy on the EVE global politics ), responsible for the Burn Jita event and Hulkageddon (where bounties were paid on the largest of defenceless mining ships) create as much as they destroy. In one way or another.

The other part of the logistics thrill is the thrill of getting my own stuff done and seeing it rewarded. Cash in game is a score of sorts and I've been looking at scores in games since I was 8. I'm finding things out, discovering things, and it's paying off. Despite the brain drain of real life work I'm learning new stuff, employing my mind, and working it to my advantage. I'm planning ahead, however haphazardly. It may be in a imaginary world but I'm using my brain to try and get ahead.

I'm doing it alone and technically I don't need to but I'm enjoying it. Somewhere out there is a corporation who'll get a dedicated, self taught, dilettante, noob. I'm looking into month two already. I've got five posts left before the end of the month. I'll post some figures at the end of the month and try to avoid what I now see as the classic noob chat entry of "I made 400 million in my first month!" and the like. My stats won't make me look good but at least it'll be honest.

EVE Track of the Day

AKA.... What A Life! Noel Gallaghers High Flying Birds