I not-so-regretfully return to the world of New Eden for this posting. I allowed my account to lapse on Pirates of the Burning Sea, and as such do not have access to the game world.
Cities in New Eden are mostly unseen by the Pod Pilots. Cities are too rustic, unfit for men and women of their position. There are cultural centers, social centers, and economic centers visible in EVE, but not always centered in the same place.
Social and cultural interaction usually takes place via the chat channels. Without a concrete location for players to idle in game other than a space station (which restricts you to the hangar), the primary communication tools find themselves filling in the gaps caused by being de-centralized.
As far as other needs are concerned, the space station is the closest you can get to a city within EVE. Certain stations (Such as the JITA 4-4 station of The Citadel Region) are more popular than others, but they all fill the same needs. They provide a point of trade, housing the markets and escrow items. They repair vessels, allow pilots to rearm and refit their ships, and facilitates trading.
Only part of the system can function without other players. Vehicle repairs and fitting services function just as well with or without other players. Agents can be spoken to (NPCs), and missions accepted and completed. However, trade, contracts, corporation offices and market interactions all require another player.
The station is very much an obvious illusion. UI elements display the functionality of the station, not physical travel and interaction. Simple menu navigation and UI manipulation accomplishes all possible tasks. However, there is work being done to allow the avatars to move about the station.
Currently, the internal views of the station shows illusionary activity. News tickers and advertisements for in-world, but inaccessible services flash by. Observation lights pan around, and vehicles even move about on these interiors.
All in all, cities are largely simulated in stations, but are actually represented by the tools present in the communications within Alliances, and the economic hubs of regions.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Thursday, October 16, 2008
A Diamond Age, and a Copper Era
So I finally managed to snag myself a copy of The Diamond Age, over the weekend. Quite a fascinating book with rich characters. The world is well developed and interesting, both technologically and culturally. However it does leave me with a few questions.
Not about the current world, but the events leading up to it. I suppose if I read Snow Crash I'd understand a bit better. I'm trying to understand how the phyles came about; how did people start becoming so divided culturally, so much so that each cultural group acted as its own political entity.
Also, how did people come to accept the popularity of the nano machines? Today, it seems people are a little fearful of the invasive technology this suggests. The enhanced surveillance, hidden weapons (skull guns), and even torture devices (Mr. PhyrePhox).
It must be a very fearful society, knowing that the person next to you could be armed with a tiny firearm implanted in their head, or they could hack into your own body, and embed advertisements into your vision. My main question is how do people deal with this? How are they compliant and what led to the overall acceptance.
In New Eden, one sometimes finds returning to the beginning to be as fascination adventure as moving on into the upper echelons of player-alliance warfare. I decided to join a small corporation that had ambitions of moving into low-security space in order to set up a small station there.
However, I was dismayed to discover that as a pilot with my particular set of abilities, I had little place here. This was an industrial corporation, (Product Number 3 they call themselves) which considered "high combat" to be fighting the local NPCs. They made little effort to protect themselves against player attack, or war declarations, and merely hoped diplomacy would avert any tensions.
The system we scoped out for the station is a 0.4 security system, the highest security possible to still be called "low-sec", and therefore without CONCORD consequences. This particular system is surrounded by high-sec systems, making it a de-facto island of its type. It was no great adventure travelling here; a mere novelty. Almost as safe as true high-security. There was no risk or application, and I soon found myself despairing in the lack of activity I've found myself.
Escorting mining operations seems to be the most intense mission I've undertaken since starting with this corporation (despite being the most experienced combat personelle on their roster). This task, in high-security space which the corporation refuses to leave, simply involves me hovering around the miners in my Cerberus, and intimidating away anyone who might steal ore from the floating canisters we use as a go-between for the miners and hauling ships.
The closest I've come to actually firing was when a mining barge hovered over one of our "jet-cans" (jettison canister. We jettison material into space in a large container, and then add into the container so we don't fill up the host ship's cargo hold). He lingered for a while as if he was trying to remove some of our minerals, so I locked with my targetting computer, and approached warp-drive scramble range.
He, of course, thought better of his decisions and moved on.
Not about the current world, but the events leading up to it. I suppose if I read Snow Crash I'd understand a bit better. I'm trying to understand how the phyles came about; how did people start becoming so divided culturally, so much so that each cultural group acted as its own political entity.
Also, how did people come to accept the popularity of the nano machines? Today, it seems people are a little fearful of the invasive technology this suggests. The enhanced surveillance, hidden weapons (skull guns), and even torture devices (Mr. PhyrePhox).
It must be a very fearful society, knowing that the person next to you could be armed with a tiny firearm implanted in their head, or they could hack into your own body, and embed advertisements into your vision. My main question is how do people deal with this? How are they compliant and what led to the overall acceptance.
In New Eden, one sometimes finds returning to the beginning to be as fascination adventure as moving on into the upper echelons of player-alliance warfare. I decided to join a small corporation that had ambitions of moving into low-security space in order to set up a small station there.
However, I was dismayed to discover that as a pilot with my particular set of abilities, I had little place here. This was an industrial corporation, (Product Number 3 they call themselves) which considered "high combat" to be fighting the local NPCs. They made little effort to protect themselves against player attack, or war declarations, and merely hoped diplomacy would avert any tensions.
The system we scoped out for the station is a 0.4 security system, the highest security possible to still be called "low-sec", and therefore without CONCORD consequences. This particular system is surrounded by high-sec systems, making it a de-facto island of its type. It was no great adventure travelling here; a mere novelty. Almost as safe as true high-security. There was no risk or application, and I soon found myself despairing in the lack of activity I've found myself.
Escorting mining operations seems to be the most intense mission I've undertaken since starting with this corporation (despite being the most experienced combat personelle on their roster). This task, in high-security space which the corporation refuses to leave, simply involves me hovering around the miners in my Cerberus, and intimidating away anyone who might steal ore from the floating canisters we use as a go-between for the miners and hauling ships.
The closest I've come to actually firing was when a mining barge hovered over one of our "jet-cans" (jettison canister. We jettison material into space in a large container, and then add into the container so we don't fill up the host ship's cargo hold). He lingered for a while as if he was trying to remove some of our minerals, so I locked with my targetting computer, and approached warp-drive scramble range.
He, of course, thought better of his decisions and moved on.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Back to the Beginning
So I take a brief respite from EVE-Online to discuss another title, Pirates of the Burning Sea. Published by Sony Online Entertainment (read: Bastards), and developed by Flying Labs Studios, the game did relatively well early on, but has since taken a nose dive into obscurity due to complete lack of proper marketing (see: Bastards). I can go into great detail about why such blunders are not uncommon from SOE, but I must digress. PotBS is a well thought out game, with some pitfalls, but it controls well, is easy for a new player, and is overall quite enjoyable.
So I created my character in PotBS, named once again Khamal Jolstien. I'm fond of this name, as I came up with it for a short story I had tried to write some years ago. I never really use any other name with persistent world games. I guess the familiarity is what keeps me using it.
I went against my better nature and created a French Naval Officer character, choosing rather average looking attributes. He is blonde (the other hair styles were bleh), with a gotee, and is the most different looking of any character I've made. He does, however, blend in with his environment pretty well, so all is well. The whole purpose of his design was to match his time period and his associations.
I start off in a social engagement with an important officer of the French Navy. As the party goes on, pirates raid the shore and storm up to the party. Swords and pistols are drawn and the officer is wounded. I personally engage a few of the rascals with a saber, handily bringing them down.
The controls are pretty standard. The W,A,S,D keys move my character. Clicking starts an engagement, and pressing a number chooses a special attack assigned to it. Controlling is relatively simple, but can get frantic trying to choose attacks while defending yourself.
I move into my first vessel, a Heavy Corvette (which is not heavy at all). She has only a few guns, (4lbs) but can move around pretty easily. W and S raise and lowere the sails, A and D control the rudder. Spacebar fires the guns when a target is selected (provided the guns are facing the target, of course). Right clicking a target in a firing arc will also fire the guns.
What's interesting is how closely they modelled the vessels. Each ship has its own sailing characteristics, dictated by the rigging and sail type. Triangular shaped sails, such as on a Sloop or Xebec, allow for excellent sailing at a broad reach (perpendicular wind). This is advantageous as much manuevering occurs at these angles. Square rigged ships, such as frigates, need wind at their backs to reach top speed.
Currents are easy to understand and use in the game as well. Arrows on the map and visible in the water alert you to a current and which way it is running. Riding one provides a significant speed bonus while in transit.
NPCs are simple, with branching conversation and simple combat AI. Speaking with NPCs with quest icons (the well known ! icon) allows you to choose a mission for experience and doubloons. It's intuitive and simple to understand. The only problem is you don't always understand where to go. Usually back to the coxswain to travel by longboat, sometimes to a location within the city. Waypoints help understand where to go, however.
The only problem with the environment in PotBS is that it feels propped up without the massively multiplayer feel to it. The population is unbareably low, which can be frustrating for players looking to socialize. Even worse, it makes areas feel just plain empty. As a new player, and eventually an experienced player 25 - 26 levels into the game, I have yet to group with a player, and only interacted once. This missing element (a pure population problem) hurts the game far more than if they failed at any of the interactions with their game.
Overall it is a fun game. Combat in ships is very fun, and the entire scene could be very well used as a single player game. (It has been done to decent effect by Firaxis', Sid Meier's Pirates!) The few players I did speak to and run into barely reacted to me, too preoccupied with whatever they were doing. Another new player did speak for a few moments, but assumed I was an alternate character from an old player, and not an actual fresh user. My appearance seemed to have little effect on how players reacted to me.
So I created my character in PotBS, named once again Khamal Jolstien. I'm fond of this name, as I came up with it for a short story I had tried to write some years ago. I never really use any other name with persistent world games. I guess the familiarity is what keeps me using it.
I went against my better nature and created a French Naval Officer character, choosing rather average looking attributes. He is blonde (the other hair styles were bleh), with a gotee, and is the most different looking of any character I've made. He does, however, blend in with his environment pretty well, so all is well. The whole purpose of his design was to match his time period and his associations.
I start off in a social engagement with an important officer of the French Navy. As the party goes on, pirates raid the shore and storm up to the party. Swords and pistols are drawn and the officer is wounded. I personally engage a few of the rascals with a saber, handily bringing them down.
The controls are pretty standard. The W,A,S,D keys move my character. Clicking starts an engagement, and pressing a number chooses a special attack assigned to it. Controlling is relatively simple, but can get frantic trying to choose attacks while defending yourself.
I move into my first vessel, a Heavy Corvette (which is not heavy at all). She has only a few guns, (4lbs) but can move around pretty easily. W and S raise and lowere the sails, A and D control the rudder. Spacebar fires the guns when a target is selected (provided the guns are facing the target, of course). Right clicking a target in a firing arc will also fire the guns.
What's interesting is how closely they modelled the vessels. Each ship has its own sailing characteristics, dictated by the rigging and sail type. Triangular shaped sails, such as on a Sloop or Xebec, allow for excellent sailing at a broad reach (perpendicular wind). This is advantageous as much manuevering occurs at these angles. Square rigged ships, such as frigates, need wind at their backs to reach top speed.
Currents are easy to understand and use in the game as well. Arrows on the map and visible in the water alert you to a current and which way it is running. Riding one provides a significant speed bonus while in transit.
NPCs are simple, with branching conversation and simple combat AI. Speaking with NPCs with quest icons (the well known ! icon) allows you to choose a mission for experience and doubloons. It's intuitive and simple to understand. The only problem is you don't always understand where to go. Usually back to the coxswain to travel by longboat, sometimes to a location within the city. Waypoints help understand where to go, however.
The only problem with the environment in PotBS is that it feels propped up without the massively multiplayer feel to it. The population is unbareably low, which can be frustrating for players looking to socialize. Even worse, it makes areas feel just plain empty. As a new player, and eventually an experienced player 25 - 26 levels into the game, I have yet to group with a player, and only interacted once. This missing element (a pure population problem) hurts the game far more than if they failed at any of the interactions with their game.
Overall it is a fun game. Combat in ships is very fun, and the entire scene could be very well used as a single player game. (It has been done to decent effect by Firaxis', Sid Meier's Pirates!) The few players I did speak to and run into barely reacted to me, too preoccupied with whatever they were doing. Another new player did speak for a few moments, but assumed I was an alternate character from an old player, and not an actual fresh user. My appearance seemed to have little effect on how players reacted to me.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Go, Go, Gadget Implants!
Johnny Mnemonic is an... adaptation of the original short story of the same name. It attempts to keep the same basic story line, but a lot of the mood and emphasis has been changed in order to make it a more "interesting" movie. It suffered a bit in the delivery, but still maintained its theme.
The New York Times, and many viewers in general, lament that the delivery by Keanu Reeves tends to make him appear less human in his portrayal of Johnny. Problematic to say the least, the distraction completely removes the interesting character that was the original Johnny.
The "hollywoodisation" of the story seriously detracted from its original intentent, even more so than robot-boy Reeves. Ebert couldn't even take the movie seriously, insisting that instead of a story, it was just a mish mash of scenes from "the old movie shelf". Characters are wholly adjusted or removed (Mollie anyone?), and the plot adjusted to follow the "Point a to b" that Ebert mentions.
It's unfortunate that the supporting characters are just as problematic as Johnny. Mollie had some potential to give more depth to the types of implants, and the strangeness that is her profession (body guard that actively recruits clients?). Christopher Null makes the same assertion, that the characters seem "plastic- and lifeless". His short article was more of a review, however used here as a reminder that even as a hollywood movie, it did not seem to deliver quite what was expected.
Not everyone despises this movie, myself included. It has its moments, and the environment is interesting and the ideas still a representation of cyberpunk. The focus of information and its acquisition and importance is strongly present in the movie.Jussi Parikka in her posting to this journal makes the point,
So as information is the focus in the cyberpunk genre, the same is true in this movie. But I believe that to be more in spite of the director and studio, rather than as a compliment to them. The cheesy additions to the story do nothing to actually add to it, just as the acting detracted from it. The "hollywoodisation" removed many of the interesting story elements and ideas that I liked most (leaving them out to keep this brief!).
Anyway, I leave this blog post with this. Johnny Mnemonic very well could have been quite good, awesome even. The original story was dark, but with a sense of adventure about it. It had it's drama, and action. The movie version attempted to artificially add these elements, and that's exactly how it came out.
Artificial.
The New York Times, and many viewers in general, lament that the delivery by Keanu Reeves tends to make him appear less human in his portrayal of Johnny. Problematic to say the least, the distraction completely removes the interesting character that was the original Johnny.
The "hollywoodisation" of the story seriously detracted from its original intentent, even more so than robot-boy Reeves. Ebert couldn't even take the movie seriously, insisting that instead of a story, it was just a mish mash of scenes from "the old movie shelf". Characters are wholly adjusted or removed (Mollie anyone?), and the plot adjusted to follow the "Point a to b" that Ebert mentions.
It's unfortunate that the supporting characters are just as problematic as Johnny. Mollie had some potential to give more depth to the types of implants, and the strangeness that is her profession (body guard that actively recruits clients?). Christopher Null makes the same assertion, that the characters seem "plastic- and lifeless". His short article was more of a review, however used here as a reminder that even as a hollywood movie, it did not seem to deliver quite what was expected.
Not everyone despises this movie, myself included. It has its moments, and the environment is interesting and the ideas still a representation of cyberpunk. The focus of information and its acquisition and importance is strongly present in the movie.Jussi Parikka in her posting to this journal makes the point,
This theme can be deciphered also as a general cinematic pattern in cyberpunk-narratives such as Johnny Mnemonic where of course the movie revolves around transportation of data but also the whole narrative is based around movement of looking for someone, meeting new people – a complex system of networks.
So as information is the focus in the cyberpunk genre, the same is true in this movie. But I believe that to be more in spite of the director and studio, rather than as a compliment to them. The cheesy additions to the story do nothing to actually add to it, just as the acting detracted from it. The "hollywoodisation" removed many of the interesting story elements and ideas that I liked most (leaving them out to keep this brief!).
Anyway, I leave this blog post with this. Johnny Mnemonic very well could have been quite good, awesome even. The original story was dark, but with a sense of adventure about it. It had it's drama, and action. The movie version attempted to artificially add these elements, and that's exactly how it came out.
Artificial.
Red Star Revisited
So I promised I'd get back to Red Star, Winter Orbit, so here I am. I've also been attempting to read Mirrorshades, but since it's been irritatingly difficult to find I only have Red Star to discuss today.
So, Red Star, Winter Orbit is pretty different than other stories of the Cyberpunk genre. It shows little of the culture of terrestrial Earth, not much is known of the situation, very much unlike more typical stories such as Johnny Mnemonic. However, the themes are the same. Dark, dystopian situations in an altered society.
The story involves a group of Cosmonauts on board a space station, some, especially the KGB agent, have become corrupt. Others, the plumber, try and hold onto the old ideals. The plumber laments on the abuse of the elderly, and historically important Colonel, and immediately proceeds to do something about it. Meanwhile, the KGB is more than happy to manipulate for his gain.
Corruption and control are part of the story. A fear inducing toxin is introduced in the story (Re: A dose of the Fear), and is a representation of how the idea of control has advanced in the society. Being able to induce symptoms of extreme paranoia is a powerful form of control, rendering the victim helpless in their own fear.
Decay and despair are part of the story as well. The United States is in decline, and their space program is reduced to mere high-altitude balloons. The Russians have gained supremacy, but even they have abandoned space. The Balloon's inhabitants are trying to expand, but are having to scavenge to do it. They even used extra boosters (they have them lying around apparently) to push the decaying station back into stable orbit.
The story has a strangely hopeful ending. Once the station had been damaged and its orbit decaying, drifters from the American Balloons arrive. They're after the true frontier, using anything and everything to advance themselves in space. It shows that holding to the core values provides hope and in their case, success. American history is known for the frontier spirit, the great expansion westward soon after the founding of the nation. The throwback to this endeavor adds a light hearted tone unknown to most of the genre.
So, Red Star, Winter Orbit is pretty different than other stories of the Cyberpunk genre. It shows little of the culture of terrestrial Earth, not much is known of the situation, very much unlike more typical stories such as Johnny Mnemonic. However, the themes are the same. Dark, dystopian situations in an altered society.
The story involves a group of Cosmonauts on board a space station, some, especially the KGB agent, have become corrupt. Others, the plumber, try and hold onto the old ideals. The plumber laments on the abuse of the elderly, and historically important Colonel, and immediately proceeds to do something about it. Meanwhile, the KGB is more than happy to manipulate for his gain.
Corruption and control are part of the story. A fear inducing toxin is introduced in the story (Re: A dose of the Fear), and is a representation of how the idea of control has advanced in the society. Being able to induce symptoms of extreme paranoia is a powerful form of control, rendering the victim helpless in their own fear.
Decay and despair are part of the story as well. The United States is in decline, and their space program is reduced to mere high-altitude balloons. The Russians have gained supremacy, but even they have abandoned space. The Balloon's inhabitants are trying to expand, but are having to scavenge to do it. They even used extra boosters (they have them lying around apparently) to push the decaying station back into stable orbit.
The story has a strangely hopeful ending. Once the station had been damaged and its orbit decaying, drifters from the American Balloons arrive. They're after the true frontier, using anything and everything to advance themselves in space. It shows that holding to the core values provides hope and in their case, success. American history is known for the frontier spirit, the great expansion westward soon after the founding of the nation. The throwback to this endeavor adds a light hearted tone unknown to most of the genre.
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