Wait Queues of PUBG Mobile

I took a break from PUBG Mobile for a few weeks (fooling around in Civilization V again but that's another post) and this weekend I came back for some of that new season battleground goodness.

I had a few rounds but was disturbed by the wait times for what used to be the most common play modes on the mornings and afternoons. Wait times that used to be ~60 seconds were upwards of 5-6 minutes or more if I had the patience to sit around and wait.

To me this is a sign that the initial popularity of the game is waning. Most likely there are fewer players online filling up the matches so there is more wait for players to end matches and re-queue. The problem is that the longer wait time encourages more players like me with little patience for a long wait to quit and do something else (I only have so much free time people!)

I did not like Apex Legends too much but surely there is a popular game out there I could have fun at. It all has me wondering if I should try the PC version of PUBG again, or some other competitor now that the genre has had time to mature.

Too bad because PUBG Mobile is really well done and I had a lot of fun in it, but if wait times continue to climb I'll have to bail.

Great Ways For EVE Online To Branch Out

EVE Online has always had a unique place in the gaming ecosystem. Despite its huge player base and incredibly deep and detailed mechanics, however, it hasn't made a lot of impact on the wider gaming scene. You don’t hear its players clamoring for a film adaptation (outside a few diehards), nor do you see much merchandise relating to the game’s ships and iconography; there are very few gaming videos or internet personalities that hang their hats on the franchise (as there are for so many popular games today). This is all a shame, frankly. While EVE Online is extraordinary just the way it is, it has so much potential to expand further into gaming and surrounding entertainment circles.

With that in mind, we wanted to look at a few great ways the game could branch out.

  Mobile Spin-Offs

In recent years, we’ve seen mobile spin-offs of online and console gaming franchises explode in popularity. For example, Fire Emblem, not one of Nintendo’s best-known franchises, received an iteration in the mobile gaming space with Fire Emblem Heroes which went on to become far and away Nintendo's most successful app. It also bolstered the sales of the original IP. An EVE-based app, while lacking the heavyweight Nintendo brand, could achieve a similar result. CCP is working on EVE: Echoes supposedly (has anyone heard anything since October?) and transferring the basic mechanics of the original game to mobile, while simplifying things for newcomers and a broader audience could result in droves of new players getting on board. It could also lead to fans of the original falling in love with the concept all over again, through the mobile title. In other words, it's a win on all fronts and probably our preferred option for EVE Online expansion if CCP can pull it off.

  Online Gambling

 A direct foray into paid gaming or online gambling could be another creative way for the franchise to branch out. Some may not realize it, but digital casino gaming has become extraordinarily popular in much of the world, and with the current growth of U.S. gambling, there's potential for the sizable American market to help make such games even more prevalent. The modern casino games you find online incorporate all sorts of existing franchises and themes and infuse them with gambling practices (Battlestar Galactica has its own digital slot game, for instance). This would seemingly be a fairly straightforward initiative for those behind the EVE Online franchise. It doesn't need to be a big new game or a foray into a new medium, so much as permission for licensed material to be used in a standard slot game. The benefit, though, would be putting EVE Online in front of millions of new players, as well as giving any existing fans who enjoy casino games a fun new way to enjoy the franchise.

  Film and TV Collaborations

 Another great way to expand the reach of EVE Online and attract new players is to aim for some kind of adaptation as a film or TV show. We've seen in the past that cross-promotion like this can result in a lot of interest in a foundation franchise: The Castlevania Netflix series drove up the sales of Castlevania games, for instance, so why couldn’t the same thing happen for EVE Online? While an animated action show probably wouldn’t be as good of a fit for EVE, there are plenty of other routes to go down. A live-action espionage thriller based on the game’s infamous Circle-of-Two heist would be incredible to see, for example. The various twists and turns the original events take certainly have all the makings of an incredibly popular show.

 Some purists undoubtedly prefer EVE Online right where it is, and that's perfectly understandable. These days though, there is limitless franchise expansion potential in gaming and entertainment, and it might just be fun to see this beloved game branch out in some of the ways discussed above.

Twilight Imperium: Rising Sol

Another Twilight Imperium game! 

This time, in order to cut the playtime down to a reasonable amount (i.e. 5-6 hours instead of 8-10) I arranged a game with only 4 players. This was a test to see if we could cut the playtime down and still have a fun game.

I was amping myself up to be Federation of Sol but Chad took it first so I picked the Emirates of Hacaan. Dave chose the Nekro Virus again in order to redeem himself from last game, while Twilight Imperium veteran Andrew joined as the Ghosts of Creuss.

The board setup. Hacaan blue, Ghosts purple, Sol black, and Nekro red. We debated using a smaller board by removing 8 tiles but decided to go rulebook setup this time. 

Trade kings.

The Ghosts in their wormhole waiting to pop out.

Will the Nekro Virus be a threat this game?

The extra large carriers of the Federation gear up for expansion.

Turn one and I score a victory point on a secret mission! Luck helped as supernova was right next to my home system.

After the first round, Sol and Hacaan had jumped out to an early lead in planets taking four each. Both Hacaan and Nekro eyeing Zohbat closely....

Round 2, Sol does a surprise move and buys their flagship, using it to take Mecatol Rex early! Nekro and Ghosts move in closer to the centre, meanwhile I took Zohbat and waited for the counter attack.

Worried that Sol will get an insurmountable foothold on Sol using their Orbital Drop abilities, I use warfare to free up my fleets and make an attack on Mectal Rex, destroying the Sol flagship and taking the planet. But on my right flank the Ghosts are on the move...

Ghosts making another fleet...

Nekro Virus moved in and took Zohbat while I was on Mecatol Rex, and then build Planetary Defense Systems (PDS) to make it more dangerous to come near.

With Mecatol in play, we had an agenda phase and despite me having the most influence thanks to Mecatol Rex, we ended up giving both elections to Andrew to prevent Nekro from getting a free tech. He predicted me to win the second one which I saved my votes for, and Sol had a political rider on the vote also picking me, so I went with Andrew to screw them both over.

Round 3 and thanks to Mecatol Rex and Imperial strategy card that I played early I pull even with Sol at 4 VPs. After that I abandoned Mecatol Rex.

Nekro takes Mecatol after I abandoned it. I need to rebuild this turn.

I mean, I really need to rebuild.

The Ghosts using the wormhole to sneak a planet for a victory point! While Nekro gets the "Ships in 2 systems adjacent to Mecatol Rex" point. Also note that the Nekro built their terrifying "All Nekro Ground Forces Fight In Space Battles" Flagship!

The Ghost's fleet continues to expand, adding their flagship!

Round 3, I've got a new fleet. Just in time as wormhole shennanigans meant a small Nekro expeditionary force appeared behind my lines.

By round 4 Hacaan and Sol are still neck and neck but Nekro has made a push to be only one point behind, and the Ghosts are climbing as well.

The second Sol flagship is on the board with backup, and aiming at Mecatol Rex...

...While the Ghosts are looking for weaknesses to exploit.

So here is where things get crazy. I was worried about getting double slammed by Nekro on one side and Ghosts on the other so I did some negotiations with Ghosts trying to get ceasefire, he countered he wanted my Trade Agreement and I said, I'd take his Support for the Throne for that. He agreed. Seeing that, Sol and Nekro felt that Ghosts and I had an alliance for all intents and purposes, so they exchanged Support for the Throne cards making a true alliance.

Sol having the Nekro Support.

But wait, there is more. I was scrambling for VPs at this point in the game so I bargained with Nekro to get a ship next to their home system for a secret objective, and he took my Support for the Throne. Since I was ahead of him, it felt like a fair trade of VPs to me, plus I could attack him and he could not attack me without losing the support.

To show their alliance, the war suns of Sol and Nekro showed combined colours. 

There is the carrier that allowed me to score a secret objective. Meanwhile, Nekro reinforced Mecatol Rex.

Fleet build ups on the other side of the map.

State of the board at the start of round 5.

Closer look at Nekro and Sol planets.

The scores heading into round 5.

So at the start of round 5 Andrew bowed out as it was getting late. Dave, Chad, and I evaluated the board and asked the question, what were the paths to victory? 

 The stage II objective that got flipped was "Own three unit upgrades" so Chad was within reach of ten. I could also do that objective but I had no more secret objectives so I had to take Mecatol Rex and score a point using Imperial which I picked first. Nekro picked next and took leadership so he could score first in the Status phase (and score three using the stage II as well as a secret objective) but Sol played a strategy card forcing him to pick a different strategy, allowing him to grab the leadership and scoring first in the status phase.

That put Nekro out of the running since tech was going to be picked (we each got two cards in a four player game) and Sol would win if the game got to the status phase. So the question remaining was could I:
- take Mecatol Rex from the Nekro fleet there
- hold on to the system despite a large Sol fleet counter attack
- hold on to the system until Tech was played so I could get the third unit upgrade
- and then have enough actions to avoid playing Imperial card before then.

I conceded that it was extremely unlikely I could do that all, or take Sol's home system to prevent him from scoring. If the Ghosts were still in the game they could have played King Maker by attacking Sol and preventing him from attacking Mecatol once I had it, but there was no guarantee that I could have held out on playing Imperial before Technology anyways.

So we agreed Sol won. Great game!

Thoughts

I am pleased how I did this game. My previous two games of TI4 ended up with me sitting out of contention both times. It feels like TI4 develops points faster than TI3 did and it took me two humiliating losses to learn that fact. After looking at TI3 objectives versus TI4 objectives I think that is a correct evaluation; the TI3 objectives are almost all harder.

That is not to say there weren't missteps. I feel I failed to leverage Hacaan's trading abilities enough, I think I failed to take Leadership ever, I failed to get more secret objectives, I failed to retake Zohbat which left me low on resources all game (I was only one to NOT get my flagship out).

But overall I did what you have to do: chase those VPs, try to get them every round, stay close to the leaders. I had a shot of winning, albeit a long shot. Had the Ghosts player been in the game still, things might have shaken out differently.

Looking forward to another game in a month or two!

Tabletop Simulator

My resurgent interested in Twilight Imperium 4th Edition took me down the rabbit hole into the community of online players that make use of Tabletop Simulator to play games online. Specifically the downloaded Twilight Imperium 4th edition version.


I've been playing with it getting used to how to pick things up and roll dive and setup boards and its pretty slick. Can be tricky with the small pieces but with practice I'm sure it will be fine.

The big attraction is the thought of running a game with my friends over multiple sessions rather than trying to get a single game done in one sitting, which can be hard with 6 players needing 8-10 hours to complete the game! With Tabletop Simulator you can save state and pick it up again.

I've been told that as players get experienced the play time comes down to 1 hour per player, so we're hoping to play some more physical games with fewer players to get more practice. For example, I've got a 4 player game scheduled for this Friday after work with my friends. And I might try an online game with strangers (!) this Sunday afternoon. We'll see how it all goes.

Divorcing EVE

Its been over 6 months since I've decided to quit EVE.

I say quit, but it feel more like its been a divorce from a 10 year marriage to a partner that I had a lot of great times with but the bad times just built up to a breaking point.
It was weird at first. Almost all the people I followed on twitter were EVE players and posting about EVE things, I still get EVE emails about expansions and deals, I still had to log in to try and sell stuff for investors.

It was like breaking up with someone but seeing them at the store, at the bar, at friends' houses... it was not a clean break.

And then I saw all the new Triglavian ships, the invasion excitement, and the frustration of the high sec freighter gankings was not as raw... missing the good times of roams, fleet coms, getting kills....

But recently I realized I had moved on.

The CCP selling skill points debacle. The null sec players complaining about the Drifter invasions attacking their structures and not seeing the parallel to high sec ganking (i.e. being forced into gameplay you do not want) and the whole kerfuffle.... and I can stand back without a horse in the race and just chill... yeah, I made the right decision for me.

The divorce is final. Can't say I'm happy about it but I definitely feel that I've moved on.

Good luck EVE pilots. See you on the other side.