The End of a Era

Issue #28

EON Magazine issue #28 which is now available to purchase marks my 13th Testflight article. It is also my last.

Over three and a half years ago when Zapatero asked me to write the  article for the magazine, my life was very different. My twins were only months old (and we were not even thinking about a third), my job was stuck in a rut with a lot of free time on my hands, and my Eve career was quiet and lonely in plexing in Faction Warfare for the Minmatar. As a result I had a lot of time to think about and plan my articles, then write them to quality I was happy with.

Times have changed. I've got three very active and time consuming boys, my job has become more demanding and rewarding, and my free time is more about playing Eve rather than just thinking about it. The upshot of this is that my ability to write good test flight articles was suffering, up to the point where I was always scrambling to get it done in time. In order to preserve my sanity and pride in my work, I told Zapatero with heavy heart that I could no longer write the test flights.

This was one change in a number of them to focus myself more on playing and less on the metagame. I cut down the number of podcasts I listen to, I no longer edit for the Eve Tribune (which looks like its on its last legs anyways), and I don't obsessively browse Eve forums and news sites. I get my info from twitter and various blogs, and let the rest sort itself out.

For me, its the end of the metagame-obsessing era. Now its just flying spaceships and maintaining my blog and podcast.

EON Magazine #027

 

In Dust 514 We Trust Chemical Brothers-inspired headlines abound as we at last get some shoot-in-face time with CCP's first console game, DUST 514. With 12 pages devoted to the PS3 shooter, we first follow the adventures of Team Haggis, winner of the inaugural Dust tournament, before procrastinating over the game's lengthy feature list and the implications the release will have for EVE Online, New Eden and the wider universe of games. The parallel journey into a familiar world starts here!

Assault Ship Testflight Having repackaged the Tier-3 battlecruisers, EON's chief test pilot Kirith Kodachi fits and flies out another batch of Crucible vessels - EVE's venerable assault ships. Between them these heavy-hitting frigates have received, thanks to January's 1.1 release, the most eagerly-approved upgrades since the word 'iteration' was invented. All eight ships are given the full Testflight treatment in one of the biggest round-ups in EON history.

CSM6 In Review Seleene, the latest to head the Council of Stellar Management, looks back over the events of the last 12 months from the above-and-behind view reserved for the privileged members of EVE's player-elected council. He takes us through the record-breaking vote a year ago, into meetings with CCP, past the so-called Summer of Rage and occupation of Jita and through the redemptive expansion known as Crucible. It's been quite a journey.

Understanding Time Dilation Just as there's more to time travel than a DeLorean and 1.21 gigawatts of electricity, Time Dilation is more than just a slo-mo switch the developers casually throw when the hamsters get tired. To understand TiDi we must understand the nature of lag itself, which is actually best illustrated by visiting the bar and getting some beers in.

Plus • The Eve News 24 Story • The Ammatar Mandate • CCP Diagoras & Flying Scotsman • Machariel worship • The Fall & Rise of Ushra'Khan • Profiled: Odyssey Inc, DUST Uni and Lollipops for Rancors/li> • Making the most of exploration • Postcards from the Edge • Teh Lighter Side of EVE


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