Sleeper
Latest
Apocrypha 1.3 improvements and Tech III changes coming to EVE on Monday June 29
EVE Online patch Apocrypha 1.3 is slated for a Monday June 29 deployment. CCP Games is pushing ahead with their Need for Speed initiative, which aims to streamline the game's performance and provide a better play experience. They're making some database changes with the next Apocrypha patch that should improve what you experience in your game client with inventory management, but beyond addressing "The Jita Problem" there will be a fair number of changes in the next patch. On that topic of speed, players should notice a huge change with starbase deployment (or hasty tear downs): players will be able to anchor, online, or unanchor offensive and defensive starbase structures in half the time it took previously. (Ninja POS deployment?) Perhaps more significant to some players than others, station reprocessing will be much faster -- apparently refining stacks of items will be up to 25 times faster than before. Also, some of those changes to Tech III production we've mentioned before are going into effect on Monday, and should ultimately be a boost for Tech III. Apocrypha 1.3's changes extend far beyond what is mentioned here; players heavily invested in wormhole exploration and the production it fuels should look closely at the patch notes to see how CCP's changes to the game might affect them.
EVE Evolved: Have wormholes revitalised EVE?
It's been just over a week since the Apocrypha expansion went live and EVE Online is already starting to see the impact of the new content on gameplay. Wormholes in particular have revitalised gameplay for so many individuals that Apocrypha may just be the best EVE expansion to date. Everything from piracy to low security space, system ownership and exploration have been affected by the advent of unstable wormholes. But how could something as simple as unstable wormholes revitalise other areas of gameplay?In this article, I examine the far-reaching effects of EVE's newest gameplay addition – wormholes.
EVE Evolved: A guide to probing in Apocrypha
Several years ago, CCP released a new upgrade for EVE Online's standard system scanner. Scanner probes were deployable tools that could be used to find ships, drones and a few hidden complexes lost in the vastness of space. The system was later expanded to provide an awesome exploration experience – combat encounters, dungeons and rich asteroid belts were strewn throughout space for some lucky explorer to find. With EVE's latest expansion, the exploration system received a complete overhaul. A new scanning system was devised, complete with new probes and probe launchers. As if that wasn't enough, a new "True Exploration" mechanic was introduced with the appearance of wormholes all throughout space. Many wormholes lead to one of the 2500 new star systems that aren't on the main system map, each of which contains lucrative but dangerous sleeper NPCs that drop components for tech 3 ship production. In this article, I delve into the new probing system with complete strategies that have been proven to work. Read on to get an edge on wormhole exploration.
EVE Evolved: Apocrypha expansion preview
As March 10th draws ever closer, EVE Online's Apocrypha expansion is coming more and more into focus. Information on the new game mechanics and content is being released in the form of developer blogs and the official expansion page complete with screenshots and artwork is already up. Most importantly, a test version of the expansion is live on Singularity, EVE's main test server. Like any good journalist, I took my camera crew onto the test server to get some pictures of Apocrypha in action. What I found blew me away, literally.In this gallery article, I take a visual sneak peak at parts of the impressive new Apocrypha expansion with a whopping 37 screenshots. In each screenshot, I talk about all of the new additions to the game. EVE Apocrypha preview gallery > > %Gallery-46236%
EVE Evolved: Gear up for wormhole exploration
In EVE Online, large alliances of corporations lay claim to the lucrative 0.0 security rating areas of the game and smaller corporate operations generally don't stand a chance against them. Corps who want to claim a little corner of space for themselves are forced to join an existing alliance or compete with them for space. With the recent news of 2500 new star systems coming to EVE with the release of wormholes in the march expansion, small corps may find themselves able to carve out their own little corner of space to live in without being squashed by the big alliances.How will wormholes work? The information we have so far suggests that wormholes into one of the 2500 new hidden star systems will open randomly in all security levels of system. Wormholes will have a diameter that restricts the maximum size of ship that can enter it and a mass limit that restricts the total mass of ships that can use the wormhole before it collapses. Once the wormhole collapses, the chances of finding another leading to the same system are astronomical so choosing which ships you bring in carefully is a must.Read on as I describe how wormholes could allow corps to more safely own systems and go on to describe what equipment and ships you'll need to take up residence in your own system.
Starry Night bed: like sleeping on a pile of money
Sure, your bed is pretty comfortable. you probably even have one of those plush down mattress covers. You may have convinced yourself that you're in the lap of luxury, but according to Leggett & Platt -- you're nowhere close. Enter the Starry Night bed, the be-all-end-all when it comes to breakneck, nosebleed opulence, and unparalleled extravagance. The sleeper not only combines dual, remote-controlled, adjustable mattresses with temperature control and anti-snore technology (whatever that is), but also manages to embed a 1080p HD projector, four subwoofers and tweeters, a 1.5TB of drive space, 4GB of RAM, Media Center integration, WiFi, and an iPod dock. Seriously. All they forgot was to make it not ugly. Showing at CES 2008, and priced from $20,000 to $50,000 (depending on options).[Via About Projectors]
Burton's Sleeper Hoodie: for the dozing boarder
If you're the type who feels that sleeping is just another way to waste precious seconds of life, the MyDo Bururu glasses can help extend your waking hours and keep you argus-eyed, but if you've been looking for an easy, comfortable way to find sleep while flying around or cramped up in the back seat of a car, Burton feels your pain. Even if you've already dropped entirely too much loot on a plethora of other Burton gear this winter, the company's Sleeper Hoodie could easily extract a few more bills for all its niceties. Aside from sporting a soft, outer layer to keep your toasty, this special hoodie features a built-in iPod / ticket / passport pocket, complimentary earplug compartment, arm pit zips to air yourself out, cuff thumb holes, a pull down "light shield" to block out the rays, and to top it all off, a built-in neck pillow to keep comfy while dreaming away. So if you've nothing better to do on those hour-long ski lift rides to the tip top of the mountain, you might as well cash in on this and snooze a bit (or tune into your iPod) to pass the time.[Via JoshSpear]
Overlooked DS titles of 2006 [update 1]
Cheap Ass Gamer presents a group of its favorite sleeper DS titles of 2006, with most of them currently headed to the bargain bin. CheapyD Furyk discusses why the titles were overlooked and why he thinks they're still worth playing. The list includes Magnetica, Break 'Em All, and Bomberman Land Touch!Which were your favorite under-appreciated titles of the year? Were they fun B-grade games, or were they overlooked in game-of-the-year lists?[Update 1: Sorry for the misattribution. Thanks, Furyk and Sean-o for mentioning the mistake.][Via Nintendo DS Fanboy]
