The Realm Online

I recently been poking around in my cupboards looking for my Unreal Tournament disc (I need some old school shooter gaming in my life) and came across the Realm Online.  This game was my first foray into the world of MMOs and I loved it when I played it.
It reminded me of school and the shitty games I used to play that I will still maintain were fantastic (Dragonball Z rpg on the SNES for example), and with that memory in mind I have payed for an old account on this game to be reactivated so I can enjoy some old school MMO fun.

A bit of background on the Realm, it is dated....I mean it.  It came out in the early/mid 90s and was one of the first MMORPGs and since then its not really changed.  There still is very little in the way of graphics and it can be buggy as hell in places but it is a very simple game (not too dissimilar to WOW) and doesn't take a lot of memory/cpu/input whilst playing (I was ratting on it whilst on Eve last night).

The premise of the game is the standard fantasy storyline.  Evil/Good/Neutral Elf/Giant/Human/Orc Warriors/Thieves/Wizards/Adventurers go around killing monsters and collecting goods for NPCs.  Its simple and easy and doesn't require a lot to get good at, the community is also very nice (Hard not to be when there is only a couple of 100 people playing throughout the day).


The Flaws


There are flaws to the game other than its dated graphics, it doesn't have much in the way of PVP.  This is mostly due to there being an on/off switch for PVP, this hinders this side of the game as everyone just sets it to off so they cant get jumped.
It doesn't have a large population, this can mostly be attributed to its age (nearly 20 years old) but also due to its lack of updates, it might be nice that it hasn't changed from a nostalgia point of view but its also a little sad that a game I used to love as a kid is still floundering in its mid-90s type graphics/gameplay.

The largest flaw, at least in my eyes, is the market.  Most of the standard items are available from NPC markets and as the population is small pretty much everyone has all the special items they would need meaning there is very little in the way of player trading.  Inflation is also rife due to this, an item that used to be only a couple of 100k gold when I played is now sold for millions due to everyone having an ever increasing hoard of gold.  Like I said most items are available from NPCs but the items everyone uses are from dungeons and now that everyone has these, very few need the NPC market items meaning there is little in the way of a gold sink.  Obviously this coming from EvE bugs the crap out me, going from a game with lots of sinks and a free market to a game with pretty much zero sinks and a NPC market is quite a change.

Despite the flaws though I have started a new character and I am going to at least play through the month for a bit of fun.

Korg

Best Ship In Class (Cause I want to get in on the bandwagon)

So there have been plenty (two) blogs so far on the subject of best in class for each of the ship types in EvE.  Personally these sorts of lists will never be agreed on and are very dependant on the situation you find yourself in.  Although I thought I would get in on the act for the fun of it anyway, so here goes my list of the 'Best in Class'.

Frigates

T1 Frigate: There isn't much to choose between each of the races top combat frigates and on their day they can each defeat each other in a fight however, I am going to have to say the Rifter purely because it is the most forgiving to a young pilot and is ridiculously easy to fit.

Assault Frigate: Once again the Assault Class of Frigate is fairly even, there are some duds (Retribution) but most can be extremely competitive in the PVP field but again as above I will have to give this to Minmatar and their Jaguar as it is the most forgiving for the young pilot when they first get into t2 frigates.  Once on an even playing field (SP and experience wise) it is a toss up between the Ishkur, Jaguar and Hawk.  The Jaguar retains its greatness regardless of SP but the other to become exponentially better the more SP you have to invest.

Combat Interceptor: Although the Crusader is a great combat inty, the title will always go to the Taranis which is quite possibly one of the best non-faction solo frigates and give them a run for there money.  The AB+Rep fit feels more like a fast AF than an Inty.

Tackle Interceptor: As long as we forget the Raptor the others are fairly interchangeable in the tackle role however, the title goes to the Malediction because you have the option to use it solo.

Cov Ops(Combat): Not going to comment on there probing abilities as they can all probe equally well.  I will instead give my opinion on them as combat frigates, and although the Helios has the best tank/gank ratio in this role the Buzzard gets the nod as it can cloak and is nearly cap stable which adds a lot to survivability in long fights.

Cov Ops(Bomber): I haven't got huge amounts of experience with stealth bombers except in gangs, and Hounds seemed the bees knees there but Solo the Manticore is better due to having mid slots.

Navy Faction: This in my opinion is possibly one of the best balanced classes of Frigates, they are all good and all have there benefits.  The best though is either the Hookbill or the Slicer just because both melt/splode most frigates in most situations.

Pirate Faction: I would be panned through the floor if I didn't say the best is the Dramiel but I think it is dependent on the situation. The Dramiel is the best for a general solo roam where everything is fair game, purely because once shit hits the fan you can run however, if you are out aiming for frigate fights then the best changes and becomes the Daredevil (Rail or Blasters).  I will say overall the Dramiel wins due to its ability to be great or good in most situations.

Electronic Warfare Frigates: Sentinel, no discussion.

Destroyer: Not much to say about the Destroyers, they all kill most frigates well but the Thrasher does it best.
Interdictor: For the bubble dropping role, they are all good.  Solo however its the same as the Destroyer class the Sabre(t2 Thrasher) wins it.  Note that everyone knows this though and are unlikely to engage a solo sabre in a frigate.

T1 Cruiser: Its between the Rupture and Vexor in the t1 Cruiser class at least from a combat perspective.  I cant decide between them so I will go with the only other cruiser that is worthwhile outside of specialist gangs the Blackbird.

Heavy Assault Cruiser: HACs are a great class of ship, pretty much all at least someway workable to a decent combat ship but there are only two that stand out above the rest in pretty much every role.  The Vagabond and the Zealot.  The Vagabond is the better solo boat (Due to being able to run regularly), the Zealot is the better gang boat being able to join AHAC (well duh) and Nano gangs depending on the fit.

Combat Recons: The Curse is the best solo Recon (In my opinion) so it would stand to reason that its the best Combat Recon too.  Its also great at gang work.

Force Recons: Falcon wins it here, nothing causes more rage and turns the tides of fights better than a Falcon.

Logis: I personally have no experience of logistics cruisers other than being repped by them, but I have heard good things about all.

Navy Faction: The Stabber Fleet Issue wins it for me, its brilliantly versatile whether you want a buffer cruiser, nano shield cruiser or dual rep active cruiser this thing can pull it off well.  Also the tracking on this thing is insane and with its tiny sig (can get it as low as some frigates) it lasts ages.

Pirate Faction: Cynabal, great damage, speed and the agility of a frigate(ish) you cant go wrong with a Cynabal.

Battlecruiser: its a toss up between the Cane and the Drake, they both have great nano/kite fits and both have tank/gank fits.  Personally the Drake is my number one for PVP.  Not even going to make any points for PVE

Field Command Ships: Slepneir or Abso are both brilliant PVP ships but as people like to blob solo ships I will go with the slep because of its speed.

Fleet Command Ships: Fairly Interchangeable depending on gangs but Claymore sees most use in my world and wins it for me. Claymore also makes a fairly good combat ship in its own right.

T3s: Tengu

Battleship: On the battleship front, its a decision between the Tempest and the Abaddon for me.  Solo the Tempest wins out but in gangs the Abaddon is best (plus you can make pretty rainbows)

Marauders: Golem or Vargur but I have no experience so I'm not going to comment

Black Ops: Not going to bother, have no experience and only about 500 people fly them :)

Navy Faction BS: I have rarely seen these ships in a PVP role but in the PVE world the Raven Navy Issue wins so I will give the overall title to it.

Pirate Faction BS: Machariel wins completely due to its speed and the mentality of people when pirate faction comes on d-scan.

On the Capital front I have absolutely no experience as I never intend to fly one so instead will defer to the populace on that one and most seem to be split between Gallente and Amarr on the Carrier(both types) front.  I imagine its the same on the Titan front too due to there being slaves.

Now the easy ones

Industrial: Mammoth or Itty 5, this does depend on what you want to do with your industrial though.
Transport: Viator or Prowler, again dependent on role.
Mining Barge(lol): Cant be arsed to write something here oh wait
Freighter: I imagine these are fairly interchangeable they haul large amounts thats it.

So thats it my list of 'Best in Class'....dons flame retardant jacket.....flame on.

Korg

This one time at top belt...

.....I missed a whole bunch of kills because my corp mates were too efficient, oh and then this happened BP.

Its a little messed up but essentially it says that SithLord and Habah killed everyone all the time, so props to them.

I done did it again

I thought this month was going to be good, after last month where I killed alot and lost more than I should I thought I would do better this month but so far I have been introduced into the annoying part of being a pirate in lowsec.

Its been a strange month so far, some nights I will get some nice kills (Kill1 Kill2 Kill3) and then others I will do something stupid and die in a fire (Loss1 Loss2 Loss3).  In short I have lost far too much this month and it is really eating into my isk buffer (yes yes I will take donations :P), this has meant I have had to go back to what I hate on my alt, manufacturing.  Its going ok, minus the obvious problems with manufacturing and selling stuff in lowsec.

I have at least achieved some things this month though, I passed the 1000 kills mark (only if you total both my accounts) and have finally gotten into building bits and pieces of capital ships, which I have had the skills for since '09 but have never used.

In short though despite those minor achievements I need to stop doing stupid shit in my frigates and start becoming the 'efficient' solo pilot I was a couple of months ago.

Battle Reports???

Rifter vs. Rifter

It has been quite some time since I used a t1 frigate for a regular roam, rather than in 1v1 challenges, but I decided near the beginning of the month to fit up some shield rifters and go out to lose them.
As mentioned earlier though this happens to be one of the times I was feeling a little Pr0.
I jumped into Ofleim, seeing another Rifter on d-scan towards the Plex I warp to 0.  I cam out of warp 11km off of this other Rifter, quickly getting into range of each other I realised a problem.....he was armor fit.  This meant due to him having a web he would be able to dictate range on me.  Making matters worse I default to the high damage ammo in a shield rifter, I needed to close range fast, overheating my AB I tried to keep as close as possible but the web was causing me problems.
Eventually he was low armor but I was also just entering armor, quickly I started hemorrhaging armor then bleeding hull at roughly the same time he was.  Luckily the pew pew gods smiled on me and he popped with me at 20% structure.  Unfortunately another Rifter landed just as I finished looting, I bugged out to live another day....by warping to a gate with gcc and very little hp left.  My fight with the gate was quick and thanks to the 'rascist' gate guns not having tackle I was out with 5% structure. Derp.



All in all been a bit of an odd month on the pvp front, although the last couple of night have been alot better.

Korg

Music 

(Definitely not for the younger viewer)

So Far, So Good pt. 2

This is going to cover some of the best fights I have had over the last month or so.  Unfortunately ones I missed out on frapsing cause I'm a. a cheap git and didn't get a full version till recently and b. utter fail when it comes to switching on at the beginning of fights and this makes me sad.

Good Fights

Vengeance vs. Rifter, Thrasher, Tristan and Taranis

I was on a roam around the usual areas of Minnie Militia when I had finally gotten back to glorious Amamake with its new PL locals.  Warping to one of my usual spots of the top belt I see a thrasher and Tristan sitting around 20km off the centre with a Rifter I had been attempting to catch about 300km off the belt in another direction.  Fancying my chances to at least take one or two out I warped to the belt at 50km and tried to get the thrasher and tristan to split up.

This was working quite well, until the Tristan got within 20km he turned around and started to burn towards the belt again.  Now I was itching for a fight so I started to burn towards them as fast as my little ship could go....I soon realised my mistake when the Thrasher and Tristan were suddenly on me, I had been baited into a brawl.  Doing the only thing I could do I attempted to brawl them down.  I pointed up the thrasher and threw my scram and web on him pulling range in an attempt to lower his incoming dps whilst slowly working on his buffer.  With my tank taking a hit from both the ships, we were joined by the rifter pilot from earlier.  So what was a 2v1 was now a 3v1, I needed to get the incoming dps down sharpish.
Overheating my tank and rocket launchers the thrasher went into armor then popped, I pointed the tristan and using the same tactics as before I pulled range and started to chip at his ships buffer he also exploded.  This left just me and the rifter, my tank was holding as I pointed him and went through his tank.  He popped in a blue flash and gfs were exchanged with all in local.

As I began to loot the field a PL Taranis appeared 25km away from me, he pointed me and expecting the PL gang to appear as well or that I would get one shot by a titan I was resigned to my fate and started firing back.  He popped alot faster than I thought he would and the gang never came so I finished looting the field and warped off having enjoyed a great fight and a real vindication of my choice in ships.

Vengeance vs. Daredevil

This was quite possibly my favourite 1v1 for two reasons, firstly I had a gang 1 jump out that were going to jump in once I got tackle and secondly its a frigging daredevil, a well fit one.  So I will set the scene for this, the three of us were out on a roam, a thrasher, vengeance and slicer(honestly cant remember what the other guys were in just know they were small) when I spotted a Daredevil sitting on a gate in the system ahead.  Reporting as such over comms I warped to a belt to tempt him into shooting me with the plan being once  I had him tackled they would jump in and we would kill him.

He warped in and we proceeded to open fire, I knew I was never going to dictate range in this fight being in a slow ship being 90% webbed means its just not going to happen.  I still overheated my AB to try my best to mess up the Daredevils tracking as best I could whilst making my repper work harder than usual.  Giving the sign over the comms I was just trying to hold on long enough for the rest of the gang to arrive but then I noticed something...the Daredevil was in structure and I was still in my armor, no one else had arrived and suddenly a blue flash and the DD pilot was staring at me from his pod.

Stupid Losses

Minus the beginning of this month a lot of my losses so far have either come from great fights (My Vengeances attempt to tank two Dramiels for example) or stupid things (Losing a Battle Buzzard to gate guns), I need to cut out the stupid losses if I want to become efficient otherwise I am going to run low on isk fast even if it cost less than 100mil to stock my ships up for a month, based on current loss data.
I also should probably stop playing when drunk as I have lost a couple of really strangely fitted ships due to this and I could really do without it.  Even if waking up the next day to find some strange fraps you have no recollection of can be quite amusing.

Video

I am in the process of making a pvp video.  Its mostly frigate combat with some larger ship fights thrown in.  I warn you though I have no idea what I am doing when it comes to video editing software so be prepared for some badly edited video :).

Hopefully I will get the video finished this evening (6/10/2012) and I can get it uploaded, keep getting the problem that as soon as I think its done I get a fight that I want to put in it but ah well guess I will just have to be stricter with which fights get in there.

Korg