Branching out a little

Not been writing much here lately (bit of blog block and a case of Warstorm addiction on Facebook !) but I have been continuing an editor role on the Eve alliance's newsletter.

It's been renamed the Voice of Volt and the latest issue is available for download here (linky to Volt's forums). Various real life things have meant that as time has gone on, some of the previous authors and editors have had to scale back their activity. Into the gap comes me (under the guise of Keela Danne) and a mate from work (ingame name Luth Curmal) who spend a lot of our lunchtimes talking Eve as we stroll around the site.

I'm not so much in game in Eve at the moment (think I still have traces of "Does Not Play Well With Others" going) but I still keep up with the Eve guys and the Violence Reborn (Warcraft) people via forums. Even if I do get that Does Not Play Well With Others which makes me avoid gaming with people, the forums (particularly VR) are a great reminder of how fun online gaming can be at its best.

It's not so much the going around in groups and beating things up - that can actually get quite tiresome very quickly if things aren't going well. No, it's the times when you can sit back, have a natter and see all the crazy stuff come out in chat. It helps to have a good game under there too. Warcraft was a very strong game but they have effectively reset the game every time they do an update. The fun disappears when you know all the frustration that goes into working for in game rewards is made null and void by the next expansion. An expansion you have to pay for.

Eve is different there. It has expanded over the years, with new facets being added to the game and facets that didn't work well being reworked. Like the territory system being completely reworked. It didn't change the map overnight (like Warcraft does) but the theory behind it (haven't seen it in practice) should have gotten rid of one of the more unpopular aspects of Eve, which is Starbase warfare. That said, I haven't been keeping up with the Eve galactic influence map so I haven't been tracking how often territory changes hands.

Doh - I been digressing again. Of the newsletter linked above, I wrote the Ship Previews section, started the Merchandise store part and did the proof reading. (Something sadly went amiss with the formatting, we'll look into that for next month ...)

Have a read, although I don't know how accessible it is for non gamers ...

Easter time - I'm currently enjoying a week off work, which has been coming for a little while now. I tend to throw myself into things, including the odd bit of banging head against wall when I'm trying to figure out things like New Job.

Main theme for this week is rest, relaxation, wiping out what I have recorded on the V+ cable TV box and trying to keep control on what I eat. Think I'm managing the diet reasonably well, although the 3 Easter eggs devoured so far probably don't agree. Haven't lost any weight mind, which is probably something to do with not exercising much. I have my new boots :-) A pair of Karrimor KSB reduced to £30. Need to break 'em in before Snowdon in under a month.

Cor blimey, this was supposed to be a quick, snappy "Newsletter Be Here" post and it's gone Wall Of Text again ...