Mynxee, CEO of all-female pirate corporation Hellcats, blogs about Capsuleer 2.0 in "Big Hits, Near Misses and Windfalls."
The iPhone app, which I'd downloaded on my reinauguration-into-EVE day
about one week ago, is personally invaluable, not to mention sensually faithful
in positing the EVE Online aesthetic into your palm. "Long story
short," Mynxee says,"me likes!" And I would echo her sentiments
completely.
Developed by the prolific Roc Wieler
and partner in crime PyjamaSam, it's entirely possible that these two
individuals have been ordained from on high to preemptively save my
marriage and my day job. Familiar to anyone with an EVE account,
keeping a frighteningly close eye on the tick-tock of your character's
skills is an exercise (and revelation) in obsessive behavior. As we
speak I'm sliding my iPhone open, thumbing the Capsuleer icon, tapping
the refresh button in the lower right-hand corner, and noting that --
taking BattleClinic's New Player Guide to heart -- I'm currently
training Learning 4, with fifteen hours, two minutes, and twenty-two
seconds to go.
I stare at Capsuleer's silent, soothing
countdown. Untouched, the iPhone gradually fades to black. Without
second thought, I'll check again in ten minutes.
My
previous stint in EVE, during Exodus (circa 2004), was short-lived by
many standards, but it was the longest I'd ever handcuffed myself to
any one MMO. I believe I stayed aboard for merely three months. You
don't know me, but if you did, you'd know that's too long a time in any
one game for my tastes. And you still
don't know me (I'm of course working to remedy that), but if you did,
you'd know that constitutes a minor addiction by my own set of
demarcations and parameters.
During my time in Exodus, I'd
diligently set buzzing alarms on my phone, waking me up at the witching
hour, to queue up my character's next skill. My lovely wife was duly
unimpressed with my dedication. I also began packing my home laptop to
work in order to have EVE at hand for the same purpose. My diligent
manager was likewise unimpressed with my divided attention. One man's
multitasking is another man's lack of focus.
But now, with Capsuleer, I have an even more discreet solution for monitoring Billy Blame's skill progression -- aside from the option of having EVEMon sit studiously on my Start bar. But, more importantly, the Apocrypha expansion has introduced the Skill Training Queue. This
is truly the life-saving device I required. CCP has gained
insurmountable respect from this returning player for making this
singular concession to their otherwise brilliant skill training
mechanic. With it, I may indeed go out on a limb and keep Billy Blame
active for longer than my previous earth-shattering three-month record.
You don't know me, but if you did, you'd know that those unlikely words make for an ironically strong promise, coming from me.
