Widescreen Isn't Just Letterboxing!

When Tyrannis was released, I immediately noticed something was wrong with my HUD. I couldn't put my finger on it.

Then I was directed to the a forum thread: So why did "widescreen" go the way of "medium shader" again?

That was it. Parts of my HUD had, at one point, been in the letterboxes. Now, the widescreen feature has been removed.

CCP Eris Discordia offer the excuse that adapting changes to work with the feature was too much of a burden.

Several in the thread have pointed out that the unintended advantages the letterboxes gave to the visually impaired were being exploited by macroers.

Yes, I am upset to see the widescreen go. I am more upset, however, to see the number of idiots in the thread that didn't realize that the widescreen mode actually let you have a wider field of view. You could see more. It wasn't just letterboxes laid overtop of the display to crop it and create a widescreen effect. The field of view was actually increased. For that to fit on the screen, it had to be letterboxed.

So the non-widescreen option is actually a cropping of the widescreen option.

The same is true for movies. The letterboxes aren't just for dramatic effect. Movie theater screens aren't merely bigger. They have a different aspect ratio for a reason. Humans have a much better side-to-side peripheral vision than they do up-down.

I could rant on and on, but the internet is full of articles that have already covered this. I invite everyone to check with Google and read for themselves why widescreen actually shows more. Another great place to start is Wikipedia's article on apect ratio.

Helping Others... Or Not

Odinsdagrting is recruiting. As a result, I've been visiting the official forums. After harassing more than a few threads in the recruitment forum, I wandered over to the Science and Industry forum.

There are an expected number of threads where new and aspiring industrialists ask questions. There is an eagerness to answer them. I think that is true for most forums: the desire to be the person with the right answer.

There are an expected number of threads where people are crying foul over some actual or perceived problem. Some of these are real problems, some aren't. Some are likely just trolls.

The posts that really surprise me, or more to the point, upset me, are the ones were people are intentionally misleading others. The post look genuine. I read them, and my first thought is that they must have the math wrong.

Then I wonder if I am doing the math wrong.

I double check my math, and re-read the post. The tone makes me think that this person is intentionally saying it ever so slightly wrong in the hopes to lead others astray.

In the realm of PvP, everyone seems open to share their tactics, their fits, their little tricks and advice. Part of it is because some of these things are hard to hide. Part of it is likely because sharing tricks is just as much of a victory as actually employing them. It strokes the e-peen.

I'm sure part of it is also because knowing the tricks of another warrior is not always enough of an edge to beat them. Market PvP doesn't have anything more than tricks. Twitch, nerves, gangmates, blobs, camps; these things don't affect market PvP.

The misleading forum posts are probably a valid tactic in market PvP, but they feel very underhanded to me, deceitful. They are a tactic that doesn't distinguish between intended targets and innocent bystanders.

Then again, there may not be innocents in market PvP.

Eager for Action

I've been busy keeping Odinsdagrting going. Money hasn't been bad, and the corp is now twice as big as it was when I formed it. But, I want some action.

I have a problem that I imagine most others don't have. I don't have an industrial alt. It is just me. I can build and sell an Oneiros, and I can fit and field a Scimitar. Regrettably, I only get to build the ships as of late.

I've made an offer to haul ships in my Mastodon out to low security space, just so I had something slightly dangerous to do. I'm looking forward to Planetary Exploration because I want to go into low security space and set up some planetary operations there.

I did finally break down and buy my Loki. I dubbed her Hellcat and flew her back home. I still haven't settled on a fitting, yet, but with the interdiction nullifier and the covert ops configuration, I feel pretty confident running around null sec. I just don't know if there is much of a reason for me to do that, yet.

I'm not going to do anything crazy right now and risk the Loki, but I don't mind risking Mastodons and Prowlers. Maybe I'll take a barge into low sec and see if anyone jumps me.