Keeping track of EVE Online skill training with Capsuleer

The new certificate system and planner in EVE Online offers a far more interactive and engaging method of character progression than the basic character sheet skill interface. The character sheet is still there and remains the tool for selecting which skills to train but the certificate system and planner gives more immediate and substantial feedback than comparing statistics about fitted systems on information screens.

Both the character sheet and the certificate system have their uses. I'm still finding my way around the certificate planner and I enjoy seeing that I am closer to or can receive a new certificate, just as much as I am pleased when able to replace a now-unneeded coprocessor with a more useful module or know that my missiles are doing 2% more damage.

One aspect of the skill system that is still left wanting is a better indication of when a skill will finish training. Certainly, the character sheet has a countdown to when the skill completes, in days, hours, minutes and seconds, and although I can work out in my head when this will roughly be I am left wondering why I am sitting in front of a powerful computer capable of performing millions of calculations per second and I am left with the task of determining when I need to change skills.

This clearly isn't an unwanted feature or difficult to implement, as the excellent Capsuleer application for the iPhone and iPod Touch shows the date and time the skill is set to complete along with the familiar countdown, which in Capsuleer even changes colour based on how close the skill is to completion.

Having the completion date and time of a skill in training is awfully handy, to the point where I will have my iPod Touch running Capsuleer sitting next to me whilst I am playing EVE Online, as a secondary character sheet. It also serves as a good reminder when logging off to ensure a sufficiently long duration skill is in training.

Posted in Personal |
Tags: capsuleer, eve online, ipod, mmorpg