Yesterday I noticed that Rixx had silently rolled over the 250 million skill point benchmark. All I could think about when I noticed it was how far away that number would have seemed to the new player I was back in 2008. And how impressed that player would be knowing that I reached that benchmark. Back in those early days progress was measured in small steps, the next ship to unlock, the next module to master. Level V skills seemed to take ages and managing your skill train was an art, a science, and a plan you didn't want to mess up.
Twelve years and seven months later, an average of 1.6 million skill points a month, and here we are. Except for a few moments here and there, the train rolled uninterrupted. Younger players may not appreciate how much of a challenge that statement was for us older players. We who had to watch our skill train like a hawk and swoop in to add new skills before the old ones finished training, or else risk gaps and time wasted without training. Now my own skill train still chugs along with two years worth of skills yet to be trained ahead of me.
And no I didn't use Skill Injectors. By the time they came along the benefit to me wasn't really worth the price. So it never made sense to use them. The only time I did need to was a few years back when I needed to finish up some link skills before the start of the Alliance Tournament. I've also benefited from the recent skill point gifts that CCP keeps throwing at us for logging into the game. But otherwise, these have all been trained the old fashioned way.
My goal for Rixx was to master all sub-cap PvP ships and I passed that goal (mostly) a while ago. I say "mostly" because CCP continues to add additional ships, which mean additional trains. The skill tht pushed me over 250m was the Edencom Battleship Level V skill. Which I honestly may never use. My newbie self from 2008 would be impressed that the only sub-cap ships I can't fly are Freighters, Industrials, and Mining ships (except for the Venture). I also can't fly the Caldari or Minnie Carriers, the Precursor Dread, and any of the Titans. I can count the ship types I can't fly on one hand.
So where does this leave Rixx? Well, like I said, my current skill train is 800 days long. Mostly filled with Level Vs for skills I don't really need, but that I'd like to get topped off. Like Capital Autocannon Spec V, and things like that. Busy work.
And maybe someday I'll train those crazy Titan skills. Or maybe I won't. Right now I'm inclined towards never training them on Rixx. If I ever need them, I'll probably train one of my alts for the ship.
Or just buy one.
Twelve years and seven months ago I logged into Eve for the first time. Imagine that.