Trukz: WTF Google?!

So I've been Trukz-free for like a week now and what should happen? This stupid blog is now the second result on Google when you search for "trukz". Oh yes, it's true. In some strange, algorithmically-challenged way, me ending my Trukz association has been the best boon to my site since I got greenlighted on Fark.

How did it happen, hell if I know.

But hey, I'll ride the #2 wave for as long I can. In fact, maybe I'll just start posting under the Trukz label from now on, no matter the content. Yay me.

Or, perhaps a better option, would be to endlessly wax philosophical on the nature of games and their relation to my life. There, that'll work.

Trukz: Done

Malaga to Prague - 1027 miles to go (5 of estimated 29 legs)
FPs: 2; Rating: 64.89; Cash: $1340.73

Next leg: 110mph, ticketed ($1100, -.5 Rating)
NL: 109mph, ticketed ($440, -.5 Rating)
NL: 109mph
NL: 109mph, ticketed ($550, -.5 Rating)
NL: Refuel
NL: 109mph, ticketed ($330, -.5 Rating)

[time passes]

Malaga to Prague - 481 miles to go (11 of estimated 29 legs)
FPs: 7; Rating: 62.89; Cash: ($1804.73)

NL: 109mph, ticketed ($440, -.5 Rating)
NL: 109mph, ticketed ($275, -.5 Rating)
NL: 109mph, ticketed ($550, -.5 Rating)

Why am I being ticketed 7 out of 8 times I speed? Do the CB and Radar Detector do nothing? If anything, this is a good product review for those items as they are apparently useless as far as avoiding speeding tickets.

Currently:

Malaga to Prague - 154 miles to go (14 of estimated 29 legs)
FPs: 13; Rating: 61.39; Cash: ($3069.37)

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And that's it, I'm done with the game. Fun while it lasted, I suppose, but ultimately there's not enough to hold interest for the long-term. I think part of the problem for me is that there wasn't really a goal. That is, not a goal defined by the game. I had to create targets to reach myself and, once I reached them, set new ones.

I guess I just ran out of things I felt were worth achieving, mainly because the achievements no longer led to anything new. And when I think about it, I was just doing the exact same thing today as the first day I played, except my stats were a little better.

Trukz: Pretty much done, day 2 - UPDATE

Well, I'm pretty much tanking my driver here, if you haven't noticed, but I still want to run a contract. You know, do my company a solid. So I need to get to Prague and pick up some Electronics and deliver them to Dublin. My cash is running out faster than my luck, and my luck hasn't been so good lately.

Malaga to Prague - 1577 miles to go (0 of estimated 29 legs)
FPs: 4; Rating: 66.39; Cash: $3540.73

First leg: 110mph, ticketed ($550, -.5 Rating)
Next 2 legs: 110mph, no incident!
NL: 110mph, ticketed ($1100, -.5 Rating); 10 FPs

Gotta go one more leg to make this worth it:

NL: 110mph, ticketed ($550, -.5 Rating)

So, what am I left with? Not much after being ticketed 60% of the time. But hey, no crashes yet!

Miles to go: 1027; FPs: 12; Rating: 64.89; Cash: $1340.73

At the rate I'm burning through cash, I imagine I'll be out by tomorrow morning or afternoon. But please, do not cry for me.

Trukz: Pretty much done, day 2

Prague to Malaga - 1023 miles to go (7 of estimated 29 legs)
FPs: 3; Rating: 69.42; Cash: $6675.66

Next 2 legs: 111mph, no incident
NL: 110mph, ticketed ($330, -.5 Rating)
NL: 110mph, ticketed ($1100, -.5 Rating)
NL: 110mph, ticketed ($440, -.5 Rating)
NL: 110mph, ticketed ($1100, -.5 Rating)

Prague to Malaga - 361 miles to go (13 of 29 estimated legs)
FPs: 7; Rating: 67.42; Cash: $3705.66

NL: 110mph, ticketed ($1100, -.5 Rating); Crashed truck
NL: Repaired, took a quick rest
NL: 110mph, ticketed ($330, -.5 Rating); 10FPs
NL: 111mph, success!
NL: 29mph, route complete!

Prague to Malaga - 0 miles to go (18 of 29 estimated legs)
FPs: 12; Rating: 66.39; Cash: $3540.73

I am sort of pissed that I bought both the CB and the Radar Detector yet almost half the time I was speeding, I got caught. Fifteen legs of actual driving and seven tickets! But I only crashed my truck three times which, when you're averaging 100+ mph, isn't so bad I suppose. Still, the $5500 in tickets was pretty hefty. Luckily I made back about $1500 for completing the trip on time.

Well, there's a company contract to start on this evening, so back to Prague I go!

Trukz: Pretty much done, day 1

I think I'm about done with Trukz now. I was just perusing my driver page and the items page and it just sort of occurred to me that there's nothing else to do. I have the best truck I can get, due to the recent additions; I have the best items available (that are of any use), so what's there to do?

But instead of just deleting my account I'm going to try something different. I have loads of cash and a good ranking (#94 of 16,689; 70.92 rating), so why not see how far I can either push my rank or (more likely) just hit 0 on the ol' driver rating and run out of money, leaving myself stranded somewhere in eastern Europe?

Can't hurt and, jeez, it's just a game. In fact, it's sort of freeing. Sure I'm part of a company, and I'll still run contract routes, but I'm going to trash my truck and rating every step of the way. WooO!

To begin, I've bought all the items on the Purchase page, except for chargers and gear ratios. And the frequent flier discount. I'm in Europe to stay!

So, here's the results of my first trip, Prague to Malaga (1577 miles). Estimated trip legs: 29. I'm at 5 FPs right now, so the full results won't be until tomorrow. But for tonight:

First leg: 111mph with no incident (well that's refreshing)
Next leg: 111mph with a ticket! And a loss of .5 ratings points. Oh noes! The ticket cost $1100, which is lame. I also crashed my truck, apparently. So after repairing I'm up to 8 FPs.
Next two legs: 111mph with no incident. RAWK! But now I'm at 10 FPs. Do I dare push it all the way to 11?
Next leg: Crashed truck. After repairs I'm at 12 FP, which is good for the night I think.

So how'd that go? Well, I covered 554 miles and used 7 FPs. That averages out to 79 miles per leg which, if you know the game, is actually pretty awesome. I mean, especially in Europe where every other leg seems to be through dense fog or heavy snow.

If I'd been playing normally I'd have only covered 300-400 miles due to weather and stopping at 10 FPs. But, since money is no object (until I run out), I can just bust out a quick rest every day and get back 2 more FPs no problem.

Also, I'm a third of the way through my trip miles-wise, but only a quarter of they way through the estimated trip legs. That has to count for something.

Wow, the game is much more fun when you don't give a fuck. Who would have thought?

Trukz: Tanked

Just a few days after I thought I was done talking about all the items in the game, another one gets added. But this one, unlike most of the others, is actually worth getting:

Extra Fuel Tank - $2,500.00 - Increases your trucks top fuel level +50 gallons. Fuel tank sells empty. If item is sold with fuel in tank that fuel will be removed with the fuel tank. Good until 1/26/2009. Item sells with truck.

An extra 50 gal. of fuel can mean over 500 extra miles of travel before having to fill up, depending on your mpg. That means less FPs spent on filling up, which means you can run more routes, which, ta-da, means more money and a higher efficiency rating.

Also, it gives you more time to think about refueling while on the road. I can't tell you how many times I've been caught out paying $2.95/gal to fill an empty tank because I thought "just one more leg and gas'll be cheap again." So that's another money-saver right there.

Keep in mind, though, the tank lasts for a year; so if you're going to be upgrading your truck a lot and you're not regularly swimming in money, you may want to just wait on it and stick with items that increase your fuel efficiency.

Trukz: Let's buy things (or not), pt 4

Aluminum Wheels - $2,600.00 - Decreases the weight of your truck thereby increasing your maximum legal haul weight +1,000 lbs over the legal limit. Good until 1/3/2009. Item sells with truck.

Anything that raises your haul weight over the legal limit without any negatives is usually a good thing. Aluminum wheels stay with for a year and that's enough time for them to make you back your money plus extra. It won't be much, but every little bit helps. I probably wouldn't get these right away, though, I'd wait until I'd purchased my second or third truck. Early on you can take that $2600 and really upgrade to something a bit better.

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Low Gear Ratio - $2,500.00 - Increases your trucks load limit +2,000 lbs. (not the legal load limit) Reduces the top speed of your truck -5 MPH. Good until 4/23/2008. Item sells with truck.
High Gear Ratio - $2,500.00 - Decreases your trucks load limit -2,000 lbs. (not the legal load limit) Increases the top speed of your truck +5 MPH. Good until 4/23/2008. Item sells with truck.

What are these all about? Twenty-five hundred dollars for a trade-off? Get there faster and make less money, or take longer to make a little less? Sorry, I don't see the value. So many items in the game seem to be poor substitutes for upgrading your truck. And now that there are more trucks in the game, there's no reason not to climb that ladder instead of throwing money away on improvements that don't really improve anything.

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Frequent Flyer Discounts - $750.00 - Provides a 25% discount on airline tickets across continents. Good until 3/24/2008. Item stays with driver.

Speaking of throwing your money away, is there any reason for having this "discount" in the game? Yeah I've complained about it before, but jesus, what's the point of a 25% discount on a flight when I have to sell my truck at a loss before traveling? I mean, maybe there are a lot of jet-setters in the game, not running routes, just flitting all over the map, but I doubt it.

Easy fix: allow drivers to have two trucks, one in Europe, one in the US. I would likely use the air travel option a lot more if that was the case. Sure, maybe you can only land back in the city you left from, but that'd be okay. It might even be profitable buying the discount.

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Double Trailer Endorsement - $10,000.00 - Allows you to drive routes with double trailers thereby increasing your maximum legal haul weight +5,000 lbs over the legal limit. Does not stack with other driver endorsements. Good until 9/26/2008. Item stays with driver.
Triple Trailer Endorsement - $25,000.00 - Allows you to drive routes with triple trailers thereby increasing your maximum legal haul weight +10,000 lbs over the legal limit. Does not stack with other driver endorsement. Good until 1/23/2009. Item stays with driver.
Oversized Load Endorsement - $50,000.00 - Allows you to drive oversized loads thereby increasing your maximum legal haul weight +15,000 lbs over the legal limit. Does not stack with other driver endorsements. Good until 1/22/2009. Item stays with driver.

Obviously these are the big money-making improvements in the game. Really insane return on your investment when you get the better endorsements. Quick example: I just started a 2000+ mile route yesterday that would have paid in the $5k range with a Double Trailer, but I'd been saving for the Oversized Load for a while and decided to make the switch before I left. New payout? Just over $7k. That's $2000 extra for about a day and half's worth of driving.

No, a route like that won't happen three times a week, but even three or four times a month would mean $70-96k extra per year. Minus the endorsement cost and that's still $25-46k pure profit. Combine that with the aluminum wheels (which I have) and there's no reason not to go for an endorsement.

Personally I skipped straight from Double to Oversized. By the time you've been playing for a while and have a nicer truck, maybe you're in a company that gets contracts, the money comes in a lot faster. When I hit $25k I thought "Well I could get a Triple Trailer, or just wait a week and a half and get the next size up." And since you really do need to keep the endorsements for a while to make any profit, may as well go for the best when you can.

Just be sure to have enough set aside when the time comes to re-buy so you aren't caught out.

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Well, that's it for the item reviews. I realize I don't suggest buying many of the items for purchase, but that's just me. Many of them are too expensive for what you get. And some don't seem to offer anything worthwhile, except for your own personal satisfaction. Which I guess is satisfying, for some people.