Reviewing Eve, again.

Man, oh man has it been a while since I bothered to post.  For those who don't know I've been working with the Podside podcast now for almost 6 months. It's fun, but leaves me little time for much else. Now that that's out of the way. Here's the updated review.

New Players

The new player experience has received a great many facelifts in the last year including buffed rookie ships, a more interactive tutorial as well as an improved mission interface. The new safety system and improved crimewatch mechanics have helped get rid of some of the low ballers in the griefer world.

Gameplay

The recent tiericide and rebalance for frigates and cruisers have led to a new way of life for some players, who felt they needed to always use Tech II ships. The buffed support ships especially give new players a chance to try out new roles before investing the large amounts of SP needed to fly the best Tech II ships and fits. The sleeper AI for npc's and new changes to incursions and Faction Warfare keep the professions interesting without being game breaking in the profit department.

Community

Eve's internal and external communities are both still flourishing, Tweetfleet, Bloggers, and the podcasters are very much alive and well, despite some hiccups along the way. We have also seen the rise of a new Eve news website themittani.com ran by the much maligned, deserved or not, leader of Goonswarm Federation.

However, even their enemies are cordial in the event of a tragedy, as was evidenced when Sean Smith, known in Eve as Vile Rat, the leader of Goonswarm's diplomatic arm, Corps Diplomatique, was killed in Benghazi. The response from the community was incredible, A massive number of nullsec stations had their names changed to messages for Vile Rat. Video and Photo tributes circulated though eve's community, including a photo from Rixx Javix that is still my computer wallpaper to this day. So large was this response that it was even mentioned by the mainstream media and the Secretary of State at Sean's repatriation ceremony.

Technology

The game has advanced considerably under the hood in the past year. Along with the aforementioned Crimewatch changes, most ships have been re-skinned with new V3 designs and the UI has been greatly improved with a customizable neocom, a Unified Inventory (which did need a little more work that was initially deployed, sorry CCP Arrow) and new targeting reticules and readouts. Most people scoff when they hear eve is almost 10 years old now, but then you tell them about the 18 free expansions since launch and show them videos. Eve looks great for it's age, something that other games should take notice of.

Numbers

Challenge: 10/10    This is Eve and it is real, hard.
Graphics: 9.5/10     You know any other games this old that look this good? Me either.
Community 12/10   Shoot Blues, Tell Vile Rat
Complexity 8/10     Eve is hard, but it's becoming less needlessly complex.

Overall  9.75/10

BB 35: Eve and the people that hate it.

Now approaching its tenth year, the EVE Online player community has matured into an intricate and multi-faceted society viewed with envy by other game developers, but is frequently regarded with suspicion by the wider gaming community. 

Is this perception deserved? Should "The Nation of EVE" be concerned by its public identity and if so how might that be improved? What influence will the integration of the DUST 514 community have on this culture in the future?


 Eve is indeed a complex society. From random newbies just starting a trial, to the most experienced and respected (or feared) players in the game, one thing binds us all (at least those who participate) and that is community. Bloggers, like those who will also grace this blog banter, the podcasters, the tweetfleet, even the folks who lurk in such places as Eve News 24, Fail Heap challenge or Kugutsumen are still a part of a vast community network.

It is this network that makes the events of New Eden that much more interesting. Jade and Rundle talking about Fanfest on Lost in Eve (for 8 hours, holy crap guys), Others regaling us with their nefarious doings like Hulkageddon organizer Helicity Boson. New Eden is vast but it's this external interface, this metagame, in combination with the sandbox that makes eve the envy of it's competitors.

The wider MMO scene is naturally suspicious of eve. It is a very dark place where things that don't happen in those other games (guild thefts, non-consensual pvp, scamming, etc.) are allowed. They are not able to comprehend the full ramifications of the Sandbox, or the reason others would be drawn to it. They play the game at their pace, level their characters in a largely unchanging landscape, run instances, eventually raid, and maybe even kill the Lich King.

Except the Lich King and the other 12 bosses you killed to get to him will be right back where they were on Tuesday when the instance resets. Along with C'thun, Chogall, Kel'thuzad and all the rest. Their world is static, stale, and to be perfectly honest, fucking boring. I should know, I came from it.

You can run around gleefully mining copper in Elwyn Forest or Mulgore all by yourself and never have to worry that some bad man will kill you and take your precious items. Eve is not an online single player game. The actions of others can and will affect you. So, get involved in the community and keep an ear open, if nothing else.

Eve players are generally don't care about our public image or bringing in many people. This is a very niche game for a very select (read: mature) audience. While new blood should be welcomed the newbies need to be divorced from any foolish preconceived notions as quickly, and perhaps, as painlessly as possible. While it may be fun to scam a 2 day old player, I would find such a thing unsporting. After all, what skill does it show on the part of the scammer that he got an easy mark?

With DUST 514 coming out soon a huge contingent of players from a radically different age group and a completely different genre of game will be, in a way, joining this community. Hopefully it will attract more of the older FPS crowd (although that may not be the case given the exclusive PS3 release.) In addition there will be an influx of eve players who will hopefully be able to explain the greater intricacies of the world they are participating in to the FPS junkies.

As for those who think that the eve community will allow their game to get softer for the sake of gaining subscribers, I offer a simple HTFU. This is our game, and we like it just the way it is. If it is not appealing to you I suggest you go elsewhere, after all if it isn't fun why are you still here?

Blog Banter 33: The Capsuleer Experience

This month's blog banter is about the new player experience, for better or for worse.

Some new players get lucky. They have been referred by an experienced player and as such have someone to ask all those silly questions we all ask when we first get started. I know I'd still be pulling my hairs out a year later were it not for my friend Asander and the rest of BSC Legion.

The rest of the newbies, well, they get to try their luck in Rookie Help and pray there is an ISD or an experienced player training a new account to answer their questions (and prey they aren't being trolled). Tie this in with the general feel of being in something completely new and it's pretty obvious why most don't finish the trial. There is little/no easily accessible data and those organizations that promote helping new players aren't able to be on the forefront since Rookie Help disappears after 30 days.

I've had a hand at helping out in Rookie Help recently while starting my fifth account and I keep telling myself "There must be a better way to explain this to people." So, in response to the cliff still posed by the new player experience I've decided to start making Youtube videos with in-game footage and commentary.

The channel such as it is (no videos, yet) is established here.

Feel free to leave suggestions regarding topics you'd like covered there by sending an email to Urziel99 (at) gmail (dot) com. or by contacting my Twitter account: @Urziel99

I intend to do the very basics first, maybe even cover some of the tutorial missions in detail. Anyone with an idea feel free to let me know.

Blog Banter 32: PvP needs consequences for both sides.

This month's Blog Banter on Freebooted is about one of the most fundamental principles of the game, and also one of the most debated. We are talking about non-consensual PvP combat.


In most MMO's the rules for engaging in pvp are pretty straightforward. In WoW (or as it's more commonly know to the eve community, "The game that shall not be named") pvp is activated by setting a character option to allow pvp combat (aka flagging) this is also activated by joining in Battlegrounds or Arenas as well as attacking flagged players or entering certain areas that are designated as Combat Zones (Lake Wintergrasp and Tol Barad) or are contested territories on pvp servers.

Eve however has no such mechanic. That Thrasher that just undocked beside your industrial could easily lock you up and poof, no more industrial. While many see this as a bad thing and cry great amounts of tears when this happens, the behavior doesn't change. There are penalties of course. In highsec an aggressor runs afoul of CONCORD who will destroy the offending ship, lending this mechanic it's name. Suicide Ganking. Security status is lost by these acts unless the attacker's corporation has a CONCORD sanctioned war in place that allows them to temporarily ignore the restrictions of highsec combat (known in-game as the Yulai Convention, the document that created CONCORD).

 Included below are some easy ways to make yourself prepared for pvp in this madhouse we call a sandbox.

1. Don't make yourself an easy target. Stay aware of current events throughout New Eden. If you know the Goons are coming or that Hulkageddon is just around the corner you'll be more wary and observant than those who find out when their Exhumers are primaried.

2. Don't make yourself an attractive target. Since most ganks happen outside the confines of a wardec the aggressor will be losing his ship, and thanks to the insurance changes will not be getting any compensation for it. This means they are going to be looking for high-value targets who have loot that might be scooped from the wreck by a nearby friend or alt for profit. So doing something like undocking from Jita 4-4 in a Kestrel with 72 PLEX in the cargo hold is a very bad idea. Also running officer fit ratting or mission ships will make you a target. So keep the 13 billion isk Raven Navy Issue's indoors.

3. Blueball the enemy. When wardecced by an enemy, make them wish they had decced someone else. Play station games with them. If you have a POS make sure it's fully stronted with extra stront and fuel in the Corp Hangar Array and run all the hardeners and ECM you can. Grief the griefer.


In short the issue with non-consensual pvp is not so much the pvp as it is a lack of consequence for the aggressor. Below I cover some suggestions:

1. Stargate access tied to sec status: Negative sec status players can still enter secured space, meet up with an Orca board a ship, warp to a belt and pop ice miners. The Mittani himself gave instructions on how to do this to his members to extend the duration of their Ice Interdiction. This is unacceptable. It turns sec status into nothing but a meaningless number. As suggested the first Blog Banter I submitted there should be no entry into a system by a player who would be fired upon should they enter the system in a ship. A simple error message "The stargate denies you permission to jump due to your security status being too low." and no jump for Mr. Ganker. The ganker will now have to raise their security status back to an acceptable level to enter the target system.

2. Dynamic status loss. When committing a crime the sec status of the system should be factored in. In a .5 system like Niarja the status hits would be the same as they are now. In a 1.0 system like Perimeter or Amarr they would be higher (preferably tripled)

3. CONCORD/sentry guns podding GCC players. Most gankers run cheap throw away fits and ships. Usually these ships have enough to fire one devastating volley before they are destroyed. There is one thing they have that is still valuable. Their pods. These pilots still have SP and possibly implants or hardwirings installed when they are out ganking. Podding these pilots forces them to upgrade their medical clones and replace any cybernetic implants they had plugged in.

4. Increased wardec costs. Highsec wardecs are broken in many ways. for less than the cost of a cruiser I could declare war on any corp that is not in an alliance for 1 week and gleefully kill them (including pods) with impunity. This is little more than legalized piracy. This also gives griefer corps a cheap way to operate with no consequence or severe financial outlay. All wardecs should be proportional to the number of pilots (and average skillpoint level of those pilots) in the corps with a minimum of 100 million isk to wardec a corporation and 500 million isk to wardec an alliance. If this route is unfeasible than a counter cost should be added that the target corp can pay to have the dec invalidated. This would be 150% of the dec cost but would become lower over time if the aggressor corp continues to push wardecs (though the aggressors cost would not rise with each week) until eventually the dec can be invalidated for free after 10 weeks.

5. Automatic CONCORDing / podding of Neutral RR. Many griefer corps rely on the use of the broken Neutral Remote Repair mechanic to fight battles while protecting expensive logistics ships. This is an exploit and should be banned. To encourage players away from this behavior. CONCORD should treat those who neutral RR a ship that is aggressed by someone with a valid wardec on them as if they had a GCC including the above mentioned podkill. If the exploiter complains remind them that they didn't pay CONCORD for the whole suspension of the Yulai Convention like the aggressor corp did. Then tell them to HTFU.

In short, the problem isn't pvp. It's the holes in place that minimize and eliminate risk and consequence. Fix those problems and no one will complain about pvp and griefers will become extinct from lack of carebear tears.

Blog Banter 31: Reviewing Eve Online

The game of Eve is small in the eyes of most MMO players. Most people see this as a detriment, however it is in reality one of it's greatest strengths. The community is on one shard and the actions of one group can affect all other groups. Getting started can be a bit harrowing but the rewards are worth the risk.

Starting out

The game itself can be very unforgiving to those who don't know what they are doing. (Do the bloody tutorials ya noob!) Unlike getting killed in World of Warcraft where the penalty is some repair costs getting a ship blown up will cost you that ship and anything in it. If you get destroyed in your capsule (pod-killed) any implants you have will also be lost. Failure has real consequences, so caution and paranoia are handy skills to have. Eventually you will want to join a player corporation. Never, EVER pay anyone money to join a corporation, no matter who they are or what they say. They are scamming you.


Scamming and other forms of inanity

Eve is very much hands-off when it comes to scamming, ganking and other forms of asshattery that are used against a new, inexperienced player. Many scams and cons exist and unlike World of Warcraft, CCP Games doesn't police this at all. A player in WoW who rips off a guild bank will have the items taken from them and risks a ban. Eve has no such system. Only one rule works in Eve: Trust No One.

Community

For having a very dark and completely ruthless backdrop the Eve community is easily one of the strongest of any MMO past or present. The metagame within Eve is the stuff of legend, cataloging the exploits of various luminary people and organizations in their rise to power. Blogs and podcasts cover the news and happenings of various players from all over New Eden.


Depth of substance

One of the greatest and most attractive features in Eve is it's non-linear game play. Want to mine asteroids and make the ships, weapons, and modules to drive the economy? Train to fly a Hulk and invest in industry skills. Want to blow up computer controlled ships? Missions are a great start eventually leading up to participating in Incursion fleets. Want to prey upon other hapless players? There are plenty of corporations that do just that.

Conclusion
Eve is not for the faint of heart or the easily discouraged. Those who have the stomach for taking risks will be rewarded for their success. Those with a cautious nature and a paranoid mindset will be able to measure risk and avoid scams. Those who have a open mind can find tons of things to do.


Challenge 10/10
Variety of Content 8/10
Graphics 8/10
Complexity 10/10
Overall score 9/10

Blog Banter 30: Finishing the job

With the changes in the upcoming expansion surrounding high-sec wars many people (read griefers) will complain about them. It's hilarious in a way considering their actions whether they be neutral R.R. of a ship that is at war with another corp, or the suicide ganking of a ship. Both of these actions are a direct violation of the Treaty of Yulai that created Concord in the first place.

And now they are mad that insurance isn't being paid out on those gank ships? Hello? Does your homeowners insurance pay your policy out if you burn your own house down? No, because Arson is a criminal act. So is ganking a ship you aren't in a declared war with.

Now we just need CCP to finish the job. Don't allow anyone to use the gates into a highsec system if their security status would see their destroyed in that system. Even if they are in a pod. If they jump clone into highsec and leave the station, have the sentry guns pod them. A true criminal would be shot first and questions asked later. It should be no different in New Eden.