Category: EVE Online

[EVE Online] The latest dev blog over at EVE Online brings some hope for a cleaner, brighter future.

In what a feel is a good move, the new director of internal affairs makes an introduction and follows with some plans for the future. The part that Arkanon said here is what I was hoping to read:

I believed, and still believe that we owe our player community the right to be the focus of EVE, without paid employees using dirty tricks to swing our universe in their favor. Even playing by the rules, I frown on employees being power players to the extent that their gameplay results in any sort of domination over others. I don’t believe CCP employees should run the EVE universe; that spot is reserved for the paying customer. EVE is a sandbox, but it’s not our sandbox. We’re here to keep it clean and provide the sand.

I hope so Arkanon, I hope so.

– Ethic

[EVE Online] CCP t20 On Recent Allegations:

As you might have read and heard, there were recently some allegations posted regarding developer misconduct that basically come down to:

* Developers helping (an) alliance(s) gain information they otherwise would not have.
* Developers having an unfair advantage of game mechanics.
* Developers helping themselves acquire goods in-game by means of in-house tools, otherwise not available to regular players.

All allegations mentioned above are untrue, except one. Sadly enough, the allegation regarding unlawfully obtained blueprints are, in my case, true. I’m here, laying out the facts of what happened in June 2006 so this whole issue — which jeopardized my colleagues, my company and our community — can be put behind us, I hope for the better.

Continue reading CCP Comes Clean

[EVE Online] My subscription has run out and I think I’m done playing EVE Online for good. War between large alliances has shown me some things about pure PVP games, things I don’t care for. Is PVP in it’s true form nothing short of grief play? At least in EVE, I say yes it is.

In EVE, it seems the best way to win a war is to try and ruin the fun of the game for your opponent. Smack them on the public forums, get spies into their alliance so you can post private forum threads on the public forums, steal their stuff, shut off their player-owned stations from within, and do everything you can to demoralize them. In short, make them want to quit playing the game. In a game that supports these play styles, expect nothing less.

Continue reading PVP is Grief Play

[EVE Online] I re-subscribed to EVE Online for a month, and as is usually the case, the game has changed quite a bit since I was last here. This time, the boxes of candy from exploding ships have turned into “wrecks,” so I apparently need a salvaging skill to get what I previously got. Is that correct? [edit: no, just first day bad luck with wrecks] Any reason for this, or just a skill point sink? My warping seems to have changed, too. No more of that 10km-off warping?

I have been away for about six months. Any other big changes that will affect me in low-level play?

: Zubon

Update: Funny thing is, I did not realize that I was re-subscribing after a major patch. I expect that I will show up in their data mining as someone who returned in the buzz about Revelations, but I had not heard of it before updating.

[EVE Online] You may remember my post, bragging if you will, about the alliance I belong to producing the first Titan-class ship to the game (at least officially announced). Well now we can also claim to have had the first Titan (named Steve by the way) destroyed. Yeah, that kind of sucks.

The pilot, also the CEO of the alliance, was not at the controls when it happened. How that situation came about, there are many rumors. Only one person knows for sure and he said his computer crashed and could not get back online. No matter what happened, the Band of Brothers alliance found it and destroyed it. Well over 100 billion ISK gone. To make matters worse, the CEO was so upset by the whole event that he decided to step down from the alliance and maybe even the game. Can’t say that I blame him. The Titan cost more than most people in EVE will ever make in their whole time playing.

Continue reading The End Of Steve

[EVE Online] The Band of Brothers (BoB) alliance (the 6th largest in EVE with 1531 members) has declared war on the Ascendant Frontier (ASCN) alliance (the largest in EVE with 3829 members). My corporation, Ars Caelestis, is part of ASCN. While this is part of what playing EVE is all about, I really wonder how the server cluster will hold up in battles with the potential to become huge.

Continue reading BoB Declares War On ASCN

[EVE Online] The first Titan has been built and it was Ascendant Frontier that made it happen. It’s a pretty big deal, and an even bigger ship. Way to go ASCN! Ars Caelestis is proud to be a part of ASCN.

Updated:

Official news report.

ASCN leader CYVOK posted on the official EVE forums: “Maybe our second titan finished at 13:02 today, maybe it didn’t.” Hmm…

– Ethic