Fanfest details emerge on EVE's Walking in Stations expansion
by James Egan 
Nov 7th 2008 at 4:30PM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, MMO industry, News items, Races, Roleplaying
In further news coming from EVE Fanfest 2008, CCP Games has given a press-only presentation detailing the upcoming Walking in Stations expansion for EVE Online. While this is an aspect of the game that's so far been a divisive issue among EVE players, the expansion will allow players to step out of their ships and interact as highly detailed avatars in ship station interiors and captain's quarters aboard their own ships (presumably while docked in a station hangar). Walking in Stations is a project that's drawn on the talents of "special effects artists from the world of television and movies into the video game medium, a number of whom have been brought on to the team at CCP," writes Jon Wood of MMORPG.com, reporting from Reykjavik.
CCP Games has enlisted the services of an architect to design the station floorplans and structures, with socialization and interaction in mind. Customization is a key aspect of Walking in Stations, particularly in terms of a character's looks. "Hiring the costume designer has resulted in the game's clothing not only matching the stylistic feel of the game's eclectic cultures, but has also resulted in design detail which insures that everything, right down to where the virtual seams are placed, would be realistic enough to actually create and function in the real world," Wood writes.
Wood lays out for his readers what they can expect from Walking in Stations, literally describing the expansion as a stroll out of one's ship and into the station's interiors. From one's private captain's quarters to the station promenade, with its rentable spaces where players can establish their own offices and bars. Wood writes: "Taking it one step further though will be the NPCs available for purchase that will populate your space. Players will be able to create their own dialogue trees for these characters so that other players will interact with them. They will be able to take and receive items/money and should allow players to use their establishments for any number of things, including creating their own missions."
Walking in Stations will also allow corporations to have private areas for meetings or socializing, not to mention a place where potential candidates can gather or even be interviewed 'face-to-face' in a sense. Mini-games will be arriving in EVE, as will the potential to bet ISK on the outcomes of certain games.
Wood also addresses the inevitable player concerns over Walking in Stations compounding the lag issues that are already present in EVE's single-world system, writing, "We were told that the stations themselves will exist apart from the space game and shouldn't cause one another problems."
If you're looking for even more info on what Walking in Stations will and will not be, you'll want to check out Jon Wood's piece "EVE Online: Walking in Stations Presentation" for more details on what CCP has revealed about the forthcoming expansion.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dave said on 4:49PM 11-07-2008
I like the walking around in starports much like Earth and Beyond did back in the day, however, there is no way in Haiti that I would join a game that has deep rooted corruption and exploits. Especially since some were condoned by the devs.
Too little too late?
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SgtBaker said on 6:13PM 11-07-2008
Too bad for you.
In the meanwhile EVE is doing just fine without you.
Ps. And I don't mean to be CCP apologist. They deserve stern flogging for their scandals - but EVE is a solid game and it would be a shame to miss it for the reasons you state.
James Egan said on 6:54PM 11-07-2008
Agreed with SgtBaker -- and Dave to some extent -- what happened shouldn't be forgotten or swept under the rug.
A lot of the EVE play experience is about harsh consequences linked to your actions. In keeping with that tradition linked to the game, I see no reason why there shouldn't be consequences for the future career of a dev who abuses his or her knowledge or control over the game to unbalance it... My .02 ISK.
I do recall having read something by CCP's CEO, quite a while back, that he would have handled the matter differently than whoever was involved in the decision to keep or fire the employee. That loss of trust is a major issue and largely responsible for the player-developer divide that's characterized EVE since I began playing.
Even though I really like the game and think the company is doing some really innovative things in the MMO space, it's important that this isn't allowed to happen again. And as much as I think it's time to move ahead, it still shouldn't be forgotten.
As (one would hope anyway) the CCP devs keep in touch with the game by actually playing it alongside everyone else, I've often wondered how they felt about their friend and co-worker using his position to do something that they simply wouldn't. Would it create tension in the workplace? Would it create a policy where employees don't discuss who they are/what they do in-game with one another? Do CCP's 'Internal Affairs' audits turn up dev misconduct, and if so are said devs terminated? All good questions, but as outsiders we're not likely to learn these things. I suppose it comes down to either having faith in them, or the simple fact that most people are going to place their livelihood above spawning BPOs in a game.
That said, I wouldn't bother playing the game if I really believed that it wasn't a level playing field, much less writing about it. I can fully understand people shying away from EVE or even outright rejecting it based off of what happened in the past and the PR nightmare it represented (and continues to represent) for CCP Games, but I also think it's not something that's happening now on any wide scale.
If someone bases their judgement of the hundreds of people that make up CCP on the actions of one person who abused his power - or that GM that was an Ebayer - they might be off base a bit. But again, I can't say someone's wrong for thinking that way. Just think they're missing out on an interesting game.
Of course this has nothing to do with the content of the actual post on Walking in Stations... but this could turn out to be an interesting discussion if others care to run with it.
Temploiter said on 9:44AM 11-08-2008
Maybe this will lead to a sequel to EVE that runs alongside the current EVE game. That sequel would be 100% ground/space station based in your actual body.
A whole new set of skills, with no space game pre-reqs would begin on purchase. Dodge, Rifle certs, +Ranged Damage skills. EVE2: Ground and Pound!
Do it please! I can't play a space ship, and damn I want to love you EVE.
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