James Egan
Shanghai, China - http://www.massively.com/bloggers/james-egan
James has been wandering the earth and lost in Asia for some time now. But somewhere along the way, he re-discovered his love for gaming. His home is wherever his laptop is and- more often than not- it’s running iTunes and EVE Online. He is a huge fan of comics, animation, and all things sci-fi. In those respects, he’s not so different from how he was at age 14... and he's quite proud of that.
He can be reached at james AT massively DOT com.
by James Egan 
Nov 21st 2009 (4 hours ago)
EVE
CCP
In the time our columnist
Brendan Drain and I have spent covering
EVE Online for Massively, it's grown into one of the site's
most popular game categories. With that in mind, we've decided to run a contest that's really a
thank you to our readers who've been following along with our
EVE coverage.
CCP Games was kind enough to provide Massively's readers with 50
Pilot License Extensions (PLEX) as contest prizes which we'll give away over the next two weeks.
As most every
EVE Online player knows, one PLEX = one month of game time, but is also a virtual item that can be bought and sold on the market in-game. Massively's
EVE Online PLEX contest will actually give our readers two chances at winning -- once this week, and once next week, too. The first thing we must note is this contest will only be open to North American residents (U.S. and Canada, excluding Quebec). Sorry to our other readers abroad, but it's a legal thing. For everyone else who is eligible to enter, read on for more info:
by James Egan Nov 20th 2009 (17 hours ago)
EVE
CCP
The
EVE Online developers have announced that some of their proposed changes to capital ships will not deploy with the
Dominion expansion as originally planned. This may come as good news to some of
EVE's supercarrier (formerly "mothership") pilots who've expressed no small amount of dissatisfaction at how their ships were
slated to be changed. With the supercarrier changes not going through, this also means that the fighter bombers -- anti-capital ship drones intended to bathe
EVE's largest ships in waves of torpedo explosions -- will not arrive on December 1 with
Dominion.
Changes to other capital ship weapons systems like XL Turrets, however, are another matter entirely. They're discussed at length in a dev blog from CCP Nozh titled "
Capital Ships in Dominion" as are the new Citadel Cruise Missile Launchers intended to be a long range weapon system.
by James Egan Nov 20th 2009 (1 day ago)
EVE
CCP
Goonswarm spymaster
The Mittani took a different approach with his latest
EVE Online column at
Ten Ton Hammer, and conducted an interview with a corporate saboteur titled "The Most Dangerous Agent". While it should be stated that most players in
EVE do not engage in espionage, it's a career path of sorts that any player
could potentially engage in, provided they have the combination of intelligence, social skills, and dedication needed to succeed. It's that aspect of dedication which often goes unmentioned -- the challenge of maintaining long-term duplicity.
The Mittani's interview with a player anonymously referred to as "Darwin's Accelerator" explains how a player with destructive aims greater than simply engaging a few enemy ships at a time can use intel to devastating effect, wiping out entire fleets. Maintaining a persona that fits in with the target organization and thus won't arouse suspicion, however, can be difficult if the infiltrator genuinely dislikes the members that comprise the corporation or alliance.
by James Egan Nov 19th 2009 (1 day ago)
Karos Online publisher
NHN Corporation has announced that open beta for the fantasy MMO will kick off on Friday, December 4th. The official site's
link for CBT sign-ups is still active, so this may be worth a shot. Those gamers already in the
Karos Online closed beta will have some things to look forward to in the final CBT event running from November 27th - 28th. Characters will be given gear and items for high-level play with rapid experience gain. NHN says players will reach a level cap of 44
"almost immediately". There will also be new monsters, weapons, and Holy Creatures to tear into.
In addition, players in the CBT will be able to reserve their character names for when
Karos Online's open beta doors swing wide to the masses. The English version of
Karos Online is scheduled to launch in Q4 2009, with German and Turkish versions to follow in 2010.
by James Egan Nov 19th 2009 (1 day ago)
The United Kingdom's Department for Transport has launched a free browser MMO,
Code of Everand, that teaches traffic safety to children. It does so through a fantasy theme with direct parallels to real world dangers -- streets are Spirit Channels, glowing energy streams populated with many dangerous beasts. The Spirit Channels crisscross the map of Everand and make travel perilous. That's where the players come in as Pathfinders, explorers trained in the techniques that allow for safe passage across the Spirit Channels. Pathfinders learn important safety lessons along the way in their journey to discover the secrets of Everand.
Code of Everand was developed for the UK Department for Transport by NYC-based firm
Area/Code over the course of two years,
reports Game Set Watch. Area/Code has a long track record of creating cross-media games for advertising and media firms, television networks, and even major consumer brands. According to Area/Code's site, they've taken innovative approaches to games in the past --
"online games that respond to broadcast TV in real time, simulated characters and virtual worlds that occupy real-world geography" and
"game events driven by real-world data". Interesting concepts. If you like the idea of games used as an effective educational tool, you can see the animated trailer for
Code of Everand after the jump.
by James Egan Nov 18th 2009 (3 days ago)
EVE
We recently wrote a bit about the new PvE content coming to
EVE Online in the
Dominion expansion -- Epic Mission Arcs for the Angel Cartel and Guristas pirate factions where
your speed will help you survive. Now
CCP Games has dropped more info on these branching pirate missions; the Guristas arc is called "Smash and Grab" while the Angel Cartel arc is "Angel Sound". A dev blog written by CCP Jasonitas walks readers through the standings requirements -- if your Angel Cartel standings are horrible but you have decent standings with either the Minmatar or Amarr, you can still run the Angel arc. Likewise with the Guristas, your Caldari or Gallente faction standings will let you embark on the Guristas pirate arc.
In some respects, these arcs will open up pirate faction mission running for many players, given that completion of an arc will impart a 30% standings gain towards that faction. Players have long wanted a way to repair their negative standings towards New Eden's pirate factions and this seems to be the first step towards that. Still, that standings gain won't benefit players who are particularly loathed by a given pirate faction
unless the arcs can be repeated some months down the line as with standard Epic Mission Arcs.
by James Egan Nov 16th 2009 (4 days ago)
Demon Busters in
Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online are now enjoying a fresh content update, which includes motorbikes courtesy of the Shinjuku Babel mechanics. This new mode of transportation in the game allows players to travel between zones quickly and in first person perspective.
Atlus has also introduced alchemy, a crafting system where players can create new objects with unusual properties. Runes that boost abilities for your demons or potions that augment your own abilities are a few possibilities with the new item mixing system. They've also released more PvE content in the form of demon friend quests, provided your friendships with the infernal powers-that-be are at the appropriate levels.
Perhaps the biggest content addition to
Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine Online is the Team Battle system. The title's publisher
Aeria Games writes:
"Gather your allies and friends to crush your enemies in fast-paced, high intenseity group versus group combat for glory and god-like gear. Choose to fight solo in sided matches against other solo players, or combine your strength with others to demolish the competition in team versus team battle."by James Egan Nov 16th 2009 (4 days ago)
Stargate Worlds
It's been a long, difficult road for
Stargate Worlds -- a game that has been mired in financial woes for quite some time. Now and again we do get to report
some positive news about the sci-fi MMO, but it's clear that
Stargate Worlds isn't out of the woods quite yet.
Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment recently made an announcement to the game's fan community, thanking them for their support through tough times.
CME stated,
"We know you expect nothing less than the AAA content in Stargate Worlds
our development team is working hard to give you along with some additional exciting news we will be revealing very soon! We want to thank everyone for their continued support and passion for Stargate Worlds
and we can't wait to show you more of what we've been cooking up over here."
As to what they've been working on, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment released some new screenshots of the armor and weapons for the Goa'uld, Jaffa, Soldier, and Scientist classes. CME explains,
"Each of these armor sets will have unique traits that make them ideal for certain situations. As players become familiar with each world and the various environments they will encounter, they will discover which sets of armor best suit their play." The most recent
Stargate Worlds images can be seen at the top of the
gallery on the SGW Community Site.
by James Egan Nov 14th 2009 (7 days ago)
All Points Bulletin is definitely on the radar for a number of fans of urban crime games seeking a deeper multiplayer environment. While many of us would enjoy a perpetual cascade of felonies (or arrests),
Realtime Worlds wants players to have a sense of San Paro as a fleshed out urban setting where they can create their own stories.
Realtime Worlds Lead Creative Designer Stephen Hewitt (aka 'KitKat') discusses the stories that will run throughout
All Points Bulletin in the latest video podcast and introduces viewers to the criminal organizations players will tangle with at some point.
We get a look at the G-Kings gang, who are essentially punks clawing their way up the criminal hierarchy of San Paro. Hewitt also gives us a glimpse at the Blood Roses, an organization comprised of trust fund club kids dipping their toes into a life of crime just for the thrills. Stick with us after the jump for the latest
All Points Bulletin video podcast,
The Organizations of San Paro.
by James Egan Nov 14th 2009 (7 days ago)
EVE
CCP
Massively
recently pointed out that the candidates have been announced for
EVE Online's fourth
Council of Stellar Management (CSM) -- the player-elected body that represents subscriber interests as the game is developed. (Also, if you missed it the first time around, you can
listen to the recordings of CSM debates
hosted by the Planet Risk radio show.)
There are a number of candidates in the running this election: 49 at last count. These prospective CSM delegates have put forth some wildly differing views on how
EVE Online should evolve and there's a fair amount of info to sift through on the forums and the individual sites that candidates maintain. Not that this is really a substitute for actually, y'know,
reading up on who you're voting for, but there's now a site that can help you zero in on the candidates who share your views on the game.
Vote Match will match your views on issues as a player with the election platforms the various CSM candidates are running on. The site was coded by the current CSM Chairman
Dierdra Vaal and is definitely worth a look for
EVE Online players trying to decide on which candidate to back.
