Filed under: EVE Online

EVE Evolved: Medic ships, part 1: The healers of EVE

by Brendan Drain Mar 21st 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Tips and tricks, Grouping, PvE, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

The holy trinity of tank, healer and damage-dealer is present in every MMO, including EVE Online. While most MMOs dedicate these roles to specific classes, ships in EVE can do all three at the same time. When running missions solo, for example, a ship will need to tank incoming damage, repair it and deal damage themselves. Setting up a ship for solo PvE becomes a balancing act between the three roles. Too little tank and you'll find yourself in trouble, but too little damage and you'll take forever to kill NPCs.

As part of a gang, however, remote armour repair and shield transfer modules allow pilots to specialise into a traditional healer role. Rather than having each player repair their own damage, it can be much more effective to have a dedicated medic ship to repair anyone that gets shot at. There are even specialised ships for would-be healers in EVE, from entry-level cruisers to advanced Tech 2 Logistics ships and massive capital ships. Medic ships can be an effective part of any gang, whether you're tackling a tough level 4 or 5 mission or engaging in large-scale gang PvP.

In this first part of a two-part look into dedicated healers in EVE Online, I look at the more affordable ships and modules available and the best strategy for healing in PvE.

One Shots: Amarrian history

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 21st 2010 at 2:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, EVE Online, One Shots

We've seen battles, stations, ships, and even some funny signs, but this is one of the first times someone has captured statuary in New Eden and sent it in to us. Now as to what a statue is doing floating around, we'll turn to today's EVE Online contributor, Xaan Debunk, who writes in: "In this picture I captured a huge statue just floating in space while I [was] doing a mission. You don't get to see too many vistas like this one in EVE, so I thought I'd take a screenshot. Apparently it's an ancient Amarrian ruin called the Amarrian Holy Dome. It is completely broken off from the other parts of what I assume were once a space station."

Have you found something interesting we haven't seen here in your favorite MMO? If so, why not grab a screenshot of it and send it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. Be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. We'll post them out here on Massively and give you the credit for sending it in.

Gallery: One Shots: Gallery II

Video shows CCP's incredible cloth and hair simulation

by Brendan Drain Mar 20th 2010 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Fantasy, Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, MMO industry, Previews, World of Darkness

We've known for some time that CCP planned to use physics simulation to make the clothes in EVE Online's Incarna expansion and their upcoming World of Darkness MMO more realistic. They even gave a talk on using NVidia's APEX cloth simulation at the 2010 Game Developer's Conference. Until now, all we've seen are technical details and the occasional screenshot, which makes it hard to work out how the end product will look.

NVidia have released a new video this week of CCP's cloth simulation in action, giving those of us that are interested a sneak peak at the incredibly impressive results. Although APEX cloth simulation will be introduced to EVE when Incarna is released, the video looks much more like something out of World of Darkness. As an added bonus, the system seems to simulate realistic hair and not just clothes. Hair in most MMOs has always been limited to shorter styles which would look alright without animation. The ability to simulate complex clothes and long hair styles make character customisation in World of Darkness and EVE's Incarna expansion look very promising.

Skip past the cut to watch the video in HD.
[Thanks for the tip, Patrick!]

Win a year of EVE Online game time with the PODDED podcast

by Brendan Drain Mar 18th 2010 at 7:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Podcasts, EVE Online, Contests, Culture

We all love to keep up with what's been going on in our favourite MMOs, whether the news is delivered by dedicated news sites and blogs or live radio shows and pre-recorded podcasts. There's certainly no shortage of fan-run podcasts and blogs in the EVE Online community but occasionally one will stand out from the crowd. Originally started up in 2007, the "PODDED" podcast had limited success with a run of only 11 episodes. After a relaunch in 2009, hosts Dillon Arklight and War Childe seemed to find their feet and have since seen their listener base grow. Posted on an irregular schedule, the PODDED podcast explores everything that's happened in the world of EVE since the last episode, from news and devblogs to coverage of major nullsec wars.

To celebrate the one year anniversary of their relaunch, Dillon Arklight and War Childe are giving away one year's worth of EVE game time! To enter, you'll need to record an original piece of EVE-related audio comedy. It must be no longer than 3 minutes and can be any form of comedy. Some suggested ideas include an EVE parody song, reading an original EVE short story, creating a fake EVE advert or just doing some general comedic gags. If you think you've got what it takes to produce a funny EVE-related audio clip of three minutes or less, get your submission in by April 28th for a chance to win. Full submission guidelines are available at the PODDED podcast homepage.

EVE Tyrannis expansion trailer confirms May 18th release date

by Brendan Drain Mar 18th 2010 at 6:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Trailers, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, News items

Just under a month ago, CCP announced Tyrannis, the next big expansion for EVE Online. Tyrannis centres around the planets of New Eden, which have so far played a purely visual role in the game. The expansion promises to open these planets for exploration and industrialisation, with players scanning for juicy mineral deposits and setting up vast, sprawling industrial networks. An early prototype of the planetary interaction feature has even been put on the EVE test server and players can help develop the expansion by giving their feedback.

CCP typically release two expansions per year and Tyrannis has been roughly slated for this year's summer expansion. Although the summer expansion can sometimes come as late as July, CCP have just released a new teaser trailer confirming a May 18th release date. This gives the developers just over 8 weeks to get the expansion into shape. This should give the team more time to work on the next expansion, which most are hoping will be Incarna. Skip past the cut to watch the official Tyrannis teaser.

Help develop Tyrannis on the EVE test server

by Brendan Drain Mar 17th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Crafting

EVE Online's Tyrannis expansion is due for release in a few months and players are looking forward to the new planetary interaction mechanic. Although the core ideas for the expansion have been settled on, many of the game mechanics have not been fully fleshed out. In an effort to get players involved, CCP have begun releasing early prototypes of the planetary interaction feature on the EVE test server Singularity. It's important to keep in mind that nothing on the test server is final. As a studio that makes heavy use of agile development strategies, CCP will use feedback from players on the test server to incrementally refine the design.

Dierdra Val, director of EVE University, has been on the test server to bring the EVE community details of CCP's current designs. They've released a video showing the process of installing structures on a planet and setting up factory links. So far, planetary interaction seems very similar to the moon mining and reacting industry but it's definitely a much more active process. While moon mining operations produce an endless supply of moon minerals at a steady rate, planet-based material deposits will vary in total size and yield per cycle. The materials produced on planets are also different than those produced by existing industrial operations.

Skip past the cut to watch EVE University's test-server planetary interaction tutorial or set up a test server client and try it out for yourself.

Fan-run EVE competition offers prizes for best wallpaper

by Brendan Drain Mar 15th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Screenshots, EVE Online, Contests, Wallpapers

EVE Online player Xiphos83 has teamed up with our friends over at Crazykinux's Musing to make an EVE competition that's definitely worth entering. Always on the look-out for a new desktop background, for this competition he wants to see your best attempt at a visually stunning EVE wallpaper. With all the graphical upgrades EVE has received over the years, it's always kept its spot as one of the most visually stunning MMOs out there. It lends itself spectacularly to taking awesome screenshots and making dramatic videos. Entries must be at a minimum resolution of 1280 x 1024 and should fit into either an "Action" or "Scenic" theme. Anything from well-posed snaps of your favourite EVE planet to full-on PvP shots are in with a chance to win.

Entry costs 10 million ISK and the winners will split the entire pot between them, with an additional 175 million ISK contributed by donors. Judging by the number of comments the competition has received so far, there could be a lot of ISK in that prize pot up for grabs. To enter, simply email your screenshot to crazykinux [AT] gmail [DOT] com along with your EVE character's name and wire your entry fee to character "CrazyKinux" in-game. Entries must be in by March 26th and to be in with a chance to win, make sure you read the contest rules.

EVE University turns six years old today

by Brendan Drain Mar 15th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Guilds, News items

EVE Online has made a name for itself as an MMO with a steep learning curve. Getting into the game can be a daunting experience for new players, particularly if they want to get involved in PvP. Six years ago today, EVE player "Morning Maniac" founded the EVE University corporation in an effort to combat exactly that problem. Since then, they've been EVE's best-known new player training corp, providing free training and supplies to players getting to grips with the game. The program has seen over 10,000 new players pass through and graduate on to bigger and better things. Their success has spawned many other training corps over the years, including those focused on piracy.

In his six year birthday announcement, Kelduum Revaan of EVE University talked about how the game had changed over the years, adding that "one thing has remained constant - there are always new players, and there is always more to learn." At last year's five year anniversary, a brief history of the corp graced the EVE news. Since then, EVE University has gone from strength to strength, with some impressive achievements over the last twelve months. Over 3,000 new players entered the program this year, for a time making EVE University possibly the biggest single corp in the game. They were even recommended by PC Gamer magazine as the best place for new players to start their EVE journey. This year also saw the opening of their wormhole operations division and the opening of access to NPC nullsec regions for members. The corp looks forward to expanding operations and we at Massively wish them every success over the coming year.

EVE Evolved: Playing casually or just killing time

by Brendan Drain Mar 14th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, PvP, Tips and tricks, PvE, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

MMOs are a popular hobby for hardcore and casual players alike. While some people love getting firmly embedded in their favourite MMO every night, a growing number of players prefer to log in occasionally and just kill a few hours at a time. EVE Online is no exception, with a mix of both casual and hardcore players. Taking part in things like alliance warfare, starbase industry or corporate management may require that a player log in every night but most other avenues of gameplay don't. A lot of EVE's gameplay can be picked up for a few hours and set back down with no added responsibility. In fact, player demographic data shows that most players prefer to live in the more casual environment of high security space. So what kind of things can you do if you just fancy playing internet spaceships for a few hours?

In this opinion piece, I look at five of my favourite ways to kill a few hours in the name of EVE. What's your favourite way to spend a few hours?

GDC10: Torfi Frans Olafsson gives details on Tyrannis, Incarna and more

by Brendan Drain Mar 14th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, MMO industry, Professions, PvE

For the last few weeks, EVE Online players have been getting excited about the up-coming Tyrannis expansion with its Planetary Interaction feature. We received our first taste of what Tyrannis will hold last month when the expansion was announced and since then we've speculated on how its planetary interaction feature might work. Although CCP haven't answered our interview questions on Tyrannis yet, we caught up with EVE Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson at GDC 2010 to get the inside scoop. Torfi was keen to point out that a lot of what CCP are doing in Tyrannis is laying the foundation for future updates and expansions. He calls Tyrannis "a stepping stone toward something even bigger."

In addition to providing some inside info on the upcoming Tyrannis and Incarna expansions, Torfi revealed that there are more people working on EVE today than ever before. In contrast to MMOs that cut down their development team sizes once the game is out, CCP's ranks have been increasing at a huge rate in recent years. The ever-increasing revenue generated by EVE subscribers allows them to fund a large development team dedicated to making the game better for EVE players. "We've never had as many subscribers as we have today", says Torfi, "330,000 subscribers, like actual paying subscribers, not counting trials." It's thanks to all those subscribers that CCP are beginning to realise dreams they were never able to achieve when the game was less popular.

Skip past the cut to see what Torfi Frans Olafsson had to say about Tyrannis, Incarna and more.

CCP looking for lots of new people

by Krystalle Voecks Mar 12th 2010 at 6:00PM

Filed under: EVE Online, MMO industry, News items, World of Darkness, DUST 514

Are you one of the myriad pilots in EVE Online? Does the idea of DUST 514 make your thumbs twitch in anticipation? Are you waiting for any news on the World of Darkness MMO? If you answered yes to any of the above, you have experience working on games, and are looking for a change, then you'll want to check this out.

CCP have posted a gobsmackingly enormous amount of openings on their website for any game development folks currently looking for a new spot -- or to just make a career change. The current openings are in their studios around the world: Atlanta, GA (USA); Newcastle, UK; Reykjavik, Iceland; and Shanghai, China. Positions listed are for everything from Programmers and QA Testers to more specialized spots like Lead Fashion Designer.

Some of the spots are more obvious than others: console designers are undoubtedly tied to the development of DUST 514. The QA job in Atlanta references "our upcoming MMO" which, along with White Wolf being headquartered there, reinforces it as the likely spot for the World of Darkness MMO. Iceland, of course, is the long-held bastion of EVE Online -- and The Party on Top of the World will be local if you land a spot there!

So if the idea of becoming part of a company that seems to understand that working hard and playing hard can happen in the same place, then get that resume shined up and head on over to CCP's job listings.

CCP: Unreal Engine 3 will power Dust 514

by Jef Reahard Mar 11th 2010 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, New titles, News items, MMOFPS, DUST 514

EVE Online developer CCP Games has announced a partnership with Epic Games China that will bring Unreal Engine 3 technology to their forthcoming console MMOFPS known as Dust 514. Set in the same universe as their successful PC MMORPG, Dust 514 is a console-only title that will enable players to interact with EVE pilots as they battle for control of New Eden's resource-rich planets.

"The dynamic large-scale battlefields of DUST 514 presented an interesting challenge for us," said Hilmar Petursson, CEO of CCP. "We determined Unreal Engine 3 to be the perfect solution because its tremendous flexibility allows us to easily integrate new technology and produce stunning results."

Hit the link for the full press release.

[Thanks Amethyst Lynx!]

EVE player runs fiction writing contest with billions in prizes

by Brendan Drain Mar 11th 2010 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Contests, Culture, Events, in-game, Professions

EVE Online is a game known for its tight-knit community and emergent professions. We've seen players take on the roles of thieves, graphics artists, spies, video editors, drug runners and much more in an effort to make themselves a little ISK. Perhaps most interesting is that good writers can use their talents to make ISK through publications like EON magazine and EVE Tribune. While EON is a glossy printed magazine and EVE Tribune enjoys a purely online format, both pay volunteer writers with ISK for their articles and stories. EON in particular has always had a regular fiction segment that showcases some of EVE's best fiction writers.

In the first of what he hopes to be an annual event, an EVE player by the name of Silver Night has decided to give back to the community with an EVE fiction-writing contest. The first place prize of a rare faction battleship plus 300 million ISK's worth of fittings will go to the best piece of fiction submitted. Two second place prizes of unfitted navy issue battleships are available for the second and third best pieces. With an additional four navy issue cruiser prizes for the next best four pieces, that's seven chances to win something. The competition runs until March 21st and players can submit their entries via the competition thread on the official EVE events forum.

EVE Online devblog discusses account security

by Brendan Drain Mar 10th 2010 at 11:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, MMO industry

Every MMO suffers the horrors of gold spammers and EVE Online is no different. The RMT (Real Money Trading) industry is massive and EVE's developers CCP have waged a constant war against it in recent years. The PLEX initiative gave players a way to safely buy ISK for cash while at the same time helping players who couldn't afford their subscriptions pay with ISK. The result was a dramatic hit to the RMT market, who had to drop their prices to compete with a legitimate service replacing their own.

As part of Operation Unholy Rage in August of last year, EVE GMs also banned over 6200 accounts belonging to farmers known to be supplying the RMT industry. The effect on the market was instant, with the population in farmed mission systems like Ingunn disappearing overnight. Almost immediately, the farmers reacted with a spate of account hackings to claw back some ISK.

CCP Releases February CSM Minutes

by Jef Reahard Mar 8th 2010 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items

EVE Online developer Xhagen, commenting on the EVE Insider Dev Blog last night, has released the minutes for the February 18 - 20 Council of Stellar Management summit, calling it "the best summit so far."

Player response to the summit was equally positive, with CSM attendee Tim "Sokratesz" commenting "I was very skeptical initially, but the trip has convinced me that CCP has an active interest in the playerbase and is willing to listen. One of the best moments for me was when Noah [CCP Hammer] grabbed a pen to take notes during a heated debate between council members.''

A lengthy summary document details the various discussions between developers and player-elected Council representatives during the three day event held late last month in Iceland.

Included in the seventeen page report are discussions regarding the Alliance Tournament, EVE Gate social networking, ongoing account security and customer support issues, and proposed economic regulations.

You can read the full dev blog by clicking here.