Filed under: EVE Online

EVE Evolved: Trading: Advanced trading

by Brendan Drain Nov 22nd 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Forums, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, Academic, Education, EVE Evolved

In the first part of this guide I covered the basics of trading in EVE Online and some of the jobs best suited to newer players. There's a lot more to trading than buying low and selling high and in this week's installment, I'll cover some of the more advanced trading and marketeering tactics that have proven themselves effective in EVE. From margin trading on the market to making a living off the contracts page, anyone with enough dedication can learn to rake in hundreds of millions of ISK per day without even leaving the station. For the gamblers and risk-takers among you, market speculation and price manipulation can produce incredible short-term profit but with significant risks attached.

In this second part of my concise guide on trading, I look at margin trading on the market, playing the contract pages, market speculation around patches and the dirty art of market manipulation.

Massively to hold EVE Online contest this week, win copious amounts of game time

by James Egan Nov 21st 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Contests, Giveaways

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:

CCP Games alters plans for EVE's capital ships in Dominion expansion

by James Egan Nov 20th 2009 at 9:00PM

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

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.

The challenges and rewards of espionage in EVE Online

by James Egan Nov 20th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Interviews

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.

CCP Games drops more details on EVE's new mission arcs for pirate factions

by James Egan Nov 18th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Quests, PvE

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.

One Shots: Waxing poetic

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 17th 2009 at 2:00PM

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

One of the things that EVE Online has managed to do since its early days is inspire an incredibly loyal, devoted fanbase. They travel around the world to attend the Fan Fest in Iceland, they write fiction about the game, and of course - they send in crazy excellent EVE Online One Shots for us to enjoy! Today's great screen comes to us from Hetler R. who opted to add his note in a more poetic form. He writes in:

The grid is clean.
The dust will settle.
To infinity as they might seem,
Echoes in the distance rattle.
Beware of smite;
Beware of terror;
For wrecks in the sundance gleam.
Beware!
Because in space...
No one can hear you scream.

Do you have a game that inspires you to write poems, haiku, or even the occasional (very short) story? Would you like to share it with the world? If so, grab a great screenshot that supports what you've written and then send it our way at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name, and the name of the game. We'll post it out here for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit!

Gallery: One Shots

CCP discusses NPE in EVE Online expansion

by Rubi Bayer Nov 16th 2009 at 12:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Interviews

With only a few weeks to go until the launch of Dominion, the EVE Online team has got to be pretty busy. CrazyKinux was lucky enough to get a bit of time with Game Designer Eris Discordia to talk about the details of the NPE - New Player Experience.

The discussion covered some interesting ground, such as how CCP is working to keep the NPE easy for players to use and understand, how far it's come since 2003 ("You started in space and you had to shoot a drone and that was pretty much it."), and how they would like to see it improve from here on out. They also talked about the reasoning behind the way the NPE is set up, as a crash course designed to get you through the basics and into the game, rather than a more scattered, drawn-out approach.

It's an interesting read for any veteran EVE Online player, and a valuable one for anyone new to the game. The full interview can be read here, and a big thanks to CrazyKinux and Eris Discordia for taking the time for it!

EVE Evolved: Trading: The basics

by Brendan Drain Nov 15th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, Making money, Tips and tricks, PvE, Hands-on, Academic, Education, EVE Evolved

Of all the moneymaking endeavours you can take in EVE Online, trading is perhaps the one with the highest potential for profit. While mission-running profit tops out at a few tens of millions per hour and the profit margin from production isn't that big, trading is limited only by the amount of effort you're willing to put in and is much improved by inherent business talent. At the low end of the trading spectrum, beginners can make a healthy income ferrying items from A to B. At the other extreme, a market-savvy individual can pull billions per week out of the players in EVE's great conglomerated marketplaces.

In this first guide in a short series on trading, I look at the different types of trading options available to newer EVE players.

EVE's CSM elections begin, site matches your views with those of candidates

by James Egan Nov 14th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Politics

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.

CCP Games elaborates on conquest in EVE's Dominion expansion

by James Egan Nov 12th 2009 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP

"-- Smash the control images -- Smash the control machine --"

William S. Burroughs, The Soft Machine

The Dominion expansion for EVE Online is so-named for its heavy focus on the game mechanics of "Sovereignty" or control of territory in the New Eden galaxy. There's been no small amount of controversy surrounding CCP's proposed system, however, particularly as it's slated to go live on December 1st with the Dominion release. While some of the core game mechanics of control are still undergoing revision, CCP Games recently explained how ownership of solar systems will change hands in a dev blog titled "Storming the Gates."

EVE developer CCP Abathur lays out how new equipment will be used in claiming space and repelling invaders.

EVE Online Lead Content Creator explains epic mission arcs for pirate factions

by James Egan Nov 11th 2009 at 9:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Interviews, Quests, PvE

One of the new content additions coming to EVE Online this December are Epic Mission Arcs for two of New Eden's pirate factions -- the Guristas and the Angel Cartel. Scott Holden (aka CCP Molock) is the Lead Content Creator at CCP Games who has overseen the inclusion of the new pirate missions into EVE. Holden recently discussed some of the specifics of pirate mission running with Mondes Persistants.

The epic arcs for the Guristas and Angel Cartel will offer up roughly 10-12 branching missions, says Holden. The Guristas arc will largely be based in nullsec space in Venal, but players will be able to begin in Orvolle (high security) or low security starting points like Taisy. The Angel Cartel epic mission arcs will mostly be based in the Curse region, the stomping grounds of the Cartel. Would-be devotees to the Angel cause (of sabotage, extortion, and general mayhem) will be able to embark on the faction's mission arc from solar systems like Sendaya or Konora in low sec. Surprisingly, it seems that a player doesn't need high pirate faction standings to access either the Guristas or Angel Cartel epic mission arcs. Players with good standings with empire factions will be able to jump into the pirate mission arcs via mission agents found in low security space.

EVE's Quarterly Economic Newsletter focuses on impact of anti-RMT operation

by James Egan Nov 10th 2009 at 7:00PM

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

One of the strengths of the sandbox game EVE Online is its player-driven economy, which developer CCP Games monitors through a small team of researchers headed up by Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson (aka CCP Dr.EyjoG). They observe all manner of player interactions and sift through a tremendous amount of data to track how EVE Online's economy changes over time. Their findings are presented to the playerbase (or to anyone curious about virtual economies) in the form of Quarterly Economic Newsletters (QEN). CCP released the 3rd Quarter 2009 report this week, which gives us a look at player demographics and the most popular ships flown by those players. (It's interesting to note that the most popular ship in the game is now the Hulk, a mining vessel which has usurped the Raven battleship as EVE's most flown ship, while Black Ops battleships are EVE's least flown ships.)

This latest QEN also gives various price indices and Market Snapshots, which chart the volumes of a number of popular items traded on the open market. CCP also shows the impact "Operation: Unholy Rage" -- their anti-RMT initiative -- has had on EVE Online's economy with over 18,000 (paying) accounts banned to date. Dr.EyjoG writes, "Unholy Rage taught us a great deal about RMT operations in EVE. We now have a much clearer picture of the extent of operations and the tools and methods they use."

One Shots: At the heart of things

by Krystalle Voecks Nov 9th 2009 at 2:00PM

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

Every so often we hear back from interstellar traveler and occasional One Shots contributor, Redwense, who sends us great visual postcards and interesting stories from within the galaxies of EVE Online. Today's One Shots is a stunning image captured during a recent skirmish. Before we turn today's post over, remember if you'd like to get in on the fun, email your image to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. be sure to include your name, the name of the game, and a quick description. For now, we'll leave the explanation of this image to Redwense. Be sure to check out the rest of the story behind the break!

Red Federation and Blue Republic were on a "Purple" skirmish through low security space, hoping to catch some action against fresh targets. Normally, the corporations would continue their daily "Red versus Blue" campaign--taking the form of a primitive "fight club"--within the region of Verge Vendor, but members often craved for new targets elsewhere.

Gallery: One Shots

EVE Evolved: Dominion be damned

by Brendan Drain Nov 8th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Forums, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, Endgame, Opinion, EVE Evolved

At the last EVE Online fanfest, it was announced that the Dominion expansion is slated for December 1st to coincide with Iceland's Sovereignty day. With less than a month to go until launch, there has been growing concern at the extreme lack of information on the new sovereignty mechanics at the expansion's core. There have been a few scheduled tests and several devblogs but few factual details on the mechanics we'll be using once the expansion goes live. I've even been on the test server and tried the new mechanics out but they're far from finished.

The worry was that if the specific details weren't revealed as soon as possible, it might end up being too late to make necessary changes based on player feedback. On Friday 6th, a devblog was finally released explaining the cost breakdowns in the new sovereignty system and what bonuses will be given for the various system upgrades. Rather than allaying people's fears, the devblog set the forums on fire. An intense debate has sprung up, with massive outcry from those that live in 0.0. Their concerns may well be warranted as the proposed mechanics don't quite match up with the original vision of the Dominion expansion that the EVE community has shown support for thus far.

Has Dominion veered off course and is time running out to get it back on track? In this opinion piece, I run down the new devblog and give an inside view into parts of the heated debate it sparked off.

CCP's Ryan Dancey on keeping EVE Online compelling

by James Egan Nov 6th 2009 at 8:00PM

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

CCP Games Chief Marketing Officer Ryan S. Dancey recently spoke with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt about the state of EVE Online and what makes the sci-fi title unique. EVE has traits that many MMOs don't, such as player governance, a dynamic virtual economy, and slow but continual subscription growth. CCP does face problems in tandem with that growth however, namely from RMT operations. There is also the issue of balancing developer control over aspects of the game's economy (mission rewards, salvage and loot drops, ISK sinks) with the ideal of allowing EVE's economy to be as player-driven as possible, explains Dancey.

Among other things discussed in the interview, Gamasutra asks how White Wolf has changed following the merger with CCP Games nearly three years ago. Dancey tells Gamasutra: "It's just an imprint... White Wolf used to have a fairly large staff. It doesn't anymore. It's focusing primarily on the World of Darkness RPG products. It's not doing some of the things it used to do; board games and other card games and things. The focus of the company [CCP] is on making MMOs and our legacy table top business is a legacy business."