ccp-games posts

Much to the dismay of miners everywhere, EVE Online's infamous Hulkageddon event made a return earlier this month. In this irregularly-scheduled fan-run event, ruthless pilots compete to kill as many mining barges as possible within a short period of time. While some kills are found in wormhole space and nullsec as part of a standard PvP roaming squad, most tend to be the result of suicide attacks carried out in high security space. As most miners stay in highsec, this is where most of the targets for the Hulkageddon are found.

Opponents of the event argue that it causes unnecessary hardship for ordinary EVE players who enjoy mining. The event's organiser, infamous pirate Helicity Boson, responds to critics with her belief that it's a perfectly valid way to play the game. In an exclusive interview with Massively before the event began, she suggested that any pilot paying attention could see the suicide attacks coming and would have plenty of time to escape. A significant portion of mining barge kills during the Hulkageddon are also believed to be macro-miners, adding another dimension to this already controversial issue.

The latest Hulkageddon ran from the 9th of July to the 18th, ending with an estimated 288 billion ISK worth of mining ships destroyed. To put that figure into perspective, it would cost you over $16,550 US Dollars to buy that much ISK legitimately by purchasing game time codes and selling them in-game for ISK. The prize-giving for the event was recently conducted, with a single ruthless player by the name of "Phil MacMannon" taking the vast majority of the prizes. With the event concluded, miners can finally breathe a sigh of relief and get back to eating every asteroid in sight.

"We hope you understand that there's nothing we can do at the moment," says the support email we just received from Aventurine, developers of Darkfall. Not exactly what you want to hear from customer service, is it?

Welcome to another issue of Massively's Community Detective, where we're primed and ready to take you into the trenches of MMORPG community and customer service. This week we've got full-blown battlefields complete with land mines, dismemberment, e-peen waving, and all the other things you've come to know and love about PvP. Yes, we're delving into the world of Darkfall, and if that's not enough for you, we'll also be heading for the heavens in a very different (but equally cutthroat) PvP sandbox called EVE Online.

Join us after the cut to see how these two titles fared in terms of community and customer service support.

One of the most talked-about features of EVE Online is its player-run economy. Due to over 330,000 players living on one server, the markets have reached a critical mass where the laws of economics play out in a very effective manner. When there's a demand for something, no matter how obscure the item or low the demand, you can be sure there are dozens or hundreds of pilots trying their best to supply it. The in-game economy mirrors real-life economic situations so closely that CCP even hired a dedicated economist to analyse the market and advise CCP of any problems that arise.

EVE's economy is often referred to as a pure free market, but that isn't technically true. At its heart, EVE is still a game designed and implemented by a team of developers. All MMO economies require some degree of control and intervention for the game to remain playable. In EVE, this comes in the form of careful balance of supply and demand via changes to game mechanics and drop rates. There are also a number of more direct passive influences on the market, such as NPC market orders and insurance.

In this economic article, I look at a few of the influences that constrain free-market economics in EVE.

In an effort to get players more involved in the development process of EVE Online, CCP Games began the Council of Stellar Management programme back in 2008. Twice per year, developers meet up with this democratically elected group of players to discuss issues ranging from bug-fixes and balance tweaks to feedback on future expansions and how players recieved the previous expansion. The latest summit was not without its troubles, with chairwoman Mynxee and council member Ankhesentapemkah expressing their concern over CCP's attitude during the summit.

In the first of our two-part interview with EVE's Council of Stellar Management, we asked some general questions about how the summit went and what could be done to improve the CSM process. We gained valuable insight into what exactly CCP committed to do this term, what happens to ideas put forward by the CSM after approval and what's being done to improve communication between the council and CCP. In this vital second part of the interview, we moved on to more hard-hitting questions on player reactions to the summit meeting minutes, CCP's current assignment of development resources and whether the council can really achieve anything over the next 18 months.

Skip past the cut for an illuminating look at the council's opinion on these explosive issues.

When it comes to spending time out wandering the universe in EVE Online, it's always wise to bring at least one friend along. Sure, the rats are easily enough taken care of, but you never know when that little bit of extra firepower will mean the difference between getting loot and becoming someone else's prey. Besides, it's just more fun to share the experience and have someone to keep you company while flying around! Today's EVE Online One Shots featuring a pair of pilots comes to us from ApexJB, who writes in to tell us about this image: "Me and my friend both in our Caracals killing rats in an asteroid belt. On the Caracal in the foreground you can see the shield hardeners."

Do you have screenshots of your favorite game that you haven't sent in to us yet? If so, why are you holding back? You should gather those up and send them to us here at oneshots@massively.com. We can always use more screenshots to show off.

When it comes to getting players involved in the development process, EVE Online's democratically elected Council of Stellar Management has up until now been a clear success. Previous council members have managed to get some important features implemented in the game and helped CCP with feedback on up-coming expansions. Last month, members of the fifth council met with CCP in Iceland for the first of their twice-yearly development summits. In meetings with developers, they put forward issues deemed important by the player-base. Initial impressions from the summit appeared grim, with both chairwoman Mynxee and council member Ankhesentapemkah voicing concerns on their personal blogs. Players were left waiting for the official meeting minutes to be published so they could decide for themselves whether or not those concerns were justified.

The summit meeting minutes were released last week to some strong reactions within the community. The bulk of the negative reactions seemed to stem from CCP's inability to commit definite resources to any CSM issues. The community backlash was further amplified by a later devblog setting out CCP's current development schedule for the next 18 months. Of course, the people best qualified to talk about how the summit went are the council delegates themselves. Having been present at the meetings and knowing more about CCP's future expansion plans than the rest of the player-base, members of the council should have a much clearer picture of the state of play than the average player. To help clarify some of the community's biggest issues, Massively caught up with the CSM delegates and asked them some important questions about the summit and CCP's current development plans.

In this first of our collossal two-part interview with EVE's Council of Stellar Management, I probe members of the council for their thoughts on the summit.

Over the past two weeks, I've been giving an in-depth look at EVE Online's exploration profession. Exploration is one of the many PvE elements that players can get involved in right from their first week in EVE. By concentrating on astrometrics skills, a new player can be a more-than-competent prober within a week. Although some sites may require the help of an older player for the first few months, it's still one of the most fun PvE elements a new player can get into. In the first part of this three-part guide, I went over the basic equipment and techniques you'll need to scan down hidden complexes. In last week's second part, I went on to look at the different types of hidden site you can discover, what loot you can expect to find in each of them and what kind of challenge you'll face.

Since the exploration system was launched many years ago, I've picked up a few tricks and tips that can help any explorer. In this final part of the EVE Evolved guide to exploration, I run down my four top tips for budding explorers.

Icelandic MMO developer CCP Games has always made a point of being open and transparent with players. Through tools such as the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) and in-depth devblogs, a great deal of CCP's internal workings have been laid out in the open for all to see. In the latest CSM summit, CCP revealed that it couldn't commit any resources to CSM issues for at least the next 18 months as too many development resources were being used up by Incarna and Dust 514.

EVE Online's new senior producer CCP Zulu (formerly CCP Zulupark) elaborated on the issue yesterday with a full devblog on CCP's current allocation of developer time. In the devblog, Zulu provides a complete breakdown of CCP's current development teams, what projects each developer is assigned to, and what we can expect to come over the next year and a half. The devblog confirms grim fate of issues raised by the CSM, with no teams assigned to cover player-raised game defects. Perhaps the most surprising thing to come out of the devblog, however, was that only 54 members of CCP's "200-person development team" are working on anything that directly affects the current EVE populace. Of those, only 22 are working on features for the next expansion.

Skip past the cut to find out why there are only 22 developers working on features and what the reactions of the EVE player-base have been since the announcement.

Exploration is one of EVE Online's most lucrative and enjoyable PvE professions, combining complex probe-scanning with mission-style combat. Through exploration, you'll find hidden sites across New Eden, packed full of NPCs to kill and loot to grab. Exploration is a casual PvE element that spans all skill levels, with new players able to get involved from their first week in the game. In last week's first part of this guide to exploration, I explained how new players can get into the lucrative profession and examined one of the most popular scanning techniques.

A wide range of hidden sites spawn across EVE, just waiting for a lucky traveller to scan them out. Tucked away in the depths of space, you'll find hidden asteroid belts, hacking database, archeological relics, salvaging fields and unstable wormholes. Those looking for riches will be pleased to find cosmic anomalies full of NPCs to kill and dungeon-like military complexes with a chance to drop rare and expensive loot.

In this guide, I look at the different types of site you can find via exploration, what loot you can expect to find in each of them and what kind of challenge you'll face.

When it comes to fighting the gold-sellers, Icelandic game developer CCP Games took an innovative approach to the problem. Players of EVE Online can buy game time with cash and then trade it with other players as in-game "Pilots License EXtensions" (PLEX). This lets people with cash to spare effectively purchase ISK from other players, while those with plenty of in-game ISK can effectively play for free. With a legitimate method for buying ISK, players needn't face the inevitable threat of bans and key-loggers from nefarious sources. Fearing that the market for PLEX might not take off if they were at risk of being lost during transport. To combat this issue, CCP made it impossible to move them from the station they were redeemed at.

In a new devblog, CCP Zulu explains plans to remove all the transport restrictions on PLEX. In addition to being able to undock with a PLEX in your cargo hold, you'll also be able to place them into courier contracts. When these changes come into effect, you might see someone hauling game time from station to station. If you plan to move any PLEX around, be extremely wary of suicide attacks. EVE's darker social element routinely scans passers-by in high-security space, looking for juicy targets to gank. The possibility of finding game time amongst the loot may send them into overdrive. The changes are due to come into effect on Tuesday the 13th of July.

French fansite EVE Mondes Persistants features an interesting interview with author Hjalti Danielsson, otherwise known as CCP Abraxas. Danielsson, a seven year veteran of the Icelandic development team, is perhaps better known as the pen behind the EVE universe tie-in novel The Burning Life, as well as a number of the short story chronicles on the game's official website.

In the interview, he talks about everything from the challenge of lengthy prose, to future EVE novels, to the makeup of CCP's storytelling staff.

"I belong to EVE's content department and the storyline effort is actually a collaboration between content writers working on in-game missions and fiction and content writers like myself that deal more with the fiction behind the game unattached to the client. We all work as one unit to decide EVE's NPC storyline, work on the EVE Chronicles, and so on; and the Storyline Board, which sits on top of all those efforts, is staffed with people from multiple disciplines," Danielsson says.

View the full interview at EVE Mondes Persistants.

When it comes to games journalists covering the wilds of EVE Online, as well as other MMOs, Jim Rossignol's name certainly stands out to many gamers. From writing intelligently on games across many different sites, to his home on Rock, Paper, Shotgun, his work spawns interesting discussions. That's why we were thrilled to hear that his book, This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities, is now available for everyone to enjoy online through the University of Michigan's DigitalCultureBooks online portal -- free!

Originally published in 2008, This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities, offers a reasoned look at the culture of games and their impact on daily life. However, as we're all about the MMOs here, we must mention the meaty section about EVE Online in the book. It's chock full of his own lengthy personal relationship with the game, insights on his trouble picking the game up initially, as well as time spent visiting CCP. New Eden's pilots who may be unfamiliar with Rossignol will likely appreciate the inside look (albeit dated) into CCP from a fellow pilot's point of view.

If you're in the mood for a solid gaming read, you can head over to the DigitalCultureBooks site and check it out for yourself. Alternately, if you'd prefer a Kindle or (gasp) hardbound edition to have on the go, copies are still available for purchase through the usual online channels.

CCP Blaze has posted a dev blog on the official EVE Online website detailing the various fixes and performance improvements made to the game client since the Tyrannis expansion. The piece goes into a fair amount of technical detail about everything from the game's physics, to Overview changes, to resource loading and memory issues.

"It turned out that there was an issue with the way the resource manager assigned a size to textures that had not been fully loaded. This caused the resource manager to hold on to too much memory; this was fixed shortly after it was discovered. We also found and fixed a memory leak in the module responsible for reading resources. At that time, during internal testing, we started noticing that some objects from our physics simulation weren't being cleaned up as well as they should have been. We fixed that as well," Blaze states.

Read all about it on the EVE Insider dev blog.

EVE Online's democratically elected Council of Stellar Management has been the cause of a great deal of controversy since the programme's inception. The idea that players can bring their concerns on game design issues to a player-elected representative has been popular with forum-posters. Council members work tirelessly to compile lists of issues that are important to the player-base, then present them to CCP in the CSM Summit every six months. While the council has managed to push through some very important issues and work on key features, it's been the focus of several scandals and a great deal of EVE drama.

Controversial council member Eva "Ankhesentapemkah" Jobse was removed from the council today. The official reason given for her dismissal was "a breach of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA)." The exact nature of the breach has not been publicised as the sensitive nature of the data involved renders the issue a private matter between Eva and CCP Games. As usually happens when information isn't available, the forums have exploded with speculation over what exactly Eva did that breached the NDA. Although Eva has yet to comment publicly on the issue, fellow council member Sokratesz was quick to allay suspicions that it was due to information posted in her personal CSM blog.

When reached for comment, Eva had the following to say: "All I can say at the moment is that out of respect for the CSM, the players of EVE, as well as the good people at CCP, I cannot give any details besides my personal conviction that CCP's statement is not in relation to any of my recent publications, and that I do not share CCP's conclusion that there has in fact been an NDA breach. I am currently engaged in following up this situation with CCP." Eva plans to keep her followers updated on her situation via her CSM blog as the situation develops.

When we talk about EVE Online, it's often about PvP or the latest political intrigue in the sandbox. Less talked about is the game's core PvE gameplay, which for many players is the entire scope of their interests. I've covered a number of great ways to make ISK in previous guides, from my three-part series on trading and extensive four-part guide to research to the similarly thorough three-part guide to mission-running. Most recently I tackled the age-old art of asteroid-belt ratting in nullsec. Another of EVE's most popular PvE pastimes is exploration, where players scan out hidden mission-like sites hoping to strike it rich.

Exploration is one of those things that spans players of all skill levels, with new players able to make a useful contribution and group up with older veterans. Within a week of starting the game, new players can be locating hidden complexes, doing battle with the local NPCs and hopefully finding some valuable loot. Although exploration sites use the same deadspace dungeon and combat mechanics as missions, there are a few key differences. While missions can be created at will by going to an agent NPC, exploration sites spawn randomly in space and have to be manually scanned down using probes.

In this week's first part of the EVE Evolved guide to exploration, I look at the ships and equipment you'll need, and the scanning techniques typically used to find hidden exploration sites.