factional-warfare posts

EVE Online mini expansion Apocrypha 1.5 deploys Thursday, Aug 20th

by James Egan Aug 19th 2009 at 8:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Expansions, Exploits, Game mechanics, Patches

Tomorrow, EVE Online will launch Apocrypha 1.5, which CCP Games has dubbed a "mini-expansion." The Apocrypha expansion was released in March and introduced a slew of new features to the game, but there were more changes in the works that didn't make it into that first release. The 1.5 changes slated to roll out tomorrow are numerous and will introduce a few new aspects to EVE Online, more than a typical patch would, but cannot be considered a full expansion release either.

[UPDATED]: The maintenance window has been extended "due to delays earlier in the deployment process" per CCP. Tranquility is expected to come online at 16:30 GMT (12:30 PM Eastern).

Read on for Massively's highlights of what Apocrypha 1.5 will bring.

Tags: apocrypha, apocrypha-1.5, bug-fixes, bugs, ccp-games, epic-mission-arcs, eve-online, expansions, exploits, factional-warfare, game-mechanics, mini-expansion, missions, patches, quests, rigs, sci-fi, specialized-cargo-holds

Factional warfare to be "cleaned up" by EVE developers

by Seraphina Brennan Jul 14th 2009 at 7:00PM

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

Factional warfare, while a great idea when it came out, is in need of some trimming as of late. Some have even gone so far to say that the developers at CCP have abandoned the project but a recent EVE dev post says otherwise.

CCP Ytterbium has gone on the record to say that there are changes coming to the factional warfare system. While the entire system can't be completely cleaned up in one go, Ytterbium has laid out a series of modifications to make the system more lucrative and playable.

Tags: ccp, changes, control-bunker, eve, eve-online, factional-warfare, incentive, loyalty-points, new-items, patch

CCP Games reveals next major Apocrypha update for EVE Online

by James Egan Jun 30th 2009 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items

EVE Online senior producer CCP t0rfifrans just published a dev blog about the next major update to the game, Apocrypha 1.5. This is not a completely new expansion, just a significant update they will release in August before EVE's (as-yet-unnamed) winter expansion. While CCP hasn't released the complete rundown of Apocrypha 1.5's features and changes, they have announced a few highlights:

Perhaps the biggest changes in 1.5 will be factional warfare improvements. Beyond responding to the lag issues many players have been reporting with factional warfare, CCP is going to introduce Loyalty Points (LP) for kills and captures, and each militia will have its own LP store where militia players can cash in for items unique to that faction.

Several Level 4 epic mission arcs will be introduced, tied to specific races in New Eden. CCP t0rfifrans writes: "These captivating stories deal with moral ambiguity, intrigue, honor, and some people's lack of it. This should come as no surprise to those who know EVE and what we are about. As before with the epic arc that was released with Apocrypha, they provide a deep, interesting story, where your choices influence the outcome."

One of the long awaited buffs for Black Ops battleships will arrive: specialized cargo holds. The first use of this system will be to give Black Ops ships fuel bays, but this feature paves the way for similar additions to other ship classes in the future. For instance, some ships may one day be given ammo bays, freeing up valuable cargo space.

Rigs will be offered in different sizes, with frigate and cruiser sized rigs introduced to the game. These new small and medium rigs will be cheaper to buy or manufacture, and thus provide a lower cost way for players to trick out their ships.

CCP t0rfifrans also dropped a few hints about the forthcoming winter expansion, which will *not* be Walking in Stations. He writes: "All I can say, is that it is focused on sovereignty and you will not be able to walk in it."

We'll keep our eyes open for more about Apocrypha 1.5 as information becomes available.

Tags: apocrypha, apocrypha-1.5, black-ops, breaking, ccp-games, ccp-t0rfifrans, dev-blog, dev-blogs, empyrean-age, epic-mission-arcs, eve, eve-online, factional-warfare, fuel-bay, fuel-bays, game-mechanics, loyalty-points, lp, missions, patches, pvp, rigs, sci-fi, senior-producer, sovereignty, specialized-cargo-holds, torfi-frans-olafsson, walking-in-stations

CCP Games addresses player concerns in EVE Online Q&A

by James Egan Jun 29th 2009 at 11:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online

The first Q&A between EVE Online developers CCP Games and the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) -- a group of players (elected by fellow EVE gamers) that represents the collective interests of the subscribers -- was released this past week. It addresses a few concerns the players have had, for instance the delays with EVE's 'Quarterly Economic Newsletters', what is intended to be a regularly released overview of the game's ever-shifting economy. (CCP says they're on track to release the QEN's on schedule moving forward.) The Q&A also addresses a major question that has arisen for factional warfare participants, which began with the Empyrean Age expansion and its all-out war between the game's four races. Players fighting for the Caldari race's militia have, essentially, won the war. They've captured all of Gallente space. So where will (Caldari-Gallente) factional warfare go from here?

CCP responded: "We plan the NPC timeline for events leading up to expansions, coordinating the release of news and integrating the high level plot with chronicles, video, and everything else we can. This year, our storyline theme was to try and 'cross the streams' more, meaning that we were going to look for ways to weave the exploits of capsuleers into the NPC canon. The Caldari sweep of contestable Federation space gave us the perfect context to do just that."

Tags: caldari, ccp-games, council-of-stellar-management, csm, empyrean-age, eve, eve-online, factional-warfare, gallente, militia, qen, sci-fi

EVE Evolved: Has faction warfare been abandoned?

by Brendan Drain May 18th 2009 at 4:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, Professions, PvP, Raiding, Grouping, Opinion, Hands-on, EVE Evolved

EVE Online's Faction Warfare system was released almost one year ago with the Empyrean Age expansion and was initially a complete success. It provided a stage on which thousands of players waged war. From fleets of over a hundred players to gangs as small as two or three pilots, everyone found their own place in the conflict. After the initial wave of success, questions began to arise on the lack of rewards to offset the cost of losing ships in PvP. In addition, while the point of faction warfare initially revolved around capturing systems, holding an enemy system provided no benefits beyond bragging rights. Almost a year on from its initial release, faction warfare has barely changed, prompting very real concerns from players that EVE's developers CCP have entirely abandoned it. These issues have even made it as far as the Council of Stellar Management.

In this article, I take a retrospective look at how faction warfare has (or hasn't) progressed in this past year and ask the question "Has Faction Warfare been abandoned?".

Tags: Caldari, ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, factional-warfare, factions, fleet, Gallente, gang, lag, opinion, pvp, storyline, trailer, war, warfare

Massively looks at Capsuleer 2.0, an iPhone app for EVE Online part 2

by James Egan Apr 9th 2009 at 1:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, PvP

I was dreading having to manually enter that long API string linked to my EVE account, but Capsuleer's system made it quite easy. Can you tell me about the Import Control System?

Roc: The Import Control System was Sam's brainchild. Nobody wants to manually enter that string, myself included, but I also don't like applications "scraping" my game login data from the EVE Online website. The entire point of an API is to be able to access it without using your game login credentials. Since the iPhone doesn't do copy/paste (prior to OS 3.0), Sam came up with this method for effortlessly and securely importing your data to your device.

Sam: As Roc said, the API is all about security. CCP introduced it so that 3rd party applications didn't need your username and password anymore. It's a secure and simple way to provide access to a limited subset of data without exposing the credentials needed to log into your account. My initial prototype had you typing in the big long API key, and man I don't think I got it right more than twice in a row. I knew that we needed a better alternative. That's when I came up with the Import Control System. We have been foiled a bit by a few email clients that don't like the evechar:// url syntax that we use (they try to validate it and can't because they don't recognize the prefix), but with 2.0 we have an alternative http:// based url that can be used as well, so that should hopefully clear up the issues that people ran into.

Tags: api, apocrypha, app-store, ccp-games, chris-whiteford, eve, eve-api, eve-online, factional-warfare, import-control-system, iphone, isk, mac, macintosh, marcus-dickinson, militia, pvp, pyjamasam, roc-wieler, skill-queue, skill-training, skillpoints, skills

Wormhole exploration hearkens back to EVE Online's early days

by James Egan Mar 19th 2009 at 7:00PM

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

EVE Online's latest Apocrypha expansion has elevated the exploration profession to new heights. The addition of roughly 2500 new and uncharted solar systems, expanding the game's galaxy of New Eden to over 7500 solar systems in total, brings what can honestly be called 'true exploration' to the sci-fi MMO.

Territoriality is a major aspect of EVE and wormholes allow players to emerge in far flung regions of New Eden -- sometimes places they're not supposed to be -- leading to all sorts of unexpected near-death experiences. Players have already reported emerging from wormholes and finding themselves hunted by the local territorial powers (player alliances claiming those regions of the galaxy) or by the NPC authorities, in those cases where players are involved in factional warfare. Some pilots have found themselves deep within enemy faction territory, leading to all kinds of insane chases across the galaxy.

Tags: apocrypha, ccp-games, eve, eve-online, expansions, factional-warfare, game-mechanics, new-eden, opinion, rewards, risk, risks, sci-fi, sovereignty, steven-croop, territorial-control, true-exploration, warcry, wormhole, wormhole-exploration, wormholes

Stunning EVE machinima depicts struggle between New Eden's factions

by James Egan Jan 28th 2009 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, Video, EVE Online, PvP, Machinima, Races

The sci-fi setting of EVE Online provides a great amount of material for players interested in creating machinima. But it's not everyday that a short film as good as Clear Skies or Havoc comes along. Then again, it's also not every day that something created by a player draws accolades from the game's creators -- but that's exactly the case with the work of EVE player Kyoko Sakoda, in "War Has Come" -- which beautifully captures the game, set to a cover of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower."

Sakoda writes, "This is one of my first thematic works. I know the Bear McCreary version of the song may sound like it is out of place for a few hardcore sci-fi fans, but I could not justify using any other cover. Enjoy, and write feedback if you wish. I'm always looking to improve my storytelling, direction, and editing and compositing skills."

We've got "War Has Come" embedded for you below the cut, and it's well worth a look. We just wish Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" was a longer song...

Tags: all-along-the-watchtower, clear-skies, eve, eve-online, factional-warfare, havoc, kyoko-sakoda, machinima, outlaws, piracy, pirates, pvp, races, sci-fi, singularity, verone, veto, veto-corp, video, war-has-come, youtube

Slave emancipation a major change in EVE Online's lore

by James Egan Dec 28th 2008 at 10:00AM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Lore, Roleplaying

A significant twist in EVE Online's lore was announced on Christmas day: emancipation for much of the subjugated Minmatar race. EVE's far-future galactic setting of New Eden is characterized by struggles between the four (playable) races. Of those races, the dynamic between the theocratic but cruel Amarr and the tribal Minmatar is often one of master and servant. The Amarr enslaved the Minmatar race centuries ago; this is a prevalent aspect of the backstory (lore), the game's missions (quests) and factional warfare, as well as a focal point of the roleplaying that some players opt to engage in. Even some player alliances have taken a stance for or against slavery in the game. (Those who don't play EVE might be surprised to learn that slaves can be bought and sold on the open market as a low-cost commodity. Note, however, that the players themselves cannot be forced into slavery. It's just an aspect of the setting... one which is intended to evoke response from the players.)

CCP Games has decided this change in the Amarr-Minmatar dynamic was warranted in terms of New Eden's backstory, with the freed slaves numbering in the hundreds of millions, although the existence of slavery in EVE is still far from being abolished.

Tags: amarr, backstory, birth-of-new-eden, breaking, ccp, ccp-games, emancipation, empress, empyrean-age, eve, eve-online, factional-warfare, jamyl-sarum, lore, minmatar, new-eden, quests, roleplay, roleplaying, sci-fi, slave, slavery

EVE Evolved: PvP masterclass - Fleet warfare

by Brendan Drain Nov 2nd 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Raiding, Tips and tricks, Grouping, Politics, EVE Evolved

Fleet warfare in EVE Online is a big step up from the small, casual PvP gangs discussed in last week's PvP Masterclass article. In this guide, I explore the day to day activities of EVE's largest combat machinations, from 30-man faction warfare gangs to 300-man territorial fleets. In stark contrast to a small and highly mobile gang, a large fleet is a lumbering hulk that favours combined firepower and good co-ordination over all else. Massive fleets of hundreds of pilots routinely clash in the outskirts of EVE's lawless 0.0 space. But when they move at the speed of their slowest member and are really only as good as their fleet commander, what can you do to make sure your fleet is a success?

Fight-by-numbers:
The essence of fleet warfare is that using more ships is usually better. By focusing all attacks on one enemy at a time, a larger fleet has a very high damage potential. It also allows a more diverse range of ship types to take part in the fight such as an electronic warfare wing or sniper squadron. Forming a large fleet usually requires some planning and co-ordination, making them less suited to casual PvP and more suited to organised assaults on specific targets like POS.

Read on as I tackle the question of how to make a fleet effective from the perspective of both the fleet's individual members and the fleet commander.

Tags: align, blob, buffer tank, BufferTank, ccp, combat, commander, corp, corporation, empire, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, faction, factional-warfare, fc, featured, fleet commander, FleetCommander, gank, grouping, guide, joystiqfeatures, professions, pvp, sci-fi, war, warfare

EVE Evolved: PvP masterclass - Gang warfare

by Brendan Drain Oct 26th 2008 at 5:30PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Raiding, Tips and tricks, Grouping, EVE Evolved

PvP Masterclass is a series of articles explaining PvP from the bottom up and showing you how to get involved even if you're a new player. In part 1 of this series, I examined the main types of PvP a player can choose in EVE Online and showed the directions players can take their PvP careers. In this second part, I explore how small gang warfare fits into the PvP landscape of EVE and help you decide what avenues you should pursue if small gang warfare is your cup of tea.

Numbers game:
A complaint I hear all too often today is that small gang warfare in EVE is dead, that PvP is a numbers game and competing on the battlefield means having the biggest blob. It almost always transpires that these people are trying to shoehorn small gang warfare into places it's not suited for like major 0.0 territorial conflicts or that they're neglecting the importance of intel-gathering scouts. Small gang warfare isn't about your gang of five ships trying to take on a blob of two hundred. It's about putting together a small, tight unit of pilots and picking your fights carefully.

Whether you're planning to pirate, fight for the Gallente Federation or declare war on your neighbours, small gang warfare is for you. Read on as I examine the small roaming gang, one of EVE's oldest and most fun avenues of PvP.

Tags: ccp, combat, corp, corporation, empire, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, faction, factional-warfare, featured, grouping, guide, joystiqfeatures, piracy, pirate, professions, pvp, sci-fi, veto, war, wardec, warfare

EVE Evolved: PvP masterclass - Introduction

by Brendan Drain Oct 19th 2008 at 6:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guides, Professions, PvP, Tips and tricks, Grouping, Politics, EVE Evolved

One of the most perplexing things about EVE Online has to be the fact that although the game is essentially designed around PvP, a lot of players avoid it entirely. In this new series of articles, I will explain PvP from the bottom up, with a particular focus on helping anyone that has always wanted to give EVE's high quality PvP a try but wasn't sure what to do. In this first article, I examine the different types of PvP available in EVE Online and suggest ways to get involved in them even if you're just finishing the 14-day trial.

Types of PvP:
In most MMOs, PvP means organised battleground matches or one versus one player duels. For those games lucky enough to have open world PvP, the options are a lot more varied. In EVE Online, the exact right combination of factors come together to create what on a good day I can only describe as the best PvP experience I have ever had in a computer game. Rather than just being something fun to do, PvP in EVE arises as a natural consequence of normal play, used by players to push forward their own agenda in a harsh, dismal space-borne society.

Continue reading as I help you choose which type of PvP suits you the best and suggest ways to get involved in it.

Tags: ccp, combat, corp, corporation, empire, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, faction, factional-warfare, featured, grouping, guide, joystiqfeatures, piracy, pirate, politics, professions, pvp, sci-fi, veto, war, wardec, warfare

EVE Evolved: The making of EVE Online

by Brendan Drain Oct 5th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, Launches, MMO industry, EVE Evolved

EVE Online's development path from concept to release has followed a very different path to the MMO norm. Starting from its humble beginnings as one man's dream to build an online space game, EVE has developed into the massively popular game it is today. Rather than designing and developing the game all in one go, the CCP crew opted for a staged delivery approach. The game was re-made 11 times, each stage being progressively closer to the final goal. By launch, EVE had been through 5 total recodes where almost the entire game was scrapped and rebuilt from scratch and at least 6 partial recodes.

Join me as I take a look at the course EVE's development has taken from concept all the way to the current Empyrean Age expansion.

Tags: castor, ccp, cold war, ColdWar, empyrean-age, eve, eve-online, exodus, expansion, factional-warfare, featured, hilmar, joystiqfeatures, launch, patch, red moon rising, RedMoonRising, revelations, rmr, second genesis, SecondGenesis, server, trinity

EVE Evolved: The making of EVE Online, part 2

by Brendan Drain Oct 5th 2008 at 3:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Game mechanics, MMO industry, EVE Evolved

Tags: castor, ccp, cold war, ColdWar, concord, empyrean-age, eve, eve-online, exodus, expansion, factional-warfare, gank, hilmar, joystiqfeatures, launch, patch, red moon rising, RedMoonRising, revelations, rmr, second genesis, SecondGenesis, server, suicide, trinity

EVE Evolved: Electronic Warfare, part 3

by Brendan Drain Sep 21st 2008 at 5:00PM

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Classes, Game mechanics, Guides, PvP, Tips and tricks, Grouping, EVE Evolved

In the first two parts of this three part guide, I explained the basics of electronic warfare in EVE Online and examined the skills and equipment you'll need as an electronic warfare specialist. In this final section, I tackle the tricky issues of battlefield operations and survival.

Survival:
An unfortunate fact about being part of a fleet's electronic warfare crew is that you'll almost certainly be a high priority target for your enemies. To make matters worse, specialist electronic warfare ships tend to have very poor defensive capabilities. Fitting any kind of tank on an electronic warfare ship can waste vital module slots and severely impact the performance of your ship. This is particularly true in the case of ECM jamming ships where the low slots should be used for signal distortion amplifiers.

What can you do to keep your ship safe on the battlefield and what should you do to help your fleet be victorious? Join me as I answer these questions in a thorough tactical overview of electronic warfare in EVE Online.

Tags: ccp, celestis, damp, dampener, ECM, electronic warfare, ElectronicWarfare, eve, eve-evolved, eve-online, ew, faction, factional-warfare, falcon, featured, fleet, joystiqfeatures, neutraliser, neutralizer, piracy, pirate, pvp, sniper, tracking, turret