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EVE Online - All News

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Saturday - October 03, 2009
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Box Art

Saturday - October 03, 2009

EVE Online - Incarna Trailer

by Myrthos, 21:48

The Incarna project is about being able to exit your pod and enter a space station and at the Eve FanFest an Incarna trailer was released.

 

EVE Online - Dominion Expansion Screens

by Myrthos, 21:43

Ten Ton Hammer have a few new screens in their Eve Online Dominion Gallery.

Wednesday - September 30, 2009

EVE Online - Interview @ MMORPG.com

by Myrthos, 21:51

EVE Online's Senior Producer Torfi Olafsson is interviewed by MMORPG.com about, amongst others the new EVE expansion, Ambulation and Dust 514.

MMORPG.com: Tell us about the Dominion Expansion.

Torfi Olafsson: Our next expansion for EVE Online which will be our twelfth free expansion to our subscribers is called Dominion and it is coming out this winter and we're pretty excited about it. It is already on our test server Singularity. In Dominion our focus was providing tools and mechanisms for stories to emerge themselves. What that means is? As you are familiar with EVE is a sandbox heavy game. Our most cherished feature is the fact that our most interesting story is; our most compelling interactions come from alliances and players interacting with each other. So years ago we built a sovereignty system which allowed you to lay claim to solar systems, constellations, and regions. This system has been used a lot and has been the setting for many exciting battles and adventures in the game, but it was sorely needed an iteration. We knew and our players knew that it could be better, more cerebral, and more tactical. It needed a good polish. So we put our best people on collecting ideas and feedback from our community and our Council of Stellar Management and mixing those with ideas that had been brewing within the company for years. This manifested into a system that we feel is a highly engaging and an interesting system for claiming sovereignty, owning it, maintaining it, developing them and building infrastructure.

Sunday - September 20, 2009

EVE Online - Dominion Expansion Interview

by Myrthos, 15:38

In an interview with Nathan "Oveur" Richardsson, Executive Producer of EVE Online more information about the Dominion expansion and future changes was given.

We've been hearing a bit about EVE's winter expansion called Dominion through dev blogs and PAX breadcrumbs over the past few days. Can you tell us a bit about the focus of this expansion?

Nathan Richardsson: It's basically two main focuses we have with this expansion. One is sovereignty -- there's more and more coming out about this -- and we're also really breaking down the barriers of EVE so you can access it anywhere through our COSMOS social networking site. This is also the platform that we're going to use to get into mobile and other platforms actually, so that's probably the most interesting thing. We're building a strong foundation for both.

And what exactly is going to make COSMOS better than using IM or Facebook?

We're exposing in-game features over time so you can manage a lot of the more asynchronous stuff that you're doing in game. Secondly, we're providing organizational and productivity tools, and we're providing a public front for the players, corporations, and alliances. Now players don't need to put these things up themselves, it's in their close environment and everything. All access rights are taken care of because you're in the corporation. It really is both a public and a private place for you to interact. The main thing there is that so many people don't have access to the various statuses of their groups so this ties into the other features in game.

Tuesday - August 18, 2009

EVE Online - Dust 514 Revealed

by Woges, 20:24

CCP have revealed a MMO/FPS that interacts with EVE Online. Eurogamer have written a short brief on the news.

CCP has ended speculation and unveiled Dust 514, an MMO/FPS hybrid for consoles that will interact "directly" with flagship PC title EVE Online.

Battles within Dust 514 take place on the ground, on the surface of planets that exist within the world of EVE Online. But no further details on the interplay between the two games is given.

There's no preliminary release date nor specific mention of platforms, either.

CCP does say that Dust 514 has been in production for three years at CCP Shanghai, however, and there are two CGI-like screenshots to take in.

There's a little more info on Develop.

The game is an FPS for console - but one that is set in the EVE universe, and feeds back into the bigger space trading MMO on PC.

Explained Petursson: "It's our take on the console MMO - we looked hard at how people play in their living room and chose to make a specially made experience for that environment."

Players take he role of 'a gritty marine running around buying trucks and guns', living on planets in EVE Online.

The back story for the game is to be teased any explained in an upcoming EVE Online novel.

The game is structured to merge a lot of strategy, MMO and FPS elements, and has interplay with EVE itself, said Petursson. Dust 'becomes an input' for the PC MMO gameworld and will 'dictate' the content of it, he explained.

He added that there is a big opportunity to get two usually different player audiences - FPS fans and MMO players to work together.

He said: "There are ways in which these communities will meld in time. Our hope is that alliances will start to form and we will have social structures that spills over from the console game to the PC one. Or you might be able to control parts of the universe with both games. So while one fleet does the flying , the troops do the dying."

Sunday - July 05, 2009

EVE Online - Gamer steals from virtual world to pay real debts

by Myrthos, 21:14

Reuters brings us the news that an Eve Online player who operated a bank stole in game money and traded it for real world cash.

"Basically this character was one of the people that been running EBank for a while. He took a bunch of (virtual) money out of the bank, and traded it away for real money," said Ned Coker, of the Icelandic company CCP, which developed the game.

The CEO of EBank, a 27-year-old Australian tech worker who identified himself only as Richard and used the online name Ricdic, embezzled about 200 billion interstellar kredits, the game's virtual currency.

He broke the rules of the game by exchanging the stolen virtual funds for $6,300 Australian ($5,100) with players who preferred to buy virtual money rather than earn it playing the game.

"It was a very on the spot decision," the married father of two explained in an interview.

He said a spam email for a black market website that traded online money for real cash popped up on his screen, prompting him to exchange the virtual cash for real money to cover a deposit on his house and expenses related to his son's medical problems.

"I saw that as an avenue that could be taken, and I decided to skim off the top, you could say, to overcome real life (difficulties)."

The guy is of course banned, but there is no word on the players getting their in-game money back.

Source: Ten Ton Hammer

Thursday - May 21, 2009

EVE Online - Wins Media Momentum Award

by Myrthos, 22:57

CCP, developers of Eve Online, sent the information out about winning an award. Here is the most interesting part from that information, with an explanation about what the award stands for:

Reykjavik, ICELAND – May 14, 2009 – CCP, one of the world's leading independent game developers and creator of the critically acclaimed massively multiplayer online game (MMO) EVE Online, has been recognized for its remarkable year-over-year growth by being ranked on the Media Momentum's Larger Companies List 2009 and receiving a Media Momentum Award. The Media Momentum Awards honor the hottest and fastest growing digital media companies in Europe as judged by European digital media industry luminaries.

The industry recognition follows EVE Online's subscriber base topping 300,000 as the game celebrated its sixth anniversary on May 6, 2009. To support continued in-game growth and creative development of EVE Online, CCP is also increasing its headcount, recruiting top industry talent for about 60 positions over the course of 2009.

CCP's CEO, Hilmar Petursson, accepted the company's Media Momentum Award for "Vision and Future Growth Potential" and attended at an invitation-only awards dinner on May 13, 2009 in London. Said Petursson: "CCP is honored to receive this award as it validates our earliest plans of the future for EVE Online—a true virtual society that has a real sense of history and intrigue between players. We feel fortunate to have experienced dynamic growth both in our products and as a company and hope to use that energy to propel them further."

Friday - April 03, 2009

EVE Online - Apocrypha Review @ MMORPG

by Woges, 16:17

Review of EVE's latest expansion 8.7/10.

With wormhole space, CCP has created tiny pockets of lawless 0.0 space for players to dip their toes into, and built a system around them that's open enough for players to interact with in their own way. Everyone can get involved in WH space, from miners to pirates, and it's not tied to any specific region. The weeks since the release of Apocrypha have been full of the stories that make EVE great, tales of heroic success and unfortunate tragedy as expeditions run into Sleepers, or each other.

With the revamped New Player Experience making EVE more accessible, I want to give Apocrypha a higher score, but it's clear that it will take time for the success of some of the bigger features to become apparent. Will Strategic Cruisers become more than just a toy for rich players? As I write this, the handful of parts that are available on the market are stupidly expensive. Is the flurry of activity in wormhole space just a "gold rush" that will end soon? If tech three is a flop then the incentive to go exploring through wormholes will drop substantially. Whatever happens, there is one thing we can be sure of: nothing has changed New Eden like Apocrypha.

Source: Blues News

Wednesday - March 11, 2009

EVE Online - Apocrypha Launches

by Dhruin, 10:56

CCP has released EVE Online: Apocrypha.  Here's the feature list and head to the official site for more:

The sudden appearance of unstable wormholes in space, making the universe 41% larger and much more dangerous. On the other side, a first acquaintance awaits to a formidable NPC group that guards the key to the next level of technology. This unknown, uncharted space allows for a true sense of exploration for those brave enough to grab hold of the dynamic new scanning mechanics.

· Strategic Cruisers come with the introduction of ancient technology into production. These modular ships allow for an extravagant level of customization and versatility.

· The first Epic Mission Arc joins an enhanced new player experience to guide fledgling pilots toward the opportunities space has to offer. This massive branching set consists of dozens of missions that are guaranteed to forge any soft-shelled rookie into a battle-hardened veteran.

· Massive sensory improvements for every player: an upgraded sound engine, brand-new animations for almost every effect in game and beautiful original assets in wormhole space.

· A newly designed skill queue allows EVE's unique character progression system to truly shine and Neural Remapping provides an opportunity for players to refocus their development as they so choose.

· We are releasing our Premium Graphics client for Mac users and introducing Premium Lite as our new lower-end graphics suite for a more beautiful experience all around.

· Full Russian language support.

Source: Blues News

Monday - March 09, 2009

EVE Online - Noah Ward Interview @ Eurogamer

by Woges, 17:41

EVE Online's latest expansion is set to go live tomorrow, with this in mind, Jim Rossignol interviews Noah Ward (senior designer) on its creation.

Apocrypha is almost upon us: the EVE Online expansion which actually expands the game's galaxy via wormholes goes live tomorrow, March 10th. Exploration will no longer simply be about spawning missions across the existing star systems; instead it will be a plunge into the unknown, and a battle against previously unseen enemies. In conjunction with this new frontier, Apocrypha is laden with improvements and enhancements designed to make things smoother for the veterans, and more exciting for the newbies who will inevitably arrive via the new retail box version of the game.

We took some time to speak to senior designer Noah Ward about what the new expansion entails, and how CCP has gone about creating it.

Thursday - February 05, 2009

EVE Online - Drama

by Woges, 21:38

Apparently, one players backstab cost BoB dearly. Head over to Jim Rossignol's article to learn more about internet spaceship drama.

In what is probably the biggest backstab in Eve Online’s rather stabby history, a director of one of the key corporations in key PvP alliance Band Of Brothers has turned out to be an agent of their biggest enemies, the Something Awful spawned GoonSwarm. The consequence of this is some huge in-game material losses, but also the disbanding of the alliance itself. This means that the sovereignty game mechanic which holds Band Of Brother’s galactic empire together has gone offline, leaving them horrendously exposed to attack. Worse, Goonswarm have stolen the name and ticker of an alliance that has been running for almost five years.

Wednesday - January 28, 2009

EVE Online - Preview: Into the Future

by Woges, 13:22

Strategy Informer take a look at what is to come in EVE Online.

CCP aren't going to stop there either. Always looking towards the future, CCP have already outlined their plans for the next expansion and beyond, which is themed on 'exploration'. Associate Producer Torfi Olafsson is very much looking forward to this instalment, as it will be “the biggest expansion for EVE to date, there are more developers, programmers and artists working on it than ever before.” And with it will come new map areas accessed only through wormholes; a whole new tech level, plus other major additions and revisions that they hope will make the game more appealing to both new and old players.

The most interesting of the upcoming changes though is the 'Walking in Stations' feature. At first glance, it may seem a trivial feature to include, and on some level there's really no need for it to be included at all, but CCP are doing it anyway. This could potentially unlock whole new aspects of gameplay for the players, as they can now use their avatars to interact with the environment. The depth of CCP's vision is truly highlighted in this instance, as from station interaction, the next leap would be planet interaction. Ambulation on planets, planet ownership and control, planet destruction would really be evolution on a truly unilateral scale.

Source: Blues News

Sunday - January 11, 2009

EVE Online - Battle Report

by Woges, 18:34

Jim Rossignol writes of his space combat experiences.

The beacon went up and the charge began. Clearly not expecting this turn of events the enemies decided to try and flee, leaving a couple of capital ships behind. These huge ships rapidly began to die, but the enemy fleet nevertheless tried to return to save them. Awkwardly for them, they came streaming back in their ones and twos, to be utterly destroyed by our rampaging gang. It was a glorious slaughter, with not even a single friendly ship placed in jeopardy. When the massacre was over we turned out attention on the tower that our enemies were anchoring, and destroyed that too. Smug with our overwhelming victory, I warped back to the main space station in the system... and into the remains of the enemy gang.

I was the only person in our fleet to die.

Thursday - January 08, 2009

EVE Online - Apocrypha Announced

by Dhruin, 22:04

From CCP comes news of a new free EVE Online expansion:

CCP, one of the world's leading independent game developers, today announced the launch of the tenth free expansion for EVE Online, its popular science fiction massively multi-player online game (MMOG). EVE Online: Apocrypha is the most ambitious EVE expansion in the game's over five year history and it coincides with the March 10th, 2009 release of EVE Online as a boxed product through a partnership with Atari.

The fabric of space itself will be transformed as vast, unpredictable wormholes open to connect previously unexplored regions of the universe to the stars of New Eden. The seeds of advanced new technology await inside of these cosmic anomalies for those brave enough to explore them. This infusion of technology will enable production of the most dynamic vessels ever - Tech 3 modular ships with an astounding amount of customizability that can fill any role from skirmish muscle to industrial support.

Furthermore, NPC agents in EVE Online: Apocrypha will be authorized to assign Epic Mission Arcs to the pilots of New Eden. These branching, far-reaching mission strings are full of meaningful stories and more intelligent and deadly adversaries.

In addition, we are offering an entirely reworked New Player Experience for those joining (or rejoining) the game - giving them better insight into how to thrive in a truly limitless universe. We've already launched EVElopedia?a great repository for information on all things EVE where our players are also building their own living history of the previous five years of Alliance warfare, political intrigue and nostalgic recollection

"Just this past week we broke our concurrent user record with 45,186 people flying unbound in the same game world at the same time?a huge percentage of our quarter of a million current subscribers and a true testament to EVE in our sixth year of operation," said EVE Online Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson. "Today is an unprecedented time to start playing, as you can get ahead of the curve before Apocrypha releases in stores and our hard work hits the server cluster. It'll be easier than ever to get 'lost in the wormhole' that is EVE with what we have planned for the future of our expanding universe."

Leading up to the release of EVE Online: Apocrypha and the boxed version of EVE Online in stores, we'll be revealing more features on www.eveonline.com.

Tuesday - January 06, 2009

EVE Online - Breaks 45k Barrier

by Dhruin, 00:15

Yet another record as EVE Online breaks the 45,000 simultaneous players on one server barrier.  From Gamasutra:

CCP's EVE Online has reached a milestone, reporting a record peak of 45,186 concurrent users on its single-shard server.

"It is truly a testament to our loyal fans that 5 years into EVE's existence we are still breaking records and more people are flying in New Eden than ever before," said the company, announcing the record via EVE's official blog.

Monday - November 10, 2008

EVE Online - Entire line to be Boxed

by Woges, 22:08

CCP join up with Atari to distribute EVE in a boxed form.

Reykjavik, Iceland and Lyon, France - 10 November 2008: Atari and CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today announced a partnership which will see Atari exclusively distribute boxed versions of CCP's award winning PC MMOG, EVE Online. The game will be available in retail outlets in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions beginning March 2009. In addition, Atari will provide trade marketing services to augment CCP's consumer marketing initiatives for EVE Online. This venture will enable CCP to reach a wider audience and increase the visibility and awareness of the wildly popular franchise, which has grown steadily year-on-year since its release in 2003.

Saturday - November 08, 2008

EVE Online - Walking in Stations @ Eurogamer

by Woges, 18:13

Oli Welsh gets to look at the station upgrade coming to EVE sometime in the future.

Walking in Stations will also make EVE the first game to take advantage of a new lighting technology called Enlighten from Cambridge's Geomerics. In technical terms this means real-time radiosity - the bouncing of light from surfaces to other surfaces. In practical terms, it's supposed to allow games to take advantage of the kind of dynamic mood lighting of film, and especially film noir. A Geomerics representative showed clips of Alien and Blade Runner as well as a deeply impressive tech demo. Enlighten wasn't built into the demo shown, but regardless, there were some stunningly subtle lighting and shadowing effects on display already - ambient occlusion (softer darkening of obscured areas, as opposed to hard shadows) was spectacular.

The conclusion hints that this update maybe related to the WIP World of Darkness MMO.

Walking in Stations' presentation at Fanfest was impressive - but limited and transparently far from finished. It hasn't even reached alpha testing yet, and the chances of it making the first of the next year's two expansions look pretty remote. But the project has implications beyond EVE - it's surely a technology testbed for CCP's second game, the mysterious, vampiric horror-fantasy World of Darkness. As such, it's reassuring that the developer is investing in cutting-edge technology, and developing realistic, worldly content with the same intellectual thoroughness and dedication to player freedom that it has brought to the abstract reaches of space.

Friday - November 07, 2008

EVE Online - Fanfest Fotos @ Massive Gamer

by Asbjoern, 20:09

The website massivegamer.com has uploaded some photographs from this year's EVE Online Fanfest in Reykjavik, Iceland. The fanfest runs from 6-8th of November.

The official subsite for the Fanfest '08.

Source: Blues News

Thursday - November 06, 2008

EVE Online - "Quantum Rise" Launching Nov 11th

by Asbjoern, 23:33

Icelandic CCP has sent out the following press release announcing that the ninth expansion for EVE Online - Quantum Rise - will launch November the 11th free for subscribers:

CCP announces final features in free winter expansion

Reykjavik, Iceland, November 4th, 2008 - CCP, one of the world's leading independent game developers, announced November 11th as the launch date for the final deployment in the two-part staged release of EVE Online: Quantum Rise, the ninth free expansion for EVE Online. EVE Online players have already begun to enjoy the performance-enhancing improvements of the StacklessIO and EVE64 initiatives which were introduced in an earlier phase of the expansion's release, and both of which have set the stage for truly limitless combat. Several times in recent weeks, over 1,000 players have participated in single-system battles with extremely minimal lag thanks to these new industry-leading advancements.

These previously unannounced features will debut in EVE Online: Quantum Rise:

" The introduction of In-game Subscription Services. You can now convert your 60-day EVE Time Codes (ETCs) into two 30-day items in game. These "30-Day Pilot's Licenses" can be traded freely through all regular means (via market or contract or directly between players) and can be activated at any time. This feature will be available on November 11th or shortly thereafter
" Assembly Array upgrades for those wanting to produce on a grand scale
" Alchemy allows moon materials to shift the whole landscape of Tech 2 production
" UI changes include a moveable HUD, module recharge timers and weapon grouping
" More efficient bomb production. Producers get more boom for their materials.
" Upgrades to the Trinity Premium graphics content for the ubiquitous stargates of New Eden
" A rebalancing of ship speeds for vessels of all sizes to rediscover their combat viability, making player vs. player strategy and tactics more important than ever
" 10 new beautifully haunting music tracks by EVE soundtrack composer RealX

Already revealed features of Quantum Rise include the ability for corporations to create and distribute their own custom medals for whatever accomplishments they see fit to bestow on their members. Pilots will find a newly-designed certificate system provides a quick and verifiable way to prove their worth in gunnery, trading or countless other professions. The shipyards of New Eden have been busy rebalancing industrial ships and are almost ready to undergo production of the mighty capital ship, the Orca. For easier navigation, all ships will feature autopilot avoidance options and a few new routes will open up in New Eden.

The full list of all deployed and upcoming features of EVE Online: Quantum Rise can be found here: http://www.eveonline.com/features/quantumrise

Those curious about what is planned for EVE Online past Quantum Rise will not want to miss the announcements at Fanfest this year. Held in Reykjavik, Iceland on Nov 6-8-a few days before the expansion hits the live servers-this celebration of EVE and its players will have many surprises in addition to the myriad talks, presentations and combat it always hosts. More about the Fifth Annual Party at the Top of the World can be found on the EVE website:http://www.eveonline.com/fanfest/2008/ and we have plans to cover every aspect of our favourite yearly event.

Availability:

EVE Online: Quantum Rise will be available for subscribers as a free download at www.eveonline.com/download/. Non-subscribers should visit the EVE website to sign up for a free 14-day trial account.

Monday - October 27, 2008

EVE Online - Buddy Program Competition

by Asbjoern, 18:37

CCP takes use of the buddy program in a new competition to attract new players to the world of EVE:

With FanFest only two weeks away and Quantum Rise bringing technology and content to new levels, now is a great time to be a part of the EVE community. We’re going that extra mile on all fronts, and the Buddy program is no exception. From today until the start of FanFest, CCP will be tracking all Buddy invites to see who locks down the highest number of Buddy conversions from invites sent during that time. The subscriber with the most conversions will become the proud owner of a massive Special Edition Commodore EVE Rig!

Go here for more details including the rules and a picture of the prize: A Special Edition Commodore EVE Rig signed by the developers.

Source: WarCry

Tuesday - October 07, 2008

EVE Online - No Credit Crunch here

by Woges, 18:05

Jim Rossignol continues his articles on EVE over at Eurogamer, giving some insite into the pure capitalist ecconomy that has developed in the MMO.

There's even the potential for "passive" income in EVE, where your investment in time to skills can pay off. The most basic of these is in the datacores which fund invention. These are made by NPC characters with whom you can set up a research contract. Your skills combined with their rating dictates how many cores they will produce. With enough agents (and enough alts farming those agents) you can make a small income without having to do anything other than pick up the cores and sell them every few months. With datacores being constantly used by the inventors, it's a pretty stable investment.

Better yet, although slightly more risky, is moon mining. Generally the best moons are found in 0.0 space, so you're likely to need some kind of foothold outside of Empire to be able to do this safely. However, the best moons make millions of isk per hour, and the "high ends" have a yield that results in immense territory wars. You don't have to go for these ones, of course, and there are plenty of lesser moons that, when combined with other products, produce components for the invention market. Once it's set up, all you'll have to do is to refuel the moon mining structure, and to empty the silo once a week. Free money.

Tuesday - September 16, 2008

EVE Online - Factional Warfare @ MMORPG.com

by Myrthos, 23:13

With the Empyrean Age expansion factional warfare was added to Eve Online. MMORPG.com has an article about how it is implemented.

Most of the pilots involved in FW don't care about capturing territory; they just find the quickest route to where they action is, and fight. This is why Tama, at the time of writing this, has had one hundred and three ship kills in the last twenty four hours, according to the in-game map, overshadowing almost every other system in the region by a massive margin. Territorial fighting with no consequences has just led to most of those involved bunching up in a few systems and shooting each other for kill stats.

Now, problems aside, where can factional warfare go from here? Despite being the bare skeleton of a system there is a solid base here for future expansion, such as bringing the pirate factions into the fight. There's also the possibility of allowing player alliances to finally sign up, which was a major issue for a lot of players, as well as opening up benefits for the militia ranks.

Thursday - September 04, 2008

EVE Online - Political

by Woges, 14:35

Jim Rossignol rambles on the social side of EVE over at Eurogamer.

In timeless fashion, the posturing and rivalries between the RedSwarm and the Band of Brothers led to a year-long war - a war which only came to a close just after Christmas. The politics, however, have not stopped. And the latest wars mean that the previous allies of RedSwarm - the Northern Coalition - are now feeling the brunt of the Band's ongoing grudge. These conflicts only seem to get bigger as the game goes on - with thousands of people now involved. Following the political machinations is like following a giant, nerdy soap opera - a space opera, if you will. Should the Band of Brothers ally with Triumvirate? Did this alliance steal that super-capital ship pilot? What really happened to the collapsing Red Alliance? Disgraced leaders, deposed tyrants, treacherous spies, loved industrialists - the list of characters and situations expands daily. It will last as long as EVE does, and it's one of the things that gamers either love or loathe about that game world. There's no room for indifference - it's a feature that no other game can boast. (Except maybe Travian and a couple of other browser games, but anyway!)

Tuesday - September 02, 2008

EVE Online - Economy Interview @ Strategy Informer

by Woges, 14:39

Economy interview with Dr. Gudmundsson, fairly interesting look into the money matters of EVE.

Strategy Informer: Is there anything you can add to the current economic model? Any other ways of getting in-game revenue?

Dr. Gudmundsson: Well, the players themselves have actually created a lot of extra services, which allow them to earn income through ‘in-direct’ game mechanics. We have players who specialise in logistics – they move goods from one place to another for a fee. There are player-run banks that are being established, who provide financial services – people can even live off of the capital that these services earn. There is nothing official that supports these things in-game – the players themselves figure out how to make it work. So you see all the basic functions of a modern economy in the game – people are always looking for new ways to earn money.

Strategy Informer: Do you think CCP will ever legitimise these extra services? For example, by creating official banks?

Dr. Gudmundsson: That’s an interesting question, and one that I have no concrete answer to. Up till now our philosophy has been that these ideas are user-generated and therefore it should be user credited. We would rather see some sort of ‘trust’ system evolve among the players themselves, because as soon as you put an official stamp on it, you have to start putting in regulations and rules and restrictions and some kind of accountability, and that’s not really the EVE spirit. The EVE spirit is about the individual being able to try something new, and have the free spirit to just go ahead and have no-one stop them in their goals.

Source: Blues News

Thursday - August 28, 2008

EVE Online - Captains of Industry

by Woges, 15:33

Next free expansion to be about Industry. Eurogamer reports from an MMORPG.com video interview.

"Our game design team is looking at all aspects of science, industry and research, making sure we can optimise wherever we can, making sure we make the management of industry and production easier and more comprehensible," he said.

After last expansion The Empyrean Age concentrated on factional player-versus-player warfare, it seems that developer CCP is intent on giving the game's more peaceful players something to get their teeth into with this next update, codenamed MIDAS.

Wednesday - August 13, 2008

EVE Online - Fleet Battles Article @ Eurogamer

by Woges, 12:24

Jim Rossignal's second article on EVE Online at Eurogamer. This one is regarding fleet battles.

The flipside to the small gang battles that characterise much of EVE's PVP is fleet warfare. The number of people participating in EVE Online's fleet battles at any one time regularly sits in the neighbourhood of hundreds. Fleet commanders have even adapted their tactics to take into account the lag pauses that such large numbers of players entail - pauses that might last up to twenty minutes. They generally move their ships into position long before the expect to engage, and way before they even expect be able to see what is happening.

To many gamers, even many EVE players, this kind of brokenness in a game seems ludicrous. Why would anyone want to play a game where the fundamental mechanisms don't work as they should? Why would anyone put up with twenty-minute lag? The answer is that there's a much, much bigger picture. It's one that dominates everything in EVE Online.

The reason why so many EVE players want to sink thousands of man hours into laggy, drawn-out fleet combat involving hundreds of ships has less to do with the indulgence of Star Wars fantasies of mass space combat, and far more to do with EVE Online's socio-economic metagame. But what do those big words mean? Well, it's all down to money. EVE players want their virtual currency, and the best way to get a lot of it is to stake out some territory in 0.0 space. To do this, you need friends. Lots of friends.

Sunday - August 10, 2008

EVE Online - Nerf Controversy

by Woges, 11:25

Jim Rossignol reports on a possible nerf to medium size ships in EvE having their speed reduced has created some contention.

I’ve been playing Eve Online on and off for about five years now and I don’t think I’ve ever seen as much controversy as that being generated by the most recently proposed changes. These changes basically concern how fast medium sized spaceships should go, and what the ramifications for the rest of the game will be if they’re made to slow down. The mixture of rage, indignation and constructive feedback that has emerged in response to the proposals has created a sixty-three page thread on the official forums, and countless arguments elsewhere - even between my own Eve Onlining chums. But are the subs-paying players right to be angry when the developer changes the nature of their favourite toy? And who should be calling the shots anyway?

Friday - July 11, 2008

EVE Online - Results of the Council of Stellar Management @ Massively

by Woges, 00:33

 While I'm at Massively they also have a piece on recent developments with EVE.

CCP Wrangler has just erected quite a wall of text at the EVE Online forums, but this one is definitely worth a read as it concerns the direction of the game. Wrangler's post is essentially the minutes from the first meeting between the player-elected Council of Stellar Management and CCP Games in Reykjavik last month.

CCP Wrangler's post lists the issues that the CSM brought to CCP Games, summarizes delegate views on the issues and CCP's responses to their concerns. The minutes represent three days worth of meetings; highlights include skill queues, Black Ops improvements, alliances and factional warfare, and 0.0 sovereignty issues. Beyond these issues, there's much more listed that covers a wide range of player concerns. Of course there won't be any immediate changes to the game, but the minutes give a fair estimation of how EVE Online may evolve in the months to come.

Saturday - July 05, 2008

EVE Online - E-ON Issue #12

by Woges, 16:13

 Latest Issue of the EVE magazine published.

It's finally July 4th, and we all know what that means, E-ON #12 is published! If it hasn't arrived in your mail yet it will soon, provided you ordered a copy of course. This time the magazine is filled with mining, a free poster, the CSM meeting, guides, interviews and much, much more.

Saturday - June 21, 2008

EVE Online - Video Interviews

by Woges, 20:02

 Four Videos up on the Empyrean Age site.

Tony Gonzales
Tony Gonzales Lead Writer, explains that tensions built within the Empyrean Age novel were developed to entice both veteran EVE players and the “uninitiated” science fiction fan. Gonzales also toys with the idea of writing a sequel to the book.
 
Noah Ward
EVE's Lead Designer, Noah Ward discusses the new features in Trinity 1.1: Boost Patch. Learn all about the new improvements, deadlier ships and interface renovations now available.
 
Mathew Woodward
Mathew Woodward, Game Designer for Empyrean Age, tells us “These new missions give players the strength of narrative.” New missions within Factional Warfare alter the focus from isolated PvE, taking these objectives and tying them into the sweeping story found in The Empyrean Age novel.
 
Nathan Richardsson
Nathan Richardsson Executive Producer, discusses the origins of EVE Online while providing an overview of Empyrean Age’s features. All out war was the most brutal and obvious choice for this new expansion. Was this war inevitable? Yes. Richardsson also offers his view on what makes PvP exciting and worthwhile.

Tuesday - June 17, 2008

EVE: Empyrean Age - Preview @ Eurogamer

by Asbjoern, 17:22

Jim Rossignol of RPS and Eurogamer has written a preview for the recently launched expansion pack, Empyrean Age, for EVE Online:

Best of all, this the first time that we've really seen the fiction of EVE properly tied into the larger game mechanics (aside from the various archetypes and characteristics of the ships), and it delivers the game back to the players, rather than relying on news that has no real in-game impact, or dev-run role-playing events which sound fun but have no real consequence. That's pleasing because CCP's efforts in creating a game universe always seemed to be blotted out by the crazy antics of their players. Perhaps, if enough people decide to take up faction warfare, the full depth of the fiction that CCP conjured up can be exploited, one day.

Source: Blues News

Thursday - June 12, 2008

EVE Online - Interview @ Gamasutra

by Woges, 18:54

Gamasutra have a state of the game interview with EVE's Nathan Richardsson.

Space trading and combat-based PC MMO EVE Online has just passed its fifth anniversary, with that rarest of things for an online subscription game, year on year growth - with 220,000 active subscribers as of the end of 2007.

The game's Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson joined developer CCP in 2004 when they were "were just about 30 people in Reykjavik" – the studio now has 350 people, with additional offices in Atlanta and Shanghai, and 50 more people expected to be added by the end of 2008.

In this wide-ranging interview with Gamasutra, Richardsson looks at EVE's progress to date, gameplay comparisons with starkly different market leader World Of Warcraft, the lack of female players in the game, and much more.

Wednesday - June 11, 2008

EVE Online - Empyrean Age Live!

by Woges, 01:57

Official EVE web-site declares latest expansion deployed.

EVE Online: Empyrean Age has been successfully deployed on Tranquility and we’re now open for business! We invite you to explore the new region "Black Rise" or try the new feature Factional Warfare, to fight for glory and fame in the service of your faction

Monday - June 02, 2008

EVE Online - Empyrean Age Chat Log @ MMORPG

by Woges, 13:22

Big ol Dev Chat at MMORPG, here's a clip.

MMORPG_Taera: zt3fan86 asks, Does Eve News" have any influence on the actual gameplay at all? like the one we got last day, BREAKING NEWS: Unidentified Armada Detected In Yulai or are those news just for role players?"

Ginger: Well , there are several areas of EVE News. CCP Announcements, Player News and what we currently call fiction news.

Ginger: As this question is related to fiction news I will address that section of it.

Ginger: Fiction news related to players the goings on in the world of EVE, the fictional story of EVE

Ginger: Which, as it happens, is currently very busy with many nasty , interesting, confusing and exhilerating happenings as we build up to the Empyrean Age release

Ginger: In the past, the fiction news hasnt had much affect on gameplay however with the build up to Empyrean Age we have got the resources from other departments to actually change the world to reflect the changes described in the news.

Ginger: So for example. When we released the news and the trailer of the Nyx plowing into the Ishukone Headquarters

Ginger: If fly there now you will find that station greatly changed

Ginger: Its got a bloody big hole in it for a start

Ginger: So things like this we are looking to incorporate into the game itself, but the news items will not affect your ability to play the game of EVE.

Saturday - May 31, 2008

EVE Online - Empyrean Age News

by Woges, 22:14

News from the offical site on EVE's latest expansion.

Second Empyrean Age Teaser

The second trailer for EVE Online: Empyrean Age is now available on the expansion features page. It contains more Scope News coverage of the escalating tensions between the four factions, and brings New Eden one step closer to total war.

In this glimpse into the EVE Universe, the CONCORD bureau station in Yulai faces down a mysterious fleet composed of both Republic Fleet and Thukker Tribe vessels.
More »
 
EVE Online: Empyrean Age release dateEVE Online:
 
Empyrean Age is slated for a June 10th release. The cold war that has existed between our four races for a hundred years is becoming very hot. It is now time for you to pick a side; some will fight for glory, others for personal gain. All will fight to win!
 
To find out more about the Empyrean Age expansion, please visit the features page and read all about the new content: the introduction of a faction ranking system, new militias being mustered, fresh agents pertaining to the massive conflicts, a dynamic new structure of system occupancy, details on hidden deadspace complexes and a whole new region in space, "Black Rise."
 
EVE Online: Empyrean Age incorporates elements of fiction that will be introduced in a novel by the same name, slated for a June 19th release, by Tony Gonzales.

Friday - May 16, 2008

EVE Online - Empyrean Age Web-site

by Woges, 17:24

As this new age beckons for EVE players CCP have a new web additon here.

EVE Online is a massively multiplayer game. Hundreds of thousands of players compete within a single persistent universe for military, economic and political power. Players explore the suns of New Eden, mine and refine resources, drive the economy, and wage war on one another in a richly detailed virtual world set 35,000 years in the future in a stellar cluster far from Earth.

This summer, CCP will bring EVE into the Empyrean Age. The four major Empires of EVE have broken their long-standing peace and are marshalling their forces for war. The outcome hinges on the actions of the galaxy's immortal pod pilots, allowing players to direct the course of the conflict.

The events of Empyrean Age have been a long time coming, building upon nearly a century of political tension. Access to Jovian technology ushered in the age of the pod pilots and shattered the balance of power, and recent events have sparked a march towards total war.

The events leading to the outbreak of war in New Eden unfold in EVE: The Empyrean Age, the first EVE novel, written by Tony Gonzales and published in the UK by ORION Books.

Source: MMORPG.com

Tuesday - May 13, 2008

EVE Online - The Big Vote @ Eurogamer

by Woges, 18:35

Article at Eurogamer on EVE's Council of Stellar Management.

We've just entered a two-week voting period in EVE Online, in which every subscriber is being given an opportunity to vote for their choice of representatives from the player-base. This democratic process allows players to decide which of the 31 candidates gets to represent them in the regular Reykjavik summits between developers CCP and the inaugural Council of Stellar Management (CSM). Nine councillors must be chosen.

Players will be deciding who they trust with their voice, and who they think will have the best influence on the issues raised at the talks. That is, of course, if they bother to vote. Just as in the real world, voter ignorance and apathy seems rife, and even the hardest of hardcore players seem indifferent to the entire affair. Has CCP done enough to promote the entire business?

Thursday - May 08, 2008

EVE Online - Misconceptions @ IGN

by Woges, 19:29

 CCP talk to IGN on the misconceptions percieved about EVE Online.

You can't enjoy the game if you aren't in a major alliance


The players who receive the most recognition from the community are usually those players who work without an alliance and still manage to create reputations by and for themselves. There were several well known, feared PVPers who fought against gangs with great success, always solo. They didn't rely on friends or alliances to help them, but instead dealt with whoever came their way, alone. Whenever they won, they didn't have to share the glory with anybody else. The community respected that, and still does to this day.

Aside from combat, you can also enjoy other aspects of the game without the help of an alliance. One method might be to enjoy the profits from supplying a low security system with common goods. If you do it right, you will pretty much establish a little economy and monopoly there and nearby. People will often pay a little more for something so they don't have to travel 10 jumps. You would still interact with other players, but not directly because you play the economy, which is controlled by everyone as a whole, so anything that happens will affect your game as well. The fluctuations of the overall market would affect your system, and keeping on top of this can be very intense and rewarding.

Thursday - April 24, 2008

EVE Online - Empyrian Age Interview @ MMORPG

by Woges, 17:08

Another interview from the New York Comic Con this time Jon Wood talks to CCP designer Matt Woodward about the WIP expansion Empyrian Age.

“Empyrian Age is the first expansion that we’ve really been building the story into things,” said Woodward. “We’ve got [an author] who has written us a novel of the same name and it’s about four big empires who exist  in a kind of uneasy peace for some time. It all comes to a head and it all starts. The whole cluster is extreme and everything is kicking off, so the expansion ties into this.” They are also planning to have news and information come out in-game to prep players for the expansion’s  release.

When the expansion does indeed kick off, players will be able to sign up for one side or the other. From there, they start to run missions and complete tasks for their empire, gaining more and more standing with them.

You can sign up individually,” Woodward said, “or you can sign up with your corporation. This, of course, will put you at war with the other factions. You‘re going to be fighting them in space, and you‘re going to be fighting them for glory.”

EVE Online - Ambulation Interview @ MMORPG

by Woges, 00:39

Keith Cross has a chat with CCP at the New York Comic Con about the social walkabout addition under-construction for EVE Online.

To find the look for these new avatars, they took examples of avatar faces that are currently available in game and tried to recreate their features using pictures of real people and morphing specific features from various faces to create realistic images similar to the original, caricature-like pictures.  It’s like figuring out what a politician really looks like simply based on their pictures in political cartoons.  Staring with that as a basis, they then went to work adding a dazzling array of options to customize the look of your avatar.

Characters start with their bloodline which determines a basic skull structure.  After that, players have a few options to edit their skulls, but within realistic guidelines, so no cone-heads or hammerhead eyes.  There are several body type sliders, which seem to be becoming a standard for the next generation of MMOs, having one slider for muscle tone and mass, which works in combination with a slider for heavy or thin characters.  So players can have a thin but well toned avatar, or an obese character who could be strong and fit under the extra weight, or have no muscles at all from sitting in a pod and eating all day.  The cool part about the body types is that they are on sliders, no pre set increments, and the body you choose will effect the animations of your character.  The thin, toned guy will have a little more bounce in his step to show his agility, the heavy muscled avatar will carry his weight around like he’s big and strong, and the fat guy will be a little more ponderous in his motion.  Body fat content and fitness will also alter the shape of a character’s face by adding more or less flesh onto the existing skull.

 

Thursday - April 17, 2008

EVE Online - 5 Years and Counting

by Woges, 22:00

Revealing the name of the next EVE expansion "The Empyrean Age" Dana Massey interviews Valerie Massey.

The title of the next expansion - revealed here for the first time - will be "The Empyrean Age," the same as the EVE novel by Tony Gonzalez also slated for the summer. The reason is simple, this is the first EVE Online expansion where the story of the game and its universe will play a key role, a lot of it based off the novel.

"The universe of Eve has always had this fragile peace between the races and now that's going to end," Massey said. This means war and that is the core new feature: factional warfare. "People can actually take an active role and choose sides for who they want to fight for and who they want to fight against."

More details on this expansion are going to trickle out over the coming months, but it marks - at long wait - the culmination of the plan that was once upon a time called Kali and has now turned into not one, but four epic expansions: Revelations I, Revelations II, Trinity and now The Empyrean Age.

Tuesday - April 15, 2008

EVE Online - Client Source Code Theft

by Asbjoern, 19:14

The source code for the client of EVE Online has this week been leaked onto several torrent tracking websites. An interview with CCP is up at Gamesindustry.biz reassuring players that the leak does not pose any security threat. It actually doesn't mean anything at all, it seems:

"CCP is aware that an individual claims to have access to the source code of the EVE client. This access is not a security risk to CCP in any way," stated the developer.

"Access to the source code for the EVE client exposes no security vulnerabilities, has no privacy protection issues, and poses no threat to our customers' billing information.

"The server-side interface used by the client is carefully protected to ensure that no abusive or unwanted information is transmitted to, or from the internal EVE server systems. Nothing the EVE client can do can affect the game state, no advantage can be gained by manipulating the EVE client, no advantageous or disadvantageous information can be transmitted to other EVE users by altering the EVE client," added the company.

Wednesday - April 09, 2008

Eve Online - Interview with Reynir Haroarson @ RPS

by Woges, 11:02

Reynir Harðarson on; EVE, the World of Darkness MMO and MMOs.

Reynir Harðarson, (pronounced “Hardarson” or “Hartharson”? the jury is out) who was one of the key imaginations behind Eve Online and the original art director, is now working on the World Of Darkness MMO in Atlanta. He talks quietly and rapidly, making transcribing and interview like this one (conducted in a noisy conference hall) incredible painful. Nevertheless it’s worth doing because he is articulate and incredibly astute, and I think this brief conversation captures a fragment of that. It staggers me each day that his work, and the work of CCP as a whole, gets ignored and over-looked by the industry.

Source: Ten Ton Hammer

Monday - April 07, 2008

Eve Online - Re-review @ EuroGamer

by Woges, 19:29

Positive re-review with a rating of 8/10.

EVE's evolution has always been about increasing the detail within the game universe. That has come in incremental layers of NPC content, trade and industrial content, player-vs-player mechanics, new ships, new player-owned structures, and so on. The most recent additions to the game are simply more detail burned into the universe. However, it's the additions that the players make to this single, persistent galaxy that really make a difference.

We seem to be in some kind of mature phase now, with the biggest war the game has ever seen finishing up, and dozens of other, smaller conflicts breaking out. We're now benefiting from thousands of experienced combat pilots, and dozens of competent, ambitious leaders, all wanting to carve out a place in the galaxy for their pilots. It's an exciting time to be in the game world, and joining a new alliance and finding new goals for our corporation has utterly rejuvenated my interest in the game.

Wednesday - April 02, 2008

Eve Online - The Future of EVE

by Woges, 21:07

Walkin stations and robot NPC staff it seems @ RockPaperShotgun

There’s also a new interface for corp recruitment. Players are going to be able to rent NPC bots as staff within their offices, which we eventually intend to be programmable. Players will be able to set up dialogue trees, and give and receive items. We’ll be able to have players setting up their own missions using these dialogue tree systems. These bots can also be representative for the players, recruiters or a bar-tender bot. These station services that I mention are going to be player-owned. My vision is to have as little as NPC-driven stuff in there as possible. The avatar-services, bars, and offices are all going to be built by players, and will require rent. Running in bar in Yulai will cost a little more than running a bar in some abandoned low-sec station.

Tuesday - March 25, 2008

EVE Online - Getting Into EVE

by Woges, 15:50

Jim Rossignol has a beginners guild article to EVE Online with links to some useful sites for new players.

Yes, dying is inevitable, and hardcore. When you die you really lose something. But don't worry: a bit of work and you can always get it back. The crucial thing is that you learn from your mistakes. Working out how your ship can take on the tasks that have been set for you by agents teaches you a great deal about the game systems. For tips, solutions, and information on how to make the most of all these missions, from combat to industry, it's worth taking a look at the player-run website, eveinfo.com, which catalogues enormous amounts of game information.

Wednesday - March 19, 2008

EVE Online - Council of Stellar Management

by Asbjoern, 00:14

Icelandic based CCP announced last November their plans for creating a player-elected council called "The Council of Stellar Management" (Abbreviated: CSM). Today they released a timeline of the project for the next half year:

- March 18, 2008: Call for candidates
- April 1, 2008: Candidate entries ends
- May 5, 2008: The two-week voting process begins with all candidates that have been verified and approved
- May 19, 2008: Voting ends
- May 21, 2008: Council members announced
- May 24, 2008: The first CSM meeting online
- May 31, 2008: CSM delegates sign Non-Disclosure Agreement
- June 19, 2008: Council members travel to Iceland. Preliminary meeting between the CSM and the CCP Council on first day.
- June 20, 2008: The first CSM and CCP Council meeting
- June 21, 2008: The second meeting
- June 22, 2008: Third meeting, if needed
- June 23, 2008: The council members depart for home

Source: WarCry

Wednesday - March 12, 2008

EVE Online - GDC Interview @ The MMO Gamer

by Asbjoern, 19:44

CCP researcher, Petur Oskarsson, has been interviewed during the GDC conference, where he talks about different aspects of Eve Online, the new World of Darkness MMO and CCP as a company.

CCP started in 1997. It sprang out of a company called OZ that was a virtual meeting communications company working in Iceland. The idea they had then was to create the best massive multiplayer online game ever. Of course, the two guys who actually founded the company had no money, only ideas and great aspirations, which meant that it took awhile, until funding started running in.

In 2000 the wheels started rolling with trips to E3—God bless its memory—and then in 2001 and 2002 there was an available working prototype, and alpha tests of EVE. Then, in 2002 and 2003 beta testing was commencing, and then EVE went live, May 2003.

We had a publishing contract with Simon & Schuster’s electronic division, but they closed that division, so we had to buy the publishing rights back. In December 2003 we had done that, and we started publishing the game electronically online.

Since then, we have grown from 30,000 subscribers to close to 250,000 subscribers now.

An audio recording of the interview is also available in the article.

Tuesday - March 11, 2008

EVE Online - Q&As on Stellar Council

by Woges, 03:20

Laura Genender discusses EVE's new council with Petur Oskarsson at mmorpg.com.

You might be wondering, what exactly IS the Council of Stellar Management’s duties? While the name implies some in-game, roleplayish aspect, the council is actually an entirely metagame program. Council members are not the dictators or democrats of the EVE world; they are advisors to the developers concerning gameplay mechanics, balance, and player wishes. Consider them your ambassadors of ideas, and elect them wisely…the Coucil of Stellar Management needs to be a diverse group to represent the player community of EVE.

Friday - March 07, 2008

EVE Online - On Steam

by Woges, 14:22

EVE is the first MMO to be available on Steam. Offical site states there is a 21 day trial period. Steam page here.

Wednesday - March 05, 2008

EVE Online - Hilmar Petursson interview @ MMORPG.com

by Woges, 15:56

A little about EVE and the White Wolf merger here.

 For those who might not know, CCP is currently running three offices: one in Iceland, one in Shanghai, China and one in Georgia here in the United States. The most recent addition is the American branch, opened after the MMO company merged with White Wolf, the company behind such games as Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Awakening and other games set in the proprietary World of Darkness. I had hoped that this GDC would be the show where someone from CCP could be coaxed into talking a little bit about the upcoming (though still officially unannounced) MMO based in that universe. Unfortunately, San Francisco in February is still not the place, and even though many of the CCP devs were walking around in World of Darkness shirts, nobody was talking, including the CEO.

EVE Online - A look at economy in EVE

by Woges, 15:24

BBC news web-site technical editor Darren Waters talks to Dr Eyjo Gudmundsson about EVE.

With such depth and complexity, it is hardly surprising that Eve Online attracts a good number of senior executives and business professionals.

Dr Gudmundsson said: "It's the challenge of being able to be the best at planning ahead, the one who controls a large territory, showing your skills in running a corporation that has up to 1,000 members."

He added: "It's gamers who want something other than the First Person Shooter. They are using their skills, and learning skills about business, production and management, and having fun in a very competitive environment."

 

Friday - February 08, 2008

Eve Online - Review @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 22:34

MMORPG.com has posted the first part of an in-depth review of EVE Online, CCP's space-borne MMO. In this installment reviewer Laura Genender takes a closer look at the game's background.

One of the big contention points of EVE gameplay – hot or not? – is the skill/progression system. In World of Warcraft or Everquest, you spend three hours playing and gain (or lose!) experience during those three hours; your progress or lack thereof correlates to the effort you put in. In EVE, your skills progress based on a real-time clock. A skill that takes 5 days, 15 hours, 16 minutes, and 31 seconds will take that amount of time whether you are at the computer or logged off for the entire time. These training timers can be altered based on character stats – determined via starter stats, cybernetic implants, and some skills – but you can’t will a skill to train faster.

Source: MMORPG.com

Wednesday - January 23, 2008

Eve Online - EVE Coming to Steam

by Inauro, 20:48

CCP and Valve have inked a deal that will see the former's MMO EVE Online featured on the latter's delivery platform, Steam.

Bellevue, Washington and Reykjavik, Iceland - January 22, 2008 - EVE Online, the award winning massively multiplayer online (MMO) game from CCP, is coming to Steam, a leading platform for the delivery and management of PC games and digital content with over 13 million accounts worldwide.

To celebrate the launch of Steam's first massively multiplayer online game offering, a special 21-day trial period for EVE will be available, free of charge, to all Steam gamers. Steam gamers will also save $5 off their first full month of EVE Online.

"Launching EVE on Steam means the addition of another fantastic PC game and the introduction of MMOs on Steam," said Jason Holtman, director of business development at Valve. "The team at CCP continues to expand EVE's universe and gameplay for the legions logging in to play each month, just as we continue to expand Steam's consumer and developer features."

EVE Online is a leader in online gaming technology, hosting hundreds of thousands of players in the same persistent universe. The latest EVE Online expansions, which are always free for players, introduces a graphic update of gargantuan proportions and a host of new gameplay features. Every ship, station and stargate is rendered in an amazing splendor of spacefaring sights.

"We are immensely excited and honored that EVE Online will be the first MMO on Steam," said Magnus Bergsson, VP of Sales at CCP. "Steam has been the leading online distribution platform for a long time and home to some of the most dedicated gamers around, so we couldn't think of a better fit for EVE Online."

For more information on EVE Online and Steam, go to www.steamgames.com.

Source: CCP

Tuesday - January 08, 2008

EVE Online - Trinity Review @ ComputerGames.ro

by Inauro, 20:55

ComputerGames.ro offers up a thoughtful review of Trinity, the latest expansion for CCP's EVE Online.

It’s really a paradox – the complexity of the game and the very slow learning curve don’t permit the extension of the player base, but they are very things that keep the current players so dedicated. It’s the biggest challenge that CCP faces, to make out of EVE an accessible, fun game to play whilst not ruining the challenge of such a large player driven universe. No new graphics engine will ever convince a new player to stay, if he learns he needs at least few months to actually realize what the hell is it that he’s suppose to do. And that’s a shame, since at least in my humble opinion, EVE Online is the only true example of how one should build fascinating, long-lasting MMOs. All that CCP did was to offer support for a platform entirely ruled by players, never making any attempt to lighten up and smoothen the harsh world the players have created. EVE’s history is written by its players. And they're still writing…

Thursday - January 03, 2008

Eve Online - Review @ Macworld

by Inauro, 20:58

Macworld reviews EVE Online (for which an OS X client was recently released) and after awarding it 3.5/5 concludes:

An absolutely mind-blowing “sandbox” MMOG, EVE Online will take you months, if not years, to explore. Just be willing to put up with some unreliable behavior from the Mac version until the developers can straighten things out.

Friday - December 14, 2007

EVE Online - Patch Problems Explained @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:47

CCP makes a full disclosure about the reasons for the trouble caused for some Windows XP users by the recent Trinity patch.

It might appear from the installer log that we made the mistake of explicitly deleting \boot.ini instead of just boot.ini. The former would delete the file from the root of the current drive whereas the latter would only delete from the current working directory. It is not quite so; the mistake was to assume that the file would be deleted from the current working directory without giving the full path.

Source: CCP

Thursday - December 06, 2007

EVE Online - Win XP Issues @ Official Site

by Inauro, 22:11

Some Win XP users are experiencing serious issues with the new EVE Online expansion, Trinity.  The official site has more.

If you are only using the Classic client or installed the Premium client using the full Premium installer than you are not affected.

If you upgraded from the Classic client to the Premium client, using the content upgrade, then please read on.

Check the root directory of your hard drive and see if you have a boot.ini file, if so then you are not affected. The file is normally hidden so you need to click Tools : Folder Options : View and select "Show hidden files and folders" and uncheck "Hide protected operating system files" to be able to see it.

You can also check for the presence of this file by clicking Start : Control Panel : System : Advanced : Startup and Recovery : Settings (third button down). Windows will alert you if the boot.ini file is missing.

Source: CCP

Tuesday - December 04, 2007

EVE Online - Further Details @ Official Site

by Inauro, 21:20

Head over to the official EVE Online site for updated details regarding the forthcoming Trinity expansion pack.

The time for EVE to evolve from beautiful to gorgeous is approaching! Trinity, EVE Online's newest content expansion, will be deployed on Wednesday 5 December, commencing at 0200 GMT. Tranquility and the EVE forums will be unavailable for the length of the deployment, both are expected to return to service by 0200 GMT on Thursday 6 December.

Trinity is EVE Online's largest expansion to date and centers around a new graphics system. EVE players with DirectX9c and Shader 3 capable graphics cards can choose to upgrade their clients to Trinity's Premium Graphics Content. Players without cards supporting DX9c and Shader 3 technology will play EVE with the Classic Graphics Content, but will be able to upgrade once their system meet the Premium Graphics Content requirements. To see a preview of EVE: Trinity, you can download the 102M HD1080p EVE: Trinity Trailer or the smaller 64M HD720p EVE: Trinity Trailer. Other features may be found on the EVE: Trinity Feature Site.

Detailed Features, Improvements and Balance Changes, as well as a comprehensive list of Fixes and Changes are now available. Due to the scope of the expansion, the list had to be split into two sections.  

Source: CCP

Wednesday - November 28, 2007

EVE Online - Trinity Release Date Announced

by Inauro, 21:10

CCP has announced the release date for Trinity, the upcoming EVE Online expansion.

Reykjavik, Iceland - November 28, 2007 - CCP, one of the world's largest independent game developers, today announced that the highly anticipated EVE Online: Trinity expansion for its popular massively multiplayer online game (MMOG) will be available on December 5, 2007. Available as a free online download for all EVE subscribers, Trinity features a next-generation graphics engine that sets a new aesthetic standard for online games. This expansion comes on the heels of another important milestone: more than 200,000 players now subscribe to EVE Online.

The release of the Trinity expansion fortifies EVE Online's position at the forefront of three-dimensional game graphics, creating a breath-taking cinematic experience during actual gameplay. In order to achieve its visual goals, CCP developed a new graphics engine, architected for Shader Model 3.0 and above. In this first showcase for the new engine, all ships, stations and stargates have been reconstructed. EVE Online: Trinity employs advanced lighting techniques and complex surface materials to make these highly detailed models even more realistic.

"EVE Online players always inspire and amaze everyone at CCP, and it is invigorating to see our subscription numbers surpass 200,000 as we prepare for the Trinity release," said Hilmar Veigar Petursson, Chief Executive Officer of CCP. "We're pleased that advances in graphics technology allow us to present the world of EVE as we had always envisioned it. We look forward to sharing the Trinity edition with the fast-growing, dedicated community that shares our passion to remove the barriers that constrain virtual worlds from meeting their full potential."

The Trinity launch also includes a host of new features. For full details of added features, please visit http://www.eve-online.com/trinity/. To experience a preview of EVE Online: Trinity, see the trailer here: http://myeve.eve-online.com/download/videos/.

Source: CCP

Tuesday - November 20, 2007

EVE Online - Trinity Site Launched

by Inauro, 21:06

CCP has announced the launch of the official EVE Online: Trinity site.

Source: CCP

Friday - November 16, 2007

Eve Online - Council of Stellar Management @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:02

CCP has released a white paper discussing the reformation of the Council of Stellar Management at the official EVE Online site.

Ever since our CEO, Hilmar Pétursson, announced the re-emergence of the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) last spring we have been working feverishly at trying to make it bigger and better than the earlier version. When it was implemented last time players could volunteer for the CSM and they were then handpicked by us.

What we wish to do is to take this to a new level and let you the players elect representatives to the CSM. The CSM will then act as an official conduit for your comments and requests, as a community, enhancing greatly your ability to express your concerns and prioritize the matters you believe are most important at the time. The white paper presented here is by no means a finished paper, changes and updates will be made to it when more feedback gets in. We have already changed our ideas on some key fronts based on the feedback we got at Fanfest this year, the biggest change being that this is no longer considered an implementation of ‘Democracy’, as that word has so many and different meanings to different people that it would be the cause of a lot of misunderstandings.

Source: CCP

Monday - November 12, 2007

Eve Online - Quarterly Economic Report @ Official Site

by Inauro, 21:05

The first quarterly economic newsletter for EVE Online is now available for download at the official site. 

Source: CCP

Tuesday - November 06, 2007

Eve Online - Mac & Linux Clients Available @ Official Site

by Inauro, 21:07

The long awaited Mac and Linux clients for EVE Online are now available at the official site. 

Source: CCP

Monday - October 29, 2007

Eve Online - The Power of Two @ Official Site

by Inauro, 21:11

CCP is offering players of EVE Online the opportunity to acquire a second account at a lower rate.

Be the captain of your very own fleet and master of your own destiny! Current EVE Online subscribers may purchase a second account and get the first six months for a reduced price. Log in and follow the link to take advantage of this special, but hurry! This offer ends November 4th.

Source: CCP

Thursday - October 25, 2007

Eve Online - Trinity Screenshots @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:23

CCP has posted a before and after ship screenshot to showcase the changes coming to EVE Online with the release of the Trinity expansion pack. 

Source: CCP

Saturday - October 13, 2007

Eve Online - Trinity @ Official Site

by Inauro, 00:42

The official EVE Online site has word that CCP's space-based mercantile shooter will be getting an expansion in the near future.

We're getting an expansion this winter, and it's real shiny. In fact, it's so shiny that we had to add a lot of other things just so you could see how shiny it is. Its shininess includes 50 man-years of work remodeling all spaceships, stargates and station exteriors and interiors, plus all the improvements and additions that go hand in hand with introducing this kind of burning luminosity. It is, in fact, a brand new graphic engine, tuned and tweaked with everything from asynchronous resource loading to intelligent fallback mechanisms to give the best performance possible, and we're very proud of it.

To show off its shininess we're adding a host of Tech II ships that include the eerie Black Ops, the spearheading Marauders and the warp-jamming Heavy Interdictors, not to mention the lockdown terrors that are the Electronic Attack Ships, and the masters of the supply chain, the Jump Freighters. That's not to mention an abundance of PvE content, including hundreds of new kill missions, and various game advancements ranging from improved drone management to new booster production regions. EVE, our tranquil and magnificent vision, has been given a terrifying new beauty. You'll need to see this.

Source: CCP

Saturday - September 15, 2007

Eve Online - Mac and Linux Ports Announced

by Inauro, 01:49

Earlier this week CCP Games announced that Mac and Linux versions of EVE Online are to be released later this year.

Reykjavík, Iceland, Toronto, Canada - September 11, 2007 - CCP Games, one of the world's largest independent game developers, today announced a partnership with TransGaming Inc. (TSX-V: TNG), a leading developer of software portability products for the electronic entertainment industry. The strategic relationship will enable CCP to deliver its popular massively multiplayer online game (MMOG), EVE Online, to Linux and Macintosh platforms later this year.

TransGaming provides technology and expertise to deploy games across a range of platforms without the need for redevelopment, while maintaining a high quality of gameplay. As a result of this partnership, CCP will be able to expand the reach of its Sci-Fi MMOG to new groups around the world and allow users of different platforms to play in the same perpetual online universe.

As an element of the partnership, EVE Online and TransGaming will share quality assurance as well as technical support responsibilities, but TransGaming will lead partnership and OEM opportunities for the Linux version of EVE Online. The two companies will work hand-in-hand to ensure all releases go smoothly, creating a transparent integration of the original EVE Online code with each platform.

TransGaming first introduced Linux users to EVE Online through Cedega, a software product that allows Windows games to run on the Linux operating system completely transparently and seamlessly. It was the popularity of this solution that indicated the strong demand for further integration between CCP Games and TransGaming. Later this year, EVE Online will be released for Linux with Cedega directly integrated into the game, and on Mac through TransGaming's Cider portability engine.

"We're pleased to extend our relationship with TransGaming, as the company's expertise allows us to deliver the most innovative MMOG to more platforms," said Halldor Fannar, CTO of CCP Games. "By integrating TransGaming's excellent technology, we are able to keep our laser-focus on evolving EVE Online, while simultaneously expanding the EVE universe to even more players."

"EVE Online has always ranked highly with our Linux users and there is significant demand for it among other platforms, including the rapidly growing Mac base," said Vikas Gupta, CEO of TransGaming Technologies. "As EVE takes place within a single-server persistent universe, it's vital that the game is identical in every way across different platforms. This challenge is what makes the partnership with CCP both important and rewarding."

Source: CCP

Saturday - September 08, 2007

Eve Online - Video Interview @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 00:39

MMORPG.com catches up with EVE Online's senior producer, Nathan Richardsson.

Source: MMORPG.com

Thursday - September 06, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ Techgage

by Inauro, 23:09

With the Austin Game Developers Conference barely underway the coverage has already begun.  Techgage chats to Hjalti Daniellson and Valerie Massey from CCP.

Kiersten: I'm here with Hjalti Daniellson, Web Fiction Author EVE Online and Valerie Massey, Public Relations and Communications Director for CCP.

I understand you've started a major online novella to run on the official EVE website. Without giving too much away can you give me a brief insight into what you're writing about.

Hjalti: Well the novella is called Black Mountain and it's an ongoing project and will probably finish in April or May next year. I'm going to be doing a lot of things, one of them is taking a few factions in EVE that haven't been explored that much and basically turning them on their heads. I also want to explore more abstract issues like what happens when good people do very bad things for good reasons and what it means within the context within the world of EVE. EVE in itself is often a world where things happen in a sort of grey area all the time. It's a very dark world so I want to explore when good people try to do good things within the context.

Wednesday - September 05, 2007

Eve Online - Econ Dev Blog @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:04

The official EVE Online site has been updated with the game's first Econ Dev blog.

This is the first Econ Dev blog on the economics of EVE. We are heading into unknown territory since there exists no standardized measures on how to describe and analyze an online universe, or if indeed there is a need to have new tools to describe virtual reality. Trade and industrial activities are an important part of EVE and therefore descriptive analysis of trend in quantity traded, price fluctuations and regional differences are always of interest to those participating in that business. In order to fulfill the expectations of pilots we need your comments on this dev blog and which parts are most interesting. Selected sections of this dev blog could be updated on a regular basis if the demand is there.

Source: CCP

Monday - August 27, 2007

Eve Online - Video Interview @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 23:11

MMORPG.com catches up with Arend Stuhrmann, EVE Online Associate Producer, to discuss the current state of the game and its future direction.

Source: MMORPG.com

Tuesday - August 14, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ Ten Ton Hammer

by Inauro, 23:20

Ten Ton Hammer discusses the recent Stackless Python upgrade with CCP's Senior Software Engineer, Kristján Jónsson.

Ten Ton Hammer: To start, could you summarize what your high-level programming language, Stackless Python, accomplishes within the EVE Online world? How does thread-based programming work? In your press releases you don’t offer much of an explanation on Stackless Python and I’m sure the community would be interested in hearing a simplified version of what Stackless Python is all about.

Kristján: Python is by now a well-established programming language. Being an interpreted dynamic language, it allows for great expressivity to the programmer and rapid development. This makes it easier to focus on the software architecture and the problems at hand rather than having to deal with the infrastructure of languages such as C++.  In addition, the dynamic nature allows a very high turnaround rate. We can make changes to the code and see the effects in the running client or server without restarting them. It turns out that performance in terms of programming output by developers is just as important as the performance of the product they are developing.

Source: Ten Ton Hammer

Thursday - July 26, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ WarCry

by Inauro, 23:12

Ten Ton Hammer chats with Nathan Richardsson, the Executive Producer of EVE Online.

WarCry: The expansion has just launched. How did it go? Talk about some of the ups and downs of getting this expansion integrated.

Nathan Richardsson: It went quite well. We hit our target date and we had a longer testing process in this launch cycle. We spent much more time on improvements and fixes than we did on adding new features. We're still in the mode of deploying fixes and increasing performance. We are planning to have a pure optimization release coming out in mid-July.

Source: WarCry

Wednesday - June 27, 2007

Eve Online - In-game Economist Appointed

by Inauro, 23:06

CCP has appointed an in-game economist to EVE Online.

Reykjavik, Iceland - June 27, 2007 - CCP Games, one of the world's largest independent game developers, today announced the appointment of a in-world lead economist for EVE Online. This is the first time an MMOG has commissioned a dedicated real world economist to operate at this level of economic monitoring and research for a virtual world. The appointment is a real testament to the growing intricacy and strength of EVE Online's thriving virtual economy.

Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson brings over 15 years' experience in economic studies and research, and joins CCP directly from the University of Akureyri, Iceland, where he among several teaching positions held the position of the Dean of the Faculty of Business and Science. Prior to that he was a research associate at the University of Rhode Island's Department of Environmental and Natural Resource Economics where he also completed his PhD. He has authored or co-authored 15 publications. Dr. Guðmundsson's first blog on EVE Online economics is at http://myeve.eve-online.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=481.

Dr. Guðmundsson will publish quarterly reports on the state of the EVE Online economy as well as ongoing analysis of other economic indicators, such as inflation, economic growth and price trends. His research is designed to provide players with information necessary to make strategic decisions, but is also expected to have an impact on future development of the game. Dr. Guðmundsson will also be responsible for coordinating research initiatives with academic institutions.

"EVE Online may be set in the future, but the skills needed to play are rooted in the real world of today. Players operate vast corporations whose shares are traded in-game among players so economic strength and agility is key to their success. Just as entrepreneurs and executives rely on real-world economic indicators, EVE Online players need timely information and analysis of the in-game economy," said Hilmar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games. "That's why we created this important position and we're delighted to have someone of Eyjólfur's caliber and expertise fill the role."

"Virtual worlds and MMOGs are emerging as one of the most interesting areas of experimental economics. Since becoming involved with EVE Online, I have been exploring the game and growing more fascinated with the community, its complexities and the unlimited potential of it all. I can see that CCP has understood that the social structures in EVE Online are far beyond those of other games," said Eyjólfur Guðmundsson. "Economic information is the lifeblood of the game and I believe that, by ensuring everyone has access to the same data, we will enhance the player experience and facilitate economic stability in EVE."

Source: CCP

Wednesday - June 20, 2007

Eve Online - Rev II Patch and Trailer

by Dhruin, 04:54

CCP has launched the next free Eve Online expansion, known as Revelations II:

EVE Online: Revelations II expansion launches with new video, features page

Though the premise for Revelations II is described as "the calm before the storm that unleashes the wrath of empires," there's definitely nothing serene about this latest free expansion for EVE Online.

In addition to the great list of changes and fixes noted in the patch notes, there's also a breathtaking new video and a slick new Features page, complete with video clips of dev team members explaining some of the most exciting new additions to the game such as Anti-Fleet Warfare and Heat.

The deployment went smoothly and more quickly than anticipated, allowing players to log in long before the estimated downtime had expired.

With the enhanced New Player Experience, there's never been a better time to explore the world of EVE.

Thursday - June 07, 2007

Eve Online - In-Game Politics @ New York Times

by Inauro, 23:24

The New York Times has a piece on the recent EVE Online furor stemming from accusations of favouritism on the part of CCP staff.

Then, over Memorial Day weekend, Goonswarm publicized its latest allegations. Last week the company rebutted those specific charges; in the case of the alleged infiltrator the company said that the employee was merely trying to fix a bug in the game code. But a broader problem was revealed: Many Eve players, writing on various message boards, said they simply do not trust CCP anymore.

So now CCP plans the radical step of opening itself up to independent oversight: nine player-overseers who will act as ombudsmen for the game’s subscribers. The company says it will hold the elections in the fall.

Wednesday - May 30, 2007

Eve Online - Investigation Report @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:21

CCP has concluded its investigation into allegations of employee corruption in EVE Online.  The official site has the details.

We have concluded our internal investigation of the allegations levied against CCP Games. The following report details our findings in as much detail as company policies and the privacy rights of our customers allow. We apologize for the length of the blog, but there is much information to present in an effort to show these allegations for what they truly are.

The investigations were launched as a result of a number of complaints brought to CCP's attention in a massive posting campaign that started on the EVE Online forums and spread to other gaming and computer industry related internet news and information portals on the evening of 25 May, 2007.

Source: CCP

Monday - May 07, 2007

Eve Online - 4th Birthday @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:10

CCP invites EVE Online players to recount their most memorable in-game moments in a thread dedicated to the 4th anniversary of the game's launch.

On May 6, 2004, the world of EVE Online came to life as players logged in for the first time and began staking their claims as pioneers in this brave new world. Browse through the celebration thread in our forum to see what devs and players alike recall as their favorite and most memorable experiences.

Saturday - March 31, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ OnlineWelten

by Inauro, 00:33

OnlineWelten talks to EVE Online's Senior Game Designer Noah Ward.  The interview is available in both English and German .

OnlineWelten: CCP continues developing new content and, hard to believe, it's all for free. Two updates are eagerly-awaited. When can we expect Revelations Part 2 and the new graphic engine? Can you also explain in a few words the modifications coming up with those updates?

Noah “Hammerhead” Ward: We’re just pushing Revelations 1.4 out the door now. We’ve got 2.0 slated for release sometime this summer. Kali 3.0 should be out before the end of the year and the graphics upgrade should be early 2008. Revelations Part 2 is all about warfare and player infrastructure and lays the groundwork for Factional Warfare. We’re adding victory conditions, constellation sovereignty, medals and many other features which benefit the gameplay that revolves around warfare in 2.0. As for the graphics upgrade; it’s moving along nicely. All of the ships in the game have been remodeled in HiRes. We’re finishing up the final texturing now. The next task is modeling all of the other “stuff” in game like the space stations, stargates and starbase modules. It would be awkward to release the high resolution ships and have them flying next to low resolution space stations.

Thursday - March 29, 2007

Eve Online - Review @ GamersNation

by Inauro, 23:30

GamersNation reviews EVE Online.

In my entire career of playing RPG's, I have never come across a game as extensive as EVE. Whereas most other (MMO)RPG's are all about killing computer-controlled entities, EVE is mostly about player interaction. The server is unsharded, meaning that everybody plays on ONE server. No more disappointments because you're on different servers. One server, one story, one history, one global war.

Thursday - March 15, 2007

Eve Online - GDC Round Up @ Official Site

by Inauro, 21:28

CCP has rounded up the recent GDC coverage at the official EVE Online site.  We've linked a few of these items already, but there's always room for more.

New interviews and articles have been published around the web from CCP's appearance at GDC:

 

Source: CCP

Wednesday - March 14, 2007

Eve Online - GDC Report @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 21:15

MMORPG.com reports back from the GDC on what's new with EVE Online.

The first feature that EvE has planned is EvE Voice, which will be coming out on March 20th. The game will have full voice support for players to take advantage of. The service is in final beta and being tested by several Corporations. The service also features directly into the game client so you don't have to use any extra software.

Source: MMORPG.com

Monday - March 12, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ Ten Ton Hammer

by Inauro, 21:20

Ten Ton Hammer speaks with Magnus Bersson of CCP Games about what's in store for players of EVE Online.

Ethec: So what’s new on the EVE horizon? You’re going to release EVE Voice soon, correct?

Magnus: At the end of March, we’re going to be releasing EVE Voice, which we’ve been working on for quite sometime. Initially, we thought it was going to be a smaller project, but we soon realized it was going to be pretty tremendous. And that wasn’t only for us but also for our partner Vivox as well, as they tried to make sure the back-end would work with all the users.

 

Source: Ten Ton Hammer

Wednesday - March 07, 2007

Eve Online - GDC Update @ FiringSquad

by Dhruin, 20:37

Also at FiringSquad from GDC is an article on CCP and White Wolf, covering the recent EVE Online staff scandals and a little on the White Wolf purchase:

Of course purchasing White Wolf gives CCP access to a ton of new and well known RPG properties and they plan to use them to make new MMO games. When asked Bergsson would only admit to making an MMO based on World of Darkness but would not reveal any more info at this time. The only hint that he would give is that the game would not only be a lot different than EVE Online but also won't follow the standard fantasy MMO design either. "The last thing we need to do is replicate World of Warcraft," he told us.

Friday - March 02, 2007

Eve Online - CCP & White Wolf Party at GDC

by Kalia, 03:28

CCP and White Wolf are looking for a few good....people. Shane DeFreest from Maverick Promotions let us know about an event to be held at next week's Game Developers' Conference:

When EVE Online Publisher CCP out of Iceland, merged with White Wolf Game Studio out of Atlanta one could only wonder what combined debauchery these two notorious party companies might unleash upon the games industry.

Well, if you're interested in working in the game business, moving up in the game business, or just want to see if your liver can keep up with the combined might of these two titans of intoxication and party like there is no tomorrow, here is your chance.

"We're recruiting, have a drink!" said Mike Tinney, President of CCP North America.  CCP and White Wolf invite any prospective candidates to visit their booth for a party invite.

"Ég hlakka mikið til að verða afar drukkinn, varpa fólki yfir höfuð mér og kljúfa það í herðar niður." added CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson.

What if you're not able to make it to the booth?  Well, as it happens, these guys know a lot about hangovers, so all you need to do to get into the party is bring your resume.  And, just to make it interesting, the highest caliber resume received will win a one year subscription to EVE Online; a trip to the EVE Online Fan Fest and   a complete collection of the World of Darkness book line.

CCP, the lads that are known for bringing a bar as part of their booth to every convention they attend, and, White Wolf, whose cult status as the guys who brought goths, girls and a never ending supply of intoxicated hi-jinks to the hobby game industry "might just be the most boisterous combination GDC has ever seen," stated one industry insider who asked to remain anonymous.

Come join us for some food, drink and fun - not necessarily in that order!

The CCP /White Wolf Party
Thursday, March 8, 2007 -- 8:00pm to 2:00am
GLAS KAT in SOMA
(2.5 blocks from the convention center)
520 Fourth Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

Contact: Shane DeFreest - shane@maverickpr.net
               Brandon Smith - brandon@maverickpr.net

Wednesday - February 28, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ WarCry

by Dhruin, 22:19

WarCry has a detailed interview on EVE Online with CCP's Noah "Hammerhead" Ward discussing various in-game issues:

WarCry: In a recent Dev blog, Local Chat is mentioned as possibly being removed. How does the new Voice Comms that is being developed in partnership with Vivox affect this? And does Local Chat spamming really affect client performance to the point where it can cause considerable lag?

Noah Ward: EVE Voice was never going to be available for the local chat channel or any other public channels including NPC corporation chat; however, that's not the reason for wanting to remove local. The main reason is so it's not used as a reconnaissance tool. Lag isn't really an issue. We don't plan to remove local until we can assure the social aspects of the local user list can be retained. The reconnaissance can be replaced with new scanning tools in the solar system view, but the question is how we replace all those smiling faces in the user list.

Wednesday - February 07, 2007

Eve Online - Conflict of Interest Debate

by Inauro, 21:22

Bluesnews directs our attention to a number of posts at the official EVE Online forums where it seems a conflict of interest scandal is brewing.  In essence, players have raised the concern that certain high level alliances may have received assistance from CCP staff.

Source: Bluesnews

Wednesday - January 24, 2007

Eve Online - Revelations Review @ Games Radar

by Dhruin, 20:41

The latest free expansion/update to EVE Online, Revelations, has been reviewed at Games Radar with a score of 8/10:

Other major changes accompany it: The ability to see if someone is a baddie without checking out their character sheet. The new map, delivering an epic long zoom enabling you to say “woo” every time the camera tracks back from your ship and out to the entire universe. A new fleet command system, with stacks of annoyingly complex gang bonus and command tools.

And then there’s the contracts system. This huge tool for EVE’s economy enables more trust, more flexibility and the capacity for players to create missions for each other. It’s a clear indication that EVE’s economic growth is just as important as the exploding spacecraft we hold so dear.

Friday - January 19, 2007

Eve Online - Interview @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 22:45

MMORPG.com talks with Huni “TomB” Hinrichsen about the new EVE Online combat features.

MMORPG.com: The new changes to the gang system seem to be focused on making them more manageable both for players and your server cluster. What changes do you expect to see in the way large fleet battles are fought with this new system?

Huni “TomB” Hinrichsen: There are a lot of improvements that the new gang system creates. Broadcasts give faster and better communication between gang members whereas before they had to spend time searching for the target objective once they’d received it via voice communication or chat text. The group system allows the commanders to create squadrons or wings that are dedicated to a specific role such as a group of electronic warfare specialists or logistical support and so on.

Source: MMORPG.com

Wednesday - December 06, 2006

Eve Online - Review @ GamersInfo.net

by Inauro, 21:39

GamersInfo.net takes a beginners perspective on CCP's EVE Online.

Back in ‘the day’, as they say, there was a little game on the Commodore 64 called Elite. It was a vector graphics funhouse of space combat and drug running from star system to star system. Docking at space stations was manually done to the tune of the Blue Danube, and hours of my young life were wasted as I blasted and traded my way up the ranks of better ships and galactic infamy. Enter Eve Online, stage left. I’ve had my eyes on this game since it first came out. Could it be the Elite replacement I always yearned for? Could it recapture my love for space games the way Privateer did? For a long time, I avoided downloading the game. Now, here we are end of year 2006, and I finally gave in, installed the game, and forced myself to go through the incredibly long tutorial (I’ll get back to that shortly).

Source: GamersInfo.net

Tuesday - December 05, 2006

Eve Online - New PCU Record @ Official Site

by Inauro, 21:52

EVE Online has broken yet another peak concurrent user record.

A new peak concurrent user record was set Sunday, Dec 3rd when 32,955 users were logged into EVE Online: Revelations. This would not be that significant if not for the outstanding performance the Tranquility server demonstrated under this enormous load. According to preliminary log analysis the server cluster was at 47% capacity - A clear indication that the new Revelation expansion along with the accompanying hardware upgrades has brought the cluster to a new level.

Source: CCP

Friday - December 01, 2006

Eve Online - Revelations Trailer @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:34

CCP has released a new Revelations trailer.

In celebration of the successful launch of the EVE Online: Revelations expansion earlier this week, CCP has released a new trailer by critically acclaimed video producer Greg Kruk. (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD.) Turn down the lights, crank up the volume and prepare to be transported -- and blown away -- by this hard-driving, visually stunning video of actual gameplay footage.

Source: CCP

Thursday - November 30, 2006

Eve Online - Revelations Live

by Inauro, 21:28

CCP has made a rather lengthy press statement regarding the recent release of Revelations, the latest expansion for EVE Online.

REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - November 30th, 2006 - CCP, the world's largest independent game developer, today announced that EVE Online®: Revelations was successfully released on the massive Tranquility super-computer cluster on Tuesday, November 28th. The large scale upgrade took 24 hours to complete and went through without any technical problems. The new expansion is available free of charge to all EVE players.

"Revelations is an extraordinarily massive expansion. Not only will it make it a great deal easier for new players to join the world of EVE Online but the more experienced inhabitants of EVE will also see some drastic changes in warfare operations, in direct trading, exploration and socialization." said Magnus Bergsson, CMO of CCP. "With gamers becoming more sophisticated and wanting a deeper and more rewarding gaming experience, we believe that through our continued development we rise to the challenge to meet increasingly sophisticated customer demand."

Revelations, previously code-named "Kali", is a large-scale expansion and among the more noticeable features are:

  • Vastly improved New Player Experience. New players will find it a lot easier to start playing EVE with a completely revamped character creation and game introduction. New characters now enter the game with more skills and will therefore be able to jump into action even quicker than before.
  • Improved legal system through the introduction of formal Contracts. Players will be able to enter into traceable, limited trust relationships to create missions and business opportunities like auctions, item exchanges, courier and loans.
  • Improved Fleet Combat Organization. New tactical features, management tools, squadrons, wings and fleets open up new ways for users to engage in warfare.
  • All ships, both NPC and PC, will now leave behind wreckage upon destruction, which can be salvaged by pilots with the know-how and proper tools.
  • A fully integrated voice communication system offering crystal clear quality will be made available shortly after the release.
  • New classes of Battleships and Battlecruisers have been added for each race.

"Revelations is by far our biggest expansion to date. Compared to when we launched the game, we have five times as many employees at CCP contributing to the continuing evolution of EVE Online,&says Nathan Richardsson, Senior Producer at CCP. "We have years of material and improvements lined up for EVE, and Revelations is a good example of what can be achieved with this increased production capacity. This is just the beginning."

EVE Online®: Revelations is the first in series of three expansions that will lead up to the final chapter of Revelations that will among other things bring factional warfare to empire space.

Some additional features in EVE Online®: Revelations are:
  • Exploration has been made more rewarding with hundreds of hidden locations, encounters and resources, and the ability to utilize hacking, salvaging and archeology to find hints for more secret locations.
  • Ship Rigs, components and materials from Salvaging shipwrecks are used to create Rigs that allow you to outfit your ship for specific roles.
  • Illegal Combat Boosters introduced through deep space search for gas clouds to harvest materials and process them at player -owned Starbases.
  • 8 new regions have opened, infested with Rogue Drones, ripe for EVE pilots to command or conquer
  • Optimizations to core systems and many general improvements

The new expansion may be downloaded from the EVE Online web site free of charge at http://www.eve-online.com. CCP is also releasing a new trailer for the new expansion and can be viewed http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/video/2/EVERevelationsTrailer.

 

Source: CCP

Monday - November 27, 2006

Eve Online - Revelations Features & Patch Notes

by Dhruin, 09:03

As promised, the Features and Patch Notes for the EVE Online free expansion, Revelations, are now available:

REVELATIONS is the first of three installments in EVE Online’s second major game expansion. The first expansion, EXODUS, revealed the escalating tensions between the Empires of EVE with its first installment, Cold War. In the second installment, Red Moon Rising, a galactic arms race forged the most powerful weapons ever constructed by man.

Enter REVELATIONS, in which the empires make their final push towards the brink of war. Uncharted regions of space shall open for pilots to explore, yielding vast wealth and the untapped resources needed to feed a hungry war machine. New innovations in weapons technology will provide pilots with the means to wage the battle for supremacy in the universe of EVE.

Friday - November 24, 2006

Eve Online - Revelations Chapter 1 Coming Nov 28

by Dhruin, 22:50

The EVE Online site has news that the server will be down on November 28th to deploy the free expansion, Revelations Chapter 1:

Revelations, Chapter 1 Deployment on Tuesday, 28 Nov at 0200
Tranquility will have an extended downtime, Tuesday 28 November, running for 24 hours from 02:00 in the morning to 02:00 GMT Wednesday for the deployment of Revelations, Chapter I, the free expansion to EVE Online. Revelations features many improvements, new features, content and a wealth of optimizations and fixes both to server and client. Detailed patch notes and a features page will be available shortly.

Thursday - November 23, 2006

Eve Online - Fanfest Report @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 21:39

MMORPG.com's EVE Online Fanfest 2006 report concludes with part three which takes a closer look at Revelations II and III.  Parts one and two of the report are available here (one) and here (two).

EVE Online's Fanfest 2006 was not all about what they're working on today and what EVE fans should expect to see soon. A couple of the presentations turned their eyes far into the future. Senior Producer Nathan Richardsson even went so far as to look beyond Revelations II and even Revelations III, all the way through the next ten years.

The third day of presentations started with a host of impressive demonstrations and technical updates. The afternoon updates brought us the big-wigs. On top of Richardsson's 10 Years of EVE, Creative Director Reynir Hardarson gave a fascinating, if oddly placed, talk on the nature of evil and CEO Hilmar Petursson not only announced the big White Wolf merger, but also provided attendees with an update on the health of CCP and EVE Online.

Source: MMORPG.com

Wednesday - November 22, 2006

Eve Online - Fanfest Report @ Eurogamer

by Dhruin, 22:20

Eurogamer headed off to Iceland to check out the recent EVE Online Fanfest:

Friday was a little more action-packed, and began with a conversation with the game's senior producer, Nathan Richardsson. Richardsson revealed that a couple of the most contentious in-game issues (bookmarks for fast travel and the process of contesting sovereignty in a star system) would soon be changed. "I don't want to have to turn up at seven to start shooting something for eight hours, so why should anyone else?" said Richardsson, with good cause. CCP is a company that is well aware of how difficult many of its game mechanics have been and they regard their work as a collaboration with the gamers, an ongoing project to create a system that everyone will want to play in.

Saturday - November 18, 2006

Eve Online - Video & Screenshots @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 22:54

MMORPG.com has a wealth of new EVE Online information. Here's the gist of it.

First, we have fourteen images of the Revelations graphics upgrade (DX9, not Vista). These images show off new ships, some screenshots and a side-by-side image. We also have a piece of concept art of their "walking in stations" concept.

Also available is a video comparing the old and new ships.

Source: MMORPG.com

Wednesday - November 15, 2006

Eve Online - Fanfest Report @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 21:42

MMORPG.com's Dana Massey reports back from EVE Online's Fanfest 2006 and gauges the reaction to the recent merger announcement.

As most know by now, CCP didn't rest all their tricks in the Revelations hat. On the final day of the event, CCP Games CEO Hilmar Petursson took to the stage clad in one of CCP's inexplicably signature kilts, to announce that they had merged with famed RPG and game (in the traditional sense) developer White Wolf Publishing, best known for the Vampire series.

More... 

Source: MMORPG.com

Monday - November 06, 2006

Eve Online - Review @ Gaming Nexus

by Dhruin, 20:46

With a score of 9.5/10, the author of Gaming Nexus' blog-like review of EVE Online is clearly impressed.  Here's a snip:

And even though EVE tosses you a bone, letting you gnaw on a piece of storyline every sixteen missions, the lasting and meaningful content emerge from the players themselves. With the gaming world’s largest supercomputer keeping the single-server universe afloat, and with a subscriber base that has continued to multiply since its inception in 2003, EVE is still the hardcore sci-fi gamer’s MMO of choice.  The wide open gameplay is already so unfastened it makes titles like Grand Theft Auto feel like a diagnosis of claustrophobia.  And all the while, CCP’s ruthless expansionist regime pushes out EVE’s borders and gameplay in ever-increasing directions. 

Source: Bluesnews

Tuesday - October 31, 2006

Eve Online - Interview & Screenshots @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 21:32

MMORPG.com speaks with Magnus Bergsson, the Chief Marketing Officer at CCP Games, and offers up two new and exclusive Path to Kali screenshots.  Here's a snippet from the interview.

MMORPG.com: First off tell us more about the Voice Chat option you are adding in cooperation with Vivox. Have you decided what the additional monthly charge will be yet? Are you worried it may add to some lag issues when in use in the larger battles?

Magnus Bergsson: The new voice integration is more than simply a replacement for other third party voice clients like TeamSpeak or Ventrillo. It is directly integrated into the chat channels and more importantly the new gang features. It will offer functionality users simply don't have with other voice software and will offer gangs a strategic advantage in combat, and especially larger gangs. In addition the voice quality is leaps and bounds better than what users are used to.

More... 

Source: MMORPG.com

Monday - October 23, 2006

Eve Online - Dev Chat Transcript @ Coldfront

by Inauro, 23:30

Coldfront has posted a transcript of the latest EVE Online developer chat session.  Snip:

Karash|Work: With combat lasting longer...and the drive by CCP to extend this even further, will the aggression timer be extended so people cannot just play "Station Games" around stations and jumpgates? 30 seconds seems far too short these days and allows battleship pilots to easily escape combat they started.

Oveur: Not at this point in time, Kali public testing is just starting and I think we'd like to see it in play on TQ too before we start changing that. Don't rule it out though.

More... 

Source: CCP

Tuesday - October 17, 2006

Eve Online - Player Diaries @ Gaming Nexus

by Dhruin, 07:55

The official EVE Online site directs our attention to two new player diaries over at Gaming Nexus. You can check them out here (new) and here. Here's a snippet from the latest diary.

My Caldari frigate, a tier-one Merlin class fighter, cuts a v-necked silhouette against the blue Sobaseki sun. I’ve warped past the star a dozen times on various missions (courier, seek-and-destroy, trade) but indeed I’d thought it was only a background graphic of sorts. Its size shifts unhurriedly, its apparent magnitude never implying anything more than it being a photogenic but otherwise ineffectual prop. Then, in an inexplicable fit of wanderlust, I determine that I’m going to soar into the sun. I fly to the planet nearest Sobaseki, curve my ship toward the star, and warp to that seemingly non-functional center of the solar system.

Surprise grips me. The warp engines cut out at a healthy 150,000 km distance, but Sobaseki flares and churns under its own fiery tentacles, looming larger than ever. Apparently, the stars are set to scale. I veer my Merlin onto an approach vector. This will be the ultimate ride into the sunset.

More...

Wednesday - October 11, 2006

EVE Online: Q&A @ Stargamer

by Dhruin, 22:32
CCP's Nathan Richardsson has been interviewed at space-gaming fans-site Stargamer, about the success of EVE Online:
Why does EVE continue to be popular?

Nathan Richardsson (Senior Producer): We believe this has much to do with the continual development of EVE, the community and their involvement in the development process. We've expanded the team that's been working on EVE right from the beginning, and we continue to do so. We're now up to 120 people, which is three times the size we were at launch. Also the players are incredibly good at getting their friends to play, so it's a good mixture of many factors which has brought EVE to where it (she) is today.

Source: Blue's

Monday - October 09, 2006

Eve Online - Dev Blog @ OGRank

by Inauro, 17:00

OGRank has mirrored the lastest post to the .EVE Online

developer's blog.

We’re in the final stages of the next big update (called Revelations) and things are getting quite hectic here at CCP. Blood, Sweat and Tears flow freely and Oveur is getting hairier by the minute. Yet despite this I’m taking time off to write you guys this blog. If that isn’t a sure sign of my affection for y’all I don’t know what is (well, one thing comes to mind, but it involves a lot of lubricants).

The subject of today’s blog is the much touted invention system. Once upon a time it was called reverse engineering, but we didn’t like it and sent it away and adopted invention instead, which is much more adorable and sometimes washes my car too. I’m not sure what the other Band of Bloggers have told you about invention in their blogs, so I’ll just assume you’re all blissfully ignorant.



More...

Friday - September 22, 2006

EVE Online: Interview @ Shacknews

by Dhruin, 23:07
Shacknews has kicked up an interview with Magnus CCP's Bergsson on EVE Online, covering the background and future plans for the game. Here's a quote I couldn't pass up:
Shack: First of all, I have a confession to make: I have not yet properly played EVE. I guess it is because some of my friends have gotten completely addicted to it. But I have played it briefly and I get all the stories from them.

Magnus Bergsson: Okay.

Tuesday - September 19, 2006

EVE Online: AGC Interview @ MMORPG.com

by Dhruin, 23:08
MMORPG has an <a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/gameId/14/setView/features/loadFeature/898" target="_blank">EVE Online interview from the Austin Game Conference</a>:<blockquote><em>At AGC, I had a chance to talk to Nathan Richardsson, the Senior Producer on EVE Online about the game, its recent growth and its future. As readers may or may not be aware EVE, which has only one single game-space, recently surpassed the 30,000 Peak Concurrent User statistic that they have been striving for. Thata "!s 30,000 people, all playing at the same time, on the same server, making EVE the first mass-market MMORPG to reach that milestone.<br><br>Richardsson said that he was amazed every time that their PCU number climbs. He said that he is happy to work on a game that he loves and that other people like as well. He went on to tell me that the one-world (ie: one main server) concept was built out of an interest in seeing the social networks that would be created, and the way that a political structure would turn out. a SThe more people that play, the more complex [the game] becomes,a ? he said a Sthe scale is becoming enormousa ?. He added that a SSeeing what evolves never ceases to amaze me.a ?</em></blockquote>

Monday - August 28, 2006

EVE Online: Dev Blog @ OGRank

by Inauro, 23:01
OGRank dropped us a line to let us know that they've kindly mirrored the latest EVE Online developer blog.
Hello again,

We had quite a reaction to my last (and first) dev blog (you should read that before starting this one if you haven't already so you can view things in context).

In this blog (don't worry, it'll be considerably shorter than the last) I'll address some of the concerns people have voiced about the upcoming contract system as well as clear some things up that were causing misunderstandings.

The contracts team (The C-Team) has spent the last week or so focusing on some of the kinks in the current design and working with a select few from the community in ironing them out. We understand that people don't want to train more skills and that no one likes features being taken away from them. At the same time we are dedicated in making the Eve world a better place for all of us.
More...

Source: OGRank

Saturday - August 26, 2006

EVE Online: Update Interview @ RPG Vault

by Inauro, 02:08
RPG Vault catches up with CCP's Chief Marketing Officer Markus Bergsson to discuss the state of the company's flagship title, EVE Online.
Jonric: For those who are unfamiliar with EVE Online, what distinguishes it from other massively multiplayer online games, and what kind of player does it best fit?

Magnus Bergsson: EVE Online is a science fiction massively multiplayer online game, while most others are fantasy-based, and that by itself is a big differentiator. However, the biggest difference is probably in the gameplay. EVE Online is very much a PvP-based MMOG that has incredibly open-ended gameplay. Most others follow the more traditional path of instanced PvE, where the game presents pre-determined content to the user.

EVE is totally different. There is almost no handholding, and the player has the freedom to experience the game in multiple ways. This latitude brings with it a much deeper game experience and a true sense of reward because the experience is a result of the player's own work. EVE is therefore ideal for those who want to put their own imaginations to work.
More...

Source: RPG Vault

Monday - August 21, 2006

EVE Online: The Path to Kali @ GameSpy

by Inauro, 22:50
GameSpy previews the upcoming Path to Kali expansion for EVE Online.
The Path to Kali is a huge multi-patch expansion that will be incorporated into the game over the next year. While many of the technical upgrades in Kali are massive (including rebuilding of the entire game engine for Windows Vista), it's really the new game dynamics that make this a wild time for players both old and new. Kali will introduce a whole bunch of new professions and player tracks for EVE Online pilots to follow, such as exploration, invention and salvage expert. It's important to note, however, that these aren't "classes" in the traditional MMO sense, but rather the natural outgrowth of player activity from developer-introduced content.
More...

Source: GameSpy

Friday - August 18, 2006

EVE Online: Audio Interview @ GwJ

by Dhruin, 00:31
Games with Jobs wrote in to say their Conference Call includes an interview with Reynir Hardarson on EVE Online at the 47 minute mark and covering "where Eve fits in the MMO universe, the maturity of their user-base, and the cross-marketing potential of the off and online worlds".

Thursday - August 17, 2006

EVE Online: Interview @ GamesInfo

by Dhruin, 22:43
GamersInfo has kicked up an interview with EVE Online Community Manager, Charles Dane, and mostly covering his job and daily activities.

Wednesday - August 16, 2006

EVE Online: CCP Launches German Version

by Dhruin, 22:37
Straight from CCP:<blockquote><em><b>CCP LAUNCHES GERMAN VERSION OF EVE ONLINEA AT GAMES CONNECTION IN LEIPZIG</b><br>Announces also support for Direct Debit in Germany<br><br>REYKJAVIK, ICELAND a  AUGUST 16, 2006 -- CCP, creator of MMOG EVE OnlineA with 170,000 subscribers worldwide, will launch a German version of EVE Online at Games Connection in Leipzig, Germany, August 24-27, 2006. The German client will be the first localized version of the EVE Online client on the Tranquility cluster. Visitors to the Games Connection in Leipzig are welcomed to view the first showing of the German EVE Online client in the CCP stand B05 in Hall 5 of the Leipziger Messe.<br><br>a SWe have been waiting for this moment for a long time to offer localized versions of EVE Online, and this marks the beginning of a new chapter for EVE Online,a ? said Nathan Richardsson, Senior Producer at CCP. a SGerman is the first language we offer besides English on our Tranquility cluster and we hope that the German players will appreciate this new feature. A lot of work has been done to prepare the EVE Online client for localization and we have plans to support other languages in the very near future.a ?<br><br>CCP is also announcing support for Direct Debit in cooperation with GlobalCollect and will be ready shortly after the Leipzig show. Direct Debit is the preferred payment method of gamers in Germany and therefore an important payment addition to the already wide selection of payment methods offered by CCP.</em></blockquote>

Monday - August 14, 2006

EVE Online: New PCU Record @ Official Site

by Inauro, 23:02
CCP has announced a new EVE Online peak concurrent user (PCU) record has been broken.
Yesterday at 18:21 a new PCU milestone was reached when 28020 EVE Players were logged in at the same time. The dream of more than 30K users seems to becoming a reality.

Source: EVE Online

EVE Online: Re-Review @ MMORPG.com

by Inauro, 22:58
MMORPG.com <a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/reviews/loadReview/40/gameId/14" target="_blank">re-reviews</a> EVE Online.<blockquote><em>It is time once again for an intrepid explorer to jump inside a goo-filled sphere and take a fresh look at the world of EVE Online. Ita "!s a step not taken lightly though, as the life of a pod pilot is filled with danger, challenge and hopefully a wallet full of ISK. There are no promises of wealth and power, but with determination and skill you can make your mark on the galaxy, wether or not that mark is a kill stamp on a piratea "!s hull or not is up to you. <br> <br>Since the last review quite a bit has been added to the EVE universe in the form of three major content expansions called Exodus, Cold War and Red Moon Rising. Exodus added tons of new ships, modules and skills, but also added the capability for groups of Corporations to form Alliances to control their territory and defend it from others with Starbases. These allowed for entirely new level of galactic conquest and many great player empires had risen and fallen in the two years since.</em></blockquote><a href="http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/setView/reviews/loadReview/40/gameId/14" target="_blank">More...</a>

Source: MMORPG.com

Sunday - August 13, 2006

EVE Online: Interview @ GamersInfo.net

by Inauro, 08:41
GamersInfo.net talks with EVE Online Lead Programmer, Matthías GuÃmundsson, about Vioxx integration and how the upcoming change to Windows Vista will affect the game.
GamersInfo.net: What's the biggest difference about working on the new Windows Vista platform?

Matthías GuÃmundsson: Vista brings mainly two new things for us. One is DirectX 10 and the other is tightened security. The new graphic engine will take advantage of unique new features in DirectX 10. We will have to make sure our code jives with the new security model in Vista. This mostly concerns installing and patching, as well as writing to the cache folder. Vista also has new features like the Game Explorer which we will look into.
More...

Source: GamersInfo.net

Saturday - August 12, 2006

Eve Online: Interview @ Eurogamer

by Dhruin, 23:54
CCP's executive producer, Nathan Richardsson, has been interviewed at Eurogamer about Eve Online and the Kali expansion:
"The first Kali release will feature player Contracts," Richardsson explains. "Where you can now create enforceable contracts and practically create simple missions for your corporation or even outsource some parts of your operation to outside parties. It features Auctions, Escrow, complex Item exchanges for 'Bring Your Own Materials' deals and so forth."

"We're also improving combat organisation, with better situational awareness with our updated seamless zoom map (think Homeworld with more levels) and of course EVE Voice (real time voice comms) tightly integrated into the new gang hierarchy."

Monday - July 31, 2006

EVE Online: CCP Launches CCG

by Inauro, 22:59
This one comes straight from the horses mouth CCP the maker of EVE Online has announced the launch of a collectible card game.
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND - JULY XX, 2006 - CCP is now an official Contributing Sponsor of the Gen Con Indy Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, August 10-13, 2006 where it will launch its first Collectible Card Game called EVE: The Second Genesisa c, announced earlier this month.

"EVE: The Second Genesis CCG, based on the background setting of EVE-OnlineA, challenges the players to survive in the cruel corporate world of the future. Players take the role of an aspiring corporate CEO with a single starbase under their control," says Ingolfur Aevarsson, Marketing Director of EVE: The Second Genesis. "Their goal is to maintain a steady income flow to expand their empire with starfleets, cunning tactics, and dirty tricks in order to gain power and bring their rivals to their knees."

CCP will have a 128-person tournament at Gen Con in Hall G of the Indianapolis Convention Center on Saturday, August 12th with cash prizes totaling $10,000. The tournament will be open to everyone and since EVE: The Second Genesis will be launched at the show, those competing will have as equal a chance of winning as possible.

The tournament will be a Swiss double elimination tournament with cash prizes for the top 32 players, with additional prizes for random players between rounds. A double elimination tournament is a competition where participants are eliminated from the tournament upon having lost two matches. All players will receive a starter deck free of charge when they come to the EVE booth for a demonstration. They can then reconstruct and enhance their decks by purchasing booster packs at the show floor. Further tournament details will be disclosed at the beginning of the tournament.

For more information about EVE: The Second Genesis and to pre-order, visit www.eve-ccg.com.

Source: CCP

Monday - July 17, 2006

EVE Online: Invention System @ OGRank

by Dhruin, 13:25
OGRank has a mirror of the latest EVE Online dev blog, which discusses the Invention system:
In his latest Dev Blog, Hammer talked about the future invention system, that will allow players to mix and match modules to potentially come up with something better. In other news EVE TV is finally online.

Saturday - July 15, 2006

EVE Online: EVETV @ Official Site

by Inauro, 03:06
CCP has announced the launch of a new venture: EVETV.<blockquote><em>EVETV is a brand new concept a  live coverage of ingame events mixed in with commentary and analysis from PVP experts, all live from CCP headquarters. EVETV also brings you exclusive interviews with the Dev and GM teams. <br> <br>Coverage is between 15.00 and 21.00 GMT on the 14th, 15th and 16th, and then 21st 22nd and 23rd of July. </em></blockquote><a href="http://www.eve.is/evetv/" target="_blank">More...</a>

Source: EVE Online

Wednesday - July 05, 2006

EVE Online: Dev Blog @ OGRank

by Inauro, 00:07
OGRank has kindly mirrored the latest EVE Online developer blog concerning the upcoming changes to the player contract system. Here's a snippet:
Nothing endures but change

That's what Heraclitus said, and I tend to agree. If anything can be said about EVE, it's that it has changed considerably over the last 3 years since launch. I began playing EVE in the first closed Alpha, started a corp with my friends at launch and ended up in the ass-end of space gnawing bistot in Punishers.

I believe the changes have been for the better, although there are a lot of things that I miss from the old days. But the more I think of it, the more I reach the conclusion that it's the people that I miss from that time, not necessarily a feature which was changed or content which doesn't exist anymore.
More...

Source: OGRank

Tuesday - July 04, 2006

EVE Online: Interview @ FiringSquad

by Dhruin, 00:52
CCP's Nathan Richardsson has been <a href="http://www.firingsquad.com/games/eve_online_interview/" target="_blank">interviewed</a> at FiringSquad about EVE Online and its ongoing success:<blockquote><em><b>FiringSquad: How different is it to run a game that is basically using one large world for its customers rather than splinter it like most other MMORPGs do?</b> <br> <br>Nathan Richardsson: We believe ita "!s far better to do, not only from an operational perspective, where the whole team is focused on the same game world. The social networks that emerge are amazing and we believe this increases considerably the average time in which people stay with us. We have corporations reaching 100a "!s, even a thousand now and Alliances include thousands of players. We believe people play massively multiplayer games because of the other people and anything which helps the community grow stronger as a whole benefits the game in the long run.</em></blockquote>They also have some comparison screens between old and new versions of EVE <a href="http://www.firingsquad.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=10967" target="_blank">here</a>.

Saturday - June 24, 2006

EVE Online: Dev Blog @ OGRank

by Inauro, 02:19
The good people at OGRank have once again mirrored the latest EVE Online developer blog for our edification.<blockquote><em>Invention & Reverse Engineering a  Initially for Kali1 we wona "!t have reverse engineering. Thata "!s when you take an item apart and hope to be able to figure out how it was put together in hopes of making a blueprint out of it. What we do have is Invention. Thata "!s when you take a T1 BPC, some Datacores, a Data Interface and some optional stuff like tech 1 items and Decryptors then mix it all up and hope that they output a tech 2 BPC. Thata "!s right; you can research for a specific T2 BPC with invention. The Data Interfaces are built out of items acquired through mini-professions like hacking. The real clincher is that the Datacores are bought from your research agents in exchange for research points. My fear here is that now with some work players will be able to have all the T2 gear they want but maybe ita "!s time that T2 become a sort of baseline.</em></blockquote><a href="http://www.ogrank.com/content/view/461/33/" target="_blank">More...</a>

Source: OGRank

Tuesday - June 20, 2006

EVE Online: Website Interruptions @ Official Site

by Inauro, 07:17
A news item at the official EVE Online site notes that website maintenance currently in progress may interrupt some services.
Interruptions to Websites Wednesday between 09:00-13:00 GMT

We're doing additional maintenance work on our website infrastructure. Some parts of our websites may suffer disruptions during this period of time. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may cause!

Source: EVE Online

Wednesday - June 14, 2006

EVE Online goes live in China

by Dhruin, 00:49
Straight from CCP:<blockquote><em><b>EVE ONLINEA GOES LIVE IN CHINA<br><br>EVE ONLINE'S OPEN BETA IN CHINA IS AN IMMEDIATE SUCCESS</b><br><br>Shanghai, China a  June 13, 2006 a  The first day of EVE Onlinea "!s open Beta in China resulted in a new world record for the number of simultaneous users playing in the same game world, as more than 30,000 users logged into the game server just hours after opening. CCP Games, an independent producer of massively multiplayer online games and producer of EVE Online, also announced that over 200,000 players from China registered for the game during the first day of the of the open Beta .<br><br>a SIt was quite amazing to see the population of EVE China exceed the population of Iceland in the second day of open Beta testing.a ? said Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, CEO of CCP Games. a SEVE China has been an exciting collaboration project and continues to be so, as we continue to refine the experience to accommodate for the steep growth rate of both our English and Chinese worlds.a ?<br><br>Optic Communicationsa  the licensing partner of CCP Games in Chinaa  is operating the fully localized cluster, which runs separately from the Western variant of EVE Online. CCP Games states that maintaining two independent clusters is necessary because of the unique operating environment in China and the steep growth trends of both gaming markets. EVE Online continues to maintain exceptional growth in the United States and Europe, where the combined regional demand forecasts emphasize the strategic need for cluster isolation.<br><br>a SThe enthusiastic response of the Chinese player community to EVE Online is rewarding,a ? said Kjartan Pierre Emilsson, Managing Director of CCP Asia. a SWe believe that our unique a Uone worlda "! design, great flexibility in character advancement, and social game play are a perfect fit for the highly dedicated and knowledgeable Chinese player base.a ?</em></blockquote>

Tuesday - June 13, 2006

EVE Online: Planned Features @ OGRank

by Inauro, 01:35
The kindly folk at OGRank have mirrored the latest news from the Planned Features section of the EVE Online site.
Upgradeable Outposts
The current Outposts are just the beginning to world domination. They should be upgradeable, both internally (services etc.) and externally (defenses). Likewise, the conquerable Stations as well as Outposts should have a degradeable state, so that you can gradually disable station functions during a siege which need to be rebuilt from a destroyed state or repaired from a disabled state.

Skill Training - Queue or Dual training
Enabling players to either queue so that training takes the next skill level or starts training another skill up another level. Dual training enables you to have a primary long-term skill in training with a secondary short-term skill sharing the training time. After the secondary skill level has trained, the primary skill trains at 100% again.
More...

Source: OGRank

Thursday - June 08, 2006

EVE Online: Review @ GamersInfo

by Dhruin, 01:41
GamersInfo has kicked up a <a href="http://www.gamersinfo.net/index.php?art/id:1137" target="_blank">review</a> of EVE Online. There's no score as usual for this site but I think they liked it:<blockquote><em>Ia "!d realized something. Ia "!ve never been a huge fantasy fan. I like fantasy, but it doesna "!t hold the appeal to me that science fiction does. The trouble was, the sci-fi games I was playing I just wasna "!t getting into a  especially the MMOs. I started reading our MOG blogs here at GamersInfo.net, and while I was at E3 I stopped by the CCP booth to check out EVE Online. When I got home, I tried out the fourteen day trial a  and in no time, I was hooked.<br><br>EVE Online is a slow, methodical, beautiful game. It takes an enormous universe, a kaleidoscope of stars and space stations, and couples it with an open ended game featuring everything from in-depth economic tools to the battle between lawlessness and order.</em></blockquote>

Tuesday - May 30, 2006

EVE Online: Dev Blog @ OGRank

by Inauro, 13:04
The good folk at OGRank have mirrored the latest EVE Online developer blog. Snip:<blockquote><em>Diary entry of the monstrously bad-looking developer pt. I<br><br>The world we created still feels a little bit dull for players that are not much into PvP, alliance operations & politics and other activities that dona "!t involve other players. The group of players that come in mind that feel this lack are mostly the new comers and solo players. How do we fix that? We create the content of course, but the bigger question is:<br><br>How do we do that?<br>Our development team faces a battle about whether we should create instanced content vs. static content. Creating instanced or random generated content would be the easiest solution, especially with so many players playing the game, but we want to be true to the world. Creating static content on the other hand would mean that in couple of days everyone would know about them and they would simply be camped/farmed to death, where a simple time zone difference can mean that you wona "!t ever be able to enjoy specific content if ita "!s known by the Sir Farm Alot corporation.</em></blockquote><a href="http://www.ogrank.com/content/view/415/33/" target="_blank">More...</a>

Source: OGRank

Information about

EVE Online

Developer: CCP

SP/MP: Massive
Setting: Sci-Fi
Genre: MMORPG
Combat: Real-time
Play-time: Unlimited
Voice-acting: Unknown

Regions & platforms
World
· Homepage
· Platform: PC
· Released: 2003-05-06
· Publisher: CCP

China
· Platform: PC
· Released: 2006-06-12
· Publisher: CCP