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Tune into EVE's live dev blog on fiction and content design tonight
Back in January, EVE Online developer CCP Games revived a much-loved old habit by bringing back regular live dev blogs. Up until a few years ago, live dev blogs were used as a way for players to chat with developers directly and ask them questions about upcoming changes or features. As EVE's playerbase grew, it became impractical for the devs to host live chats and answer the questions of players directly. At the start of this year, CCP took advantage of EVE's integrated voice chat service, EVE Voice, to bring back live dev blogs. The first developer chat on game design in the Incursion expansion was a big success, with a large number of players tuning in to participate. Tonight at 5:00 p.m. EST (22:00 EVE Time/GMT), CCP Shadow will lead a new live audio dev blog session on EVE fiction and game content. Developers t0nyG and Abraxas will be talking about the Immersion project, which aims to link EVE's powerful backstory with gameplay. CCP Soundwave, Gnauton, and Big Dumb Object will then be tackling the topic of content design. Players have written in with plenty of questions for the team on EVE's backstory and content development, which will also be answered in tonight's session. To join in, just log into EVE, join the chat channel "Live Dev Blog" before 5:00 p.m. EST tonight and join EVE Voice.
EVE live developer chat tonight to discuss Incursion game design [Updated]
In years gone by, EVE Online developers CCP Games interacted with the game's playerbase very directly through the forums and live audio developer blogs. As EVE's subscriber-base has grown, developers began to take a more hands-off approach to forum discussions and the live dev blogs gave way to solely written blogs. Back in July, reactions to the June CSM summit highlighted problems with CCP's approach to communicating with players and the way feedback was collected. Since then, CCP has been making an absolutely colossal effort to communicate more with players through focused technical devblogs and a recent series of video blogs. Tonight, CCP is kicking that communication up another notch with the first of a new monthly live audio developer chat series. The first live dev blog will begin in just two hours at 22:00 EVE time (GMT/UTC). The discussion will focus on game design in the Incursion expansion, with EVE's lead game designer CCP Hammer being joined by senior game designer CCP Flying Scotsman and game designer CCP Omen. During a question an answer segment, players will have an opportunity to ask specific questions on the new character creator, Incursion game design goals and improvements to the planetary interaction feature. To join in, just log into EVE and join the chat channel "Live Dev Blog" and join EVE Voice. [Update: CCP has contacted us to tell us that it's received far more questions via the forum than the devs can answer in today's Q&A session, so the team will be unable to take additional questions from the live chat channel.]
EVE's Dominion 1.1 patch to bring supercarrier changes, fighter bombers
A substantial number of changes will be made to EVE Online tomorrow with the Dominion 1.1 patch. The supercarrier changes and introduction of fighter bombs coming in 1.1 were originally slated for the Dominion expansion's launch last month but had to be postponed. Beyond the changes impacting EVE's capital ship pilots, nullsec warfare will be affected by how CCP is altering the stats of Sovereignty structures. (Territorial Control Units will receive increased hitpoints with reduced onlining time, likewise Sovereignty Blockade Units are getting a defensive buff.) New features are being introduced as well, like voice fonts for the Vivox-powered EVE Voice. According to the latest patch notes: "This new feature will allow you to alter your voice during chat to increase or lower pitch or to change from male to female voices. This is certainly not going to be abused in any way." Stick with us past the jump for some highlights of how EVE Online will change tomorrow.
CCP Games seeking players to commentate EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament VII
One thing many EVE Online players look forward to each year is the Alliance PvP Tournament, where New Eden's pilots battle it out to see which alliance is crowned champion... until the next year when rivals fight to take that title away. Last year's tournament was very entertaining, both in terms of the matches themselves and the commentary from PvP experts selected from the playerbase, namely Crovan and Verone. This year's EVE Alliance Tournament VII will kick off in September. We don't have any further details on it yet, except that it will follow the same format that CCP used last year -- two weekends of qualifiers and a third weekend for the finals. Last year's finals were broadcast in live video, which is something that CCP Games wants to do again this in Alliance Tournament VII. In fact, they're now seeking PvP experts from among the EVE playerbase since it's worked out so well in the past. The requirements? EVE video producer CCP Charlie writes, "As an Expert you'll be on the set discussing the tournament, tactics, teams and talking with developers about EVE live on air. You'll also take shifts in the commentary booth providing live commentary on the matches themselves. You need to know your PvP and you need to know how to keep on talking!" The first two weeks' commentary will be done from those players' homes (via EVE Voice and internet radio stations), but CCP Games will fly the Experts out to Reykjavik, Iceland for the final rounds, covering both the airfare and accommodation. %Gallery-43561%
EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament VI begins today
The sixth Alliance PvP Tournament in EVE Online kicked off today, with some of the game's most formidable player alliances going head to head in team-based combat. The first qualifying round takes place on January 24th and 25th, from 1500 - 2100 GMT. EVE Online dev CCP Mindstar explained earlier this week how players can tune in to the tournament. The two stages of qualifying rounds, this weekend and next, can be listened to in audio in a few different ways. Players can either listen in-game in the "Alliance Tournament" channel using EVE Voice, or tune in to what's happening via the web at EVE Radio, Split Infinity Radio, or New Eden Radio -- all of which are broadcasting tournament coverage. This Alliance Tournament is the first where the qualifying rounds have been made available in audio, with commentators selected from among the game's top PvP'ers, notably Crovan and Verone -- both of whom have a well-deserved reputation for being knowledgeable about the combat side of the game. A match schedule is also available for those who want to tune in to a particular battle. While the qualifying rounds of Alliance Tournament VI are audio-only, the finals of the tournament will be broadcast live in video, on February 7th and 8th. As an added bonus, that live video broadcast will feature some of the first footage shown from the upcoming Apocrypha expansion.Update: While only the final rounds of the tournament will be streamed live, CCP Games is already making the qualifying rounds footage available on their YouTube page. The player-run EVE Network News is also following the matches, announcing the winners as they're declared, accompanied by audio commentary, and embedding video of the combat as it becomes available.
EVE Fanfest 2008 keynotes broadcasting live, November 8
EVE Fanfest 2008 is in full swing in Reykjavik, but fans of the game who can't make that trek to Iceland this year have let out a collective grumble that EVE TV isn't streaming live content, as they have in prior years. Rather, the EVE TV team is recording the events and interviewing players, with the aim to make the video footage available to everyone after Fanfest. But for those who really want to connect with what's happening in Reykjavik now, CCP Fallout announced another way for players to listen in:"For those pilots who are unable to warp to Fanfest this year, we are please to announce that we will broacast t0rfifrans's and Oveur's keynote addresses live in-game. Those of you who would like to listen in should join the 'Live Dev Blog' in-game channel on Saturday, 8 November at 13:00 GMT." We've also gotten word that CCP Games CEO Hilmar V. Pétursson, (aka CCP Hellmar) will be delivering a keynote at 15:00 GMT on November 8th, which will also be broadcast live. As with all of the Live Dev Blogs, players need only activate audio via the right click menu to listen in on the keynote presentations.
EVE Fanfest 2008 live dev blog Thursday, October 30
The 2008 Fanfest for EVE Online is almost here, and it seems that some things will be different this year, not limited to the new PvP Tournament scenario. CCP Wrangler writes: "With EVE Fanfest 2008 approaching we decided to let you ask the Fanfest organizers some questions. Murinae and Krisnitori will join us... and Whisper will be asking them your Fanfest related questions." The live dev blog will take place on Thursday, October 30th, at 20:00 GMT. To hear it, you'll need to enter the in-game channel 'Live Dev Blog' and enable EVE Voice via your right-click menu. As with the previous live dev blogs, the way to get your questions answered is to post in the announcement thread, from which the devs will select questions to field.
Live dev blog with EVE Online Senior Producer, October 23
Given all the EVE Online news of the past two weeks, not limited to new features being added to the game and old 'features' being taken away, CCP Games has announced a Live Dev Blog for tomorrow, October 23, at 20:00 GMT. The event is expected to last for about one hour. This time, the Senior Producer of EVE Online, CCP t0rfifrans, will be fielding questions from the players. As with the last few live dev blogs, the way this works is you need to post in the announcement thread with the questions you'd like answered. You can listen to the dev blog tomorrow by joining the in-game channel 'Live Dev Blog' and enabling EVE Voice via your right-click options once you're in. No doubt there will be a wave of Ghost Training nerf questions but it seems unlikely that this issue will be addressed any more beyond the two dev blogs on the matter. Then again, why should that stop you from trying if you've got legitimate concerns? But this would also be an excellent time for people to get Walking in Stations (Ambulation) questions answered as CCP is prepping a playable demo of it for Fanfest attendees, not to mention asking about new ship models like the Orca capital industrial ship.
EVE Online: Empyrean Age 1.0.1 patch live
Attention Capsuleers, the 1.0.1 Empyrean Age update has been deployed and is available for immediate download. The patch log has all the details and the update mainly addresses EVE Voice, mail & chat with various improvements to optimization and memory leak eradication to make your flight a more pleasurable experience. The other recent EVE Online optional patches are also included in case you want dust off your second EVE account and rat with two pilots on the same machine. If you are flying what you can't afford you may want to check out our factional warfare category before logging into Tranquility.
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EVE Online patches rolling out July 1
Some new changes in EVE Online will be deployed on Tuesday, July 1, Community Manager CCP Wrangler announced today. Empyrean Age patch 1.0.1 will reportedly bring fixes to EVE Voice and will also include the previous two optional patches. Further details on what Empyrean Age patch 1.0.1 will include are not currently available, but will be noted at EVE's Patch Notes site, with updated information highlighted in green text. The patch will add roughly 30 minutes to the regularly scheduled downtime, meaning Tranquility will be down from 11:00 to 12:30 GMT.EVE Online's website -- in its entirety, including the EVE API -- will also be down on July 1, from 12:00 to 16:00 GMT, as CCP Games upgrades its website database server. CCP Wrangler began a discussion thread on the patch at the EVE Information Portal.
Trinity 1.01 live on EVE server
Trinity 1.01 is now out on Tranquility. Patch notes are right here, or also after the break, if you happen to be at work.Highlights include Mac and Linux stability (and EVE Voice now working under Mac), lots of fixes to drones (shields will no longer regen instantly when recalled to the drone bay, and the tutorial was fixed), and a special note, way down at the bottom: "No Windows files were harmed during the creation or deployment of this patch." Ha-- let's hope so. I'm jumping in right now to get some mining done (let's see how that Astrogeology V that I just finished helps out-- if you see anything cool changed in the game, note it in the comments below.Update: Well that's a bummer-- looks like they also fixed the mining sound issue. Too bad-- I really liked a) not having that grinding noise going all the time, and b) getting a little alert when my lasers had pulled in ore.
