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EVE Evolved: Should CCP interfere in the sandbox?
When it comes to player outrage, EVE Online seems to make the headlines more than any other MMO. The game has endured several high-profile scandals in its 10-year history, from the T20 developer corruption incident in 2007 to 2011's famous Monoclegate scandal. As EVE is a true sandbox game with a focus on PvP and player competition, developers have historically limited their direct influence on the universe. The importance of limiting interference became abundantly clear during the T20 incident when it was discovered that a developer had given tech 2 blueprints and preferential treatment to the Band of Brothers alliance. This interference in the sandbox had a profound and lasting impact on EVE's political endgame and undermined the legitimate accomplishments of other alliances. Some of the same issues that were raised in the wake of that scandal have now resurfaced amidst controversy over CCP's community team and its involvement with third-party fansites. Gambling website SOMER Blink was selected to host a huge giveaway event with rare prizes provided by CCP, and the contest organisers were then given rare battleships worth billions of ISK to keep as thank-you presents. In this week's EVE Evolved, I run down the details of the latest EVE Online controversy and ask whether CCP should directly interfere in the sandbox at all.
The Daily Grind: Do you like in-game gambling?
Putting aside the thorny issue of lockboxes, let's turn our attention today on the subject of in-game gambling. I've noticed that more and more games are including some form of gambling, usually as minigames. From Fallen Earth's electronic blackjack to Star Trek Online's Dabo wheel, there seems to be no shortage of ways for players to waste double their currency. In-game gambling actually has a long association with computer and video game RPGs. I've never seen it as a legitimate money-maker so much as a pleasant distraction from combat and a tool for immersion. Plus, if the developers actually managed to create a good poker minigame out of it all, then it's like getting two games for the price of one! It might be hard to developers these days to keep microtransactions out of in-game gambling systems, but fortunately that's not a universal problem as of yet. Whether or not real money comes into the equation, do you enjoy gambling in your MMOs? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Nokia: 'We don't have a Plan B'
Wander into Nokia's corporate HQ and, if Victor Saejis is to believed, you'll be hard pressed to find any manilla folder bearing the legend "Plan B." The handset maker's European Manager told Swedish financial daily Dagens Industri that the company has no contingency plan in the event that Windows Phone loses out to Android and iOS saying that "Plan B is that Plan A is to succeed." It's a pretty unequivocal statement that Espoo's betting the farm on consumers embracing Microsoft's OS. Commenting on the company's recent troubles, the winding down of Symbian and the demise of MeeGo, he said "it's like starting all over again. But we must succeed in the U.S. if we are to succeed in the world" -- pretty honest, if a little disappointing to anyone who hoped there was an Android-powered white N9 lying in a Finnish skunkworks.
EVE gambling website SOMER.Blink is the target of 125 billion ISK theft
reddit_url = "http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/16/eve-gambling-website-somer-blink-is-the-target-of-125-billion-is/"; reddit_target="gaming"; Tweet It seems like almost every month there's another huge theft or insidious kill in EVE Online, with last month's 30 billion ISK suicide attack and September's record-breaking 850 billion ISK investment scam. In EVE, theft and piracy are part of the game, and players have to make a conscious effort not to put themselves at risk. Trust the wrong person with access to your assets or let your guard down and you might regret it. That lesson was learned the hard way by EVE gambling website SOMER.Blink, as last night it became the target of a 125 billion ISK theft. The thief, Daquaris of Test Alliance Please Ignore, had access to a stash of ISK, PLEX and items as part of his role -- delivering prizes to Blink winners. Most of the prize-distributors for SOMER.Blink are real-life friends of the site's creator Somerset Mahm, a situation that limits the potential for thefts like this. Although Daquaris wasn't a real-life friend of Somer, he was a trusted old friend from a previous alliance. When reached for comment, SOMER.Blink corporation member Andrev Nox had the following to say: "The theft was an eventuality we were prepared for. We certainly didn't expect it from Daq, obviously, but we expected it might happen eventually. The main wallet was regularly cleared to a separate corp's wallet as a 'rainy day' fund. Because of that, Blink is still fully solvent, solid, and functional. Somer has [been], and always will be, an incredibly generous and good friend to all of us. Had Daq asked for exactly the things he had stolen, Somer would have given them unflinchingly, without a doubt. Blink can always earn more ISK, it's the loss of someone we trusted as a valued part of the business, and a long time friend."
EVE Evolved: Gambling away all your ISK
EVE Online is said to be a game in which you can do literally anything you set your mind to. It doesn't matter whether your ambition is to climb the alliance ranks, become the scourge of low-security space or even just fly around space telling jokes. If you can conceive of an idea that can be carried out in-game, it's probably a perfectly viable way to play the game. Over the years, players have come up with a number of unique and unconventional gameplay styles. Most of them began as ways for the pilots involved to make ISK or gain notoriety, but some were created just to see if it could be done. I've seen everything from player-run graveyards for the victims of piracy to players renting kill-boards for ISK, and yet the EVE community never ceases to amaze me with the new ways people find to play the game. The most recent development to blow me away is SOMER.blink, a website where players can gamble their ISK to win fabulous prizes. Gambling in EVE is nothing particularly new; players have been wagering ISK on everything from lotteries to hands of poker for a long time. What makes SOMER.blink special is its absolutely flawless execution. Almost everything is automated, from the transfer of ISK into your account balance to the prize lotteries themselves. The website itself is even accessible from outside EVE once ISK has been deposited in your wallet. I've spent hours so far blinking away on lotteries and losing quite a bit of ISK, but I'll be damned if it hasn't been fun. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look into the addictive phenomena of Somer.BLINK and try to explain where all my damn ISK went.
Why you should be playing Final Fantasy XI: The corsair class
"Why you should be playing ..." is a free form column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we play what we do! They keep telling me that gambling has no place on the battlefield. Battlefields are the places of warriors, mages, paladins, thieves, and rangers. You need to have a sword in your hand or a spell at the ready, because things can go from calm to chaotic in seconds. There's no time to play games when life and death is on the line, especially when a death can cause lost experience points.Whoever said gambling has no place on the battlefield probably never met Final Fantasy XI's dice rolling, card throwing pirate class -- the corsair. The class where your buffs are based on a little skill, a little intuition, and all the luck the party can lend.
Officers betting against the raid
After the 20th Supremus kill the game can get a tad boring. There's no doubt about it. Raiders know well that you have to spice things up to keep it fun. One way to do that is to have a lively bunch of people you raid with. With them things can get "interesting" at times. The fellow officers and I in my guild have decided to make things interesting by betting on the number of people that will die during Supremus.For some reason Supremus always manages to kill a few too many people. Not too many that we can't one-shot him, but enough that it makes you scratch your head. No one dies on Illidan, Council, etc... but Supremus? Run for the hills!So to keep the fight interesting someone picks a number, say nine. That number is "the line." Myself and a couple others will take under the line, and a couple others will take over. If less then nine people die, each of us gets 20g. If more than nine die the other folks get 20g each.Is betting against the raid like this a good thing?
Dojo update: Take a back seat
Games that allow you to watch others play the game you've just dropped fifty bucks on have become increasingly prevalent recently. This trend is something of a mystery to us, probably because we're twitchy, fidgety little monkeys who'd much rather roll our sleeves up and jump into the action ourselves.Nevertheless, Brawl will also cater to those who don't mind taking in the action from afar. "Spectator" mode in Nintendo's scrapper is apparently "something that even people who aren't good at games can enjoy," (not us then, because obviously we rock) and will allow spectators to wager coins on the outcome of a battle. And even if you don't win any bets, you'll still get some free stickers just for watching. Because nobody ever really loses in Nintendo games.%Gallery-10206%%Gallery-6869%
Bill seeks to legalize video game betting
A new bill to be proposed by Florida Rep. Robert Wexler (D) would seek to exempt "games of skill" from the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA). While the obvious goal is to protect poker from the UIGEA, the bill would presumably allow for the establishment of online betting networks for most video games. While casinos in Second Life (featuring games of chance, like slots, roulette, etc.) would remain illegal, theoretically, a company could establish a site that took round by round bets on Halo 3 matches, inviting leet slayers to put they monies where they mouths at.Of course, the UIGEA was established in part to quell the enormous debt that online poker players have amassed, so don't expect this bill to float on by Congress. Still, just imagine the hustler-like subculture that would grow from out of the basements of red-eyed gaming junkies if the bill did pass. Sorta terrifying. Sorta tempting.[Thanks, dark54555]
Breakfast Topic: Gambling with prospecting?
The other day I got a message in-game from Sigrdrifa. He mentioned that he had been spending the day spamming the trade channel offering his services prospecting ore. In his advertisement he stated that he could virtually guarantee a blue gem from each stack of Adamantite ore. Some players mentioned that this could never be a guarantee and so in a way he was gambling with other people's ore. Now, I'm not exactly sure if we could call this a game of three ore monty, after all he is saying that on average he receives a blue gem with every stack of ore. But it brings up an interesting idea. If there are possibilities of failure with prospecting, can you ask for tips for such a service? And if there is a gamble, could there by extension be a bet on such a risk? I don't know if this sort of thing is frowned upon by the devs or not, but I would definitely be curious to see how a betting system would work within the game. Not with actual money, but rather with virtual gold. Is prospecting more gambling than not? And if there are assumed risks in the game we deal with, would you ever consider betting on them?
