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EVE devblogs discuss developments in the war on lag and RMT
With the Incursion expansion's second phase almost ready to deploy, it's been a busy few weeks for the developers at CCP Games. Work is well underway, but a few of the folks at CCP have taken time out of their busy schedules this week to explain some of the interesting developments that have recently gone on behind the scenes. GM Grimmi, well-known for his work battling EVE's RMT (Real Money Trading) problem, delivered an update on the problem and what CCP is doing to tackle it. Similarly, aptly named developer CCP Masterplan wrote two in-depth devblogs detailing the latest developments in the war on lag. Lag has always been an issue in EVE Online's territorial warfare, as each side in a fight will try to bring as many ships as possible to major battles. The point at which the EVE server lags and server nodes begin to drop has been increased over the years through hardware upgrades and software performance optimisations, allowing much larger fights than were previously possible. With the playerbase growing every year, however, the number of players who can potentially meet in one place for a major battle has similarly risen and the issue of lag has persisted. Skip past the cut for a roundup of three new devblogs detailing CCP's progress in the war on lag, recently deployed optimisations for fleet battles, and the progress made in the fight against RMT and botting.
EVE Online devblog discusses account security
Every MMO suffers the horrors of gold spammers and EVE Online is no different. The RMT (Real Money Trading) industry is massive and EVE's developers CCP have waged a constant war against it in recent years. The PLEX initiative gave players a way to safely buy ISK for cash while at the same time helping players who couldn't afford their subscriptions pay with ISK. The result was a dramatic hit to the RMT market, who had to drop their prices to compete with a legitimate service replacing their own. As part of Operation Unholy Rage in August of last year, EVE GMs also banned over 6200 accounts belonging to farmers known to be supplying the RMT industry. The effect on the market was instant, with the population in farmed mission systems like Ingunn disappearing overnight. Almost immediately, the farmers reacted with a spate of account hackings to claw back some ISK.
The fight against RMT in EVE Online
It's an unfortunate reality that most any massively multiplayer online game running has to cope with outside influences on an in-game economy because of real money trading (RMT). Game developers tackle the problem in different ways. For instance, Final Fantasy XI has an anti-RMT task force and Warhammer Online has a zero-tolerance name-and-shame approach to RMT. Other companies grab the bull by its horns and base their game around a virtual item trade they can regulate. The problem of RMT has affected EVE Online just as it has other MMO titles, if not moreso given how its player-driven economy and the Interstellar Kredit (ISK) currency is central to the game. Beyond the potential revenue lost to the black market when players pay real cash for their ships and modules or buy huge sums of ISK outright, there are also issues with players getting their accounts cleaned out by the shady companies (ostensibly) selling the ISK. When that cleverly-named player "ajakdsk" links you to his ISK selling site in a chat channel, following that link could infect your computer with a keylogger, resulting in a fire sale on whatever they find in your account. EVE Online's creators CCP Games have taken a two-prong approach to handling these issues.
What's in a name? EVE alliance name change causes player unrest
The sci-fi game EVE Online is different from most other massively multiplayer titles on the market due to its nature as a 'sandbox' game. The developers provide the setting while much of the content of the game is what the players choose to do, typically struggling against one another for power collectively through player alliances. Given the efforts these alliances put forth to gain supremacy over their rivals, the EVE Online subscribers are acutely sensitive to any form of developer involvement in the outcomes of conflicts and struggles in EVE's setting of New Eden. CCP Games seems to have distanced themselves from the powerhouse alliance (formerly known as) Band of Brothers since the t20 incident in the past that eroded confidence in the developers, at least from some of the playerbase. The incident involved a CCP developer, at the time a member of Band of Brothers, who abused his powers to spawn blueprints which were put to use by the player alliance. The dev eventually came clean and safeguards were put into effect to prevent such an issue from occurring again, but animosity from groups of players remains to this day. Ever since that time, even the slightest hint of favoritism from CCP Games toward this particular alliance has drawn fire from some players. We received a number of tips from Massively's readers about a recent action CCP Games took with regards to the former Band of Brothers alliance. Band of Brothers was eliminated as an entity -- in name -- through an act of betrayal, or espionage, depending upon your perspective. Following this act, the alliance reformed last month under a new name: KenZoku. However, as of this week they successfully petitioned CCP Games to change their name to Band of Brothers Reloaded, despite the fact that such name changes are not allowed for other alliances in the game. (Note: If the alliance reformed under a new name via in-game methods, it would cause KenZoku to lose control of their territory, while having the name changed by a GM wouldn't present this problem.) Predictably, this sparked forum drama, with a number of players calling out CCP Games for favoritism.
EVE exploit warning affects corp infiltration practices
War declarations are an essential part of EVE Online. They allow corporations and alliances to fight for control over resources, territory, or simply to get revenge on their rivals. Then again, others declare war for the opportunity to grief in Empire space. Perhaps it's this latter tendency that prompted the latest announcement from CCP Games. They're branding the monkeywrenching of rival corporations during wartime as an exploit. GM Grimmi states: "The practice of insta-joining/leaving warring corporations for the purpose of surprising war targets, or getting them in trouble with CONCORD, is considered an exploit from here on. Reports of this will be investigated on a case by case basis and warnings will be issued at the discretion of the GM. Repeated incidents may result in bans on accounts involved." This doesn't seem to apply to 'normal' corp infiltrations, though it does beg the question of why a corporation at war would even be accepting new recruits at all. What's the protocol in your corp, do you continue to accept applicants into the fold during a wardec, or is the risk of alt spying and sabotage too great?
EVE Online currency sellers rip off players (shocker)
Well, here we are again... certain people among EVE Online's player base who buy their isk from shady sites are the focus of another dev announcement. GM Grimmi just posted the following: "We have had a number of cases recently with hacked accounts and similar issues and we have found that a lot of them are directly connected with a certain website. This website sells ISK and supposedly EVE Time Codes (ETC), though the ETCs always turn out to be faulty or already used. Players that go to this website and do business with them are running a very high risk of getting keyloggers placed on their system and subsequently having their EVE accounts hacked, and ISK and assets removed. Customer Support cannot correct damages that result from problems with the security of username and passwords. We strongly urge everyone to keep their virus protection up to date and stay away from dodgy ISK seller websites."Here's another novel idea. Admittedly it's a radical concept and some people might not be ready for it: Play the game and stop trying to buy your way to the top. That said, the ability to legitimately buy and sell ETC is supported by CCP Games, but only from the official ETC resellers, paired with a secure system of buying/selling ETC at the EVE website. The incidents that GM Grimmi describes, as have numerous other dev blogs in the past, stem from players shelling out cash for their isk, presumably from those spam bot sites that turn up in popular channels from time to time. Standard practice with the GMs is to give the isk buyer a negative wallet balance and force him or her to claw their way back up to a positive balance; CCP bans sellers but not buyers. But perhaps this is too lenient. Do you think these players should get banned for buying isk? How does your MMO of choice handle players who try to buy their currency and gear?
EVE Online: Using neutral characters in militia activities is an exploit
Oh you kids! When are you going to learn that you can't cheat at intergalactic war? Following up on the recent exploit of circumventing ship class restrictions in combat zones, EVE Online's GM Grimmi just decreed the following activity to be an exploit as well: "Using neutral characters to tank Faction Navy NPCs to stop them from attacking players involved in Factional Warfare with that faction is considered an exploit. Action will be taken against users found engaging in this activity." So it's official; using draft dodgers as a way to draw fire away from enlisted militia characters is evil, and will presumably get you thrown into a Concord cell with no windows. Be advised. Hippies.
Empyrean Age factional warfare exploit identified
Factional warfare in EVE Online, by design, ensures that ships of a much greater ship class cannot engage smaller ships in certain deadspace mission pockets. If you and your fellow militia pilots are in a zone designated for nothing larger than frigates, for instance, you shouldn't find yourself getting locked by battleships fighting for your rival militia. Apparently this has started to occur; some players have found that the jump gates to these zones don't actually prevent them from warping in ships of a magnitude not allowed in such areas. GM Grimmi had this to say at the EVE Online site: "Flying bigger class ships than allowed by the jump gates to Factional Warfare complexes has been classed as an exploit. If you are found doing this we will be forced to take in-game actions as abusing game mechanics is not allowed." So there you go. You might still be able to get in there with something obscenely overpowered and pop frigates like balloons, but you'll say goodbye to your account over it.
EVE Online calls RMT evil
GM Grimmi of EVE Online comes out strong against RMT in an official post called 'Real money trading is bad, mkay?' In no uncertain terms, RMT activities are said to be linked to keyloggers, phishing sites, and hacking attempts, and lead to real-world illegal activities like fraud and theft. Grimmi then goes on to say that there is a service available to players who want more ISK that is not only legitimate, but also helps both the game economy and supports other players: the Secure ETC Trading system.From the post: 'When you buy an ETC and then sell it for ISK via the Secure ETC Trading System you are directly contributing to the growth of EVE as the code will be applied to an account and someone will be using it to play. Some players do not have the means to pay for their subscriptions with credit cards or similar and the Secure ETC Trading System helps them pay and play. The economics are quite different as well since wealth is redistributed between active members of the community rather than injected into the game.' This is a much more creative approach to fighting RMT activity than simple banning of accounts (though that happens as well). Bravo, EVE, slam evil!
