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EVE Fanfest 2009 highlights
The biggest player gathering of the year for EVE Online fans is EVE Fanfest, held annually in the CCP Games hometown of Reykjavik. Some interesting announcements of what's to come have been made over the past few days, as well as more details or clarification on previously announced aspects of both EVE Online and DUST 514. Read on for a few highlights of the info revealed at EVE Fanfest 2009 for the game and the IP beyond the Dominion expansion (slated for a December 1st launch):
CCP Games selects player commentators for EVE Alliance Tournament VII
CCP Games holds an annual EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament where player organizations face off against one another, live, in a spectacle of explosions, cunning tactics, ... and occasionally betrayal. This year's Alliance PvP Tournament will mark the seventh annual event. CCP Games likes to get the players involved in ways beyond being tournament competitors, which is good news for the gamers themselves. Rather than having the developers comment with the play-by-play action, we've mentioned that CCP put out a call to the players, seeking PvP experts to be commentators. The final choices have been made and CCP announced the names of this year's Alliance Tournament commentators today, and it's clearly an accomplished roster of players. Crovan (Dark-Rising), of The Drone Bay podcast fame, will be back again this year. As will Kil2 (coracao ardente), who did a great job last year, and who many players will know from the PvP videos he's released. Verone, arguably EVE's most well-known pirate, will apparently be enjoying the tournament as a viewer rather than commentator this year, but his Veto corpmate Ryas Nia will be on hand at Alliance Tournament VII. Ryas will be joined by two new commentators this year: TeaDaze from Agony Unleashed (a PvP training school in EVE) and Trzzbk from GoonFleet. This looks like a great lineup of players chosen to speak during the matches. EVE Alliance Tournament VII will begin in early September, and will run for three weekends, culminating in the live video broadcast of the finals from Reykjavik.
EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VII details and changes announced
One of the biggest events for players in EVE Online is the Alliance PvP Tournament which is held annually. CCP Games' new Alliance Tournament page explains what the event is all about: "The EVE Online Alliance Tournament is the ultimate battlefield in which the top pilots in EVE Online fight for the glory and honour of their alliance. 64 Alliances compete over 3 weekends of intense, explosive action, with the final weekend broadcast live via EVE TV." Last year's was tournament was a big success, with some excellent commentary on the matches from members of the EVE playerbase and no small amount of drama. Given how well things worked out last year, the 2009 Alliance Tournament will follow the same format, but there are a few changes that EVE developer CCP Claw discusses in his dev blog "How do you stop a man with seven alliance tournaments?"
CCP Games CEO to announce new project in GDC Europe keynote
Hilmar Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, will keynote Game Developers Conference Europe 2009 in Cologne, Germany. The event runs from August 17 through the 19th at the Cologne Congress Center East. Hilmar's keynote will focus on how CCP Games rose from being a small Reykjavik-based studio with an obscure niche title to becoming a success story in the MMO industry with the growing popularity of EVE Online, now running studios in Atlanta and Shanghai, as well as their hometown of Reykjavik. Perhaps the biggest news here is the reveal hinted at in the CCP Games press release: "As a testament to the industry's potential for growth despite widespread economic turmoil and as an inspiration for up-and-coming independent studios, Pétursson will give an exclusive first look at the company's latest project, which is currently in pre-production." We can only assume this is the World of Darkness MMO, but it could very well be a closer look at Walking in Stations or any of the other projects CCP announced at last year's Fanfest. Regardless of what this new project is, we won't know for sure until August.
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%
CCP Games launches new EVE Fanfest 2009 site
EVE Fanfest is the annual gathering for the internet spaceships faithful, held in CCP's hometown of Reykjavîk, Iceland. CCP Games opted to move up the date for Fanfest this year, the sixth annual meetup, to October and hopefully give visiting EVE Online fans a better (read: less frigid) time to see Iceland. To make things easier, CCP has launched a Fanfest site that's a one-stop destination for all news and information surrounding the capsuleer pilgrimage to 'the top of the world.' Of course they've announced that there will be a PvP tournament taking place during Fanfest as well, which should come as no surprise to past attendees. Plus they've put together a Reykjavîk survival guide that highlights the city's dining options and nightlife. EVE Fanfest 2009 will last from October 1-3, and as always CCP Games has worked out package deals for attendees with Icelandair that also include accommodation. A notable change this year is that EVE fans can purchase their Fanfest passes using PLEX, which is CCP's method of converting real world cash into an in-game item, sold in-game for ISK and redeemable for buyers as actual playtime. They give more detail on their new PLEX for Passes program: "In honor of our recent 6th anniversary, we decided to allow people to use PLEX to pay for their tickets to Fanfest, gathering as many players as possible. For the first time ever you can buy your Fanfest 2009 tickets with in-game Pilot License Extensions (PLEX). Using PLEX, attendees can attend Fanfest simply by playing EVE!"
The Council of Stellar Management's impact on the game
Massively: Was giving the players this degree of input a frightening prospect for the developers and the designers? Pétur: [Laughs] Yes. I've been hearing the other companies in the industry asking if we've completely lost our minds. Of course it's a difficult step, but we wouldn't have have a game without the players, so I think it's a logical step to take. Even though it's a frightening one. Massively: Now that you've been doing this for a while, is it still as frightening now, seeing what the CSM is coming up with? Pétur: No. They still surprise us sometimes but in a good way. It's becoming a very valuable tool for us to have. It's important. Dr. EyjoG: Pétur and I work in the unit of Research and Statistics and what we are increasingly finding happening over the past two months is that the developers come to us and ask 'What do you think the CSM would think of this?' And now we can answer, 'Well, just ask them.' Pétur: There are at least three cases off the top of my head where the CSM was asked by the developers themselves about a feature they were thinking about, what the players' take on this might be.
CCP Games boosts productivity with agile development
When CCP Games developed the Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online, it wasn't only the first time that all three studios -- Atlanta, Reykjavik, and Shanghai -- worked in concert on single project, they also created the game's largest expansion to date in record time. EVE Online's lead designer Noah Ward recently explained how CCP was able to accomplish this in an interview with Gamasutra's Christian Nutt and Chris Remo. The company switched from its waterfall development model to agile methods where the game was developed through the collaboration of small teams that showcase their progress to the rest of the developers frequently. Ward says, "Now that we've switched over, we don't have these huge waterfall phases anymore, it's just iterative, agile two week sprints, and we have a demo day at the end [...] and it's just amazing to see how much is actually produced in those two weeks."
EVE Online developers discuss Apocrypha expansion's impact on the game
EVE Online's recent deployment of the Apocrypha expansion brought major changes to the game. Apocrypha is the largest expansion they've released to date, incorporating wormhole exploration and modular ship designs, in addition to a new NPC race into the fabric of the game as we know it. BattleClinic, a site best known for its player-built tools, guides, and as a hub for sharing and commenting upon ship setups, caught up with CCP Games at GDC 2009. They spoke with Halldór Fannar Guðjónsson, CTO at CCP Games, and Gabe Mahoney, VP of Engineering. Given how significant Apocrypha has been from the standpoint of the players and CCP alike, the interview focuses on the expansion.
EVE Online Fanfest 2009 dates and travel packages announced
The annual EVE Fanfest is the largest player gathering of the year for fans of the sci-fi MMO. It's held annually in Reykjavik, Iceland, the home of CCP Games, and is a major event for die-hard fans of the game. EVE Online dev CCP Tyr announced the sixth annual 'Party at the Top of the World' this week: "It is time once again to start marking your calendars and making your reservations for the 2009 Fanfest in Reykjavik, Iceland! Get ready for another weekend of PvP tournaments, hanging out with the developers, and partying in a sea of fellow EVE Online fans. As always, Fanfest attendees will be treated to videos and announcements on the future of EVE and what players can expect in the upcoming expansions." Rather than holding it in November as in all previous years, they've moved up this year's Fanfest dates to October 1- 3, when the weather should hopefully be a bit warmer. CCP Games has worked with Icelandair to put together airfare and hotel travel packages by country, the details of which can be found on the EVE Fanfest 2009 announcement page. For a peek at what EVE Fanfest is like, we've got a video embed of the Fanfest 2009 teaser trailer:
Call for candidates in EVE Online's player-elected Council of Stellar Management
Lost in the blitz of info about the Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online was the fact that CCP Games announced a call for candidates for the 3rd Council of Stellar Management (CSM). The CSM is a council of representatives of the playerbase, elected by the players themselves, who work with CCP Games to ensure that the development pipeline reflects the interests of the subscribers. Being a CSM delegate can be both time-consuming and stressful, as past and present reps Jade Constantine and LaVista Vista have told us. Still, it offers players a chance at helping to shape the game they love, something which few other MMO developers would ever allow. Already on the CSM's radar for the next group of delegates is reworking (lawless) 0.0 space and its entrenched system of sovereignty, which is no small task.
Massively interviews EVE Online Lead Economist Dr. EyjoG
The sci-fi game EVE Online is unique amongst the other massively multiplayer online titles on the market. One major aspect of the game is that its far future setting of New Eden functions as one server, where players can build up empires -- or topple those of their rivals -- across more than 5000 solar systems. Beyond its scale, what distinguishes EVE Online from other games is that it has a player-driven virtual economy, the backbone of the game. EVE's economy has been a major draw for players interested in market and crafting sophistication generally unseen in an online game. EVE's creators, CCP Games, have fostered a setting where players can do what they want in the 'sandbox', a setting where the tools are in place for players to use as they see fit. Nearly every ship, module, and item used by a player in the game was produced by another player in New Eden at some point. Fight for military dominance and control vast regions of space, or corner the market as part of an industrial conglomerate -- it's all possible in EVE. In fact, the game's warfare and industry are very much intertwined, making EVE's virtual economy a dynamic one. Monitoring and researching this economy is important to CCP Games, and to further that goal, they've hired real world economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson (aka CCP EyjoG). Massively recently caught up with Dr. EyjoG, who told us about his rather unique position at CCP Games, and what he's learned about virtual economies along the way.
Massively interviews EVE's Lead Economist part 2
The starbase exploit has been some big news lately. How does it impact your ability to assess the state of EVE's economy, and are there assumptions you've made in the past that you need to reassess now?It's a good thing that you mentioned the starbase exploit because we are in the final stages of creating a very thorough dev blog on that, which will hopefully be published very soon. [Note: this interview was conducted just prior to the release of the investigation's findings.]There are certain things with the POS exploit that made it very difficult to detect. You basically needed to be able to go to that particular starbase and look at it, look at the setup and so on. It was difficult for us to detect it otherwise, except from the code once we knew what we were looking for.From a market perspective the EVE economy has become so big that in order for you to impact the market you will really have to have large quantities. And as will be shown in this dev blog that will be published, the scale of the exploit really didn't start until late 2008... to the large industrial scale so that it started to impact the market.
EVE's Council of Stellar Management to be discussed at GDC 09
We mentioned that CCP Games plans to have a presence at the Game Developers Conference this year, but they've opted to give another presentation about EVE Online as well. CCP's Lead Economist Dr. Eyjólfur Guðmundsson and Researcher Petur Johannes Oskarsson will speak about player governance in the virtual space, as exemplified by EVE Online's "Council of Stellar Management" (CSM). For those who haven't heard of it, the Council of Stellar Management is something unique to EVE Online. It exists to convey the sentiments of the playerbase to EVE's developer, CCP Games. The idea is that it will ensure that CCP Games is developing and balancing the game in ways that fit the interests of the subscribers. It also allows for concerns between the players and developers to be addressed in a direct way by CCP Games.CSM representatives are not selected by the developers, who largely maintain a hands-off stance on how the CSM is run. The players themselves organize their own election campaigns and the playerbase votes for who the best women and men are for the role. Each CSM term lasts for six months, during which time regular meetings take place, one of which happens in Reykjavik, in 3-days (or more) of face-to-face sessions with CCP Games. The GDC 09 session is titled: "The Council of Stellar Management: EVE Online Bridges Worlds for a Society".
EVE Online coding honcho profiled in 'Master of the Universe'
Most gamers probably aren't familiar with IEEE Spectrum, but it's a publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), the world's largest professional technology association. Fans of EVE Online who are curious about the people behind the sci-fi title might be interested in checking out IEEE Spectrum's piece on CCP Games and the man who directs the EVE Online Software Group: Erlendur Thorsteinsson, also known to players as CCP Explorer. The profile is written by Erico Guizzo, titled "Erlendur Thorsteinsson: Master of the Universe." Guizzo's piece sheds some light on what brought the Computer Science Ph.D. to CCP Games in order to tackle the myriad challenges of improving EVE's single world environment. The article also gives mention to the work done behind the scenes on the title's more ambitious projects, including adding wormhole exploration to the game with the Apocrypha expansion, and the forthcoming Walking in Stations where player avatars will step out of their ships for the first time. [Via CrazyKinux]
Massively interviews Crovan about EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VI
The sci-fi themed game of EVE Online is one dominated by the players themselves, many of whom join together to form alliances. Those alliances vie for control of the New Eden galaxy, sparking continual warfare and political upheaval among the thousands of pilots flying in EVE at any given time. That's really the beauty of the game: the developers provide the setting, but it's the players who make it what it is. Alliance struggles are one of the defining features of the game, but not all scores are settled through massive fleet engagements. Some alliances opt to engage one another in an arena -- viewed by thousands of EVE's pilots -- the Alliance PvP Tournament. Alliance Tournament VI kicked off last weekend, continues this weekend with qualifying rounds, and will culminate in final rounds in February, which will be streamed as live video. As the Tournament is so significant to the players, each year CCP Games invites PvP experts from among the playerbase to be the tournament's commentators. Among those veteran combat pilots in EVE Online, Crovan certainly stands out. He, along with a small team of other PvP experts, was selected to provide live commentary on the matches. This should come as no problem for him, given the PvP experience gained from his time with now-legendary Mercenary Coalition and being a familiar voice to many of us with The Drone Bay podcast. Since The Drone Bay is the official podcast of the tournament, Crovan is recognizable to many listeners as the voice of the EVE Online Alliance Tournament VI. The fact that he's been a past Alliance Tournament competitor also gives him some additional perspective on the event. It's been a while since we spoke with Crovan -- we were fortunate enough to have him with us at Massively in the past through his excellent Rogue Signal column. We caught up with Crovan this week, however, and he told us everything we wanted to know about the Alliance Tournament. %Gallery-43561%
CCP Games aims to extend EVE Online to iPhone and mobile phones
Nathan 'Oveur' Richardsson, Executive Producer for CCP Games, gave a 'state of the game' address last month about EVE Online, and hinted at some of the ways he'd like to see EVE evolve. Namely, how the game might expand by leveraging the EVE API. It looks like CCP is taking the next step in making this happen, from the announcement an EVE player came across -- one that suggests mobile and iPhone applications for EVE Online may be coming. Reykjavik University and MIT maintain cooperation through the MIT Industrial Liaison Program (ILP), which is essentially a way to tap the expertise of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for specific projects. An announcement on the ILP site states that CCP Games is interested in seeing what MIT students can come up with in terms of EVE mobile and iPhone applications that make use of EVE Online's API.
Economic crisis may force CCP Games to leave Iceland
The global financial crisis is hitting many companies and individuals very hard. This is especially prevalent in Iceland, home of CCP Games -- the developers of the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online. The collapse of Iceland's banking system and currency has been devastating to the nation. "Icelanders are reeling from the shock of having everything they knew virtually disappear overnight," Valur Gunnarsson reports from Reykjavik for The Guardian.Despite these economic woes, Hilmar V. Pétursson, the CEO of CCP Games, gave assurances all is well with the company back in October. He's stated that CCP is "well isolated" from the banking crisis, that their holdings and assets were diversified enough (due to partner relationships in different parts of the world) to stave off the ruin that many other Icelandic companies are facing. But there's a potential downside to that diversification: restrictions on access to foreign currencies have gone into effect in Iceland. Specifically -- as it relates to CCP Games -- on foreign investment coming into the country. Are these restrictions enough of a hassle that CCP Games would ever need to leave Iceland?
EVE's Alliance PVP Tournament returns
EVE Online players have been noting the conspicuous absence of the Alliance PvP Tournament, which was brought up at a dev panel at EVE Fanfest 2008. The news imparted at that time did not bode well for the future of the alliance tournaments, given the expense and level of involvement on the part of the CCP Games staff to run it. But EVE developer CCP Mindstar has given word that the alliance tournament is on for 2009, and listed the relevant dates as they presently stand: Tournament Signups -- Dec 19th - Jan 9thQualifying Round 1 -- Jan 24th, Jan 25thQualifying Round 2 -- Jan 31st, Feb 1stFinals -- Feb 7th, Feb 8thThe tournament rules will remain largely the same as in previous years, but some changes are to be expected. The EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VI will take place over six days -- specifically, over three weekends so weekday conflicts won't be an issue.
CCP Games releases more EVE Fanfest 2008 video footage
For most of us who weren't able to attend EVE Fanfest 2008 earlier this month in Reykjavik, at least there have been videos of the various presentations and panels. CCP Games released quite a number of these just over a week ago, but they recently went ahead and added more. The new footage, which can be seen in higher resolution on the EVE Online Videos page or on the CCP Games YouTube page, gives viewers a look at: Designing the Walking in Stations expansion The Fanfest 2008 PvP Tournament Roxor QA! Are we ready to ship? TQ Servers: Making mountains out of molehills All footage on the EVE Online Videos page is available in two resolutions, viewable as embedded video or downloadable.
