t20-incident
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EVE extended downtime has some unfortunate consequences
reddit_url = "http://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/eve-extended-downtime-has-some-unfortunate-consequenceshttp://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/eve-extended-downtime-has-some-unfortunate-consequenceshttp://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/eve-extended-downtime-has-some-unfortunate-consequenceshttp://massively.joystiq.com/2010/11/02/eve-extended-downtime-has-some-unfortunate-consequences/"; reddit_target="gaming"; Tweet Early this morning, the EVE Online server underwent an extended scheduled downtime for the deployment of the Tyrannis 1.2 patch. The patch deployment proceeded as planned and almost exactly to schedule, with the entire downtime lasting around 12 hours. When the servers came up, however, members of some nullsec alliances noticed that something was amiss. All of a sudden, a number of systems in Delve that had been vacant before the downtime were now owned by Reddit-based alliance Test Alliance Please Ignore. It soon became apparent that Test Alliance had placed territorial control units in the systems just before the extended downtime began. Under normal circumstances, territorial claim units must be protected by a fleet for the six hours they need to start up. During that time, enemy fleets have a chance to engage the hostile force and destroy their claim unit. If the six hours pass without event, ownership of the system is then awarded to the alliance that placed the structure. By placing the structures immediately prior to the extended downtime, enemies of Test Alliance were unable to contest the claim, which meant it automatically succeeded. What happened next has been the cause of a great deal of controversy on the EVE forums and Reddit. Skip past the cut for a run-down of what happened next.
Expressing concerns for EVE Online's player-elected council
As a game developer, CCP has always been the type to do things in a rather unconventional way -- especially when it comes to how they choose to interact with their community. So it's safe to say their approach to dealing with public relations disasters -- such as the now-infamous T20 incident involving a CCP dev -- was going to be interesting. Their decision ended up being the formation of a player-elected council that would serve as a sort of advisory group to the CCP team.Well, Bitter Old Noob was kind enough to give a rundown on this new-fangled idea of putting a bit of democracy into our massively games. The whole post reads as decidedly concerned for what could essentially turn into a popularity contest with the wrong people getting elected and the possibility for CCP to stop listening to non-council players -- it's a valid concern. We'll just have to wait and see, though.Voting apparently begins in May, which gives players interested in earning one of the nine spots on the council time to start campaiging. We'll be keeping tabs on how this all ends up, because this the most extreme case of a developer trying to listen to the voice of their player-base.
