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EVE Evolved: The battle of Z9PP-H caught on camera
If you're the kind of person who loves reading about the political shenanigans that go on inside EVE Online, you should be aware that a colossal war has erupted in the wake of the Odyssey expansion. The expansion redistributed the value of nullsec moons and gave the two largest alliances in the game, the Reddit-based TEST Alliance and Something Awful-spawned GoonSwarm Federation, a good excuse to go to full-scale war. Allies have piled in on either side, and nullsec has erupted into full-scale region takedowns, spy-jacking, and more of the lovely political tomfoolery we love to hear about. EVE News 24 has been doing a good job of keeping players up to date on what's happening in nullsec, and its reporters are not the only ones keeping tabs on the war. Streamer Mad Ani has been setting up cameras in strategically important locations throughout the contested regions and providing live coverage of huge battles whenever they happen. A few days ago, the war came to a head in what could have been the deciding battle of the entire Fountain invasion. Over 4,000 people watched the stream as TEST's entire capital fleet of over 100 carriers was taking a pounding in Z9PP-H, when suddenly the server crashed and disconnected everyone in the fight. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at what happened in the battle of Z9PP-H, how CCP crashed its biggest piece of PR in months, and how player livestreams are changing the face of EVE Online for the better.
EVE contest winners announced, free Aurum for everyone
Back in July, EVE Online developer CCP Games opened a visual museum of EVE artwork, screenshots, and videos to record the game's ongoing history. Players were invited to upload their work to the site in exchange for entry into a huge contest, with 20 Nvidia graphics cards and an expensive Alienware laptop to be won. Players voted for their favourite videos and pictures on the website during August, and the winners were officially announced on Thursday. The grand prize of an Alienware gaming rig went to Tez Saurus of Test Alliance for his video I Love New Eden, which received a massive 1800 votes (almost 1000 votes more than the next-most-popular video). The song beat legendary videos like Clear Skies III, War Has Come, and the popular official trailer EVE: A future Vision from 2011's Fanfest. At the start of August, CCP gave every active EVE account 1000 free Aurum to spend on Incarna clothing as a thank-you for sharing EVE museum pictures and videos on Facebook. The second sharing milestone for the visual museum was reached this week, and all active EVE players will soon receive 1500 Aurum free of charge. As clothing bought with Aurum can be sold on the normal in-game market, this is a big financial boost to new players. The total value of the Aurum being distributed is around $1.75 million US.
EVE Evolved: Downtime deployment debate
Earlier this week, an explosive argument broke out in the EVE Online community. Following an extended server downtime, it became known that Reddit-based alliance Test Alliance Please Ignore had used the server downtime to protect the deployment of 14 territorial claim units. Ordinarily, these claim units are vulnerable to attack for eight hours while they start up. The owner may choose to either commit a fleet to defend them for eight hours or leave them unguarded and hope nobody decides to knock them down. This mechanic is designed to ensure that a force can't claim or attack a large number of systems simultaneously against opposition, as an alliance can't reliably defend several TCUs at once. By anchoring the structures just before the extended downtime occurred, Test Alliance made them invulnerable for their entire deployment time. A controversial debate then ensued, as GMs stepped in and Test pilots began making accusations of corruption, collusion and favouritism. In this opinion piece, I weigh in on the latest debate to shake New Eden. I look at whether downtime deployment really is an exploit and whether there's any substance to the accusations made against EVE's Game Masters.
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.
