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EVE Evolved: Ghost Sites and PvE goals
PvE in most MMOs revolves around killing hordes of NPCs for currency, XP, tokens, or loot, and EVE Online is no exception. Players can hunt for rare pirate ships in nullsec asteroid belts, farm Sansha incursions for ISK and loyalty points, or team up against Sleeper ships in dangerous wormhole space, but most prefer the safe and steady income of mission-running. Missions are essentially repeatable quests that can be spawned on request, providing an endless stream of bad guys to blow up in the comfort of high-security space. Completing a mission will earn you some ISK and a few hundred or thousand loyalty points, but most of the ISK in mission-running comes from the bounties on the NPCs spawned in the mission sites. Similar deadspace sites with better loot are also distributed randomly throughout the galaxy and can be tracked down using scanner probes. But what would happen if the NPCs in these sites were a dangerous and unexpected interference that could get you killed, rather than space piñatas ready to explode in a shower of ISK? This is a question CCP plans to test with the Rubicon expansion's upcoming Ghost Sites feature, which promises to introduce a whole new form of high-risk, high-reward PvE. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at EVE's upcoming ghost sites and explain why I think its goal-oriented approach to PvE should be adopted in other areas of the game.
New EVE dev video shows off Rubicon features
For virtual pilots looking forward to Rubicon, the EVE Online expansion -- with its new ships, deployable structures, certification revamp, and more -- can't get here soon enough. But even though players have to wait until November 19th to get in and experience Rubicon for themselves, they can take a peek at what's to come in CCP's newest in-development video. Part one of two, this video highlights the deployable structures, the Isis project (which puts tons of information about factions, ships, and ship groups at your fingertips in game), and the new Sisters of Eve ship. Listen as the devs expound on these features in the video below, then be on the lookout for part two and the Rubicon cinematic trailer, both of which are announced as coming soon.
EVE Online unveils the Sisters of EVE ships
New ships in EVE Online are kind of a big deal. A new ship isn't just a set of equipment slots, it can represent a whole different way of playing the game. The two newest ships being introduced with the game's next expansion are meant to do precisely that, providing players with a new level of security while exploring hostile space. These ships are the craft of the Sisters of EVE, and they're coming with the game's next major update. The latest development blog explains that the goal with these ships was to provide more support for solo exploration while allowing the ship to take a variety of different equipment for variable missions. Both classes of ship (the Astero and the Stratios) can use covert cloaks, feature increased scan probe and virus strength, and have extra module space that sacrifices some strength for vesatility. For more details on fitting and obtaining these ships, check out the full development dispatch.
EVE Evolved: The Siphon Unit in Rubicon
EVE Online will soon let players steal valuable resources from each other, and not everyone is happy with it. The upcoming Rubicon expansion will add a new Siphon Unit structure that can literally siphon off materials from a starbase's moon harvesters and simple reactors. Preliminary details on the structure were released in a new devblog this week, sparking debate over whether the new item will be a useful tool for disrupting entrenched nullsec alliances. Many expected the siphon to be a minor annoyance to starbase owners, with the presence of a siphon being easily discovered and a limit of one siphon per starbase established. In reality, one siphon unit can rob a starbase of 60% of the output from a moon harvester or 12.5% from a simple reactor, and there's no limit to how many can be stacked on an individual starbase. It'll take only two of these to completely shut down a single moon-mining operation, and the owner will get no warning whatsoever that it's happening. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how the Siphon Unit will work, its stats, various ways to protect your starbase from it, and what the long-term implications may be for EVE.
EVE Evolved: Deployables in Rubicon
Last week I looked at EVE Online's upcoming Rubicon expansion, which aims to kick off CCP's long-term vision of deep space exploration with a series of new deployable structures. Until now, most structures have come in the form of modules that can only be added to starbases anchored at moons. Starbases are owned by corporations rather than individuals and require a significant financial and logistical investment to set up and maintain, putting them quite far out of reach for new players. Rubicon will fix this with a relatively inexpensive new personal Depot deployable that can be anchored anywhere in space. The mobile Depot is a small feature that was no-doubt trivial to implement, but it could have a massive impact on the shape of the EVE sandbox. The module offers a way to store your items and refit ships in the middle of hostile territory, and this is the first of a new breed of structure that will ultimately unlock deep space for exploration. This expansion will also give us a new auto-looting tractor beam structure and a Siphon Unit that actually steals resources from nearby starbases. Not much is known about these three deployables beyond the basic information already released, and there's a ton of potential for new complementary structures that could be released in the future. In this week's EVE Evolved, I examine the impact that Rubicon's two biggest deployable structures could have on the EVE sandbox and think about new structures that could be released in the future.
EVE Evolved: Everything we know about Rubicon
Back in April, EVE Online Senior Producer Andie Nordgren delivered an incredible long-term vision for the game's future that included deep space colonisation, player-built stargates, and players controlling practically everything that's currently run by NPC empires. This vision sets the tone and direction for development over the next ten expansions, each of which will introduce a small component of the overall goal. In a live interview session earlier this week, CCP revealed the first steps it will take toward space colonisation in its upcoming winter expansion. Named Rubicon, the expansion will be in players' hands on November 19th and promises to give individuals and small groups unprecedented control over the sandbox. It will let players fight over planetary customs offices in high security space, significantly buff the ability of small ships to participate in hit-and-run style warfare, and even introduce a new set of personal deployable structures that can be hidden anywhere in space. All this comes alongside two new Sisters of EVE ships, twitch livestream integration, and significant balance changes to Marauders, Interceptors, Interdictors, and Electronic Attack Frigates. In this week's EVE Evolved, I run down all of the new features and changes announced so far for EVE Online's Rubicon expansion.
EVE Online: Rubicon coming November 19th
EVE Online is getting ready to start changing the rules and paving the way to a journey beyond the stars. CCP Games announced that the first step to this bold new vision will be the game's 20th expansion, Rubicon. The studio also surprised players by scheduling the expansion for earlier than normal, dating it for November 19th. Rubicon marks a turning point in the game's vision, as the devs are centering this and upcoming expansions around a core theme of space colonization. "What if we weren't bound to the universe?" the studio teased on the Twitch TV reveal. The expansion will include features such as putting customs office abilities it in the hands of the players, deployable structures such as siphon units and depots, Sisters of Eve faction ships, a fix to EVE's warp acceleration, transforming spaceships, and plenty of ship balance changes.
Twin-stick shooter 'Narco Terror' smokes some fools this summer
In what appears to be a modern take on late-80s arcade game Narc, Deep Silver's Narco Terror is a twin-stick blast-everything shooter of one man (or two in local or online co-op) versus the cartels. The game is listed for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.
Gaming company derides Microsoft Store: 'We've made the princely sum of £52' (update: retracted)
UK gaming outfit Rubicon has castigated Microsoft after claiming a Windows RT port of its Great Big War Game made a meager £52 ($83) in its first week in the store. The company was particularly incensed at Redmond's lack of promotional features to help the title's visibility, claiming that "if you're familiar with (its) new store, this means our app is forever consigned to the garbage bin." The company added that the iOS, Android "and even RIM" stores have promoted the app, which it said was widely lauded, and felt that after investing £10,000 on the port, "we got spat on" by the software giant. The developer punctuated its blog statement by saying it won't work with Microsoft again, and "that store is going to look mighty bleak for a long time to come" if it doesn't change its policy. No doubt there's some sour grapes getting squeezed here, but it's fair to say that RT is much in need of some sweeter news. Update: Having a good ol' moan sometimes does the trick. Rubicon has deleted its original blog post, saying that Microsoft has "graciously decided work with us to iron out the problems and get us past this incident."
Daily iPad App: Great Big War Game
Last year, I was a big fan of the Great Little War Game for iOS -- what it lacked in the graphics department, it more than made up for in terms of tile-based tactical strategy (similar to Advance Wars or any of those other kinds of tactical war games). Now developer Rubicon has gone back to the well for a sequel, and the result is the Great Big War Game: It's exactly the same kind of title, only writ just a little larger. The graphics are slightly improved (though Rubicon has stuck with the very stylistic little big-headed soldiers, as well as a goofy story), but the big draw here is all of the additions: There are 50 new levels, lots of new units and upgrades to play with, online multiplayer, and some extra map packs and add-ons to purchase if what's in the base game isn't enough for you. Rubicon has made an already good tactical strategy game better, and added a bunch of other little improvements and upgrades as well. If you liked Great Little War Game, the Great Big version is a no-brainer, and even if you missed the first one (but the title sounds interesting to you), then Rubicon's latest is worth the purchase. You can get it as a universal version (without iCloud support, unfortunately) on the App Store right now for $2.99.
Dish Network has AMC HD now, casually points out DirecTV still doesn't
Congratulations Dish Network on announcing yourself as "the first and only satellite TV provider in America to offer this channel." Though DirecTV still has NFL Sunday ticket, if your taste run more towards Don Draper than Adrian Peterson, you won't get Mad Men in HD there, yet. Check for the new network on channel 130 in the America's Top 200 package of channels and higher, and let us know if Rubicon is worth watching -- going into these conspiracy stories blind can be tiring.
Shotest Shogi passes cert; Basment Pool delayed
When Shotest Shogi and Basement Pool were originally announced, we were a bit harsh on the latter and quite welcoming to the former. Well thanks to that delisting process that Microsoft unveiled not too long ago, Basement Pool is going to be seeing a bit of a delay. Posting on the Indiegamer boards, Paul Johnson of Rubicon said that while the game is a pet project of his that will likely never really die, Rubicon is waiting for Bankshot Billiards to be retired before releasing Basement Pool to XBLA. And hey, as for Shotest Shogi, after a bit of a certification debacle, it's finally passed and it's only up to Microsoft when it goes live. For those unfamiliar with the concept, Shogi is a harder, deeper, and more complex version of chess. Thankfully Rubicon professes to have spent an inordinate amount of time on a tutorial mode, meaning that anyone who'd like to deepen their strategic thinking a bit should be able to find some enjoyment here.[Via Gamerbytes]
