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EVE Evolved: Ten years of EVE Online
Tomorrow marks a huge milestone in MMO history as sci-fi sandbox EVE Online officially turns ten years old. Released by a tiny icelandic development studio whose only previous release was a board game featuring Reykjavik's favourite cross-dressing mayor, EVE has slowly grown over the past decade to become one of the industry's biggest and most stable subscription titles. Following 2011's monoclegate scandal that led to around 8% of players quitting and CCP Games shedding 20% of its employees, this year saw EVE Online climb to new heights as it regained the playerbase's confidence and smashed the 500,000 subscriber barrier. As a special side-note, the EVE Evolved column also turned five years old last week; it has now officially been running for over half of EVE's lifetime. The past year has been remarkably successful for CCP, with both of the year's EVE expansions being extremely well received and console MMOFPS DUST 514 finally starting to take shape. The Inferno and Retribution expansions fixed a staggering number of small issues that were broken in the game while also making big changes to bounty-hunting, piracy, and PvP across the board. We also saw huge emergent events like the Battle of Asakai, a $6,000 ship kill, and the five trillion ISK faction warfare exploit this year. With DUST 514 officially launching in just over a week on May 14th and players fired up about the upcoming Odyssey expansion, the future's looking bright for EVE Online as it heads into its second decade. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look back at some of year's top EVE stories, stories that touched real life, and what the future holds for EVE's second decade.
EVE Evolved: Third-party development
When EVE Online was first released in 2003, it was a primitive beast from a small indie studio operating out of a tiny office in Reykjavik, Iceland. Although EVE has been expanded over the years, not all of that development has come from creator CCP Games. EVE players routinely step in to fill gaps in the game's functionality through the development of third-party applications, websites and tools. Early apps like the EVEMon skill planner were very limited in what information they could access about a player's character, but with the introduction of the EVE API system, a huge wealth of information became available. Since then, we've seen a resurgence of third-party app and tool development, producing impressive apps like Capsuleer and Aura for the iPhone. We've also seen some incredibly useful websites like the ICSC jump planner suite, gambling site SOMER.blink and the Dotlan EVE maps with regularly updating statistics. Most app developers work on the projects in their spare time, and until now they've relied on donations or advertising revenue to keep up with server costs or keep development worth the time invested. As EVE is CCP's intellectual property, it's illegal for anyone to make money from it without the company's permission. This week, CCP released the first draft of a contract that would allow developers to monetise their apps, but the proposal was not received well by the EVE community. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at third-party app development and what's wrong with the proposed deal.
Capsuleer iPhone app for EVE ceases development, CCP responds
When it comes to useful apps for EVE Online players, Capsuleer is one of the most well-known and popular tools available. The app allows iPhone users to check their characters' skill training progress, the latest EVE news and other items of interest. Until now, Capsuleer has been developed as an entirely non-profit enterprise, with creators PyjamaSam and Roc Wieler running the servers for free and absorbing all of the development costs. At the 2008 EVE fanfest, EVE's developers CCP Games expressed great enthusiasm for the project. Executive Producer Nathan Richardsson even mentioned the app in his keynote speech, and several screenshots of it were shown off during a talk on mobile development. Recognising that Capsuleer was reaching the point where free development was becoming infeasible, CCP flew the app's developers out to Iceland to discuss licensing arrangements. As EVE Online is CCP's intellectual property, the Capsuleer team would have needed to get a business license from CCP before charging for anything. The initial plan was to port Capsuleer to multiple platforms, including the Android OS and Windows Mobile. Features requiring access to a user's full API key, such as searching through assets or checking market orders, would be added to a new subscription service. A free version of the app would have allowed non-subscribed users to make use of limited API features, such as checking a character's skill training. With direct co-operation from CCP, additional features which are not currently possible with the app may also have been possible.
Massively Mobile: iPhone apps for your favorite MMOs
Every two weeks, Massively Mobile brings you the latest news, guides and analysis about MMOs on mobile devices. Covering iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad platforms, we're on the lookout for the next generation of MMOs. As much as we love our MMOs, keeping track of our characters, maps, ingredients, friends and everything else, can't always be juggled while online. And often we want to keep track of in-game activities and friends while offline. As a result, many iPhone apps have sprung up, official and unofficial, to help you stay in the game. Today, I highlight a number of apps for the iPhone that will keep you connected with your favorite MMO while offline and give you easy access to vital information while in game. There's quite a few of these apps, so I'm splitting up the list over two installments. The first part is after the jump.
EVE Online API sends apps offline
As many EVE Online players likely already know, Tranquility's server hamsters decided to take an unscheduled nap yesterday, causing the entirety of New Eden to grind to a screeching halt. While we're glad to note that the servers came up some time later without any major problems, the forums and API remained offline until this morning's regular maintenance at 7:00 AM Eastern. While the folks at CCP were able to get the forums back online and working without incident, they opted to leave the API offline today while they're trying to figure out what happened. Better safe than sorry, we think.For those of you who are occasional EVE Online players (are there really such beasts?) you'll notice the API shutdown in terms of changes not tracking properly in EVEmon, Capsuleer, or any other external programs that make calls to the API to pull your character information. The hope is that full functionality will be restored after tomorrow morning's regularly scheduled daily downtime. If not, might we suggest breaking out some chocolate covered espresso beans for the server hamsters?
Epic Mission Arcs in EVE Online add new dimensions to game's PvE
There are so many reasons we love to play MMOs, but for most of us, repetition isn't one of them. Although EVE Online differs from most other MMOs on the market in a number of ways, it still has some of those PvE pitfalls that have long been part of massively multiplayer online games -- specifically, repetitive missions (quests). As with any game where there are only so many quests that NPCs can give out, a mission runner in EVE will play through the same stories multiple times. Granted, many players who run Level 4s all week are doing so for the ISK, not to enjoy the story. There are only so many times you can rescue The Damsel or blow up another Zor before you've stopped paying attention to the story that's presumably taking place around you. Although this issue of quest repetition in MMOs certainly isn't limited to EVE Online, the developers at CCP Games want to address this problem in their game, and their solution to creating more engaging PvE content is the Epic Mission Arc.
EVE Evolved: Top five EVE Online apps
Back in 2004, a friend introduced me to a relatively new space MMO called EVE Online, where the markets were run by the players and there were undiscovered frontiers to chart. A short time after, I became obsessed with pre-calculating everything in the game. I thought that if the game server can calculate everything we do, I must be able to replicate the process and come up with some interesting results. I wasn't alone, many other pilots had previously created simple spreadsheets and web-databases of EVE's items. Rather than the game's developers hoarding the information required for such an undertaking, they took an unusual stance and released large portions of their main database for player-study. Websites began popping up listing information from the data dumps and it wasn't long before the first pioneering apps came about in the form of handy spreadsheets and interactive web-pages, my own fairly popular tanking spreadsheet among them. In this article, I look at how player-developed apps came about in EVE and give details on my top five EVE apps. Once you've tried these programs, you won't know how you lived without them.
Capsuleer 2.0 for iPhone helps you track EVE Online status
Massively has a good look at an iPhone app that's a must-have for players of the space-based multiplayer EVE Online -- Capsuleer 2.0 isn't an actual client, but like the desktop app EVEMon, it allows you to monitor and track your EVE pilots from outside the game. It's also got skill queues built in (unlike other MMOs, EVE allows you to have your pilots level even while you're away from the game, so most of the strategy in leveling actually comes in choosing the next skill to work towards), a skill library, more pilot details, and even a mini-RSS feeder, incorporating a few popular blogs from around the EVE blogosphere.The two developers of the app tell Massively that their biggest issues in developing the app were mostly by way of the limits CCP (the company behind EVE Online) places on what third-party apps can do with their info.. Most of the things they can't do are built into the game itself, and so it makes sense that a certain amount of functionality can't leave the game client (or else people might never log into the game). The app is currently free in the App Store right now, and the devs aim to keep it that way, but just recently added ads to the mix from the game's official magazine to cover server costs and bandwidth.Finally, they say they're excited about the possibilities with iPhone 3.0 -- notifications are mentioned, and of course it would be cool to get a popup reminder every time a pilot is about to hit a skill. They're also working on a way to provide stats about the ingame Faction Warfare. Sounds cool -- EVE Tracker is still another possibility if you want to follow your EVE progress on the iPhone, but it looks like Capsuleer adds even more innovation to the mix.
Massively looks at Capsuleer 2.0, an iPhone app for EVE Online
The newest generation of smartphones has begun to deliver on the ideal of having continual access to your data on the go with persistent web connections. As such, the iPhone is becoming ubiquitous, helped no doubt by its ease of use and the ever-growing number of apps available to users. In the relatively short time the iPhone has existed, it's already begun to have an impact on the gaming world. Given how stat-centric massively multiplayer online titles are, it was inevitable that there would be some steps made towards a marriage between the iPhone and our games; some developers are creating iPhone apps that extend certain aspects of MMOs beyond the game client.This can be especially useful with a game like EVE Online, where players typically have a number of things going on, even while they're not logged in to play. While the EVE iPhone apps don't act as game clients, players can, for instance, check in on the skill progression of their characters, check their wallet balances as market transactions and contract sales take place while away from the client, and in general keep tabs on their virtual involvements in New Eden. Capsuleer 2.0 is one such iPhone and iPod touch app for EVE Online that aims to be a portal into New Eden for whenever players are away from their computers and on the go; in some respects, it's a persistent real-world analog to EVE's in-game Neocom used to keep tabs on your characters. Capsuleer 2.0 was approved by Apple just this week, so Massively caught up with its two creators to find out more about what they've been up to. Marcus Dickinson is known in EVE as Roc Wieler and is likely a familiar name to many players from his Roc's Ramblings blog. The other half of the Capsuleer duo is Chris Whiteford (PyjamaSam in EVE Online), and they were both kind enough to take some time out to speak with us about their work on Capsuleer as well as their plans for its future. Read on for Massively's Capsuleer interview and our impressions of the app in a brief visual tour.%Gallery-49697%
Facebook users get first peek at EVE 'Apocrypha' video
Facebook users got a first look at the in-game video opening for EVE Online's next expansion, Apocrypha, earlier today. The narration explains a fundamental aspect of the game's lore, that as a capsuleer in EVE, you're essentially an immortal and often viewed as a demigod. But in the game's setting of New Eden, you're faced with others of your caliber, individuals as driven to succeed and rule as you are. No further details about the new features in Apocrypha are revealed in the video, aside from a superimposed iris and wormhole. Unfortunately a download or embed isn't available at the time of writing, but a working cut of the footage can be viewed on the EVE Online Facebook page.
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.
Outlaws of EVE Online: Masu'di Part 2
How do you handle the inevitable conflicts with territorial alliances who likely have greater numbers and firepower?Most of the areas of space we need access to are claimed, with various levels of effectiveness, by large and powerful territorial alliances. We can not begin to match them with manpower, so we have to take a more cracks between the pavement route.In EVE a little good will can go a long way. So we will always try an open upfront approach first, and try and build a mutually beneficial relationship. Cheap boosters, resource and information sharing are all things we try and bring to the table.However, whether this is accepted or not, very much depends on the organisation involved, and their modus operandi. Some alliances in EVE develop because their leaders have good business sense, focus and strategy, they know what they want for the alliance, and know what they can offer in return. Other organisations build up from a pure quest for power. For these organisations trading and business can take away from this. They prefer to try and do everything in-house as this is perceived as a sign of strength. "We moved a number of agents into their alliance, who could help facilitate the acquisition of the resources we needed. They provided intel, allowing us to conduct our own covert resource gathering, while causing internal disruption where possible." In the latter scenario we have to take a more covert approach, for example one recent alliance, former resident of Fountain, was an alliance called Brutally Clever Empire. We had already moved into the booster production constellation earlier, taking advantage of the chaos there when Band of Brothers pulled out. Not being perceived as a threat by anyone else we were generally low down on the target list and left alone to get on with what we like doing best. When Brutally Clever Empire arrived and claimed the region as their own, they wanted exclusive control of all the region's resources, and allow their in-house booster producers to build up a monopoly on the Exile booster type. However, the stronger boosters need resources from other regions too. It's something which we could easily provide and they tried to negotiate with us over this, however they refused to let us continue our access to our former operational areas – something which we found unacceptable.Without going into too much detail, we moved a number of agents into their alliance, who could help facilitate the acquisition of the resources we needed. They provided intel, allowing us to conduct our own covert resource gathering, while causing internal disruption where possible. We also we hired some mercenaries for a couple of months to harass Brutally Clever Empire, but luckily for us they had made enemies of most of their neighbours. With few friends and allies, and being yet another alliance that puts the wagon before the horse, they quickly collapsed.
Outlaws of EVE Online: Masu'di
Whether prowling low security space hunting for targets or fighting in massive fleet engagements, EVE Online's elite pilots -- called capsuleers -- stride like gods across galactic battle zones, as seen from the perspective of normal ship captains and crews. In this setting of New Eden, a capsuleer's neural interface with the ship allows his thoughts to regulate the vessel's performance; the will to survive coupled with fast reflexes equates to greater fortitude and speed in combat. Against conventional fleets, even a single capsuleer reigns supreme... but when faced with others of his caliber, or many of them, a capsuleer seeks every possible edge he can get. Some of EVE's pilots channel their resources into acquiring the most advanced technology, hoping to gain an advantage over their rivals. But others choose to invest in themselves through performance-enhancing drugs. These 'boosters' are outlawed in all secure regions of space, due to their powerful effects on a capsuleer's mind, and thus a magnified lethality of his ship. The demand for boosters is great, but so too are the costs. Boosters are contraband and risky to move in large quantities. Coupled with the arcane processes involved in creating these drugs, those in the know have formed cartels, whose booster production and smuggling operations form the underpinnings of New Eden's black market. The most pivotal figure in New Eden's booster trade is Masu'di, who heads the Hedonistic Imperative drug cartel through the corporate front of Es and Whizz. Their operations are largely hidden, as they dance around the power blocs of the largest capsuleer alliances, subtly influencing or corrupting those who hinder the narcotics trade. Their network operates between the cracks of New Eden's laws and systems, ensuring a steady flow of boosters into any corner of the galaxy where a capsuleer needs a fix.Massively recently spoke with Masu'di about the life of a drug kingpin in New Eden, and the inner workings of the black market in EVE.%Gallery-32364%
EVE Online: Et tu, Brute?
Mynxee of the Life in Low Sec blog is a prominent member of the EVE Online community, but like many others who share her passion for both playing the game and blogging about the experience, she has a tendency to 'violence boats'. Lots of them. In light of this fact, she found herself in a bit of a dilemma: Should friends made in the online space, who share the same passion for the game, be off-limits when she's hunting for targets in EVE? She posed this question to her fellow capsuleers (and bloggers); carebears and pirates alike responded in kind. In fact, the comments read like a Who's Who of the EVE blogging community. While a few felt killing their friends should be off limits, the consensus was that anything that comes into their sites is fair game. After all, killing other pilots in acts of piracy -- or just for some PvP -- isn't usually personal, although victims may feel otherwise. Do you kill your friends who happen to be in other corps or alliances on an NBSI basis*, or would that be crossing a line for you in EVE? * For those who are newer to EVE Online, NBSI means "Not Blue, Shoot It" -- in EVE you can set standings for different player corps and alliances. If a corp is set to red, they're fair game for anyone in your own corporation/alliance. If they're set to blue, you don't (or shouldn't) fire upon them.
Drugs aren't bad in EVE, m'kay?
One of the interesting features of EVE Online is that it has a drug trade in which players are actively engaged. Rather than merely being an illegal commodity, drugs -- called boosters -- enhance the performance of EVE's pilots, albeit with some potential side effects. To understand boosters though, we'll need to look into the game's setting a bit first. The thing to remember is that as a player, you're a capsuleer. You're not standing on the bridge of your ship barking orders at subordinates. Rather, you're floating inside a metallic capsule deep within your ship. Your mind is interfaced with the ship you pilot via neural implants, thus your vessel is an extension of your body and its senses; you regulate the ship's activities merely by thinking about them. Not all people in EVE's setting of New Eden have the raw potential to become a capsuleer, making your character one of the elite. However, when faced with others of your caliber in combat, every possible edge you can gain over rival capsuleers helps. That's where boosters come in... they're your edge. Boosters augment aspects of your mental processes and thus provide certain bonuses when piloting your ship.
EVE Visual Guide: The Birth of New Eden
The backstory of EVE Online is one of the game's major strengths. Not all players immerse themselves in the setting, which is a shame as the backstory -- built up over years -- is rich. No epic science fiction tale is without a grand struggle, and the story of EVE is one of the corrupting interplay of high technology and the power it brings, generation upon generation. EVE's backstory is a departure from the established notions of 'good vs. evil'; even its villains can become heroes in the gritty setting of New Eden. As the empires created by EVE's pilots rise and fall with relentless alliance warfare in 0.0 space, as they lend their strength to causes in the factional warfare of the Empyrean Age, they take the concepts established in the backstory and run with them -- in some respects, making the game into what they want it to be. The Birth of New Eden is a visual tour of the backstory of EVE, from humanity's first steps beyond the EVE Gate into the unknown, to the sweeping conflict of The Empyrean Age. Witness the Birth of New Eden >> %Gallery-30763%
EVE Visual Guide: Before you undock
There are a few essential things any pilot in EVE Online should do before they undock from a station and get themselves into a potentially hostile situation. Come to think of it, anytime you undock there's at least some chance of hostility. Keeping that in mind, think of this as a visual checklist you should go through before entering space, as you're not only risking your ship, but your skillpoints if you bite off more than you can chew. This happens all too often, to novice and veteran pilots alike in EVE. So to help you avoid this fate... Head to the guide >> %Gallery-30109%
What draws players to EVE while keeping others away?
EVE Online is the type of game that doesn't have the broad appeal of fantasy that titles like World of Warcraft. Certainly, it attracts a number of players who are looking for an edgier game experience where actions have consequences. For some, the consequences can be steep, causing those gamers to shy away from EVE. Being wary of your fellow pilots is always a good idea, but it's not all piracy and suicide ganks. The game offers freedom to do what you want in the sandbox, but most EVE pilots stay on the right side of the law. Sam Guss is a writer at EVE-Mag.com, an up and coming site that focuses on EVE Online, who wrote a piece that caught our eye at Massively. His article is titled "Is EVE for You?" and looks at what the attraction to the game is for him, and speculates about the wider appeal of EVE to other dedicated players. If you're an EVE fan, what is it that sets the game apart from other MMOs? And for those that don't play EVE Online, what aspects of the game keep you away?
A look at EVE Online's sweeping alliance warfare
A few weeks ago, Jim Rossignol kicked off a series of EVE Online focused articles with his look at the basics of combat in the game. But small-scale PvP doesn't suit all players in EVE. Some get hungry for more power. They join up with like-minded pilots and form corporations. Those corporations band together in alliances and wage war with one another over territories and the riches the others hold. Rossignol's "Alliance War" is a look at the large scale fleet battles characteristic of the constant struggle between 0.0 alliances, as well as the struggle itself. Rossignol states what he views as the impetus for alliance warfare and how it's evolved over the years he's played. In the beginning, holding choice regions of space was important to players because of the high-bounty NPCs and choicest ores to be mined from the asteroid belts in claimed territories. Then, conquerable stations and outposts were the goals driving alliance machinations. Now, Rossignol says, it's mostly about controlling moons and the vast streams of revenue they represent.
EVE Lead Content Creator discusses new missions
The Empyrean Age expansion has been a significant content update to EVE Online for players interested in factional warfare. Of course, many players aren't willing to enlist in a militia and be under a constant wardec by their factional enemies, and simply prefer to mission run for their agents. CCP Games announced that new content was in the works, back in June, but the latest EVE Online Newsletter has an updated announcement on this from Lead Content Creator, Scott Holden. CCP is getting closer to releasing new PvE mission content, Holden says, with Content Creation now based in Atlanta. This will be sped up by new staff on the Content Creation team in addition to the existing freelance writers already turning out EVE mission content. Holden says that new types of missions are coming to New Eden, and hints at 'epic mission arcs'.
