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CCP lays off 49 at Reykjavik office [Updated]
According to Polygon, CCP is currently undergoing a "gigantic cut" in its Reykjavik offices. The EVE Online developer confirmed that 49 people are being let go. "As part of our strategy to focus on the EVE Universe, today CCP conducted a restructuring that resulted in the layoff of 49 people in our publishing organization," the firm said. "Though it is hard to say goodbye to our friends and family, this action concludes the process we started several months ago. CCP has provided severance packages and job placement assistance for those affected. Development teams and plans for EVE Online, EVE: Valkyrie, DUST 514, and Project Legion are not impacted by the restructuring." [Update]: CCP has told Massively that the 49 layoffs were from multiple offices and not just Reykjavik.
EVE Online: Kronos goes live
EVE Online deployed the Kronos content update-slash-expansion today, and CCP is calling on all pilots to get out there and kick some major pirate booty. Er, butts. Heinies. Kronos includes new pirate ships, a mess of ship rebalancing, more exploration sites, and plenty of improved visuals. The hefty 1.2 GB patch comes with equally impressive notes to peruse while you update the game. Kronos represents the first update on CCP's accelerated six-week cycle.
EVE Online: Kronos brings the fight to uppity pirates
EVE Online: Kronos is on deck for next Tuesday's release, which means that CCP Games is going into overdrive to inform the community as to what to expect with the newest expansion. As such, today we have a pair of lengthy posts talking about new exploration sites and ship/module balancing. In the expansion, players will be tasked with hunting down a particular sect of pirates, the Guristas, by hunting through a null-sec system for the prized data. CCP will be dangling eight new ship skins as potential rewards for a successful search. Kronos will also include a rebalance of 38 ships, a "heap" of modules, and a total overhaul of the drone weapon system. CCP stated that the two themes of the expansion's balancing are the ascendancy of pirates and mercenaries and advancements in industrial technology. CCP also just posted the patch notes from Kronos, so give them a look!
Here's what else is coming in EVE's Kronos
Last week CCP shared what EVE Online players can expect with June 3rd's Kronos release. Today, the firm has published another lengthy dev blog with even more internet spaceship goodness. There's an improved Typhoon model, new low-sec contraband sites, low slots on freighters and jump freighters, and improved visuals on EVE's Mac client (as well as improved Mac-specific customer service).
EVE Online warns supercarrier pilots of impending changes
On June 3rd, EVE Online is rolling out its latest expansion, and that means changes are coming for everyone. This includes some pretty substantial changes to supercarriers, such as the doubling of all Fighter Bomber drones. Depending on how full your drone bays might be, that could mean you suddenly have more units in your drone bays than you have actual space to fit them. A quick post on the official site notifies players that in the event their drone bays become overfilled, all of their drones will be moved to the cargo bay, where they could leave a ship overloaded and unable to jump until cargo is jettisoned or destroyed. Players are advised to take care of the space in their supercarriers now, before the expansion launches, rather than scrambling to find places to put all of the drones once the update actually happens. You can also check out the original blog outlining the overall supercarrier changes if you missed it the first time around.
EVE Online posts training session schedule
Are you a terrible EVE Online player? Shh, it's all right, there's no shaming here. Everyone starts somewhere. That's why the development team is hosting a series of new player training sessions, designed to help novices or clueless veterans figure out how to play in the sprawling spaceship spreadsheet sandbox. The newest schedule has just been posted for several exploration-themed training sessions in anticipation of the game's next expansion, starting with "How to Scan" on May 28th. Data, Relic, and Ghost Sites are covered on May 31st, Ore, Gas, and Ice get the spotlight on June 4th, and Combat Sites and Escalation are getting covered on June 7th. From there it's a tour through wormholes on June 11th and a conclusion with the developer-led exploration fleet on June 14th. For more details on how to join in on training sessions, there's a handy guide available; if you want the exact times for these sessions to check your own schedule, check out the full posting.
The Daily Grind: Which MMO histories are worth preserving in book form?
One of the things that sets EVE Online apart from most other MMOs is its sense of time and place. New Eden is in fact a virtual world with its own constantly changing history. This makes for a potential experience that is totally unlike the disposable, repeatable experiences to be had in MMO themeparks. EVE's not completely alone in that regard, though. And after reading yesterday's news about the forthcoming EVE-based history book, I started thinking about other sandbox games that would make for an entertaining read. What do you think, morning crew? Are there other MMO sandbox communities worth preserving in book form? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
People paid over $95k to crowdfund an EVE history book
Game journo Andrew Groen has managed to secure more than $95,000 in crowdfunding support for his EVE Online history book. Prior to the funding drive, he estimated that $12,500 was needed to print a thousand copies using a "decent price-per-book" printer.
EVE Evolved: Expansion names are important!
Since its launch in 2003, EVE Online has adhered to a rough schedule of releasing two free expansions per year, one at the game's peak play time in the summer and one to tide players over during the long winter lull in activity. Each expansion has had a particular theme and a descriptive name, launching with several major features and then being followed up with a series of smaller sub-releases. At EVE Fanfest 2014 we discovered that CCP plans to change that strategy and instead produce around ten smaller releases each year, aiming to release one every six weeks. Putting aside the mathematical impossibility of meeting that target with only 52 weeks in the year, the plan for smaller but more regular releases has been generally well-received. Players were very happy to hear that unfinished features will no longer be pushed out the door before they're ready just to meet an arbitrary expansion deadline, and it's great news that completed features and fixes will now wait a maximum of six weeks before deployment. There's no doubt that it's a great development strategy, but the more I think about it, the less sense it makes as a media strategy. In this EVE Evolved opinion piece, I look at why expansion names are important, the problems with CCP's new development schedule, and what can be done to fix them.
EVE Online history book crowdfunds over $95,000
Last month we mentioned a crowdfunding effort from games journalist Andrew Groen which sought to raise money for an extensive history book on EVE Online. That fundraiser has now drawn to a close, having drawn nearly eight times more money than Groen had originally hoped. Groen's fundraiser was a massive success almost from the start. Donations surpassed his $12,500 goal within the first 24 hours, and the final tally stands at $95,729. As a result, Groen has been able to expand his plans for the book. A specially designed hardcover version was introduced when the fundraiser passed the $50,000 mark, and Groen has hired artist Daniel Warren Johnson to provide illustrations. That name may be familiar to EVE Online fans, as Johnson previously illustrated the EVE: True Stories line of graphic novels for Dark Horse Comics. Now that the fundraising dust has settled, Groen must sit down and actually put the book together. While there is currently no solid release date for the tome, those interested in owning a copy can visit EVEHistory to pre-order the book in either soft or hardcover formats. [Image: CCP Games]
EVE Online phases out time codes, releases Bloodbath of B-R5RB video
If you want to subscribe to EVE Online, you aren't lacking for options. You can sign up for a monthly subscription, of course, but you can also purchase EVE time codes and PLEX. PLEX have the advantage of being tradeable within the in-game market, and you can use them to upgrade from a trial account to a full account. Or you can carry them around in a ship so that when it gets blown up, people can attach a real currency number to how much you lost. Clearly, PLEX have more to offer, which is why EVE Online is phasing out EVE time codes in favor of PLEX activation codes. The net prices are identical, but the effect is that subscription time will be awarded as PLEX, which you can use in all of the many ways you already use PLEX. For more details and a quick rundown of how PLEX work, check out the official blog entry. In other EVE news, CCP has released to its YouTube channel a Recording History video chronicling the events that triggered the Bloodbath of B-R5RB. We've included it below. [With thanks to tipster J!]
EVE Online infographic details what makes the game unique
A new infographic created by A Winning Personality blogger Merike Taal showcases EVE Online with a huge focus on what sets it apart from all other MMOs. "If you've never heard of EVE Online," the infographic states, "here's why you should start paying attention." With details on everything from the trifecta of alliance power to stats on the space MMO's largest battles, this infographic seems mostly to target those who are either unaware of or unconvinced of EVE's allure. You can check out the complete graphic after the cut.
EVE Fanfest 2015 dated, tix discounted for limited time
EVE Fanfest 2014 is still a recent and warm (if scandal-ridden) memory, but CCP is already looking ahead to next year. The studio opened the doors today for fans to pick up tickets to next year's convention. EVE Fanfest 2015 is scheduled for March 19th through the 21st, 2015, at the same place it's been in Reykjavik, Iceland. The studio says that in keeping with the space-themed MMO, there will be an observable solar eclipse during the event. CCP is offering several tiers of early discounts, starting with the current early bird limited special offer. While the regular price for the tickets will be $200, players can pick theirs up right now for $125 or 13 PLEX apiece.
EVE Online explains its new expansion model, opens store testing
If you followed EVE Fanfest 2014 closely, you already know that CCP is planning on reworking EVE Online's twice-yearly-expansion schedule, but today's dev blog aims to flesh out that plan. Writes CCP Seagull, Instead of doing two big expansions per year, we are moving to a model where we do about 10 releases per year, or one release every 6 weeks. In general each of those releases will be smaller than what you have seen with our expansions, but overall we will get you more per year and an overall better EVE Online because of the two big benefits this new model brings: Smaller and medium size features get to you faster, and we can make bigger features and changes to EVE Online because these can take the time they need to mature before going out, without needing to time a rare expansion. Seagull further explains that the new expansion cycle will help the team deliver speedier content for a wider variety of playstyles. In other EVE news, CCP has announced that EVE's store is open for testing on the Singularity server. "The new store will be instrumental in the future for offering ship skins, and other character and account related services," says CCP Falcon.
EVE Evolved: Eleven years of EVE Online
It seems that every year another few MMOs have closed their doors or convert to free-to-play business models to stay afloat. EVE Online has always enjoyed a level of insulation from these market trends elsewhere in the genre, and just last week on May 6th it celebrated its 11th year of year-on-year subscription growth. Following on from my previous column celebrating the EVE Evolved column's sixth year of operation, this week I'll be summarising all the major EVE news stories throughout the year. It's been a big year for EVE fans, one that many of us can be proud to have been a part of. The EVE community turned its financial wizardry toward the real world and raised over $190,000 US in relief aid following a typhoon hitting the Philippines, and CCP even built a monument dedicated to the community. Several massive player battles once again put EVE on the global media's radars, and the Odyssey and Rubicon expansions revitalised the game for explorers and PvPers alike. But not everyone can hold his heads up high this year, with details of more cyberbullying within EVE coming to light and several players being banned for defacing the EVE monument in Reykjavik. In this anniversary retrospective, I summarise all the major EVE news from the year in one place and take a look at what the future may hold for the EVE universe.
EVE monument vandals catch the wrath of CCP's banhammer
Mere days after CCP Games unveiled an imposing stone monument to the legions of players who've navigated virtual deep space in EVE Online, the structure was defaced. Now, CCP claims to have found the perpetrators. Though those responsible remain anonymous, CCP community manager "Falcon" has revealed that three people have been permanently banned from EVE Online. A fourth person also reportedly involved in the vandalism received a six-month ban. All of these people are now blacklisted from future EVE events, most notably CCP's annual EVE Fanfest. Falcon also notes that many in the EVE Online community have called for far harsher treatment for the alleged vandals, but refuses to outline any punitive steps CCP might be taking outside of its cult-favorite space simulation. "[W]e now consider this issue resolved within the EVE Universe, and any further action taken outside the virtual world relating to criminal damage or recovery of costs for repairs to the EVE Universe Monument will remain confidential between CCP Games, the authorities, and those involved," he wrote. [Image: CCP Games]
CCP looking for EVE Alliance Tourney XII commentators
Are you a knowledgeable, personable EVE Online PvPer with some free time in August and September? If so, CCP wants to fly you to Iceland and set you up as a commentator for EVE Alliance Tournament XII. The company is covering airfare and hotel, so all you'll need is a little spending money. Well, OK, you'll also need a passport, a sense of humor, and the gift of gab. Details and the full list of requirements are available at the EVE website. Don't delay, as you'll need to contact CCP before May 19th!
Massively's hands-on with EVE Valkyrie on the Oculus Rift DK2
At last year's EVE Fanfest, the press and attendees got a rare glimpse into something other than CCP's major IPs -- a virtual reality tech demo produced by a handful of developers during their down time. Originally codenamed EVR, this VR dogfighter on the original Oculus Rift development kit drew a surprising amount of attention and went on to win several awards at E3. It's now been a year since that project first sprouted legs, and last week at EVE Fanfest 2014 it sprouted wings as well. Now named EVE Valkyrie, what started as a side-project has become one of CCP's key intellectual properties and the poster-child for virtual reality gaming. The game's success now ultimately relies on the adoption of VR tech and the appeal of its gameplay, both of which are still open questions at this point. I got some hands-on time with the latest build of Valkyrie during Fanfest to see how the game and the technology that powers it have come along in the past year, and I was pleasantly surprised. Read on to find out how Valkyrie has changed in the past year and for a first look at the new Oculus Rift Development Kit 2.
CCP permabans EVE monument vandals
Citing a "zero tolerance approach to dealing with harassment and victimization in the EVE Universe," CCP announced today that it has permanently banned the three vandals who defaced the new EVE monument in Reykjavik, Iceland. A fourth individual received a six-month ban. "The fact that the monument was vandalized is an insult to the entire community, not just to the individual who's name was directly targeted by the vandalism," the studio posted. The ban includes not only CCP's games but attendance at Fanfest as well. CCP declined to release the in-game names of the individuals and said that any future development related to the incident will be kept confidential.
EVE Online is 11 years old today
EVE Online is 11 years old today, and CCP is gifting players three Gecko superheavy drones as a result. Said Geckos sport "more damage, more durability, and more striking power than any drone ever released before," according to the company's news blurb. EVE players can unlock eight more of them by completing a collective community challenge, CCP explains, though it says the details will be released "over the course of the next week."
