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EVE Evolved: Stepping through the EVE Gate
Though EVE Online is often lauded for its rich decade-long player history full of wars and complex political dealings, the NPC storyline and New Eden's ancient backstory have always held my fascination. I started playing in early 2004 after reading dozens of fiction chronicles and mock scientific articles on the EVE website that painted the picture of a real living universe where incredible things could happen. Sure enough, my first years of play were punctuated with compelling live events and storyline arcs like the Crielere research project that led to the development of cloaking devices, the theft of a Federation Navy titan by Serpentis pirates, and the Blood Raiders taking over Delve. CCP has frequently stated that its goal with EVE is to create the ultimate sci-fi simulator, and the core of a compelling sci-fi setting is a living universe that grows and changes. The best sci-fi TV shows are those with a constant cycle of revealing compelling mysteries and then solving them and of encountering escalating challenges to be overcome. EVE has done this extremely well a few times in its life, such as with the release of wormholes or when the Sansha incursions events were kicking off, and each time the concurrent player numbers have spiked. Guild Wars 2 has shown the power of an evolving living storyline to get people into the game and keep them actively playing in the long term, something that should be the norm for MMOs and that EVE Online could take much greater advantage of. In this edition of EVE Evolved, I look at some of the big NPC mysteries revealed in EVE Online's decade-long history and ask why they were abandoned and where they could go now.
EVE Online's time dilation keeping game in sync
Leave it to one of the most popular MMO studios to figure out how to control time -- and do so successfully. Through technical wizardry, CCP did just that when it released a time dilation feature into EVE Online last month to reduce lag during massive space battles. So far, it's working great, according to CCP Veritas. In a new blog post, he shows off graphs and recounts recent events that show how "TiDi" (as he calls it) is successfully slowing down in-game time to keep player commands and on-screen action in sync. "In all cases, it has kicked in appropriately when the server node has become overloaded, keeping things running responsively and sanely," he writes. "In both huge fights [shown on the graphs], the module response time was kept under one second for the vast majority of the action, which is a tremendously large improvement over the 20, 40, 600 seconds we'd sometimes see in fights of this scale." EVE Online has also made a few quality of life improvements to EVE Gate, including a better login system, a navigation menu tied in with the rest of the site, and a way to quickly zip to dev posts on the forums.
EVE Online's new forum is back online
Back in April, EVE Online received a brand-new forum with a revamped search tool, the ability to "like" posts, and other useful features. Unfortunately, players quickly found several serious security problems in the new forum software, including the ability to inject arbitrary HTML (but not script) into any thread via a modified forum signature. It also became known that the forum was a modified version of open source software Yet Another Forum, with the authentication system tied to CCP's own login service. A cookie exploit was discovered in this login system shortly after the forums went online, allowing users to post as anyone they wanted -- even as developers. The new forum was temporarily disabled pending a security review and the old one reactivated. After a complete security revamp and a period of rigorous testing, the new forum returned to service today. This forum is tied into CCP's web platform EVE Gate, which provides quick access to your character's evemails while not in the game and has integrated social networking features. The old forum will be officially decommissioned on Friday, September 9th and left as a permanent archive. [UPDATE: We've been informed that the previous injection exploit involved only HTML and not script. The post has been modified accordingly.]
EVE Online Incarna patch 1.1 coming September 1st
It's been a couple of months since EVE Online released Incarna, and players have been itching for the next step on their galactic grand conquest tour. Happily, this Thursday will see the game move forward with Incarna's 1.1 patch, a smaller-sized update that will usher in a whole new era of EVE player socializing. With the patch comes an update to EVE Gate, with nifty features like activity notifications to keep you abreast of the news and personalized backgrounds. The forums are getting an overhaul as well and will include search options, the ability to "like" posts, utilize quick replies, and other essential tools. The soon-to-be old forums will be locked and archived for future posterity. While 1.1 players won't be able to leave their captain's quarters just yet, the screens and menus in the room are being spruced up and a few other bugs quashed. Other features included in the patch are customizable API keys, the ability for third-party applications to access contract updates, and numerous tiny (but important!) fixes to the game.
EVE Evolved: The day that EVE Online died
I think it's safe to say that this week has been an unmitigated disaster for CCP Games. Following last week's $99 license fee fiasco for third-party developers, CCP Zulu managed to claw back some player support with a segment addressing the issue during the alliance tournament. This week CCP followed up with the release of Incarna 1.0 and its long-awaited captain's quarters. Players logged in to walk around their private rooms and check out the various cosmetic items available for purchase in the new microtransaction store. It didn't take long for people to realise that something was fundamentally wrong with the prices on the Noble Exchange. At around $40 for a basic shirt, $25 for boots, and $70 or more for the fabled monocle, items in the Noble Exchange were priced higher than their-real life counterparts. As players made some noise about the ridiculous prices, an internal CCP newsletter all about the company's microtransaction plans was purportedly leaked. In it, plans to sell ships, ammo, and faction standings for cash were revealed, plans that strictly contradict previous promises on gameplay-affecting microtransactions. Shortly afterward, all hell broke loose as a private internal memo from CCP CEO Hilmar was leaked to the press. In the past few days, I've been contacted by dozens (if not hundreds) of concerned EVE players who are afraid that the game they love is coming to an end. I've even been in contact with an insider who is scared of the risks CCP is taking with the jobs of over 600 employees in four countries, scared enough to leak internal documents and emails. In this week's colossal EVE Evolved, I delve into EVE's latest controversy and shed some light on the biggest community flashpoint since the T20 developer corruption scandal.
EVE security devblog explains recent forum exploit
When EVE Online's new forum went live on Thursday, April 7th, it wasn't long before someone discovered a gruesome exploit. The cookie used by the forum wasn't encrypted, putting the user's character ID and signature in plain text. The forum software also didn't have the required validation procedures, meaning users could change the user ID in their cookies to any character's ID and they'd be able to post as that character. Moderator tools and private forums for EVE developers, volunteers and the CSM were also allegedly exposed. In a new devblog, CCP Sreegs has explained the extent to which the exploit compromised security. In addition to being able to post as any user and edit any post, users abusing the exploit were able to inject arbitrary HTML into their forum signatures. Several players have been very vocally outraged by this, as the potential for someone to insert javascript into a forum page could be extremely damaging. Sreegs assured players that javascript inserted into the signature was sanitized and would not execute. At least one player who reported the exploit was banned for subsequently abusing the exploit in an effort to force CCP to take action. In his devblog, Sreegs re-iterated the correct steps for getting in touch with CCP's security department if an exploit or security hole is discovered. Player response to the devblog has been largely positive, but questions still remain. CCP has yet to comment on why it decided to base the new forum on open source software Yet Another Forum and why it didn't inform players that it was using a pre-made package.
New EVE Online forums get off to a bumpy start
As part of EVE Online's Incursion expansion, players were due to get a new set of forums with a powerful new search feature and other handy tools. A beta version of the forum was released for testing by players at the end of February to help CCP collect feedback on its design. On Thursday, April 7th, the new forum was officially launched and the old forum was set to a read-only archive. It wasn't long, however, before problems began to crop up with the new forum. With so many people now using the new forum, it was only a matter of time before someone found a security hole in it. Players discovered a cookie-based exploit that allowed them to authenticate as any EVE player without knowing the user's password, including forum moderators and CCP developers. Although user login data wasn't revealed, players abusing the exploit were able to edit other users' posts, access moderator tools and post as developers. A similar exploit was found that allowed players to post arbitrary Javascript into their forum signatures, which could have led to serious security compromises. Web developers at CCP disabled the forum for several hours to develop and deploy a fix, but were ultimately unable to resolve the problem. For now, the new forum has been disabled and the old one has been reactivated in its stead. A devblog on the issue is due to be posted tomorrow.
New EVE forums available for testing
Last month, CCP Alice from EVE Online's web-development team revealed that the official EVE forums would be getting a complete revamp as part of the ongoing Incursion expansion. The new forums will have several advanced features, including a powerful search feature, a "Like" button next to posts, and the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed of search results. The new forums are nearing completion and, in true CCP style, developers have released them for public testing and feedback-gathering before they go live. Developers need your help to make sure the forums are everything you expect. Head over to EVE Gate and sign in to give the new forums a test. If you've noticed anything wrong with the new forum, or even if you just have a suggestion for a change you'd like to see made, leave your feedback in the New Forum Feedback Portal. The web-development team is adding highly supported ideas to a review list for further development. When the new forums come in, the old forums will remain as a locked backup in its current location on the EVE website.
Massively's EVE CSM interview: EVE Gate, microtransactions and more
Earlier this month, the official minutes of meetings between CCP Games and EVE Online's Council of Stellar Management were published to the general public. EVE's democratically elected council of volunteer players meets with CCP's developers twice per year at the company's headquarters in Iceland. At the meetings, the concerns of EVE's players and details of upcoming expansions are discussed. Response to the December summit's minutes has been largely positive so far, which is a huge turnaround from June's tirade of negativity. EVE blogs have been considering some of the problems raised in the meetings, and insider Keith Neilson delivered his assessment of how the meetings went right here on Massively. The only people we have yet to hear from are the council members themselves. To make sure the CSM has its say in the public arena, Massively interviewed council member Dierdra Vaal about the summit and asked some critical questions on CCP's plans for EVE's future. In this first of two interviews, we discussed EVE Gate, the growing botting problem, user interface upgrades, CCP's microtransaction policy, how the summit went in general, and how attitudes within CCP have changed toward the CSM. Skip past the cut to read the first of two illuminating interviews with EVE Online's CSM.
EVE Online to get shiny new forums as part of Incursion
Despite calls for some new features, the EVE Online forums haven't changed much at all since their release in 2003. A search feature was added several years ago, but it failed to produce reliable results. As usually happens when there's something missing in EVE, the community filled in the gaps with Chribba's popular EVE-Search forum archive and search tool. In a new devblog, CCP Alice has revealed that the forum will finally get a face-lift during the Incursion expansion. Players will be happy to know that a useful advanced search feature is definitely on the way, with some handy innovations like the ability to subscribe to an RSS feed of your search results. In addition to displaying the shiny new avatars we'll create with the new character generator, the new forum has a quick-reply feature, a "like" button next to every post and a share option to link the post on various social networking tools. Each thread will also post to an RSS feed, so you can subscribe to interesting threads and receive replies on any device with an RSS reader. Players will also have a favourite thread list, which could be handy for saving a list of the various guides and information posts players find themselves looking up on a regular basis. The new forum will be integrated with EVE Gate, and the old forum will be left as an archive for posterity. The exact release schedule of the new forum isn't yet decided, but as it's part of Incursion, it will have to be released before the summer.
EVE invites players back to try out Incursion
As anyone who follows EVE Online should know, Incursion, the 14th expansion to the game, will introduce new avatars. For many MMO players, the graphics-quality -- especially the quality of the player character -- is an enormous draw or repellent. CCP recognizes this, so it has offered something not many companies do. The developers would like former players to come back for five days to try out Incursion on the test server Singularity before the expansion is officially launched. Specifically, they would like you to try the character creator and the social media tools in EVE Gate. This morning many former EVE players received an email asking them to come back. If you had an active account between March 13th, 2009 and November 3rd, 2010, you may want to check the inbox attached to your EVE account, as you probably have an invite in there. Unfortunately, active and expired trial accounts don't count, but Steam is offering a the full downloadable game plus a 30-day subscription. To read more about the character creator, be sure to check out the developer blog, and while you're there, read up on EVE Gate and its mix of social media and gaming. With Incarna releasing next summer, Incursion is a the perfect opportunity to try out the precursor to walk-on stations -- today.
PAX 2010: CCP unveils EVE Online's latest expansion
Tweet var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/story/r/pax_2010_ccp_unveils_eve_online_s_latest_expansion_massively'; At PAX Prime, we caught up with CCP's lead game designer Noah Ward, who paused helpfully between the roaring crowds on all sides of the booth to fill us in on the "secret sauce" to EVE Online's continued growth and success. Ward said it was simple: CCP's steadfast commitment to the game for the long haul. The dev team strongly believes in the growth of EVE and works hard to expand it both inward and upward. Part of that growth includes continued expansions to the title, and Ward was excited to reveal the next one on deck. While it doesn't yet have a name -- at least, nothing CCP could put in print -- the team is hyped up about its latest expansion to the EVE Online franchise. Set to debut later this winter, the expansion looks to build on many of the key foundations that Tyrannis began. Hit the jump to hear about the four new features that EVE fans will find themselves crowing about by the time Santa comes a-callin'!
EVE merchandise store gets an overhaul
The EVE Online merchandise store received a facelift yesterday to bring its visual style in line with CCP's new EVE Gate social networking tool. In addition to selling EVE game time codes, the store features a huge range of extremely nerdy internet spaceships paraphernalia. If you're looking for the latest issue of E-ON magazine, a model battleship, a new EVE poster or an EVE T-shirt, the EVE store is where you'll find it. In a new devblog, CCP has gone into detail on their future plans for the store. On top of the current cosmetic and layout changes, CCP aim to produce a variety of new posters, collectibles and clothing. Unfortunately for European players, CCP has been unable to reduce the massive shipping costs on items to the EU.
CCP updates EVE Gate beta
CCP Fallout lets us know about the latest update to the EVE Gate beta client via a news post on the official EVE Online website. CCP Games has upgraded New Eden's premiere social networking tool to version 1.0.1, and it now boasts a lengthy list of bug fixes which are summarized in the patch notes. The fixes includes everything from adjustments to the skill queue display, to several refinements to the mail system, to various tweaks dealing with calendars, contacts, and saved login settings. You can get started with EVE Gate, learn more about it via the EVElopedia entry, or check out the patch notes for the latest information.
CCP launches EVE Gate
Lost in the hubbub and excitement surrounding the launch of this week's Tyrannis expansion is the debut of CCP's EVE Gate social networking platform. Luckily, CCP Zymurgist charges to the rescue with a quick news release detailing the features of the new service. "EVE Gate is a new social networking site open to the pilots in EVE Online and is now open for business. Head on over to http://www.evegate.com and get started with managing your contacts, reading your EVE mail, setting up calendar events, and talking with your corporation and contacts all without being logged into the EVE Online client," he writes. Check out the press release and the official EVE Gate website.
EVE Tyrannis site is go, flight!
Come May 18th, planets are fair game for exploitation and industrialization in EVE Online, as the much-anticipated Tyrannis expansion goes live. For those who simply cannot wait for a taste of the good life, CCP has just launched the official EVE Tyrannis website for the enjoyment and dissection of all. EVE Online is heading in new directions with Tyrannis, allowing players to finally explore planets (presumably in preparation for DUST 514) -- and not just explore them, but to build industries on them that will revolve around completely new materials. Tyrannis will also usher in EVE Gate, a social networking hub to tie EVE players together. The new website is a grab bag full of goodies, including promotional videos, overview of the new systems, and a screenshot gallery. Wanna-be colonists looking to get a head start on the inevitable competition would do well to devour every snippet of information presented here. Head over to the official Tyrannis site and let us know what you think!
EVE Evolved: A sneak peak at EVE Gate
Some time ago, CCP announced their unusual plans to develop their own EVE Online social networking website. Their plan was to tie it into the game, giving players a site they could visit to stay in touch with their EVE contacts and corporation while not logged in. It was expected to be ready by Winter 2009 but never materialised when the Dominion expansion was released. Now named EVE Gate, the website has been rescheduled for the upcoming Tyrannis expansion on May 18th. Recently, CCP released an early alpha version of the EVE Gate website and have begun the slow process of adding features and working out bugs. Some of the features are not active and the site is not yet tied into the active EVE server. Nevertheless, the current alpha build shows what we can expect from the site when it launches. In this article, I give a run-down of what features we can expect from EVE Gate at launch and what we can expect from it in future iterations.
GDC10: Torfi Frans Olafsson gives details on Tyrannis, Incarna and more
For the last few weeks, EVE Online players have been getting excited about the up-coming Tyrannis expansion with its Planetary Interaction feature. We received our first taste of what Tyrannis will hold last month when the expansion was announced and since then we've speculated on how its planetary interaction feature might work. Although CCP haven't answered our interview questions on Tyrannis yet, we caught up with EVE Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson at GDC 2010 to get the inside scoop. Torfi was keen to point out that a lot of what CCP are doing in Tyrannis is laying the foundation for future updates and expansions. He calls Tyrannis "a stepping stone toward something even bigger." In addition to providing some inside info on the upcoming Tyrannis and Incarna expansions, Torfi revealed that there are more people working on EVE today than ever before. In contrast to MMOs that cut down their development team sizes once the game is out, CCP's ranks have been increasing at a huge rate in recent years. The ever-increasing revenue generated by EVE subscribers allows them to fund a large development team dedicated to making the game better for EVE players. "We've never had as many subscribers as we have today", says Torfi, "330,000 subscribers, like actual paying subscribers, not counting trials." It's thanks to all those subscribers that CCP are beginning to realise dreams they were never able to achieve when the game was less popular. Skip past the cut to see what Torfi Frans Olafsson had to say about Tyrannis, Incarna and more.
CCP Releases February CSM Minutes
EVE Online developer Xhagen, commenting on the EVE Insider Dev Blog last night, has released the minutes for the February 18 - 20 Council of Stellar Management summit, calling it "the best summit so far." Player response to the summit was equally positive, with CSM attendee Tim "Sokratesz" commenting "I was very skeptical initially, but the trip has convinced me that CCP has an active interest in the playerbase and is willing to listen. One of the best moments for me was when Noah [CCP Hammer] grabbed a pen to take notes during a heated debate between council members.'' A lengthy summary document details the various discussions between developers and player-elected Council representatives during the three day event held late last month in Iceland. Included in the seventeen page report are discussions regarding the Alliance Tournament, EVE Gate social networking, ongoing account security and customer support issues, and proposed economic regulations. You can read the full dev blog by clicking here.
EVE Online's next expansion revealed: Explore planets in Tyrannis
It's been known since the last EVE Online Fanfest that the next expansion would be based around planetary interaction, but details on exactly what that interaction would constitute have been thin on the ground. In a bumper devblog today, EVE's Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olafsson gave a first glimpse of what we can expect this summer. Following the graphical overhaul planets received in the Dominion expansion, the next expansion is set to place them in a functional role. The expansion, aptly named "Tyrannis" after the Latin for "Tyrants," will put the fates of New Eden's populated planets in the hands of pod-pilots. Players will be able to survey planets and build planet-bound industrial infrastructures to tap into previously unobtainable resources such as minerals. Planets with harsh environments such as gas giants and plasma planets will be harder to manage infrastructure on but the rewards could be well worth the effort.
