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EVE pirate corp Hellcats running player event, Saturday Oct 24
Hellcats is well known to many EVE Online players as the game's only all-women pirate corp. They're holding an in-game event this Saturday, October 24th -- The Hellcats Pub Party -- which sounds like it'll be a good time for all. Hellcats CEO and EVE underworld celebrity Mynxee had this to say about the event: "This party is intended to express our appreciation of fans and friends plus give folks the chance to hang out, share stories, wave e-peens, and get to know each other. I promise to drink much wine and act outrageous while giving away all sorts of goodies." Those "goodies" will include pirate faction cruisers, pirate faction and officer modules, rigged ships, forum sigs and blog banner art, and InterStellar Kredit giveaways in 50 and 100 million ISK chunks. (Plus, Hellcats corpses... don't ask.) If any EVE players have donations they'd like to add to the prize drawings, you can contract them in-game to Mynxee with the description "Hellcats Pub Party Donation". She'll credit all donors for their contributions during the giveaways.
One Shots: Sounds fishy to us
While the time has come and gone for "Talk Like a Pirate Day" we figure just about any day is a good one for pirates and silly fish tales about the big ones you've caught. Today we have a piratey shot from Liam B. who sent this in after being turned into a pirate in World of Warcraft on September 19th. He writes: Hey, I captured this after finding out that you could become a pirate for the day in World of Warcraft. This is at Stormwind Harbor and the one thing that keeps on running through my head is - "Yarrgh, caught her I did. Had t' use a deckhand as bait, and she was this big!" Calling all MMO players! We need your screenshots for One Shots. If you've seen anything fun (holiday events are awesome) imposing, interesting, or silly, we want to hear from you. If you haven't, gather up your group of friends and go have some fun, then send some screens of that in. All MMOs from large-budget to tiny indie games; from East to West are welcome. Send them to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com along with your name/server/game and a quick description of what we're seeing. Reader submissions keep One Shots running, so send some in today!
Video: WODE module allows disc-free, wide-open, heavy metal Wii gaming
What you see above is not a Tibetan sky burial for a dearly departed console, nor an attempt at extremely modern art. It's a Wii that has been... augmented with a Linux-running module called the Wii Optical Disc Emulator, or WODE. It clips onto the system board where the machine's optical drive should go and allows it to read Wii and GameCube ISOs directly from USB storage devices. It sports a small LCD and four-way joystick for setting options and scrolling through your assuredly legally acquired game images, while a future iteration is said to allow for direct-to-device torrent downloads -- a feature that we won't even bother to say could be used for anything other than piracy. There's no mention of availability or price for the thing, but we're guessing it won't be showing up in retail storefronts. Oh, and while the Sisters of Mercy track accompanying the video after the break is totally awesome, it is rather unsafe for work. So, put on those headphones before clicking through.
Free Realms hosts Pirate Party and doubles the dubloons, mateys
Yarr, mateys! If ye be not knowin' what tomorrow is, then ye obviously must be a bunch o' scalawags. Fer, ye see, tomorrow is Talk Like a Pirate Day, don'chaknow? In order to celebrate th' day o' piracy properly in Free Realms, ye need to be haulin' yer keel to the Pirate Invasion Party this evenin' in the cove just south of th' Seaside warpstone. Th' pirate booty-shakin' fun will begin today (Friday, Sept. 18) at 4PM Pacific, with th' timber-shiverin' goin' on until 6pm Pacific. There be dancin', trivia, an' other merriment planned at th' party, too, for those brave souls willing to wander near Davey Jones' locker!As if that weren`t enough for ye, this weekend be also th' time when Sony Online Entertainment be offerin' double th' value fer any Station Cash cards ye redeem. So that means if ye pop by an' pick up one o' th' 1000 Station Cash cards fer $10 (which will also net ye a pretty nifty red buccanneer dog hat in th' mix) ye`ll land $20 worth o' Station Cash fer use in Free Realms, EverQuest, or EverQuest II. Pirate fun and double yer dubloons in the Station store? Now that's enough to make any freebootin' privateer dance a jig - without a noose 'round their necks, even.
Breakfast Topic: Would you play a neutral character?
The Spawn and I had The Spousal Unit run Itchee the Gnome Warlock through Deadmines and now Itchee looks like a pirate. Yar! Though we are still doing the same warlocky things, The Spawn is now claiming that her character actually is a pirate -- which, as a pirate family, we encourage. But this reminded me of a conversation I had with TSU a while back. What if WoW had a playable neutral faction?One of the great things about Star Wars Galaxies, when it was actually fun to play, was that you didn't have to fight much if you didn't want to. There were master artisans and merchant malls that were available for getting the best armor or outfitting your home or whatever. I would love to see WoW incorporate some of these aspects as well as some from other MMOs to make a more persistent world. And I think they could do this by introducing a neutral faction.
EVE Evolved: Wormhole piracy 101
If it seems like I've gone wormhole crazy lately, that's because I have. The wormholes that arrived with the Apocrypha expansion have infiltrated and enriched many different aspects of EVE Online, from exploration and corporate goals to small gang PvP and piracy. In previous articles, I looked at preparing for an expedition, untangled the mystery of the Sleepers and told the story of a tense week for Total Comfort alliance in the Sleeper's den. After a week spent hunting wormhole-dwellers for fun and profit, this week's EVE Evolved is dedicated to the fine art of being an interstellar cut-throat as I delve into the world of wormhole piracy.Wormhole piracy is one of the few professions where small gang warfare is most prevalent. While many pirates have already begun including wormhole systems in their roaming gangs, our corporation (and I'm sure others) have come across a much more effective method. By setting up your own pirate staging base inside a wormhole system, your corp can use its regular outgoing wormholes to wreak havoc in systems all across EVE. Using this method, it's possible to spring attacks on people without anyone even seeing you coming. Whether you're planning surprise attacks on 0.0 systems or hunting in the 2500 new unknown sleeper systems, wouldn't you like to run your own pirate way-station?Read on for an informative guide on using wormholes to wreak havoc around EVE and make a profit in the process.
EVE Evolved: Finding the perfect corporation in five easy steps
It's said that sandbox MMO EVE Online doesn't really begin to shine until you join a good player-run corporation. There's only so much a lone pilot can accomplish and a lot of the game's most rewarding experiences are based around groups and collaboration. Wormhole expeditions, PvP, territorial wars, politics and much of EVE's other emergent gameplay routes rely heavily on forming groups and friendships in-game. In fact, I think you'd be hard pressed to find an MMO which doesn't have its game experience improved by group activities and forming friendships. But just as choosing the right corporation for your play style can make the game a lot better, choosing the wrong one or not joining one at all can ruin a new player's experience of the game. Over the past few weeks, I've had several emails from readers looking for advice on how to find a good corporation. In this article aimed at new and prospective EVE players, I introduce a simple five-step approach for finding that perfect corporation who can turn playing EVE from a potentially boring experience into a very rewarding one. (UPDATE: I had accidentally disabled comments, comments are now enabled on page 2)
GWC podcast interviews EVE Online's first lady of piracy and Clear Skies film maker
We just came across a great podcast the other day that's focused on all things sci-fi: Galactic Watercooler. Although it's not a gaming podcast, their latest episode (#176) is all about EVE Online. The GWC hosts are apparently really into playing EVE and they talk about the game's setting of New Eden in the context of David Weber's Honorverse series of military sci-fi novels, drawing parallels between the two in terms of strategy and technology. They also discuss the things they've seen and done in their time in the game, from their first steps into (and fleeing from) PvP to a run-in with a virtual prostitute. (You're free to do many things in EVE's sandbox... but that is probably not one of them.) The hosts are given a hand in relating what they've gotten from the game experience in EVE Online by two notable players. Ian Chisholm, the creator of the award-winning Clear Skies machinima and its excellent follow-up, explains how he tells his own stories in the game visually. He also discusses what drives him to invest so much of his time and effort into the projects, and the technical challenges in making Clear Skies a reality. A fantastic interview.
Sims 3 pirated 180,000 times in four days
We certainly hope Electronic Arts built up some tough skin during the whole Spore piracy pandemic, as it looks like they'll be facing similar buccaneering with their upcoming plumbob-equipped title, Sims 3. According to media measurement group BigChampagne, the game was illegally download over 180,000 times between May 18 (the day the game hit the Torrentscape) and May 21.Holly Rockwood, an awesomely named EA PR rep, responded to the downloads by explaining, "the pirated version is a buggy, pre-final build of the game," and that, "it's not the full game. Half the world -- an entire city -- is missing from the pirated copy." Based on the image seen above (sent in by an anonymous pirate), we don't think Rockwood is bluffing. For a more full-bodied Sims 3 experience, you'll have to wait for it to hit store shelves June 2.
Survey: 93 percent of Dutch youngsters download illegally
Hey, Netherlandian young adults! Stop all the downloadin'! If a recent survey of 3,500 folks between the ages of 12 - 24 (issued by Dutch television program EénVandaag) is accurate, 93 percent of Dutch adolescents "download music, movies or games from the Internet," while only five percent use honest, paid services such as iTunes and Steam. The remaining two percent responded with a perplexed "vwat ees an eentarnet?"An interesting caveat: Downloading copyrighted media isn't actually illegal in the Netherlands -- but uploading copyrighted works is. Bizarrely enough, the Dutch pirates' preferred form of file sharing is BitTorrent, with 45 percent using sites such as The Pirate Bay to yoink their movies, music and games. However, BitTorrenting, which causes users to download and upload simultaneously, is illegal under the Netherlands' copyright regulations. Fascinating, right? Right?[Via MaxConsole]
EVE lore blends sci-fi with horror in Blood Raiders pirate faction Chronicle
The sci-fi game EVE Online is well known for being a title where player-driven activities like corporate espionage, piracy, and sweeping galactic warfare are daily occurrences. The game has a rich backstory behind it though; EVE's setting of New Eden continually gains more depth and new dimensions through bi-weekly Chronicles written by EVE developer CCP Abraxas. Since EVE's players are ship-bound in actual gameplay (until Walking in Stations is released), the game's lore adds something that a number of pilots have gotten into, with player corporations and alliances siding with a given faction discussed in the backstory. A fair amount of the Chronicles focus on New Eden's four (playable) races and regimes -- and the Empyrean Age expansion brought factional warfare into the game -- but there are also a few notable criminal organizations presented in EVE's lore. Perhaps the most disturbing among them is The Blood Raider Covenant, a pirate NPC faction in the game that many EVE players know as their enemy through mission running, exploration content, or simply 'ratting' in asteroid belts. EVElopedia describes them as "a particularly gruesome sect of the generally reviled Sani Sabik cult. While all modern Sani Sabik rituals use blood in some manner or another, the Covenant places particular value on the blood of cloned humans, and is utterly ruthless in obtaining it, regularly boarding other spacecraft and abducting all aboard. From their base in Delve they launch lightning raiding parties and surprisingly well coordinated incursions deep into Empire space in pursuit of their goals." Their place in the game's lore provides fertile ground for mixing horror with sci-fi. Some EVE players have even established corporations and alliances aligned with the Blood Raider Covenant and the latest addition to EVE's lore focuses on this bloodthirsty faction.
Runes of Magic new dungeon is a Treasure Trove of pirate fun
Since the official launch of Runes of Magic in March, the team at Frogster Interactve and Runewaker Entertainment have been incredibly busy developing more and more tasty content for players to enjoy - for free! With more than 1,600 quests in the world so far and counting, Runes of Magic is proving to be a really solid, feature-rich free-to-play title. Now we've received word that the RoM team is at it again, this time including more piratey content based on the recently introduced Black Sail Pirates. This new dungeon for players to explore is called the Secret of the Treasure Trove, and it will offer lots of swashbucklin' adventure for those scurvy dogs brave enough to step foot in there. This new area, a cave located off the new area Ravenfell, will be home to a bevy of new monsters - from undead pirates and skeletal warriors, to weird mutated part-squid monsters. Players will also have the chance to test their skills against a variety of named mobs from a giant octopus named 'Will's Curse' to the missing pirate leader, 'Snow Blake', and her fearsome phantasmagorical crew. So if ye be lookin' for a Treasure Trove of adventure, this sounds like it may just be your Runes of Magic ticket, mateys. %Gallery-24476%
Latest EVE Online Chronicle a moral tale of sabotage and retribution
EVE Online differs from other massively multiplayer online games out there in that it's as much a setting as it is a game; its galactic setting of New Eden isn't divided across shards. This helps the game's lore creators conjure up a sense that the stories of New Eden echo throughout and define a single expansive galaxy, at least for those who choose to get into the game's backstory.EVE's lore has been building up for years as short Chronicles and even in novel form, creating a substantial yet growing body of work that fleshes out the gritty setting. We don't cover all of the Chronicle releases at Massively but we do tend to highlight those that have a direct bearing on the game's lore, rather than those that add flavor. Still, now and again a story comes along that really stands out. That was the case with this week's Chronicle titled "All These Lives are Fit to Ruin" by CCP Abraxas, the description of which was one simple word: "Sabotage". This caught our interest and, in this writer's opinion after having read the Chronicle twice, "All These Lives are Fit to Ruin" may be one of the best stories Abraxas has written thus far.
DoubleTwist nets $5 million in funding, debuts Windows version
Don't let anyone tell you otherwise -- money's out there if your idea is good enough. Hot on the heels of Fusion-io's grabbing of Series B funding comes this: news that doubleTwist has just acquired a solid $5 million to push forward on its all encompassing media venture. If you'll recall, the project is being headed up by the notorious DVD Jon and DRM expert Monique Farantzos. In essence, the idea is to create a multi-platform media browser that can take media from just about anywhere and place it just about anywhere else, all without forcing you to figure out messy calculations like encoding and native resolutions. In related news, doubleTwist now shows screenshots and a video (after the break) of a Windows version, which is available today for download.Read - DoubleTwist websiteRead - Funding
LEGO Universe character creation a soulful experience
If there's one thing that LEGO Universe has going for it over any other MMO on the market or coming anytime soon, it's creativity. When your game is based on a franchise that's seen countless boys, girls and men and women alike sitting on the floor snapping together little plastic bricks to make well, anything, you've got a powerful place to design a game on.And as you would expect, Wired's latest preview of the game shows of plenty of soul and creativity. Our favorite quote from the whole preview is easily this, "Mini-figs are endowed with a creative spark, a "soul" that will never die. They're also fairly exuberant: They'll start mashing the 'randomize' button on their own if you take too long to begin the customization process." We certainly hope that feature stays with the game until release, and that many more like it are scattered throughout the game.All that being said, LEGO Universe is still going to have all the MMO trappings such as story, conflict and combat. And that's just fine with us considering it'll let millions of people across the globe live our their LEGO ninjas versus pirates versus robots fantasies.%Gallery-49493%
EVE Evolved: Have wormholes revitalised EVE?
It's been just over a week since the Apocrypha expansion went live and EVE Online is already starting to see the impact of the new content on gameplay. Wormholes in particular have revitalised gameplay for so many individuals that Apocrypha may just be the best EVE expansion to date. Everything from piracy to low security space, system ownership and exploration have been affected by the advent of unstable wormholes. But how could something as simple as unstable wormholes revitalise other areas of gameplay?In this article, I examine the far-reaching effects of EVE's newest gameplay addition – wormholes.
EVE Evolved: The top ten EVE videos of all time
Whether you like EVE Online or hate it, I think everyone can agree that it's a visually stunning game. Combined with the enthralling PvP experiences to be had in the game, it's not surprising that the game lends itself well to making some excellent videos. Films of EVE gameplay have been around since EVE began and large fleets now routinely bring a camera specialist pilot in a cloaked covert ops frigate to film their action. With the release of the premium client and the proliferation of good video editing software, the quality of EVE videos has improved significantly over the past few years.In this article, I run down my list of the top ten EVE videos of all time.
Pirate underdogs victorious in first round of EVE Alliance PvP Tournament
You killed KIA. You bastards! The EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament returned this past weekend, guns blazing. The first qualifying round is now finished, huge bets in ISK were won and lost, and the competitors are preparing themselves for next weekend's face-offs. There were some good fights, and some surprises as well. When the relatively new pirate alliance "The Bastards" went toe to toe against KIA Alliance -- a formidable mercenary alliance in EVE Online comprised of seasoned combat pilots, many players assumed KIA would win. Those assumptions were wrong -- The Bastards scored a decisive victory against their opponents, no doubt to the chagrin of many players who bet against the pirates. One combatant from The Bastards, a career pirate (in EVE) named "Flashfresh", wrote about the experience of preparing to face some heavy competition from KIA Alliance and how their time spent in training paid off. Flashfresh wrote: "This afternoon, the team was announced, moved to a staging area and the Ventrilo server became a cacophony of mad noise. The rest (including me) cheered ourselves hoarse. There was no worry or fear amongst the Bastards team; no talk about the opposition only on how we were going to do. The entire corp had volunteered time and resources to train and train and train. We were ready."
No more serial numbers in iWork retail boxes
Customers who buy iWork '09 retail boxes may be surprised by what they don't find inside. Namely, a registration code. Apple has stopped shipping iWork with a registration code starting with version '09. "Install iWork '09 from the enclosed disc and you're ready to go," says Apple.Of course, those using the downloaded trial version will have to enter a serial number if they want to activate their trial version. While iWork has traditionally required users to enter a registration code, iLife has not. Some have implied that this is a tacit invitation to piracy -- install our software on random machines, get hooked then pay for an upgrade, but we're unconvinced. Also, we have no indication (as of this writing, at least) that the iWork apps don't phone home to verify that they're validly installed.[Via Ars]
Bizarre survey finds digital copy preferable to downloading
Maybe we're just off our rocker, but we can't figure out what NPD Group hoped to actually discover from this here survey to save our lives. Apparently these folks asked around 1,500 movie buyers (read: clearly not movie thieves) if they preferred purchasing a video that included digital copy or simply downloading it from the internet. Shocker: 79% said they favored the digital copy, while only 21% confessed that they'd rather get a low quality rip from a shady website that could potentially infect their computer with some rare strain of virus. Seriously, what's the point? If you're buying a film in the first place, why wouldn't you want the studio to do the hard work for you and include a portable copy? At any rate, this groundbreaking poll also revealed that 38% of those interested in digital copy "appreciated having a physical disc as a backup," while 27% admitted that they would be "more inclined to buy a portable device in order to take advantage of the digital copy feature." Moral of the story? Let us know, will you?
