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Drones are delivering packages in Iceland's capital city
At last, a fully operational urban delivery drone system is here... only you probably won't get to use it. Drone logistics startup Flytrex has teamed up with Iceland's main online retailer, AHA, to launch a courier drone service in Reykjavik. Specifically, it's serving one part of Reykjavik -- robotic fliers carry food across a river in the city, cutting the delivery time from 25 minutes to 4. That doesn't sound like a whole lot, but it could make a big difference both in terms of getting your food quickly and cutting back on delivery costs.
'EVE Online' now rewards you for helping science
At last, playing a ton of EVE Online can do a lot of good in the real world. As promised, the massively multiplayer space title now includes a Project Discovery minigame that has you contributing to real science. If you offer to classify proteins in between space flights, you'll both help scientists understand the proteins' roles in the human body (especially relating to disease) and earn in-game rewards ranging from ISK currency to loyalty points. You don't have to be a paying EVE subscriber to participate, so it won't hurt to give the project a go if you're eager to advance medicine while you explore the virtual cosmos.
EVE Online's new minigame puts players to work, for science
EVE Online is probably best known as the hardcore space sim where huge quantities of real money (say, about $1,500) can be lost at the drop of a hat. It's a pretty unique accolade, but developer CCP is working on a better one -- if everything goes as planned, EVE Online will soon be known as the hardcore space sim where players devote thousands of man-hours to science by contributing to the Human Protein Atlas.
There's something very disturbing about this Apple service shop ad
I don't want to say Macland -- an Apple shop in downtown Reykjavik, Iceland -- has a poor advertising strategy, but if they're relying on ads like this to get foot traffic in the door, they might want to rethink things a little bit. Then again, I'm not Icelandic, so perhaps I just don't have a good handle on the man-physically-loves-computer angle.
EVE Fanfest 2014: EVE's plan to remove tutorials and reinvent the new player experience
When we asked you what you wanted to hear about at EVE Fanfest 2014, the biggest area of interest was EVE Online's New Player Experience. Every player who's ever signed up to EVE following news of some huge battle or event will remember the frustration of his first few days in the sandbox. A new player's first experience of EVE is wading through windows full of text in a succession of boring tutorial missions that could take you hours or days to get though, followed by being ejected into the big bad world with very little direction. If that's been your experience of EVE, you might be interested to know that something's finally being done about it. Developers revealed during Fanfest that of all those who sign up to EVE and pay for a month's subscription, 50% of them don't renew and a further 40% or more end up in solo professions like mining and mission-running, which have the highest rate of player turnover. Only between 5% and 10% of those who sign up will ever get into the kind of gameplay that attracted them to EVE in the first place. CCP's response? Completely remove the tutorial. Read on to find out why killing the tutorial could be the best thing that has ever happened to EVE's new player experience.
EVE Online's player monument is the target of vandalism, CCP responds
So how long did you expect EVE Online's big player monument to be up before people began screwing with it? As it turns out, the correct answer was "four days." A player took to Twitter announcing that he had vandalized the monument over the weekend, scratching out the name of player Xenuria. Whether or not this is a good thing depends largely on what rumors regarding Xenuria you believe. The alleged vandalism, which apparently took place during this weekend's EVE Fanfest. It certainly sets an unpleasant precedent and opens the door for further vandalism within the game's historically contentious playerbase; one can only hope that this is addressed and corrected. CCP Falcon has addressed the situation on the official forums; we've included the relevant bits below.
EVE Fanfest 2014: CCP responds to DUST 514 fans' rage over Project Legion
When this year's DUST 514 keynote presentation rolled around two days ago at EVE Fanfest 2014, fans of the PlayStation 3 shooter were understandably bewildered. Many tuned into the livestream of the talk or even attended Fanfest in person, expecting to hear an hourlong breakdown of the year's DUST 514 updates and some plans for the game's future. Viewers were instead met with a 30-minute presentation on something called Project Legion, a proposed plan to bring DUST's style of shooter gameplay to the PC in an entirely new MMO. In the absence of any information to the contrary, DUST players have understandably concluded that their game is being quietly closed down in favour of Legion. Earlier today at the CCP Presents keynote presentation, CCP took the opportunity to respond to fears and complaints that have surfaced on the DUST 514 community forum. The official word is that DUST 514 isn't being shuttered and that development will continue, but CCP admitted that it will have less development time going forward. A promise was also made that if Legion goes ahead, the names and assets of every DUST player will be copied over to the new title. That won't be much consolation for the people who bought a PS3 just to play DUST 514 or those who game only on consoles, as Legion is currently being developed only for PC. Another caveat is that Legion has not even been confirmed yet; It was presented in much the same style as EVE: Valkyrie last year, as an experiment that CCP could put significant resources into if players like it. Whether you're a die-hard fan of internet spaceships or just a gawker on the sidelines, EVE Fanfest is the EVE Online event of the year (and the key source of new EVE Valkyrie scoops!). Follow Massively's Brendan Drain as he reports back on this year's Fanfest starpower, scheming, and spoilers from exotic Reykjavik, Iceland.
EVE Fanfest 2014: EVE's Kronos expansion is an industrial revolution
The EVE Online keynote presentation finished just a few hours ago at EVE Fanfest 2014, and it looks as if there are big plans for the year ahead. This summer will bring us the Kronos expansion, which is scheduled for June 3rd and aims to revolutionise every aspect of industrial activity in EVE Online in terms of both gameplay and accessibility. The economy has become quite stagnant over the past year as players have long since worked out all the most efficient ways to manufacture and trade, so CCP has planned its very own industrial revolution with a complete overhaul of industrial gameplay. Kronos also marks another important milestone for CCP, as the company will be switching from releasing two major expansions per year to a more agile strategy of releasing 10 smaller updates each year. The Kronos release was originally planned as a full expansion before the changeover to a 10-release schedule, so it's as packed as a full expansion. In addition to a deluge of industry overhauls, we'll be getting a shiny new mining ship, major pirate faction ship revamps, an enhanced new player experience, and a cool new effect when players warp into or out of an area. Read on for a breakdown of the EVE keynote presentation and to find out why CCP is moving away from its usual two expansions per year.
EVE Fanfest 2014: Project Legion brings DUST 514 to the PC
One of the main complaints about DUST 514 since its announcement was the fact that the game was a PlayStation 3 exclusive. DUST was CCP's first attempt to break into the massive console shooter market and its first game to use the free-to-play business model, but things didn't exactly go to plan. The millions of console gamers CCP expected to flood into New Eden failed to materialise, reviews were mixed at best, and DUST quietly fell off the console radar. Players have been asking for a PC release ever since, as the game's unique connection with the EVE Online universe could potentially make it popular with existing EVE players. If you've been hoping for DUST on the PC, your prayers may have just been answered. A few hours ago at EVE Fanfest 2014, CCP demonstrated a prototype of something it calls Project Legion -- an attempt to bring DUST 514's shooter gameplay to the PC but with all-new sandbox gameplay. The project is extremely early in development, but CCP was able to put together a concept demo for Fanfest attendees showing how the game will work. Most of the demo was a slick UI and transition into a DUST planetary environment which has had its graphics significantly improved. DUST 514 is severely limited by the specs of the PS3, so Legion's being on PC means it should actually still look that good when deployed. In addition to signing up for mercenary contracts, players will be able to scan the entire EVE universe for open sandbox salvage zones where resources have been found. These planets have no pre-defined missions, victory conditions, or teams; instead, they're free-for-all PvE zones with open-world PvP, and CCP hopes that this will promote the same kind of emergent gameplay as is seen in EVE. It won't be a true sandbox until you can stab someone in the back, CCP announced to a pleased audience. Little else is known about the project, and the announcement has raised some pretty big questions. Will Legion link in with the EVE universe in any way like DUST? And what will happen to DUST 514 on PS3 if Legion takes off? Whether you're a die-hard fan of internet spaceships or just a gawker on the sidelines, EVE Fanfest is the EVE Online event of the year (and the key source of new DUST 514 and EVE Valkyrie scoops!). Follow Massively's Brendan Drain as he reports back on this year's Fanfest starpower, scheming, and spoilers from exotic Reykjavik, Iceland.
EVE Fanfest 2014: Economy talk highlights PLEX prices and reveals titan production statistics
When we asked our readers to to pick the EVE Fanfest panel they most wanted to hear about, the most popular choice by a comfortable margin was Economy: Into the Second Decade. So today I popped in to hear what CCP's Lead Economist Dr Eyjo had to say on the year's biggest economic events and plans for the future. The talk started with the usual comparison of ISK sinks vs. ISK faucets, showing the various ways that ISK enters and leaves the game. Too much entering could cause rapid inflation, while not enough could cause economic collapse. A net value of around 20-25 trillion ISK is reportedly injected into the game each month, a level that Dr Eyjo insists isn't enough to cause any inflationary problems in the economy. The big focus of this year's economics talk was the destruction of around $270,000 US worth of Titan class supercapital ships in the recent Bloodbath of B-R5RB. Also on the table for discussion was the recent rapid increase in price of the 30 Day Pilot's License Extension (PLEX), an item that can be bought on the market for ISK and exchanged for game time. This can effectively make EVE free-to-play, but prices are now at over 700 million ISK and are starting to become prohibitive for some players. Read on for a detailed breakdown of CCP's entire economics talk from Fanfest 2014, including surprising stats on how many titans are built each quarter.
EVE Fanfest 2014: EVE Valkyrie demos gameplay, features Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff
Moments ago at EVE Fanfest 2014 in Reykjavik, Iceland, developer CCP Games revealed some exciting developments for its upcoming virtual reality dogfighter EVE: Valkyrie. Among the announcements was the revelation that actress Katee Sackhoff (of Battlestar Galactica fame) will be starring as the voice of Valkyrie faction leader Ran. The Valkyrie faction is a breakaway sect of EVE Online's Guristas pirates that has become a mercenary outfit, using cloning and genetic enhancements to get an edge on the other pirate factions of New Eden. Sackhoff's character will be handing out missions to players in the final game and barking orders in your ear throughout each mission. Read on for our the highlights of the Valkyrie demo and Sackhoff's video missive to players.
EVE Evolved: What to expect from EVE Fanfest 2014
Almost 10 years ago, EVE Online developer CCP Games started a new tradition with the first ever annual EVE Fanfest. The event started out as a largely informal gathering in a tiny venue that allowed players and developers to mingle on a more personal level, but it's now grown into something massive. Over a thousand players now make the annual pilgrimage to EVE Online's birthplace in Reykjavik, Iceland, to hear what the future holds for their favourite MMO. For many, the event is also a social gathering, a chance to swap stories with other players, and a rare opportunity to meet the corpmates they fly with every day in the virtual galaxy of New Eden. The Fanfest weekend is typically a packed schedule of panels, talks, roundtable discussions with developers, and keynote speeches revealing the future of the game. While the event is understandably focused on EVE Online, it's recently expanded to cover aspects of DUST 514, the latest goings-on with World of Darkness, and even CCP's new virtual reality dogfighter EVE Valkyrie. CCP has announced that this year's event will see a monument to the EVE playerbase unveiled in Reykjavik Harbor as well as the first reveal of EVE's summer expansion, but what else can we hope to glean from this year's event at the start of May? In this edition of EVE Evolved, I delve into the EVE Fanfest announcement and speculate on what we might expect to hear from this year's event. Will this be the year that World of Darkness gets some serious news? And what's new for DUST 514?
CCP Games reveals big plans for EVE Fanfest 2014
The universe of EVE Online may be best known as a crazy virtual galaxy full of back-stabbing pirates and political betrayal, but for a few days each year it becomes something altogether more tangible. At the annual EVE Fanfest, hundreds of the game's most devoted fans make the long pilgrimage to the game's birthplace in Reykjavik, Iceland. In addition to the official talks and reveals on the game's future from developer CCP Games, Fanfest plays host to charity raffles, roundtable discussions with developers, and informal get-togethers for players to share their stories. Last year's 10th anniversary Fanfest was the biggest one yet, with information included on World of Darkness and DUST 514 and the official reveal of Oculus Rift-based dogfighter EVE Valkyrie. This year's attendees can look forward to the first ever live demo of EVE's yet-to-be-revealed summer expansion, hands-on experience with the next major evolution of DUST 514, and playtests of a brand-new build of the virtual reality dogfighter EVE Valkyrie. This year's Fanfest will also see a special monument dedicated to EVE Online players revealed to the world; The "Worlds Within a World" monument will be installed in Reykjavik Harbor and will be etched with the names of all active EVE subscribers on March 1st. It's also hoped that crowdfunded EVE Online documentary A Tale of Internet Spaceships will be premiered during the Fanfest weekend, and we'll reportedly hear the latest on CCP's new EVE comic book and live action TV series. The event takes place from May 1st to May 3rd, and I'll be attending this year's event on behalf of Massively to bring you in-depth first-hand coverage of all the big reveals. Stay tuned!
EVE Online's 8th Council of Stellar Management members announced
The results are in for EVE Online's eighth Council of Stellar Management (CSM8) as announced by Hilmar Veigar Pétursson during EVE Fanfest this weekend in Reykjavik, Iceland. Since this is the first time the Single Transferrable Vote mechanic has been used, each elected member received the necessary amount of votes (out of a total 49,702 votes) to get onto the CSM. When the council convenes for the first time, a chairman, vice-chairman, secretary, and vice-secretary will be chosen. Be sure to read the complete election results for the names of all 14 CSM8 members and more on how the votes were calculated this year.
EVE Evolved: Massively's plans for EVE Fanfest 2013
There's just over a week to go until EVE Online's massive tenth anniversary Fanfest, and you'll be pleased to hear that Massively will be there this year to cover the action! CCP is aiming to make this the biggest Fanfest yet, promising huge reveals and announcements about EVE's summer Odyssey expansion and beyond. We can also expect to hear some big news about upcoming console MMOFPS DUST 514, and fans of Vampire: The Masquerade will undoubtedly get to see some of the year's progress toward making the World of Darkness MMO a reality. Tickets to this year's Fanfest sold out in record time, so many players who really wanted to be there for EVE's tenth anniversary celebration weren't able to secure a spot. CCP is running its usual livestream of the main talks for those not in attendance, but only certain parts of the event are being streamed. Here at Massively, we plan to give you an inside look at Fanfest with ongoing news coverage from April 25th to April 27th and in-depth opinion pieces on what each announcement means for players. In this week's short and sweet EVE Evolved, I lay out Massively's plans for in-depth coverage of EVE Fanfest 2013 and ask what you'd like to see reported on.
CCP launching EVE character names and pictures into space via giant balloon
Well, it's not technically space, but it's as close as you can get without the help of some Russian rocketeers and their flying machines. As a token of gratitude, the Icelandic MMO moguls at CCP will be placing the names and pictures of every currently subscribed player character in EVE Online (as of 23:59 GMT tonight) into a capsule, which will then be sent into near-space via high-altitude balloon. High-altitude balloons cannot actually leave the Earth's atmosphere and enter legit outer-space, but they are capable of traveling hundreds of thousands of feet into the air; high enough to see the curvature of the Earth against the blackness of space. The event will take place during CCP's own Fanfest 2012 in beautiful Reykjavik, Iceland.
EVE Online Fanfest 2011: Keynote from the top of the world
It's an exciting time to be an EVE Online capsuleer, especially if you have the ability to make it to Iceland or are checking out the livestreams. For the rest of us desk-bound mortals who weren't able to hop across the pond to make it to Fanfest 2011, well... there's always next year! Even now, pilots are partying down with the CCP development team and talking all things internet spaceships while others are networking. We'd bet there's probably even a bit of setup for an in-game scam or two going on as well. We are talking about EVE Online, after all. Thankfully, we here at Massively have sent two of our own intrepid adventurers to get into the thick of the action: Shawn Schuster and Brendan Drain. These two brave souls are facing the crowds at the top of the world to catch all the myriad events this weekend and have sent us some Quafe t-shirts field reports of all the action going on at Fanfest 2011. First up, it's a tasty overview of this year's opening keynote. So grab your drink of choice and join us after the break for more!
An inside look at EVE Online's CSM: From June to December
Keith Neilson is a Massively guest-writer who's here to recount his experiences at the recent Council of Stellar Management summit in Reykjavik. He writes regularly about EVE Online and has been playing the game since early 2004. Tweet It is undeniable that EVE Online is unique among MMORPGs in many ways. One of these is its Council of Stellar Management, an elected committee of nine players who play an active role in the development of the game, bringing player concerns and proposals for the future direction of the game directly to CCP at biannual summits in Iceland. Until this year, the perception of the CSM among players was that the Council is a marketing tool that does not fulfill its stated role of representing the playerbase. But in June, all of that changed. This term of the CSM brought in some major changes to the way the Council is organised, specifically with the removal of term limits (previously delegates could only serve two terms on the CSM) and the extension of terms from six months to a year. In addition to this, the CSM has been given "stakeholder" status within CCP. This means that the Council members have an equal say in the planning of future development along with the internal teams at CCP. This has allowed the fifth CSM to have a significant influence on the future development of EVE.
EVE Online's candidates for 4th Council of Stellar Management announced
The roster of candidates for the 4th Council of Stellar Management (CSM) in EVE Online has been announced. According to CCP Games developer Pétur Jóhannes Óskarsson (aka CCP Xhagen), 60 members of the playerbase submitted applications, with 49 players accepted after CCP's screening process. (Players must hold valid passports to attend the CSM summit in Reykjavik, and those with EULA violations are ineligible to run.) From this pool of 49, there will ultimately be nine elected delegates and five alternates who can step in when needed. Although Xhagen didn't break down candidate stats by nationality, there is a substantial number of U.S. players running for the 4th CSM as in past elections. This time around there are candidates from Latvia, Serbia, and Barbados as well. The ages of candidates range from 21 to 54, and only one female candidate is in the running this term which Xhagen notes is a decrease from the previous election. (He also indicates that only 3.9% of EVE's subscribers are female.)
EVE Fanfest 2009 videos are up
We mentioned some highlights from EVE Fanfest 2009 in Reykjavik the other day and Permaband's "HTFU" video went down very well with a lot of our readers. Now CCP Games have made video of some of the Fanfest panels, presentations, or general madness available on their YouTube page as well. Of course there's the main keynote that included DUST 514 info and gameplay footage, but the CCP Panel gave players in attendance the opportunity to ask the EVE Online developers whatever they felt like. The responses from the devs explain quite a bit about the choices CCP Games has made with both EVE and DUST 514, and there are some hints of what's to come. More than anything, it's interesting to see this kind of direct interaction between the players and the people who create the game. (Obligatory disclaimer: The CCP Panel video is a bit NSFW with the language in parts, but if you're watching something like this on the job... you probably don't care.)
