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MMO Mechanics: Encouraging the daily grind
I've written before about how developers use clever mechanics to lower the barrier to entry in order to encourage more people to play MMOs, but how do they keep players interested after they have rolled a new character? More often than not, MMOs greatly benefit from hanging onto players for as long as possible, so encouraging regular play is a massive priority for development teams. As a genre that thrives on creating a connected and dynamic community, MMOs are strengthened by keeping up the number of players that log in daily. This also encourages longevity since players make meaningful connections with the people they are linked to through daily play. Utilising daily quests, creating an ongoing need for crafted equipment, and necessitating the farming of materials for the good of the collective are all very accessible ways to encourage players to log into their favourite MMO world on a regular basis. As useful as developers may find them, though, the appeal of repeatable daily content is hotly debated by MMO players. For some, low-octane daily content is a brilliant way to unwind that doesn't require a regimented schedule to complete, but many others find the repetition inherent in some daily content tiresome and uninspired. In this week's MMO Mechanics, I'm going to look at the various applications of daily content in today's MMOs while weighing up the pros and cons of several of these techniques.
EVE Evolved: Everything we know about Rubicon
Back in April, EVE Online Senior Producer Andie Nordgren delivered an incredible long-term vision for the game's future that included deep space colonisation, player-built stargates, and players controlling practically everything that's currently run by NPC empires. This vision sets the tone and direction for development over the next ten expansions, each of which will introduce a small component of the overall goal. In a live interview session earlier this week, CCP revealed the first steps it will take toward space colonisation in its upcoming winter expansion. Named Rubicon, the expansion will be in players' hands on November 19th and promises to give individuals and small groups unprecedented control over the sandbox. It will let players fight over planetary customs offices in high security space, significantly buff the ability of small ships to participate in hit-and-run style warfare, and even introduce a new set of personal deployable structures that can be hidden anywhere in space. All this comes alongside two new Sisters of EVE ships, twitch livestream integration, and significant balance changes to Marauders, Interceptors, Interdictors, and Electronic Attack Frigates. In this week's EVE Evolved, I run down all of the new features and changes announced so far for EVE Online's Rubicon expansion.
Mists of Pandaria Beta: Level 90 flying and where to get it
Level 90 has been unlocked on the Mists of Pandaria beta servers, which means that beta testers can now reap the rewards of being max level -- specifically, flying! Flying is a trained ability obtained in the Vale of Eternal Blossoms, one of the last zones you'll visit on your leveling journey. The Vale of Eternal Blossoms houses two large shrines, mini-cities of sorts. There's one for Alliance and one for Horde. Each city flanks the impressively gorgeous Mogu'shan Palace and includes a host of vendors, stable masters, and trainers of every variety. This is where you'll want to head when you're ready to take to Pandaria's skies. Horde players are taking up residence in the Shrine of Two Moons, while Alliance players are just across the valley in the Shrine of Seven Stars. Each shrine houses a Skydancer who will teach level 90 players the art of flying in Pandaria for 2,500 gold. Considering that flying in early The Burning Crusade set you back a whopping 5,000 gold, this is pretty cheap in comparison. Remember, though, as with all beta content, the price is not set in stone until Mists of Pandaria is released. Having spent most of five levels happily exploring Pandaria, I can't wait to finally see it from the skies. It's open warfare between Alliance and Horde in Mists of Pandaria, World of Warcraft's next expansion. Jump into five new levels with new talents and class mechanics, try the new monk class, and create a pandaren character to ally with either Horde or Alliance. Look for expansion basics in our Mists FAQ, or dig into our spring press event coverage for more details!
EVE Evolved: Learning to let go
Bombarded by the epic stories emerging from EVE Online's colossal social sandbox, thousands of MMO addicts per month give in to temptation and pick up a free trial. Most drop the trial for one reason or another, but those who continue on to a full game subscription often fall into a common trap. Some enjoy the concept of the game enough to subscribe for a month, and a portion of those get invested enough in skill plans and the mission grind to stick about for two or three months. It's rare for a new or trial player to actually get into PvP or start creating the same epic sandbox stories that drew them to the game in the first place, but this is exactly what they should be doing right from day one. New players often spend their entire trial or first month of gameplay attempting to grapple with the enormity of EVE, absorbing as much information as they can in order to make informed decisions for themselves. It's easy to fall into the trap of thinking months of training skills and learning the basics of the game through reading or PvE will be required before you can PvP competitively or begin crafting your own epic story. I firmly believe that the real learning curve of EVE is in learning to let go of these ideas and to accept the loss of ships or items as part of the game. I believe new players need to discard their pre-conceived notions of death penalty, what skill points represent, and the idea of preparing for endgame. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at how EVE is actually very forgiving for new players getting into PvP immediately, I challenge the learning curve myth, and I encourage new pilots to drop themselves into EVE at the deep end.
Massively looks at Capsuleer 2.0, an iPhone app for EVE Online part 2
I was dreading having to manually enter that long API string linked to my EVE account, but Capsuleer's system made it quite easy. Can you tell me about the Import Control System?Roc: The Import Control System was Sam's brainchild. Nobody wants to manually enter that string, myself included, but I also don't like applications "scraping" my game login data from the EVE Online website. The entire point of an API is to be able to access it without using your game login credentials. Since the iPhone doesn't do copy/paste (prior to OS 3.0), Sam came up with this method for effortlessly and securely importing your data to your device.Sam: As Roc said, the API is all about security. CCP introduced it so that 3rd party applications didn't need your username and password anymore. It's a secure and simple way to provide access to a limited subset of data without exposing the credentials needed to log into your account. My initial prototype had you typing in the big long API key, and man I don't think I got it right more than twice in a row. I knew that we needed a better alternative. That's when I came up with the Import Control System. We have been foiled a bit by a few email clients that don't like the evechar:// url syntax that we use (they try to validate it and can't because they don't recognize the prefix), but with 2.0 we have an alternative http:// based url that can be used as well, so that should hopefully clear up the issues that people ran into.
New EVE Online characters will initially train skills twice as fast in Apocrypha
Massively recently mentioned a few of the changes coming to EVE Online through the New Player Experience, part of the Apocrypha expansion which rolls out next month. Of particular interest, or concern, to some EVE players is CCP's decision to reduce a starting character's skillpoints to 50k from the current 800k many existing characters began with. CCP Games apparently hopes to clarify this decision, and thus stave off any torches and pitchforks, with today's dev blog. EVE developer CCP Flatboy writes,"In Apocrypha, new characters train at double speed until they reach 1.6 Million SkillPoints. That is all."The reason that new characters will get this boosted skill training rate is to compensate for the fact that, for simplicity's sake, new characters will begin with less skills. The New Player Experience is all about reducing the complexity that someone just starting out can find themself mired in, and having more control over how the character develops.
The lowdown on EVE Online's New Player Experience
Among all the massively multiplayer online games out there, with their respective learning curves, EVE Online perhaps has the deserved reputation for being the hardest MMO to get a grasp of. Much of that confusion is because the game itself is such a departure from your standard fantasy MMO, in almost every respect: open world/single server, PvP can happen everywhere, a harsh setting, and a UI that's a far cry from anything a player has seen in World of Warcraft.The EVE in-game tutorial has been revamped a few times in order to make it easier for new players to get a handle on things. What is currently offered is a noticeable improvement over the tutorial of a few years ago, but CCP Games is in the process of completely reworking a player's first steps into the game's setting of New Eden. EVE Online developer CCP Fear's latest blog is, in his words, required reading for anyone interested in the game, new player or not. He says, "I want to get one misconception out of the way. This blog *will* concern you and everyone else. If you have played for a year, 6 years, 3 months or a week, you will want to read further than this. Chances are there will be changes that will affect you!"
Long-awaited skill queue coming to EVE Online
The sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online stands apart from other games in the industry in several ways, one of which is that it uses a real time skill training system rather than experience-based advancement. This is a feature many players like, as they're able to advance even when they're offline, but the downside is that you need to log in frequently to change the lower levels of skills (due to how quickly they finish.) For anyone who's bothered with it, actually getting up for 4am skill changes? Not cool. Getting a skill queue is one of the issues that the player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM) brought to the game's developers, CCP Games. (The CSM are representatives of the player base that work with the devs to ensure that development reflects what EVE's subscribers really want from the game.) Apparently the message got through loud and clear. EVE Game Designer Eris Discordia announced today that a skill queue is indeed in the works, in her dev blog "More Queue Queue."
The Daily Grind: Should leveling be removed?
We complain about how long it is, we complain about how short it is. We complain because it's in the game and we even complain when it's not in the game. Some believe it makes more problems, others believe it's the best solution we can insert into a game. What are we talking about? Leveling -- that's what we're talking about.In almost every shape and form, we find a reason to hate the leveling systems we have in place in so many games today. So, the question has to be raised: Should we just ditch levels and go find something else? Skills seem to work in games like EVE Online, and there exists a possibility of using items as a faux leveling system. But, Massively readers, what do you think about levels? Should they be kept or should they be thrown out on their behinds with all of their content-crushing luggage? And if we're throwing them out, what could we use to replace them, in your opinion?
EVE live dev blog on medals and certificates, Thursday Oct. 16
Medals and certificates are two of the new features coming to EVE Online, as recently announced by developer CCP Greyscale. These features may prove useful for newer players in dispelling some of the complexity of skill training, while providing some bragging rights and easier recruitment (less need to request another player's API) for veteran players, but there's still some confusion about how they'll be implemented in the game. With this in mind, CCP has decided to hold a live dev blog on this feature, slated for tomorrow, October 16th. CCP Wrangler announced: "It is time for another Live Dev Blog and this time it's Chronotis and Greyscale who will answer all of your questions about Medals and Certificates. As usual Mindstar will be there to ask them your questions. This event will take place on Thursday, 16th October, in the in-game channel 'Live Dev Blog.' It starts at 20:00 GMT and lasts for about one hour." EVE players are already getting their questions in on the forum thread linked to this announcement. Given that the live dev blog will take place tomorrow, if there's anything you really want to know that wasn't addressed in CCP Greyscale's dev blog on certificates and medals, now is the time to ask in the thread.
Certificates and medals coming to EVE Online
Most players who've been drawn to EVE Online enjoy the game for its complexity. For such gamers, complexity in a title can be a strength, not a drawback. However, you know what they say about having too much a good thing... Newer players especially find aspects of the game daunting to learn, particularly in terms of skills and skill training plans. This complexity surrounding skills, while not a big deal to veteran players, can be hard to grasp for newer players. Enter "certificates" -- EVE's simplified and (visually) ranked groups of skills that should help rookie players better understand what they should focus on to achieve particular goals. If the feature does what the developers hope, certificates will remedy a problem newer players face -- "an inability to clearly see where a particular skill fits into the greater scheme of things, what it enables, how to get there and where to go next," CCP Greyscale writes in his latest dev blog "Certificates: Planning the Future."
CCP Games kills 'ghost training' on inactive EVE accounts
EVE Online players who habitually 'ghost train' their alts on inactive accounts are about to be given a wake-up call. The myriad options that a player can take in the sandbox game means that training up specialized alts is a common practice. The time-based skill training system in EVE means that higher ranked skills can take well over a month to train to their maximum of level five. When creating a carrier or mothership alt, for example, it's typical to simply, well, not pay $15 for a month when you're not actually playing on that character while your skill training progresses. This isn't limited to capital ship alts though. Many players unsubscribe after queuing up a long skill and resub once skill training is complete. This is how it's always been in the game (at least since this writer began playing), and by all indications is something CCP Games has been well aware of. Those days, as confirmed in today's announcement from CCP, are over.
Are you ready for EVE Offline?
Zubon over at Kill Ten Rats has written a bit of commentary about skill training in EVE Online. As players subbing multiple accounts used for different purposes know (particularly when training up initial skills), a fair amount of time is spent logging in and switching skill training, and not always so much actual gameplay seen with those characters. So, he suggests the idea of "EVE Offline" -- an extension of the game, played via a website or accessible with a mobile phone. The point of EVE Offline would be to turn skill training into its own game, not a peripheral activity related to EVE's standard (client) gameplay. He presents this idea in the form of a CCP deal announcement, laying out the conditions and terms of the fictional EVE Offline. Tongue-in-cheek or is there a serious point? You decide. The post is ultimately a way of asking: How many EVE players essentially do this anyway with their characters, paying the full subscription price but not getting enough play time on those alts?
EVE Online trojan warning
CCP Games issued a warning today, regarding a trojan found in a macro for EVE Online. CCP Wrangler said that the macro is being offered by 'Gold Harvest Macro Solutions' and ostensibly allows a player to automate their skill-training with a queue, eliminating the need to periodically log in and change skills. CCP became aware of it and put it through testing; here's a shocker -- the shady software contains a trojan. Please contain your surprise. CCP Wrangler's full announcement (login required): "A number of players have recently received an advertisement for a skill training macro, this macro is sent by Gold Harvest Macro Solutions who claims that the macro will let you create a skill training plan and have your character automatically train your skills. This macro has been tested and it contains a Trojan, so make sure you do not download any software from these people. If you downloaded the program, make sure that you run a complete scan of your system and then change all of your passwords!"Not that anyone who uses programs like this doesn't really understand they're breaking the accepted rules of the game, but pretty much using any 3rd-party automation with the EVE client is a bad move.
The fallacies of skill training plans in EVE Online
New players to EVE Online invariably receive the same advice from those more experienced: train your learning skills as soon as possible. Each skill level gained in the learning category adds a point to an attribute linked to that skill. Attributes determine your skill training times, so by boosting your attributes as high as you can, as fast as you can, you dramatically reduce your skill training times further down the road. This becomes especially noticeable when training higher ranked skills. But Dee Carson, from the Miner With Fangs blog, says that diving right into training your learning skills instead of getting a feel for the game can be a mistake. He should know. Carson is a director of EVE University, a corp that has trained thousands of new players since its inception and helped them to become competent pilots.Carson points out that training up learning skills right off the bat serves to crush a new player's interest in the game. In those first weeks and months, when players could be out trying new things in EVE, they're limited by the fact that they're simply not progressing in any noticeable way. Yes, training up your learning skills is important if you're in for the long-term, but for those just trying out the game, locking yourself into skills that don't unlock new ships and modules kills the fun.
EVE skill training tracker for the iPhone
Previously, I mentioned Characters here on TUAW as one of my favorite iPhone apps, and here's another good iPhone app that will assist you with playing a great MMO. EVE Tracker is available in the App Store right now for free, and will let you track your EVE Online skill training (which can happen even while you're away from the game) from anywhere an iPhone can get online.Just punch in your API account key, and just like EVEMon (a great EVE character tracker which isn't yet available for Mac -- hint hint EVEMon devs), you'll be able to see what your character is learning, where you're at in the skill trees, and so on. Also like EVEMon, you can't actually play the game from the app, but if you're away from the client and need to know just when that cruiser training will be done, it'll do ya.It's too bad we haven't seen more official clients for the iPhone -- Blizzard and CCP both have been rumored to be working on mobile clients for at least parts of their games, but the App Store has only seen unofficial software for now. Someday, we hope MMO players will be able to play the AH or check their in-game mail from the iPhone, but for now, stuff like EVE Tracker is what we've got.[via Massively]
Track EVE skill training on your iPhone
Having a pared-down, mobile version of the EVE Online client has been on the wish list of many players, as well as the to-do list of the CCP Games developers. Unfortunately, EVE mobile doesn't yet exist. The closest thing to this currently offered are mobile applications that monitor skill training and the market. However, there seem to be more and more of them lately, perhaps largely driven by the popularity of the iPhone and iPod touch. One of the shinier apps out there for the iPhone is EVE Tracker from Saggy Software, an application that also runs on the iPod touch. As its name implies, EVE Tracker can track a pilot's stats and training status; it displays your avatar and isk balance, in addition to your attributes and skillpoints. You can review your character's skill progression (skills previously trained) and flip through related info with a skill browser. EVE Tracker can handle multiple characters and multiple accounts, which could be handy for those who took advantage of EVE's Power of Two subscription offer a little while back.
The 10 Commandments of EVE
EVE Online tends to appeal to MMO players who like the depth and complexity of a sci-fi game where players have the freedom to act as they wish in a vast galaxy. But that freedom comes with a price; EVE can be a harsh setting, particularly for newer players trying to get a handle on the game. For the newer player who's recently completed the tutorial, EVE largely remains a mystery... one which only reading, learning from other players, and just 'going for it' can solve. Still, it's always good when someone passes on advice to newer players as many of us learned our lessons the hard way. To that end, we bring you The 10 Commandments of EVE. Truth be told, there are a lot more than ten essential things to know about the game, but this is a good start. Feel free to add your own "commandments" or lessons learned in the comments below. Behold The 10 Commandments of EVE >> %Gallery-30634%
The tyranny of skill training
One of the nicest features of EVE Online is the fact that skill progression doesn't go hand-in-hand with a monotonous grind. Rather, the game uses a time-based system of advancement. But this seemingly casual aspect of the game is a double-edged sword; in the earlier stages of skill training, a newer player needs to log in very frequently to switch up low level skills. Some EVE players set their alarms and drag themselves out of bed in the early morning hours to switch their skill training, so as not to lose hours of time where progression halts. PC gaming blog 'Life is a Mind Bending Puzzle' has a post about how EVE's system "creates significant pressure to log on and pop a new skill on every time one finishes." Logically, a new player would assume that it's possible to queue skill training in advance. That assumption, however, would be wrong. Thus the early career of an EVE pilot is one of setting alarms, calendar reminders, and sticky notes... all to avoid that guilt over losing hours of advancement because of something trivial like sleep or a job. But as time goes on, skill training intervals lengthen at higher levels and thus require far less maintenance. Implementing a skill queue was one of the issues brought to CCP Games by the player-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM), as it's one of the complaints most players have when getting to know the game. How do you feel about skill queues? Is it a necessary feature that CCP should implement, or should the developers be focusing on more pressing matters? [Via]
