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EVE Evolved: Is DUST 514 a pay-to-win game?
I've been following DUST 514's development with a cautious optimism for the past few years and have been trying to convince my console gamer friends to give it a try since it launched back in May. Last week I finally sat down to play the game myself and was thoroughly disappointed with both its 2005-era graphics and fundamentally broken gameplay. DUST 514 will likely stay in development for the forseeable future and may end up becoming a polished and integral part of the EVE Online universe, but right now it's a buggy and mediocre FPS that has very little impact on New Eden. DUST 514 launched to mixed impressions from the gaming media, catching a lot of flack from reviewers for its microtransactions options. Some have argued that selling skill point boosters and destructible Aurum tanks and equipment directly for cash makes it a pay-to-win game, while others maintain that it doesn't give you an advantage that free players can't buy for ISK. The definition of pay-to-win isn't always clear, and the console FPS audience may not be as tolerant of microtransactions PC users have long since accepted. In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the arguments for and against it being a pay-to-win game and ask what went wrong with the game's launch.
Captain's Log: To spec or not to spec?
Captain's Log, Stardate 65340.3... Hello, computer (and players)! Unlike an answer to Shakespeare's original question, the answer to the question in this week's title is probably a no-brainer for most of you: Yes! Choosing a specialization, or "speccing," in MMOs is something that stretches across most titles out there, and Star Trek Online is no different. Whether you wish to resist attacks longer, do more damage, or add strength to your powers, choosing a customized spec can be rewarding and a challenge at the same time. With so many variables and places to spend your points, the possibilities are endless. While this week's Captain's Log is not here to tell you what you should spec into for your particular class or ship set-up, I would like to go over the space skill point overhaul that STO is about to go through. In the past, one of the biggest complaints from players was that they did not have a clear understanding of which skill tree affected which ability. The devs heard this feedback and have been working on a complete revamp to make these decisions simpler. Hopefully, this will allow you to have a better understanding of where and why to spend your points in a particular skill when you do have to re-spec at the launch of F2P on January 17th, 2012. Ensign, warp 10! Let's get our readers' bookmark buttons ready...
Prime: Battle for Dominus announces classes and abilities
Pitchblack Games has released the first of what it promises to be a series of many "infodumps" regarding its upcoming PvP-focused MMORPG Prime: Battle for Dominus. Today the spotlight is on classes and character progression, which is as good a place to start as any. Each faction will have six classes available to it, making for a total of 18 classes overall. New characters in Prime will begin the game with five basic skills, though they'll gain access to newer and more class-specific abilities as they progress. Each class will ultimately end up with a total of 15 skills. Progression is skill-based, with players earning skillpoints as they level. These skillpoints can be allocated amongst the character's various skills as they so desire (though Pitchblack did point out that it will not be possible to max out every ability with the amount of skillpoints granted, which will force players to prioritize). Another point to note is that Prime will not be permanently tying players to a given build. Pitchblack President Warren Weems says, "We don't think players should be permanently tied to choices they made when they were still learning about the game. We also want people to feel free to experiment." As a result, skillpoints will be "relatively easy" to reallocate if players feel the need for a change of pace. For more information, and for the full class and ability listings, warp on over to the official site!
EVE Online santa patch to get rid of learning skills
The noise in EVE Online this morning is something to behold, for it seems that CCP Games has let slip the details of its planned December "Santa" patch early -- and as Keanu would say -- whoa. According to the newest Devblog by CCP Greyscale, starting today, all NPC sales of Learning skillbooks have been canceled. Player-run sales orders are currently still in the market, however. From here, a second patch will be deployed on December 14th (if all goes well in QA-land, mind) that will officially nuke Learning skills from the map, and give players who have them trained a full refund of all skillpoints they've invested in Learning. At that time players can apply those skillpoints however they'd like until they're all gone, without waiting for them to tick off over time. Another thing to note with the planned December 14th patch, all player-owned Learning skillbooks will additionally go away. More importantly, the ones you have in your hangar, etc. will be reimbursed, whereas the the ones you inject into your head will not. As such, if you were looking at starting an alt within the next couple of weeks, don't waste your time or ISK picking up Learning skills, or be prepared to eat the loss of whatever you paid for the books if you inject them. Finally, another huge change comes with this upcoming patch, in that new capsuleers will no longer be getting the 100% learning speed increase up to their first 1.6 million skillpoints. The reason is that everyone will be receiving 12 new non-remappable base points in each attribute! CCP states that this change will offset the loss of speed bonus by effectively turning the current 2x speed bonus into a 2.5x speed bonus once the 12 new base points are added. Definitely not a bad trade off for starting capsuleers -- and no more sitting around waiting for those learning skills to tick down before you get to the fun skills, either! For all the holiday happiness in one place, pop by the EVE Online site, check out the newest devblog, and marvel at the shiny graphs.
Massively Exclusive: Dilov & Hristov on the systems of Earthrise
With an open PvP model, a rich crafting system, and a sumptuous art style, Masthead Studios' upcoming sci-fi post-apocalyptic game, Earthrise, has been gaining more and more interest from our readers. From everything we've seen of the game to date, this title will offer some interesting options in terms of how one chooses to play through the world. That's why, when we were given the chance to ask some questions of Momchil Dilov, Lead Writer and Plamen Hristov, Senior Game Designer on Earthrise, we were happy to do so. For those not familiar with the game, you'll want to check out the interview noted yesterday, then join us behind the break as we ask about different systems such as crafting, PvP sieges, the importance of guilds, customization, character penalties, and more!
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.
GDC09: Massively previews Earthrise
The futuristic game Earthrise is one of the upcoming sci-fi massively multiplayer games that we can see on the horizon. It's the first MMO developed by Sofia-based Masthead Studios and features the post-apocalyptic setting of a world divided between utopian idealism and revolution. Massively had a chance to sit down with Masthead Studios CEO Atanas Atanasov at the Game Developers Conference 2009 where he gave us a walkthrough of Earthrise, shedding some light on what this new title may bring to the MMO world.%Gallery-48760%
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.
EVE Online launches Apocrypha expansion site
EVE Online developers CCP Games have launched a new site for the sci-fi game's Apocrypha expansion, slated for a March 10th launch. The site has a teaser trailer, screenshots, wallpapers, and concept art related to Apocrypha. In addition, there are brief video presentations from three key developers involved with the expansion: Lead Game Designer Noah Ward (CCP Hammerhead), Associate Producer Arend Stührmann (CCP Whisper), and Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olaffson (CCP Torfifrans). Their presentations range from discussion of Tech III to how wormhole exploration and the New Player Experience will add something fresh to the game:
EVE Visual Guide: Before you undock
There are a few essential things any pilot in EVE Online should do before they undock from a station and get themselves into a potentially hostile situation. Come to think of it, anytime you undock there's at least some chance of hostility. Keeping that in mind, think of this as a visual checklist you should go through before entering space, as you're not only risking your ship, but your skillpoints if you bite off more than you can chew. This happens all too often, to novice and veteran pilots alike in EVE. So to help you avoid this fate... Head to the guide >> %Gallery-30109%
