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A look back at an epic year in EVE Online
2008 was quite a year for the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game, EVE Online. It was chock full of surprises -- both good and bad -- and of course the requisite drama you get when putting as many as 45,000 players in one galactic setting. So much has happened that columnist Michael Lastucka has written a recap of 2008 in New Eden for Massive Gamer Magazine. Longtime EVE Online players also know him as Winterblink, someone who's been playing the game since its beta days, and he shares a bit of his perspective on the major happenings in EVE over the last year -- and what a year it was:
Winterblink on EVE Online's Quantum Rise expansion
Longtime players of EVE Online will be very familiar with the name 'Winterblink', or Michael Lastucka. He's the man behind years worth of contributions and commentaries linked to EVE, through the Warp Drive Active comic, the WDA podcast, and now he's a columnist at Massive Gamer Magazine as well.His latest column, "Quantum of Polish" looks at the recent EVE expansion deployment and how it's changed the game. Lastucka points out some of the user interface changes that he finds beneficial. Visual representation of module cycles provide greater understanding of what's happening and weapon grouping allows players to switch between ammo types, and have a single 'fire' icon as well. But there's clearly more work to be done in terms of weapon/turret effects and some aspects of the UI, in order to reduce lag and improve performance.
Massively interviews E-ON editor Zapatero
EVE Online is a deep and complex game, and even those who've played EVE for years find there are still facets of gameplay they've never mastered. This is compounded by the game's unique nature as a massive galaxy primed for exploration and domination by its players, whose actions and machinations affect one another in a single setting that's never quite the same from one day to the next.EVE is always evolving, both in terms of the dynamics between players and the game itself, seen as a whole. But unlike most MMOs, EVE Online has an official magazine, called E-ON, which has kept pace with how the game and its player efforts have changed over the years. To flip through the E-ON back issues is to see the documented evolution of EVE Online. In fact, E-ON manages to stay ahead of the curve due in part to its access to CCP Games, but mostly through the efforts of the players themselves whose writing talents make up the entirety of E-ON. The man behind E-ON is Richie Shoemaker, aka "Zapatero." He's the one who's been guiding the publication along since day one, and ensuring its content digs beneath the surface of the game. He's interviewed EVE's players and developers alike, but it occurred to us... Zapatero has an excellent perspective on the game yet is rarely interviewed, himself. Massively recently caught up with Zapatero in between his continent hopping, and got him to tell us a bit about his approach to covering EVE and what the player community is capable of creating.
EVE Community Spotlight: Winterblink Part 2
You're well-known as being a member of Body Count, part of the now-defunct but legendary alliance Mercenary Coalition. Were you into 0.0 warfare when you began? Are these large-scale fleet engagements the highest level of gameplay for you, or are you happier roaming with small gangs?Back when I first started EVE, I initially started by forming my own corporation with some real life friends. We made some friends with other corps in our constellation, and when my real life friends moved on I joined up with one of those, Colossus Technologies. It was an industrial corp by nature, so there was a lot of mining and building happening, but we joined up with Xetic Alliance and I got my first taste of PvP with them.When I got into Body Count and Mercenary Coalition, EVE became a whole different ball game for me, basically shedding my prior life for the life of a full-on PVP pilot. Right from the start I tried to attend ops as much as I could, and these would be anything from mercenary contracts in empire to 0.0 ones. As EVE and 0.0 combat evolved, so did we, eventually becoming what was arguably one of the most skilled capital fleets at the time.
EVE Community Spotlight: Winterblink
Some players in EVE Online are known for a particular contribution to the community. Others for their presence on the forums or for their reputation as a pilot. EVE's players know Winterblink for all of these reasons, and more. While there are a number of celebrated players in EVE Online, few names are as recognizable in the game as Winterblink. Whether you're a fan of the Warp Drive Active comic, you listen to his podcast, or perhaps you just want to podkill him... most players agree that he's one of the friendliest people you're likely to meet in EVE, except for when he's got you in his sights. Massively recently caught up with Winterblink and spoke with him about how Warp Drive Active came to be, finding humor in a game that's taken so seriously by its players, and what it means to him to be a part of the EVE community.
The great divide between EVE's players and developers
Once upon a time, there was a game about internet spaceships set in a vast galaxy, just waiting to be explored and conquered. It wasn't a huge game in terms of subscribers, in fact it was quite niche, but its small following was devoted. The size of the community allowed the developers to really interact with them and refine the game. The devs were approachable, open, and direct. In many respects, the players and developers were friends. All seemed well in the internet spaceships game, until the player base's numbers grew, and so did the collective din of their voices. The developers soon found they had to be careful about what they said to the players, in case they'd be accused of going back on their word somewhere down the line. At the same time, the game company grew to handle all of these new faces. As with most internet communities, the ever-growing numbers of players became more and more hostile, and the developers grew more and more silent...Then, a developer -- let's call him "t20" -- used his knowledge of the game to cheat a little. Some players received an unfair advantage over others because of this lapse of judgment, and it was revealed publicly. The players became enraged. The developers were embarrassed and apologetic. Many players left the game, or at least loudly professed that they would. Many perceived that the developers, seen as a whole, were untrustworthy. Given how bad this situation was, and seeing no real way to change these perceptions, the game's creators had to accept that this was how things were. The people who built up the game from nothing saw little recourse but to withdraw even further from the very community which was so vital to their success. Does our story end there?
The perpetual balancing act of EVE Online
EVE Online is a game where a slight nerf on one game mechanic can have a large effect on many players. As such, and as with most MMOs, many EVE players react with indignation that their chosen ship, playstyle, or market specialization will be affected in the name of "balance." After all, no one likes getting nerfed. Still, sometimes having a wider perspective on an ever-changing game is a good thing. Winterblink of Warp Drive Active fame has been playing the game for just over five years, and shares his take on the hysteria and forum venom which follows a big nerf, and what the end result usually is. Winterblink cites some of the major nerfs and boosts over the years in EVE Online with the longer view that, so far, the balances have largely succeeded. Check out Winterblink's "The Endless Nerf" and see if you agree with his views on balance in the game.
Winterblink: asset control and consolidation in EVE Online
Warp Drive Active podcaster Winterblink is a man who's got everything, apparently. And too much of it, scattered throughout his hangars in New Eden. It's a common problem in EVE Online, particularly for players who roam a lot throughout the galaxy. Mission runners, ratters, and adherents of most any trade or livelihood in the game accumulate a lot of random assets, individually of low worth but which can hold substantial value when seen as a whole. Unfortunately, what Winterblink describes in his blog gets even worse when a player uses containers to organize their possessions by category across multiple stations. The contents of those containers cannot be viewed remotely; one has to be docked in that particular station to see what's inside. Winterblink decided he couldn't handle the clutter anymore and shared the most efficient way he's found to deal with it all, step-by-step. He also had a good idea about having a container that only has the modules for his preferred ship fittings. Slowboating all over New Eden to consolidate his assets worked out for Winterblink. But this writer found that the negligible value of his junk and the time lost consolidating it wouldn't be worth the effort, and opted to ruthlessly destroy a fair amount of it, rather than collect and reprocess or resell the odds and ends. The slash-and-burn approach works for Tech I modules, but once ships and Tech II of anything enter into the picture, Winterblink's way is best. Especially in that he opted to reprocess the materials rather than trying to sell them all on the market.
