7 Days

My support petition for help with "the socket was closed" has been open for 7 days and has not been acknowledged or answered by CCP.

 

24 hours left before I have to choose to renew or cancel my subscriptions.

 

Really I don't think I'll have any impact if I do close them but I'm really disappointed in the lack of communication.

 

My day job is working as a Help Desk Officer and it's a point of pride that I will triage or acknowledge any tickets I get within 24 hours at the latest. , yet here I am 7 days later and still in limbo. It's enough to make one sad.

The Type Of Player No MMO Needs

Warning

The following contains spoilers regarding Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If you haven't seen this movie yet and do not wish a major plot point be spoilt, please stop reading and close this window/tab.

You have been warned.

Remember, I have said spoilers are below. Leave now or continue at your own risk.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is Released

Being in Australia I had the option of seeing it slightly before my northern hemisphere friends but I chose not to because I wanted to go with my wife. Being a "Star Wars Nerd" I didn't mind finding out the plot or spoilers before I saw the movie. For one at least people couldn't ruin it for me but also nothing would stop me enjoying the movies.

Still seeing the following notification when I logged on release day was unexpected:

I didn't get angry but I was disappointed that someone in EVE would do this. Other communities such as Imgur and Reddit were discouraging this and, in someways, actively policing to prevent this happening BUT EVE Online is a game so it's slightly different (not to mention my timezone works against me 99% of the time).

I later found out who it was and it wasn't really a surprise, this person has issues with other members of my Alliance and well, shots fired. Still the fact they'd do this said much about their character and the type of person they are to me.

It's fair to say I had respect for the person before this but it's all gone now. Not that they care, they'll laugh it off and say they don't care. So be it, but if you ever needed help in-game or out and I was able to help.... well let's just say that won't be happening now.

Not that they care, like I said.

A Proportional Response

I wasn't angry by this but it did strike a nerve. I wasn't going to speak to the person behind it, they (in true EVE fashion) would lap up the so called "tears" and not care. So I used the game mechanics available to me and I petitioned it.

I don't know whether my petition struck a nerve with CCP but they were aware of this prior to my petition and my ten paragraphs hopefully swayed them and stirred them into action. It wasn't the best I've ever written nor was it the worst but as I said, there was nothing in the EULA or their Rules that appeared to be broken but it was ethically and morally a shit thing to have done.

Outcome

I've been told that something was done, certainly the Corporation setup was quickly disbanded:

The name "removed". CCP's response was 'as expected' and said nothing of detail but something happened.

I was told a few other things but I can't share them here as my word was given I would not repeat them. But still, CCP did quickly respond and clear this up. Kudos to them for understanding the situation and taking quick and effective action.

About EVE

I've never really had a look at the About EVE tab of Settings within the game. There are some very unpronounceable names there and its a shame that they don't list what peoples CCP name is against their real name. 

Anyway I was reading down (waiting for the server to come online) and I noticed that about three quarters of the way down is all the people who work in the background that we don't know. Financial staff, HR and such but it was one section that took me by surprise just under the Office IT DBA:

Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you and I haven't manipulated the image in any way. 

As it shows CCP employs four chefs and two assistant cooks at their Headquarters to cater for their staff and they get credit in the game.

Rightly so I think, for keeping the Dev's, GM's and other staff fed and watered so they can concentrate on the important tasks. Perhaps a future devblog or community featurette could give us more information on these six phantoms who keep the wheels at CCP rolling. :)

Fresh Meat

Unveiled over the weekend was the latest cinematic for EVE Online. As some have said could be the greatest video released for EVE Online to date.

I fully agree.

The audio, which came form players after a CCP request in September, combined with the cinematic are just perfect. I have watched the video a few times and each time I have had the hair on the back of my neck rise.

I've been reading Reddit and several other sites and as a result of the video EVE Online has been getting a lot of attention this weekend and yesterday saw a jump in new characters being created. Which has been taken as a lot of new players signing up.

I'm sure a lot of people will help new players but there are a just as many who are, even now, rubbing their hands with glee at all the "fresh meat" that will soon be undocking and they can scam, con or kill.

That's the shame about it but hopefully even if 5000 people test drive EVE Online from this video and we keep only 10% that's a damn good retention rate from one video.

Update:

According to someone from CCP at EVE Down Under there were 300,000 new trial accounts created within 24 hours of the video being uploaded.

300,000. Damn, if they retain just 10% that's practically a doubling of the average users online.

A Friendly Reminder

Supercapitals are getting some changes in Kronos, have a read near the bottom of that DevBlog to understand them.

I've know about these since the devblog was released but there are no doubt going to be people who haven't because they don't login often or have stopped playing on their Supercapital account. The changes are enough that unless you're prepared it could stop you moving your Supercapital and thus be something of a major issue.

CCP know this and as a result I received the following mail on my Supercaptial  pilot (Yes, I have a Supercapital  pilot):

This is an excellent example of Customer Support, they are being proactive in telling a number of players that there are major changes coming and that they would do best to know about this and be ready to take any necessary actions.

Nice one CCP.