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.

Beyond the Rim

Lighting the Blue Touchpaper

Are you the type of EVE Online Player who:

• only logs in to update skills 
• spin your ships in station
• complains that [change] is terrible and should be stopped
• you believe CCP Fozzie/Greyscale/"Insert Name" is ruining your game and should be fired
• Posts nothing but thinly veiled attacks at anyone who attempts constructive posts on the Official Forums
• cannot say anything about EVE Online in a positive way

If so, please it is time to pass Beyond the Rim. Consign your character to Doomheim and fuck off to World of Tanks or whatever game you're playing instead of EVE. If playing EVE makes you so negative and angry then please, door is to your left please allow it to hit you on the arse as you leave.

Don't come back either.

Perhaps it is time for all the original and older players who aren't adapting or are resistant to change to move on and to leave the younger characters to fill the void by learning and advancing to replace those that do leave. Without these bitter vets consistently beating them down either in-game or via the Official Forums, I think the game could be considerably better off.

There are certainly a number of these types of player that I think are detrimental to the game and I wouldn't be sad to see them leave. I'd even go so far to say CCP wouldn't miss them either, any players over a couple of years old can easily make enough income a month in-game to PLEX their accounts and not use real money.

Even Endie of Pirate Zombie Ninja Monkey agrees that New Players are needed but replace the old with the new will be better than just adding new players who will last only weeks. We need to weed out the bad players, the ones who contribute nothing but negativity to the game WE love.

The Threadnaught Is Off!

This thread on the EVE Online Forums continues, its over 154 pages of comment so far on the devblog about the jump changes in Phase One. 

Some constructive, some asking for clarification but more than anything else there are threats to quit EVE, people happy that the changes will bring back the "EVE of Old" and quite a bit of sniping between people who obviously have no respect for each other and just want to see a people get angry over pixels.

I'd wager a dollar that the Jump Timers aren't so much an issue as the slashing of the Jump Range, especially for Jump Freighters/Capital Industrial Ships. 

But the posts are pretty much what I expected and I even made a post about my own investigations into the changes and how they would effect me. 

Even I'm not sure, right now, whether I could remain where I am in NPC Null if I had to change my logistics to match the basic investigation I've done. I'd probably need four accounts just for cyno characters to do in 11 jumps what I can do in 2 now. 

But that's for another post...

Quote of the Week

I was talking with Lorna from A Scientist's Life in Eve about a few things when she came out with probably the best quote to describe EVE Online:

Eve is basically an Instant Messenger where you can also fly spaceships

From now on I'm going to use this to describe EVE to anyone who asks what it is, everyone knows what an Instant Messenger is.

Plateau or not?

 

When I login to EVE, usually doing the evening of my time zone, there are between 20,000 and 25,000 accounts active according to the Logged In Users counter. I've logged in from work, occasionally, and on days off and see between 35,000 and 40,000 accounts active.

 

This is good, the higher the number the more people playing. Or so it appears.

 

It has always niggled me that we (outside of CCP) don't know how many people this actually is. Ripard Teg has been covering Alts on his blog recently and he said:

I personally know EVE players that have 30+ accounts

I know a couple of people with six or seven accounts and I personally have four. So how many real people are in these numbers of logging in users and how does this bode for the future.

Blog Banter

This graph is being used in the current Blog Banter (#52) as the instigator for a conversation about how viable is EVE now and for the future:

It's a great question and some of the posts on this I've read have been really good, please go read some like Roc's Ramblings, Rixx Javix and Ninveah (others are available, a log can be found here at EVE Bloggers)

My Experience

I've played for just over three years and have four alts, I've been in a couple of corporations but I wouldn't say I'm au fait with the meta-game nor with serious politics within New Eden. I know enough about where I am and things that may impact me. I also learn from my friends, peers and those I meet or read the blog of.

 

I think the one major impact on EVE will be the age of it's players and how long they have been playing. For me the plateau of "excitement" started to level out around two years and whilst I don't force myself to play I don't spend every waking hour in game anymore. I just don't have that time, I have a family, commitments and other things to do.

 

However EVE Online has spaceships, massive battles and is just a fantastic place so I will remain and my friends I've spoken to share these sentiments. I'm still waiting for one friend to finally quit, he's adamant he won't at this time but he just doesn't' get the enjoyment out of the game and seems bored when he does login (and I've already asked if I can have his stuff, he said No).

What Do I Think

I think the game is moving in the right direction, changes are happening and things are being done to improve the "new player experience" that will hopefully retain more than is lost. The steady logged in player count shows that CCP is doing something right, if they weren't I'd expect a drop over time but it isn't.

 

The number of players increases when new expansions are released and this shows older players resubbing or new players joining.

 

The new players of today are different from my generation and that of the first EVE players. They want quick rewards for little input, they want it all and they want it now. They want instant gratification.

 

CCP are staying true to the story, lore and the current core concepts of EVE Online (spaceships in space!) and the plans for the future continue this. If they stay this way EVE Online is in good hands and the ship is flying aligned to the best celestial.

"It's just pixels"

I still cringe when I see loss mails of people ganked in high sec in their officer/faction fit ships or the freighter with their worldly possessions lost because they auto piloted through the wrong system at the wrong time. Let us not forget the people who just want to play by themselves or in a small group with as little interaction with the rest of the universe.

 

These things remind us that EVE Online is a hard, unforgiving place.

 

 

I can remember each ship I've lost and story attached to it (most were lost due to mistakes I made), the effort I went to earn the money to buy the ship and fit it not to mention each skill to make the most of the ship I had to train.

 

The subject of this post is the most often quoted response when someone in EVE shows a little bit of sentimentality or is perceived to be getting too serious within the game. I've (to my disgust) used it previously, I've had it used in responses to me and I've certainly seen other people use it when arguing or discussing things with others.

 

Yes, it may just be pixels but they are MY pixels and I've invested time and effort into them, it's not your place to judge or insult me because I've spent time and money in doing something only to have it lost or done something you had no control over.

 

So you, the person judging me and telling me I'm wrong in everything I'm doing, please shut up because they are my pixels and I'll do whatever I want with them.

 

 

Being in Battle

I make sure I've logged into TeamSpeak am in the correct channel and alter my input/output volumes so that I can be heard clearly and hear what I said clearly. When there is a break in the conversation and no intel is being given, I ask what ship type is needed and where rally point is.

 

Given this information I finish the logging in to the game. I appear in station and I open my ship hanger and select one of my Malediction's. I have four ready to fly that are equipped for the role of fast tackle.

 

I focus on my ship and it's role, I made sure that I have the right fit and ammunition. I can feel my level of concentration increasing, clearing my thoughts and increasing my heart rate.

 

I undock and alter my view from a zoom in of the ship to something further out giving me more of a 360 degree view around my ship. I warp to the rally point (a POS in system) and en-route double check my HUD.

 

On the overview I have the PvP tab selected and verify that all ship types are selected with brackets off and I move the game HUD (with all my modules) to be at the top right of my screen next to the overview with targets underneath in a vertical arrangement of two columns.

 

I'm still listening to TeamSpeak and reading the Intel channels, our quarry is being reported and cloaked ships are watching them. More people are joining fleet, shield battlecruisers are arrayed around the POS tower as I land, mixed with some Scimitar's who will provide logistics assistance.

 

The sight of our fleet causes me to feel a tightening of my chest and I filter all localised noises out. I am listening to TeamSpeak and only TeamSpeak now.

 

Fleet is ready, the quarry are two systems out and moving towards us as a group. Their fast tackle is next door to use already sniffing out the path and looking for targets, fortunately none exist they are being guided by an unseen hand towards us.

 

FC starts giving orders of how this will play out, my mouth is dry so I take a sip of my drink, we have orders to get amongst the enemy and grab any fast tackle ships attempting to burn out of the engagement area or any other ships attempting to flee.

 

I see why, we have two Sabre's arrive at the POS, we will be engaging at brawling ranges with bubbles pulling our fleet on top of theirs.

 

I can feel my heart beating faster still, combat is imminent.

 

The enemy fleet is reported to have jumped into the system next to ours, their fast tackle is on the gate to our system. I check my modules, all active modules are bound to the F1 to F8 keys for easy activation.

 

I activate my Damage Control and check the modules are at the correct keys:

 

My rockets are grouped at F1, my point at F2, second point at F3, micro warp drive at F4 and my repair module is there at F5, loaded with nanite paste and pre-overheated.

 

I can feel my heart racing now, beating faster and faster. I can hear it in my chest as I try to clam myself down by breathing slower and with large breaths.

 

"Ready to go" I reply in TeamSpeak when asked by the FC if I'm ready.

 

The order to align is given, I align and give a burst of my micro warp drive to get ahead of the fleet, our quarry have landed on the gate to our system and their fast tackle has just jumped to us.

 

"Tackle go" is the order from FC

 

I click the warp button and instantly enter warp. Four interceptors and two Sabre's enter warp.

 

My heart is as fast as it can, my mouth is dry again and it seems as if I'm watching what is happening in slow motion. 

 

"fleet warp to gate" is the next words spoken on TeamSpeak.

 

It's only a couple of AU's to the gate and we make it there just as the enemy fast tackle is decloaking, bubbles appear around me as I exit warp.

 

The enemy fleet has jumped, I am surrounded. I pick my targets and start moving.

 

Our fleet lands as theirs uncloaks. Battle commences...

 

I'm breathing as fast as I can, I can feel the tightness in my chest and I am focused, listening to orders and watching the battlefield for targets.

 

This is why I play EVE Online, I love this game.

Oops, I accidently the whole database

I read a fair few EVE Online blogs, some good, some great, some not good or great.

 

One of the blogs I read is The Abysmal Aussie, it was a well written blog and the fact the author was Australian time-zone like myself was a key reason I started reading it. That said over time I enjoyed the blog because it covered a nice range of topics and Jac's writing was both clear and interesting.

 

I'd point you to the blog and say have a read except, oops Jac accidently deleted all his content during a hosting change.

 

 

I did have a laugh reading that and whilst what was written has been lost I'm sure there is more content coming in the future that will be worth your visiting his site.