Tuesday 18 October 2016

Things I would like to see in Eve Online in no Particular Order

Kinda hard to get past that snappy title but I wanted something that was descriptive, and here we are.


  • Make yourself exempt from Fleet Boss
This one would be fantastic!  It pretty much explains itself but for the slow or Goons I'll explain it some more.  You would choose an option that would make yourself exempt from Fleet Boss.  Explanations are easy!  Why would you want this?  When you logout of the game, the game assigns a new fleet boss based on an unknown algorithm.  Usually what happens is the AFK guy is assigned the new Fleet Boss, the advert is automatically removed at this stage also, and the bitching begins as the standing fleet is no longer available.  Hopefully if a person was going AFK or just didn't want the Fleet Boss they could set this flag.  Assuming they aren't an inconsiderate bastard.

  • Share Text on Items in Game between Buddies, Corp Mates, and Alliance Mates.
Pilots, corporations, etc have a field that you can enter your own notes about that entity.  What I think would be handy is the ability to also share that info with my buddies, corp mates, alliance mates in game.  So if anyone of them viewed the same item my text would appear next to my name and a time stamp.  I'd say the text length would have to be limited and some control could be exerted by the higher ups in the corp or alliance but it would be a handy information and or intel tool.

  • Slow Hull Replacement
For me immersion in Eve Online is important.  It irks me when items in game just change, it takes me out of the moment.  Lets assume the design of a hull is changed for a variety of reasons.  When this happens the very next time you login the ship is magically totally different!  Uurgh.  What I propose is a gradual change of the hulls over a period of time, so at the end of that time all the hulls are replaced.  Various game mechanics could be used for this, you could force the change by travelling to a particular station, Scotty, the docking manager, could be paid to hurry up the exchange, etc.  I realise their are a few issues to implementing this but it would make the hull transition so much nicer.

  • Everything is Moving!
Space is not static, everything is moving.  We are on a slightly flattened sphere that is spinning, orbiting the Sun, the Solar System is moving through space, our local group of stars are moving also, our Galaxy is moving in its own direction etc etc.  In Eve Online everything should move, stations should orbit planets, bookmarks could be made in relation to an object and then the orbit or direction of that object taken into account.  Our space ships essentially fly like a submarine in water.  They should only stop when thrust is provided in the opposite direction.  Would this be a pain in the arse?  Yes it would!

  • I Dislike you but I'll sell you Stuff Anyway.
When I put something for sale on the market I would like the ability to set the eventual sale price based on my standings, or the corps standings if being sold by the corp, towards the buyer.  I don't think a buyer with terrible standings should be banned from buying my goods, but perhaps they would pay a percentage penalty.  Obviously the reverse would be true, if I had excellent standings towards someone they would obtain a discount, because I'm such a great guy.

  • Fleet Boss Again!
The fleet needs the ability to vote for a new Fleet Boss.  This would have to be on a cool down, and the current fleet boss would need a veto, which would also be on a cool down, but the Fleet Boss going AFK in large fleets is rather annoying and this would help prevent it.


Monday 17 October 2016

The EULA Obscurity

The interesting thing about the recent drama regarding the EULA changes and, at the same time, the banning of third party gambling sites is the ignorance.

The EULA is the backbone of Eve Online and any other game you play, especially ones that are online.

The line in question says that accounts and the contents of those accounts may be deleted if no payment is made on those accounts in ninety days.

Now the interesting thing about that is the fact something similar to that has been in the EULA for quite a long time, but the time period was six months and not ninety days.

Most people don't read EULA's!

What CCP are trying to do is have the ability, and the right, to delete abandoned accounts made by the free accounts of Alpha's that join the game once Eve Online goes Free To Play (FTP).



I'm expecting, and hoping, the addition of the FTP model will drag some new faces into the game, the rather excellent Eve : Valkyrie and to a lesser extent Eve : Gunjack will also point some players in our direction as they wonder about the parent game that provides the content for their shooter.

The concern though, is what sort of player quality do you get with a FTP model?

They will be investing little money into the game, hence the FTP, so are they going to play seriously or just try and stomp around creating havoc for the paid players?

Will this be a bad thing if they do?

Content is king and the influx of new meat may cause ripples in the New Eden pond for quite some time.