It's been a fun old ten days or so. We have the industry update, the slew of late DT's after it, a resurgence of our alliance activity, not to mention a change of game leadership for Eve Online!
The industry update, known as Crius, finally landed and it has taken a while to figure out the ins and outs, but it is now settling down.
Crius update link
Crius patch notes
CCP Seagul is now the Executive Producer for Eve Online!
She seems to have been once of the main architects behind the change of update direction, although I believe this was mandated by a changing game landscape anyway. So it will be interesting to see how Eve goes over the next few updates.
Finally the repeated long DT's just hammered our corp and alliance activity, but it now looks to be recovering. As downtime is in our gaming prime time it hurts us deeply when it's extended.
A week of long DT's every six weeks when an update is released?
Yay...
Once more into the breach!
Monday, 28 July 2014
Saturday, 19 July 2014
We're Number Six! We're Number Six!
An interesting article over at superdataresearch.com showing the top ten MMO's in 2013, their revenues and market share.
EVE Online comes in at number six, which surprised me. I thought it was too niche to even be in the top ten, but apparently the subscriptions model works better for science fiction titles than fantasy.
Weird!
Article link > http://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/us-digital-games-market/
EVE Online comes in at number six, which surprised me. I thought it was too niche to even be in the top ten, but apparently the subscriptions model works better for science fiction titles than fantasy.
Weird!
Article link > http://www.superdataresearch.com/blog/us-digital-games-market/
Friday, 11 July 2014
The Rumour Mill
Rumours, one of the last bastions of the dull and inbred.
The latest one in Eve Online is the supposed removal of the In Game Browser (IGB). This was posted on mittens.com and also places of value, but of course it has little merit.
Although the CCP response, which I've posted below, does suggest that once the CREST technology is mature it may then be replaced, but this is so far into the future it's just common sense.
The old will be replaced by the new.
Hardly worth the hysteria.
----------------------
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=4785990#post4785990
Oh wow, this is a pretty amazing thread. Mostly filled with a lot of misunderstanding so let me see if I can clear that up before we get to the Jita riots. Before continuing though, please be advised this post comes to you from a phone and is therefore likely to be filled with even more terribleness than my usual posts. I may try and proof read this though.
So, first and foremost the IGB is not being removed anytime soon and defiantly not without a lot of discussion with the CSM and more importantly you guys. When I say not anytime soon I mean there is no plan to remove it, there is not even a plan to look into how much effort it would be to it. Removing the IGB is as best I can tell years away from happening.
So that probably doesn't help this that much as all i have done is confirm we CCP want to remove the IGB and that it is years away from happening. That doesn't help the fact that many of you use the IGB and feel losing the IGB would hurt your gameplay.
So let me try something else. We don't want to remove the IGB until we have CREST up to the point of replacing it. The most common uses of the IGB are things like DOTLAN's radar or wormhole mapping software. Both those really just need your location information, which we can supply in the an even better way via CREST. Better CREST wouldn't require you to have the IGB open. Log into some website, give it permission to see your location, and even when you are not on that web site it know where you are. This means you get your whole corp to sign up and then only those looking at the mail need to open the browser. This is better in so many ways.
The other big thing the IGB offers is the ability to open links in the client. I don't think we have looked to deep into it, but we should be able to have you press a button on web site and then via CREST it tells the server which tells your client to open some window. Maybe a tad shower but again not only is the format and technology better for developers but the number of uses and possibilities is far greater than the IGB.
I could go on listing so many other things but the bottom line is this: CREST is a far newer technology and more importantly one we can maintain far easier than the IGB. We would like to remove the IGB but we will not do so until CREST, or even maybe something else, gets us feature equal to the IGB.
Really the only question and problem with moving from the IGB to CREST is the fact that you can browse the IGB from the client versus alt-tabbing. From our, or mine anyways, understanding most of you guys have multiple monitors and that's not an issue. There are also other applications that will overlay your current web browser with the game. Things like Overwolf I think it's called. The benefits from us doing things through CREST and relying on you guys to use an existing browser are immense. We get to focus on making cool things instead of trying to maintain a customized browser in the client. Not sure you guys realize just how much work there is in maintaining something as complex as a browser and how much of a security problem for everyone this is.
Anyways, nothing is happening anytime soon, when it does it will be because we, CCP and you the players and the CSM, have had a good long discussion about it, and only once something else is in place to replace it.
I hope that elevates (alleviates? - Yos) your concerns for now. Let's get back to blowing up spaceships and building an awesome universe together and enjoying the sun... Which I might be the only one doing :P
The latest one in Eve Online is the supposed removal of the In Game Browser (IGB). This was posted on mittens.com and also places of value, but of course it has little merit.
Although the CCP response, which I've posted below, does suggest that once the CREST technology is mature it may then be replaced, but this is so far into the future it's just common sense.
The old will be replaced by the new.
Hardly worth the hysteria.
----------------------
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&m=4785990#post4785990
Oh wow, this is a pretty amazing thread. Mostly filled with a lot of misunderstanding so let me see if I can clear that up before we get to the Jita riots. Before continuing though, please be advised this post comes to you from a phone and is therefore likely to be filled with even more terribleness than my usual posts. I may try and proof read this though.
So, first and foremost the IGB is not being removed anytime soon and defiantly not without a lot of discussion with the CSM and more importantly you guys. When I say not anytime soon I mean there is no plan to remove it, there is not even a plan to look into how much effort it would be to it. Removing the IGB is as best I can tell years away from happening.
So that probably doesn't help this that much as all i have done is confirm we CCP want to remove the IGB and that it is years away from happening. That doesn't help the fact that many of you use the IGB and feel losing the IGB would hurt your gameplay.
So let me try something else. We don't want to remove the IGB until we have CREST up to the point of replacing it. The most common uses of the IGB are things like DOTLAN's radar or wormhole mapping software. Both those really just need your location information, which we can supply in the an even better way via CREST. Better CREST wouldn't require you to have the IGB open. Log into some website, give it permission to see your location, and even when you are not on that web site it know where you are. This means you get your whole corp to sign up and then only those looking at the mail need to open the browser. This is better in so many ways.
The other big thing the IGB offers is the ability to open links in the client. I don't think we have looked to deep into it, but we should be able to have you press a button on web site and then via CREST it tells the server which tells your client to open some window. Maybe a tad shower but again not only is the format and technology better for developers but the number of uses and possibilities is far greater than the IGB.
I could go on listing so many other things but the bottom line is this: CREST is a far newer technology and more importantly one we can maintain far easier than the IGB. We would like to remove the IGB but we will not do so until CREST, or even maybe something else, gets us feature equal to the IGB.
Really the only question and problem with moving from the IGB to CREST is the fact that you can browse the IGB from the client versus alt-tabbing. From our, or mine anyways, understanding most of you guys have multiple monitors and that's not an issue. There are also other applications that will overlay your current web browser with the game. Things like Overwolf I think it's called. The benefits from us doing things through CREST and relying on you guys to use an existing browser are immense. We get to focus on making cool things instead of trying to maintain a customized browser in the client. Not sure you guys realize just how much work there is in maintaining something as complex as a browser and how much of a security problem for everyone this is.
Anyways, nothing is happening anytime soon, when it does it will be because we, CCP and you the players and the CSM, have had a good long discussion about it, and only once something else is in place to replace it.
I hope that elevates (alleviates? - Yos) your concerns for now. Let's get back to blowing up spaceships and building an awesome universe together and enjoying the sun... Which I might be the only one doing :P
CCP FoxFour
Sunday, 29 June 2014
Three Into One?
We've been living in our own little pocket of null security space for a while now. Our routine seems to have settled into ratting for ISK and occasional PVP, at least that's what I see from my time zone.
This is not particularly a bad thing as I don't miss the endless mandatory strategic operations, endless moving, very late nights waiting to see if anything would happen, and often it wouldn't.
The timing of DT (Down Time) is still a hard limiter on our activity, it is usually shorter these days but I suppose a mental barrier still remains for many people. At one stage CCP mentioned the complete removal of DT. I don't know if this is still on the table as an option but maybe a reduction in the amount of DT's could be made? Perhaps down to twice a week for a full shut down and for the rest of the time the required functions could be done while everybody is online. The time zone that DT occurs in is quiet so the extra server load shouldn't hurt those still online. Of course that's why DT is placed in that time zone, it's quiet and a convenient time for CCP to perform what needs to be done.
I've been playing Eve Online since 2007, in that time CCP had the market almost exclusively to itself. Lately though I've seen two options start to break the skin of the chest cavity and burst forth into the world.
Star Citizen is certainly the most hyped, seems to be the best funded and has yet to impress me at all. From what I can see though it probably has the best chance for growth and change and will probably end up as a direct threat to Eve Online given enough time.
Elite Dangerous looks more impressive, it's funding level is probably lower but that's based more on educated guessing than hard figures. It certainly has a vast universe but also appears to be a single player game with some occasional multi player and MMO elements. I have a huge soft spot for the original Elite and David Braben, and of course Ian Bell, but I'm concerned it doesn't have the depth.
It will be interesting to see over time how much these games, and perhaps others I'm not aware of, influence CCP. It certainly means they don't have the genre to themselves any more and some real competition may spur them into a higher gear. However the CCP juggernaut is slow to change, doesn't deliver well on promises and lately has been losing staff.
As a slight aside we hear about the staff leaving but what about the new hires? I'm assuming of course that new hires are actually happening but if those leaving staff are being replaced, maybe the new blood is better than the old? Time will tell.
Can the niche space MMO market support three games? Are disgruntled Eve Online players helping to fund Star Citizen to somehow spur CCP into action?
We now have "expansions" happening every six weeks and not twice a year anymore. The next expansion is on the 22nd'ish of July but is mostly content held over from the previous one at the start of June. Which makes me wonder what was slated for the July expansion that has now been pushed back? Was there anything at all?
It's going to be a time of change, change can often be good, but not always.
This is not particularly a bad thing as I don't miss the endless mandatory strategic operations, endless moving, very late nights waiting to see if anything would happen, and often it wouldn't.
The timing of DT (Down Time) is still a hard limiter on our activity, it is usually shorter these days but I suppose a mental barrier still remains for many people. At one stage CCP mentioned the complete removal of DT. I don't know if this is still on the table as an option but maybe a reduction in the amount of DT's could be made? Perhaps down to twice a week for a full shut down and for the rest of the time the required functions could be done while everybody is online. The time zone that DT occurs in is quiet so the extra server load shouldn't hurt those still online. Of course that's why DT is placed in that time zone, it's quiet and a convenient time for CCP to perform what needs to be done.
I've been playing Eve Online since 2007, in that time CCP had the market almost exclusively to itself. Lately though I've seen two options start to break the skin of the chest cavity and burst forth into the world.
Star Citizen is certainly the most hyped, seems to be the best funded and has yet to impress me at all. From what I can see though it probably has the best chance for growth and change and will probably end up as a direct threat to Eve Online given enough time.
Elite Dangerous looks more impressive, it's funding level is probably lower but that's based more on educated guessing than hard figures. It certainly has a vast universe but also appears to be a single player game with some occasional multi player and MMO elements. I have a huge soft spot for the original Elite and David Braben, and of course Ian Bell, but I'm concerned it doesn't have the depth.
It will be interesting to see over time how much these games, and perhaps others I'm not aware of, influence CCP. It certainly means they don't have the genre to themselves any more and some real competition may spur them into a higher gear. However the CCP juggernaut is slow to change, doesn't deliver well on promises and lately has been losing staff.
As a slight aside we hear about the staff leaving but what about the new hires? I'm assuming of course that new hires are actually happening but if those leaving staff are being replaced, maybe the new blood is better than the old? Time will tell.
Can the niche space MMO market support three games? Are disgruntled Eve Online players helping to fund Star Citizen to somehow spur CCP into action?
We now have "expansions" happening every six weeks and not twice a year anymore. The next expansion is on the 22nd'ish of July but is mostly content held over from the previous one at the start of June. Which makes me wonder what was slated for the July expansion that has now been pushed back? Was there anything at all?
It's going to be a time of change, change can often be good, but not always.
Friday, 6 June 2014
The Guardian and CCP
A very interesting article about the inner workings of CCP, Eve Online, DUST514 and World of Darkness.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/05/world-of-darkness-the-inside-story-mmo-ccp-white-wolf
Some selected quotes from the article are below.
"The massively multiplayer online game World of Darkness had spent nine years in development but was being cancelled, and its production studio CCP Atlanta slashed to a sliver of its former size. Fifty-six people lost their jobs."
"There was another problem. Several members of the WoD development team told the Guardian that this early bump in the road was exacerbated by extreme disorganisation on the part of CCP’s Icelandic management. Very shortly after initial development began, the company started blurring the lines between the World of Darkness and Eve projects."
"I once saw him looking over the shoulder of a programmer at some bit of User Interface the poor guy had hacked together. He straightened up, put fingers to lips and said, ‘No, this isn't it at all. Make it more...psssshhhh’ He hissed on his fucking fingertips, like the air coming out of a bicycle tire, and then just walked away."
"But development of Incarna was not going smoothly. “As little as a few weeks out from launch, the lead designers were still trying to add features to the Captain’s Quarters,” says Blood. “But without the time or resources to properly do so, many things were left half-delivered, to be iterated upon later – which never happened. CCP has an extensive track record of promising to return to features and never doing so. There was little discipline to the process.”"
"Speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun during the annual Eve Fanfest in May, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, showed some acknowledgement of the company’s mistakes over the past few years. “I would say we’re re-focusing on simpler strategies and smaller teams,” he said. “I think that helped make us successful: EVE was made like that. And maybe we scaled up our teams and our ambitions too rapidly.”"
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jun/05/world-of-darkness-the-inside-story-mmo-ccp-white-wolf
Some selected quotes from the article are below.
"The massively multiplayer online game World of Darkness had spent nine years in development but was being cancelled, and its production studio CCP Atlanta slashed to a sliver of its former size. Fifty-six people lost their jobs."
"There was another problem. Several members of the WoD development team told the Guardian that this early bump in the road was exacerbated by extreme disorganisation on the part of CCP’s Icelandic management. Very shortly after initial development began, the company started blurring the lines between the World of Darkness and Eve projects."
"I once saw him looking over the shoulder of a programmer at some bit of User Interface the poor guy had hacked together. He straightened up, put fingers to lips and said, ‘No, this isn't it at all. Make it more...psssshhhh’ He hissed on his fucking fingertips, like the air coming out of a bicycle tire, and then just walked away."
"But development of Incarna was not going smoothly. “As little as a few weeks out from launch, the lead designers were still trying to add features to the Captain’s Quarters,” says Blood. “But without the time or resources to properly do so, many things were left half-delivered, to be iterated upon later – which never happened. CCP has an extensive track record of promising to return to features and never doing so. There was little discipline to the process.”"
"Speaking to Rock Paper Shotgun during the annual Eve Fanfest in May, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, showed some acknowledgement of the company’s mistakes over the past few years. “I would say we’re re-focusing on simpler strategies and smaller teams,” he said. “I think that helped make us successful: EVE was made like that. And maybe we scaled up our teams and our ambitions too rapidly.”"
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