CSM Summit Minutes: Worth The Wait? - Part 1

I am currently reading all 165 pages of the CSM Summit Minutes. I'm about halfway through and there have been a lot of great things to read.  I personally feel like the wait was worth it.  I like being able to see who said what in so much detail.  I'll talk briefly here about what stood out to me from the first half.

Page 49 -Arenas-

Discussion then turned to Arenas, which were envisioned as a tool to promote some sort of organized PvP without ruining the game.

Terrible, terrible, terrible, horrible, very bad, no good idea!  The last thing that Eve needs is an arena!  This will destroy all casual small scale PvP in the game, leaving only the large fleet fights for territory left.  I'm actually amazed that they would even consider this.

Page 51 -Incarna-

Alekseyev Karrde (via Lync): Would like to see station establishments with war rooms and poker tables first as a stepping stone. Players need to have confidence in CCP’s ability to deliver WiS content before such an ambitious feature is launched. Otherwise buy-in will not happen."

I highlighted the part that stood out to me, will all Incarna features be MT based?  It could just be an innocent phrase, or it could be an indication of their payment scheme.  I don't really care either way, but it could be interesting.

Page 54 -Live Events-

CCP Goliath was happy with the response of the CSM and presented an idea that the Live Events team came up with, which is that there would be hidden event triggers and, if met, would cause a certain event to take place – or not take place. The players would then choose the outcome of the event and it would be written into EVE lore.

This would be a lot of fun.  Being able to affect the outcome of the lore would be a blast.

Pages 59-63 -Industry & Mining-

Everything they said about the new industry UI, automation, and mechanics I loved.  They mentioned "unicorn manure" and special resources to build more advanced ships (their example is a Titan vs. a Frigate), but I'd consider taking this a step further.  Say you find some of your "unicorn manure" and want to apply it to a batch of Rifters.  Why not have those Rifters be slightly faster than normal, or with a slightly higher tank, or maybe longer targeting range, or something improved over the sock ship?  Nothing game-breaking of course, but if someone wants to make a slightly better ship and charge a little extra, why not?  Don't know how this would work, but I think it's worth considering.

Ring mining was all interesting, but "best case...Winter expansion 2013," is kind of disappointing. 

Page 63 -Starbases-

We've heard just about everything that they want to do with this already, modular, customizable, ectt..., but one quote really stood out

Seleene said, "I want to cloak my secret pirate starbase." Greyscale said that might be a possibility, then shocked the entire room by mentioning offhand, "I really, really, really want to let you put a jump drive on them." The whole room erupted into smiles. He then continued, "Not just right click cyno jump, but you put a beacon down and it takes something like 48 hours before you jump." He wanted to do this to allow small gangs to have a roaming base.

Seleene declared that, "This is a hero move! This is amazing!"

Agreed!

Everything else in that section was just epic as well, can't wait until it's fully developed and deployed!

So there's my wrap-up of the first half.  As my brain is about to melt I'll leave the second half for another day, but so far so good.

Blog Banter 38: Small improvements make a difference

 "In his recent "That's just the way it is" post on Jester's Trek, blogger Ripard Teg posits that the established EVE player-base has come to accept many of EVE's design idiosyncrasies, rarely questioning their purpose or benefit. Conversely, he also suggests that new players might not be so forgiving of these "quirks". In an interview with Gamasutra, Senior Producer CCP Unifex describes EVE Online's developers as "relatively hands-off janitors of the virtual world", underlining that he has only four content developers but "a lot" of programmers and engineers.

Has a culture developed where CCP has started to take player effort for granted - expecting the "social engine" to fulfil tasks that might otherwise be CCP's responsibility? Or should this culture be embraced as part of "emergent gameplay" with these quirks accepted as the catalyst for interaction?"

This is an interesting question, which is why I've waited a few days to blog about it.  The TL/DR of it is, yes, I believe that CCP does take player generated content for granted.

As we look at this though, it's not as simple as saying CCP needs to start pouring content into the game.  A sandbox, by its very nature, walks a fine line between the developers pushing their agenda and allowing the players to pursue theirs.

Imagine for a moment what would happen if CCP started focusing their development on storyline missions.  I'm sure we would get some great "quests," some great "raids," and everything else that every theme park MMO has to keep its player-base entertained.  Wouldn't it be fun if we could take part in this video:

Honestly, the story lover in me would love that.  We fly our ship and discover something, then we debark and explore it, get something valuable, and all of this within a well written narrative that keeps us engrossed throughout the end.  Honestly, in my opinion, this would be amazingly fun if done properly.

The problem with doing this lies in the amount of resources that CCP would need to put into it.  We wouldn't get PvP balancing nearly as often, probably no new ships (or one per new "raid" every year or so).  We probably wouldn't see mining, POS, and all industrial mechanics iteriated on for a much longer period of time.  CCP isn't EA or Blizzard, they don't have the resources to do it all.

So where is the razors edge in this?  Clearly putting content of that level is out of realistic reach of CCP (if they can even do it all at).

I ask you this question, what is the single most important thing to keeping players in the game?  It sure isn't the tutorial, nor is it the wonderful UI.  It could be the spaceships and the visuals, but honestly that will only take you so far.  I'm willing to bet big money that Eve University (and other noob-friendly corps) is probably the most important part of Eve's growth.  I know for a fact that I wouldn't still be playing this game had I not joined E-Uni when I started playing.

And there in lies the problem.  The single most important thing for Eve's continued success isn't anything CCP is doing at all, it's all with us, the players.  Simple things like convincing new players  to keep playing are completely abandoned by CCP and, in my opinion, that is a very telling sign.

So what should CCP do?  Again, they can't go WoWish with the content, but simple things they can do.  Create more engrossing epic mission arcs, infuse the Eve lore more into the daily game play (for example put more of the lore into ship descriptions, with links to further reading).  Voice acting.  Create a great NPC villain that everyone from day 1 can recognize (Sansha is a pretty poor villain from a game standpoint in all honesty).  Why not let the factions duke it out in highsec?  See faction navies fighting each other, and swapping territory (why can't Jita sometimes be in Gallente space?).  Do live events that span large areas and further the Eve story instead of just putting it in the expansion notes.

There are literally thousands of simple things that CCP can do to provide content on their end without destroying their core game philosophy.  Eve would be better for it.

How to begin FCing

If you're anything like me, you want to FC but you're terrified to do it.  You might be new to the game and not have the knowledge you need; you might be shy and afraid to make mistakes; you might be completely overwhelmed by all the information; or it could be any number of other reasons.  Hopefully this little guide can help you understand how I was able to do it, and can help you achieve it as well.

What this guide is:

• A way to show you how to lead your first fleet out.
• A way to overcome all the difficulties of starting.
• A way to cope with failure.
• A plan to improve once you've popped your cherry.

What this guide is not:

• A guide on how to be a good FC.
• An overarching treatise on tactics.
• Something for those who regularly lead fleets already.

So you want to FC, but don't know where or how to start.  First off figure out what is holding you back?  Most people probably don't pick it up because they are either afraid of criticism, afraid of looking bad, don't know enough about the game to make sound tactical decisions, or most likely a combination of all of that.

Let me let you in on a couple of facts.

1. If you tell people you are brand new to FCing, no one will make fun of you.  No one will be unduly harsh in their criticism.  People won't avoid you because you are new.
2. Every single person who has ever FC'd sucked when they began.  They didn't understand tactics.  They didn't know how to bait properly.  They all got their fleets wiped.

When you keep these two things in mind, any fear you have of looking bad and being made fun of should go away.  People know this is a game and won't be an ass when you give them fair warning that you're new.  Now if you come across people who are assholes to you, ask this question:  "Do they lead fleets?"  If the answer is no, then remember that you are already ahead of them at FCing, as they can't summon the courage to try it.  If they do FC and they still do this, find another corp because those guys are beyond assholes.

A few tricks I used to get over the fear of leading my first fleet:

• Know for a fact that you're going to make bad decisions and everyone will probably die.
• Know that even a bad FC is better than station spinning.
• Have something to eat.
• Make sure you don't have to go to the bathroom.
• Have a drink.  Don't get drunk, but a shot or two can help calm your nerves down just enough to be able to get over the hump.
• Remember that you're playing a game, and everyone will have fun regardless of the outcome.
• Lead a T1 frigate or cruiser gang, this will keep it cheap.

Now remember when I said you are going be terrible at it?  That doesn't mean you will fail.  Failure is not taking the fleet out in the first place; by simply taking everyone out on a roam you have already succeeded, I'd wager that 90% of Eve players never even reach that point.  So keep that in mind as you learn.

So now you're out there.  What in gods name are you supposed to do?  You surely don't want to go out and suck on purpose, but you have no idea what the next step is.  There are few things as debilitating to a fleet as inaction.  Inaction gets you killed and it's boring.  So for your first few roams follow these two simple rules:

• When in doubt, warp the fleet to the next gate.
• If you think you can take something on, go for it.

It's very simple, as long as you are moving and getting into fights people will enjoy themselves; and that's all you can ask for on your first few roams.

The next step should be a pretty obvious one; continue to lead fleets.  If you continue to FC you will improve your abilities and lessen the nerves.  I set a goal for myself after my first fleet that I would lead a fleet every Saturday.  In my first 5 weeks of FCing I lead 4 fleets.  Now unfortunately real life has severely limited my play time since then, so I've been unable to commit to any more.  I do fully plan on continuing with my commitment though once life has settled down.  The reason I set this goal is I've found that if I set a goal like this it helps me stay accountable to improving.  I'd recommend you do the same, though it doesn't have to be weekly, find a schedule that works for you.

If you do these things, I know from personal experience that you'll get better.  It takes a while, and at times you'll regress (my last roam was a disaster), but the nerves will die down and you'll begin to see yourself improving bit-by-bit.  Make sure to ask for constructive criticism so you are able to correct things you do wrong.  Often times you will know exactly where you fucked up, but other times you won't even notice.  Asking your fleet mates after the roam what you could have done better is something you should do every time, either in AAR format or by just straight up asking over coms.

Anyway, I hope this guide is able to help someone who's sitting on the fence about FCing.  Good luck and may your enemies cower in fear!

Making Core

Just a quick one here.  I was promoted to CORE member in Agony today!  I was fairly confidant that I would be promoted but there was still a fear that I wouldn't make it.  I now have a place to call home!  So stoked I can't explain it.  Thanks go out to every member of Agony for accepting me as one of your own.

WTFB: Don't Mine

We all need to make isk, but mining is about the worst way to do it.  It's boring, low isk/hour, and any skills you train are useless for anything else.  If you truly enjoy mining, you're a weirdo.  If you like to make things, do something worth more isk/hour and buy the minerals.

I trained Mining to 3, Mining Upgrades to 1, Industry to 2, and Refining to 2 in a period of warped logic that I would build up some "isk making skills" when I started the game.  That's like 10,500 wasted skill points!  Don't do it, you can't get it back!

Alliance Tournament X

Edit:  Well that worked out :D.  Congratulations to Verge.

The final day is upon us, all 16 surviving teams are now only 4 victories away from being crowned champion.  Here are my predictions.

I'll be sure to brag when I'm right.

Eve Parodies

I love parodies Eve players make of popular music, I actually wish I could sing so I could make some myself, but I digress.  I will be keeping a list of every (good) parody I can find on this page.  I'm omitting some that are either terrible quality or where the singer is so bad it detracts from the song; everything else I find I will post here, so if you know of one I haven't found please let me know so I can add it to the list.  Enjoy.

By Suas
Little Bees
I Robbed A Goon
Seleene Transvestite
109 Stupid Goons
Fuck Goons
Blackbird

By Cearul 
How To Stay Aligned

By Poetic Stanziel
SoCo

By Nitro G
Cynos Down

By Naburi NasNaburi
Eve, Oh Eve
Yesterday
My Guns Were Made For Shooting

By BendigoXana
Gate Camp Strut
Six Days On The Road

By Alekseyev Karrde & Jimer Lin
Pandemic Phone
Clik Lok

By Starstream
I'm Not Moving
Changed The Way You FC
Who's Gonna Save The Fleet Tonight?
Mad Eve World
I Dream Of Paradise, Everytime A Carebear Dies
Reship, Carry On (Blame CCP)
Eve Uprising
The Brightside Of PvP
Eve Players
Batphone

By DavidKMagnus
Pandemic Legion
Elect Elise
Winter Update
Fight Us Maybe?
SuperCaps
Dreads

By Asa Shaddix
I'm In A Rokh
Nyx In A POS

By DJ  Doby
Hey Yaa (So Sacked)
Dear CCP
Dude Your Alt Is A Woman
The Real Slim Doby
Downtime
Carebear Rhapsody
Whatever
Riny XXX
E-R Army
Born To Play Eve

By Dreddit
I Love New Eden

By Sindel Pellion
Titan
Makalu Cries
Good Fight (featuring DJ Starstream)
Dock Game

By Vis Nyliss
(Internet) Starships

By Curzon Dax
Tribute To Sabre A
Romance In Eve
Battle Of The ePeens
Noob, You'll Have An ePeen Soon
ISK ISK Baby
Dax Is Back
Eve-O Logic
Rats Got Loot
Behind Carebear Eyes
Runaway Inflation
Dreaming Of Eve
Flashing Red
Forum Whiners Unite!
Silver Death Bots
M.I.N.E.R.
I Need a New Home!
I'm A Racketeer!
I'm A Big Big Noob!
Because I Got High
Random Pwnage
Amarrian Pie
Flavor Of The Month
We Be Pirates
Carebear Blues
Ballad Of CCP
Eve Online Is For BOB