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ZAM News (full) http://www.zam.com/ ZAM gaming news rss feed Blog Entries Focus on Infrastructure, Pirate Arcs [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20606 CCP has been pumping out dev blogs regarding Dominion, the upcoming 11th expansion for EVE Online. Today, Abathur posted a <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=714" target="_blank">blog entry</a> that delves "a little deeper into the inner workings of the upgrades of space available to you through the new Infrastructure system." For example, Abathur explains how players will have to destroy their enemies' Infrastructure Hub in order to gain access to their upgrades. In addition, Jasonitas published a blog entry this week that outlines the <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=713" target="_blank">two new epic arcs</a> that will be introduced in Dominion. The arcs focus on the Guristas and the Angel Cartel pirates factions and will allow you to "fly with the 'rats in 0.0, looting and plundering and fighting like only they know how." Check out both blog entries after the jump.<a name="pause" title="pause"></a><blockquote> Dominion Upkeep and Upgrades: The Expanded Edition CCP Chronotis' <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=711">previous blog</a> on Dominion's new Sovereignty system gave you a broad overview of the available upgrades and the system that enables them.  Today we are going to delve a little deeper into the inner workings of the upgrades of space available to you through the new Infrastructure system in Dominion and the various factors surrounding them.  Let's start with answering a few of the more common concerns that have arisen from your feedback so far. I thought you were getting rid of ‘Sov levels' but now I see there are five of them? Think of them less as Sov levels and more as time-based indices.  These are needed in order to preserve the game play centered on your commitment to your space.  Another point to be clear on is that these time indices are applicable only toward Strategic upgrades.  They have no bearing on your Military or Industrial upgrades. I want to take my enemy's upgrades but I'm forced to destroy the Infrastructure Hub. *sadface* Originally we considered allowing the I-Hub to be capturable but the more we discussed the idea the more we agreed that it would be a bad idea to allow an invader to capture a Hub and then be able to deploy a cyno jammer five minutes later.  However, we did want to preserve a sense of "I want to take their stuff!" so what we've done is disconnect the activity-based indices from the Hub. Let's say your bloodthirsty hordes want to take a break from marauding and decide you would like to mine for a couple of months (totally happens).  A nearby alliance has developed one of their systems to have the most awesome mining available (Level 5 Industry).  You mobilize, move in and take over their system as detailed in my <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=709">previous blog</a>.  In the process of this you have to destroy the Infrastructure Hub and the upgrades, but fear not! Once the evil care bears have been driven from your new home, you can online your own TCU and Infrastructure Hub.  Once that is done you will notice that while you do not have the upgrade installed that allows you to use the developed space, depending on how long your conquest took (and Industry-related activity ceased), the actual Industry Index has gone down only slightly.  Move quickly to install the proper upgrade in your I-Hub and you now have immediate access to all those lovely rocks. How do these Decay rates work? The decay of indices takes place gradually, but if all of a particular activity-based index completely stops, you can expect to lose one level of an index approximately every four days. Upkeep Costs Let's talk about money for a minute.  We have adjusted the upkeep costs from the initial blog and this is an up to date snapshot of where they have settled. TCU: 6m ISK / day Jump Bridge: 10m ISK / day Cyno Generators: 2m ISK / day Cyno Jammers: 20m ISK / day Capital Ship Assembly Arrays: 1m ISK / day There are no upkeep costs for your isk-generating upgrades, just the Strategic / structure-based ones.  We feel this is a fair way of doing things and allows us a good base from which to move forward as we consider what other features we might add in the future. Upgrade Facts We got a lot of feedback on the upgrades so let me delve into that for a bit.  Many comments have been made about the number of players that these upgrades can support.  Please bear in mind that any estimates made on this are just that.  What we would like to do now is walk you through the various upgrades that will be available in Dominion and explain what they are and what benefits they will provide you. Note - Not all of the names of the upgrades are final. Industry Upgrades "These upgrades allow your systems to have additional hidden asteroid belts and mini-profession sites." Ore Prospecting Arrays These are hidden asteroid belts and you get one site guaranteed for every level of upgrade to a maximum of five.  These are not the typical hidden belts though.  If you've ever been into wormhole space and seen some of the riches there, then you have an idea of what to expect.  Within these hidden belts reside mythical beasts such as ‘King Arkonor' and many of his closest friends. These sites will re-spawn every downtime, so even if you do not mine out every rock, there will be fresh ones waiting for you the next day. Survey Networks This upgrade provides a variety of salvage & archaeology sites to explore.  Every level of upgrade will give you an increasing chance per level increase in being able to find one.  These sites run on a 12 hour re-spawn delay. Military Upgrades "These upgrades allow your systems to have additional anomalies and other exploration dungeons within your space such as encounters and complexes and wormholes." Pirate Detection Arrays Each level of this upgrade gives you four anomalies per level, each of which re-spawns instantly upon completion.  This mean that at Level 5 you are guaranteed to have twenty anomalies at all times in a system.  These are basically dungeons which spawn waves of NPC's for you to happily shoot.  The top level anomalies in terms of ISK per hour are among some of the most profitable content in the game. These anomalies are awesome because there is a constant supply of them and there are no skill requirements to scan them down.  They can be found by anyone using the onboard scanner with a 100% success rate.  Basically, if you are in a system that's small enough to be covered by one probe, you will get the full list of available sites instantly and you can warp to them. These anomalies also have a percentage chance to spawn NPC faction commanders, as well as escalate to other dungeons. Entrapment These are chance-based on signatures to gain access to DED complexes.  Every level of upgrade increases your chances of finding both a signature and a higher level DED complex.  Upon completion of running the site, there is the possibility of finding another one (no waiting until next downtime). Quantum Flux Generator This one is simple and every level increases your percentage chances to discover a wormhole in the system. Strategic Upgrades "These upgrades allow the anchoring and on-lining of the current and any future sovereignty dependant structures like Jump Bridges and Cyno Jammers." These are the most familiar already to you, so I won't waste time detailing what each one of them does again.  What I will say though is that there is great room for expansion in this area and we are going to try to make future strategic upgrades both interesting and dynamic. Outpost Upgrades One update to an old feature that we've revisited is that of being able to upgrade your player built outposts with expanded or additional functionality.  Some of these upgrades are very useful but due to their past costs were deemed uneconomical.  So, while the mechanic and feature itself will remain the same, we have greatly reduced the costs associated with the Pedestal and Monument Upgrade Platforms as well as the actual upgrades themselves. Things we have changed based on your feedback Your comments do make a difference so, in review, here is what we have done so far: <ul type="disc"> <li>Adjusted the system upkeep costs</li> <li>Increased the number of Pirate Detection Array anomalies from two per level to four per level.</li> <li>Changed the online time of Sovereignty Blockade Units from six hours to three hours.</li> <li>Changed the reinforcement variance timers on Outposts and Infrastructure Hubs from four hours to two hours.</li> </ul> The Future We realize that expectations for Dominion are high and we want to again say that the new sovereignty system we are introducing is a very big first step in what we want to be a continual iteration process.  The upgrades we are making available in Dominion are just the beginnings of a system that we plan to expand upon in order to enable players to turn their sovereign space into hubs of economic activity or military fortresses.   <hr />   Epic Pirates Use Speed Boats So you want to be a pirate, eh? You want to work for those crusty dogs roaming the high seas of nullsec? You want to turn your back on the Empires – or at least get yours at their expense? Say no more! Now's your chance to earn some cred with those scalliwags of space: the NPC pirate factions. We have two new epic arcs on the way for Dominion, both centered on pirate factions, namely the Guristas and the Angel Cartel. With these arcs, you can fly with the 'rats in 0.0, looting and plundering and fighting like only they know how. But first, I'll give you a brief description of both arcs: Guristas arc, "Smash and Grab" Not all is well in Venal, the home of the Guristas pirates. The Caldari Navy have slowly infiltrated the region, setting up small outposts and fleet bunkers in pirate territory, hoping to bring some sense of peace and order to the lawless area. But the Guristas have a plan, and they are enlisting you to aid in the pushback. Using guerilla tactics and stealthy maneuvers, you will assist the pirates as they engage the Navy in widespread sabotage. From the theft of secret ship design, to traversing Navy minefields, kamikaze warfare, double-crossing agents, and sadistic spies, you will aid the Guristas in their ongoing turf war in the outer limits of space. Angels arc, "Angel Sound" For years the Angel Cartel has been the undisputed master of both advanced and ancient technology among the pirate factions. But with the appearance of wormholes and the discovery of Sleeper technology, that advantage is at risk of disappearing. Cartel agents are recruiting capsuleers for missions of sabotage and destruction aimed at preserving the technological edge of the Angels. You will travel through Angel and Serpentis space, along the way destroying Sansha exploration teams, fighting off Gurista raids, and showing the Empires the dangers of encroaching into pirate space.   Because these arcs are predominantly based in nullsec, we have designed them to account for the play style and dangers that can be found in 0.0. Dubbing these arcs "speed boat arcs," we decided to focus the missions to be playable by and for Interceptors, although other frigate- and destroyer-sized ships can do these missions as well. Why Interceptors? Mainly, we wanted mission runners to be able to do these missions and avoid bubbles, gate camps, and the other hazards of 0.0 space. We can control the environment you experience in the missions, but we can't control the environment en route to those missions. Thus, we're making it so that these missions are still challenging yet playable with a PVP-fit Interceptor, but with a reduced risk of losing your ship. However, this is not to say that there is no risk in these missions; you are still in 0.0, after all. Fit your ship accordingly. The pirate's life is a dangerous one. A few questions that are probably popping into your head (complete with answers!): 1. What are the standings requirements for these arcs? What if I don't have the proper standings to run it? I tanked my standings pretty bad, but I really want to play these! Can I? he starting agents for this arc arcs are all Level 3, Quality 7. However, keep in mind that these missions are designed to be flown with Interceptors, so this is the relative difficulty measured in relation to Interceptors and other T2 Frigates, not (Battle)Cruisers or Battleships. We understand that your pirate faction standings may be bad, and we've designed around that. Each pirate arc has four starting points for you to begin your swashbuckling adventure. There are multiple agents you can go to for each arc in order to start these epic arcs, including both empire agents and pirate agents. Thus, if you don't have Guristas standings, for example, but you do have high Caldari or Gallente standings, you can still run the Guristas arc. All you have to do is find the right initial agent to let you in the door. Oh yeah, here are the agents: Angel Sound Starting Agents/Location: <table style="margin-left: 36pt;" border="1" cellspacing="5" cellpadding="5" bordercolor="#ffffff"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Agent</td> <td>Faction</td> <td>Corporation</td> <td>System</td> <td>Region</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Aton Hordnert</td> <td>Minmatar</td> <td>Republic Security Services</td> <td>Egbinger</td> <td>Molden Heath (lowsec)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Arajna Ashia</td> <td>Amarr</td> <td>Amarr Navy</td> <td>Sendaya</td> <td>Derelik (lowsec)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Ellar Stin</td> <td>Angel Cartel</td> <td>Dominations</td> <td>Konora</td> <td>Metropolis (lowsec)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Abdiel Verat</td> <td>Angel Cartel</td> <td>Archangels</td> <td>K-QWHE (Archangels Assembly Plant)</td> <td>Curse (nullsec)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> Smash and Grab Starting Agents/Location: <table style="margin-left: 36pt;" border="1" bordercolor="#ffffff"> <tbody> <tr> <td>Agent</td> <td>Faction</td> <td>Corporation</td> <td>System</td> <td>Region</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Atma Aulato</td> <td>Caldari</td> <td>Ytiri</td> <td>Obe</td> <td>The Forge (lowsec)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Arment Caute</td> <td>Gallente</td> <td>Federal Intelligence Office</td> <td>Orvolle</td> <td>Placid (hisec)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Yada Vinjivas</td> <td>Guristas Pirates</td> <td>Guristas</td> <td>Taisy</td> <td>Lonetrek (lowsec)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Kori Latamaki</td> <td>Guristas Pirates</td> <td>Guristas</td> <td>H-PA29 (M2 - Guristas Assembly Plant)</td> <td>Venal (nullsec)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table>     2 Is it possible for me to lose standing with an Empire faction by running this arc? Yes, it is certainly possible. You are running with the pirates, after all. Don't expect to curry any favors with the Caldari State by flying for the Guristas, for example. But, will we reward you with other booty? Yes, including increased standing with certain pirate factions. Pirates protect their own, you know.   3. Should I bring my faction Battleship to these missions? I have it really tricked out and ready for any level 4 mission. I would not recommend this action. First, you will not be able to enter some of the deadspace pockets in the arc with your Battleship. (Though you can with your Interceptor.) Second, you are going to be a prime target for certain players in 0.0 space. Third, enter these arcs at your own risk. Nullsec is a much different beast than empire space, so don't treat these arcs like you would with other missions.   4. What about loot? Is there sweet loot to be had? Absolutely. You'll get a pirate faction Cruiser BPC, along with tons of ISK and whatnot. Perhaps even a cool mod, like a Dread Guristas ECM Mulispectral Jammer or a Domination Target Painter.   5. What about standings? Will this arc repair my standings with the pirates? Yep. Each pirate arc will give you a 30% standings gain as part of the reward. Consider it a sort of “redemption” mechanic: Running this arc will put you rather favorably in the eyes of the pirates, and you’ll be able to redeem yourself anew with those salty dogs. Even if you’ve tanked your standings to the point of no return, well, this may be your road to redemption.   6. Will you enjoy these arcs? Yes. We most certainly believe you will. </blockquote> CSM Candidates Speak on Planet Risk Radio Show [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20438 As we <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20386" target="_blank">reported</a> earlier this week, CCP has released the list of applicants for the fourth Council of Stellar Management. In order to provide players with information on the candidates, Luminus Aardokay (aMUSiC) and Quivering Palm (Spirit) held a CSM debate last night on their <a href="http://www.planetriskshow.com/episode-9/" target="_blank">Planet Risk</a> radio show. Candidates <a href="http://www.antipwn.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5&Itemid=7" target="_blank">Helen Highwater</a>, <a href="http://podlogs.com/mikeazariah" target="_blank">Mike Azariah</a>, <a href="http://www.missionscollide.com/" target="_blank">Song Li</a> and <a href="http://teadaze.net/" target="_blank">TeaDaze</a> presented their platforms in the three-hour show, which you can <a href="http://www.planetriskshow.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/Planet%20Risk%20-%20Episode%209.mp3" target="_blank">download</a> as an mp3. More information on the CSM candidates can be found in the <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=channel&channelID=759778">Jita Park Speakers Corner</a> forum on the official EVE Online site. CCP Reveals List of Applicants for Fourth CSM [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20386 CCP has posted the <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=708" target="_blank">results</a> of the candidacy application period for the fourth <a href="http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/What_is_the_CSM" target="_blank">Council of Stellar Management</a>, and the company has accepted 49 of the 60 applications. The rest were rejected due to passport issues, EULA violations and "Internet lolsters." According to the post, "the age range of the candidates is between 21 and 54 with the average age of 33 years." Only one female player is running for a seat on the council. You can view the list of applicants <a href="http://myeve.eve-online.com/council/voting" target="_blank">here</a> in preparation for the upcoming election, which will be held from Nov. 12-26. CCP Adds PLEX Timer to Combat Fraud [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20189 CCP <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/news.asp?a=single&nid=3457&tid=1" target="_blank">announced</a> today that it will be adding a PLEX timer in an attempt to strengthen its anti-fraud measures in its Pilot License Extension program. According to the post, a maximum 60-minute delivery delay will go into effect for all PLEX added to the system after downtime tomorrow, Oct. 20. For more information on PLEX, check out the system's <a href="http://wiki.eveonline.com/wiki/30_days_Concord_Pilot_License_Extension" target="_blank">EVElopedia page</a>. As the entry states, "PLEX offers an alternative way for people to pay for their subscription without the use of our more conventional payment methods. Using PLEX, pilots can earn game time simply by playing EVE." CCP Asks Players to Participate in Dominion Tests [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20091 While the Dec. 1 <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=19967" target="_blank">launch date</a> for Dominion may seem to be in the distant future right now, it's actually only about seven weeks away. In order to test out the upcoming changes in a live environment, CCP has <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1195556" target="_blank">announced</a> that the team "will be running a series of fleet fights and other mass-tests on our main test server, Singularity." The tests are tentatively scheduled to begin on Thursday, Oct. 15 at 5 p.m. GMT. However, an issue has been found on the test server that may postone the testing. Keep an eye on <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1195556" target="_blank">the thread</a> for any updates to the testing schedule. If all goes according to plan, CCP is going to need at least 100 pilots (preferably more than 400) on Thursday. The full announcement can be found after the jump. Also, check out the <a href="http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=253187" target="_blank">rules</a> of the test server before logging in for the event.<a name="pause" title="pause"></a><blockquote> [Edit: updated dates, fixed errors.. check back soon for more updates on testing schedule] Dominion is just around the corner and it brings more improvements and enhancements with it. We think you'll be happy with the changes we've made; of course now we need to put it to the test in a "live-like" situation! To that end we will be running a series of fleet fights and other mass-tests on our main test server, Singularity. These tests will begin Thursday, October 15. We need at least 100 pilots, preferably 400+… the more people who show up, the better. _________________________________ Test schedule: An issue has been found on the test server which may force us to postpone the mass-testing. We are hoping to have things sorted out in time, but we may need to re-schedule the tests for next week or later. Thursday [October 15] @ 17:00 GMT -- Tentative Friday [October 16] @ 18:00 GMT -- Tentative -- Sovereignty test Thursday [October 29] @ 17:00 GMT More to come... _________________________________ How to connect to Singularity for this test: <ul> <li> Make a copy of the current Tranquility (TQ) client </li> <li> Visit the <a href="http://www.eve-online.com/patches/patches.asp?s=singularity" target="_blank">Sisi patch page</a>. </li> <li> Patch the copied client to the Singularity build </li> <li> Login to the singularity test server </li> <li> Join the in-game channel "FleetTesting" </li> <li> Disable brackets | Read <a href="http://support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=492" target="_blank">here</a> if you're not sure how </li> <li> Listen for instructions and ask questions in-channel </li> </ul> What exactly is being tested? <ul> <li> First part of the test will focus on Fleet vs. Fleet open combat </li> <li> Second we will move the engagement to a Starbase-siege (POS) </li> <li> You should pay attention to your FPS (use ctrl+f to view in-game) </li> <li> Anyone able to use multiple accounts is strongly encouraged to bring your alts! </li> <li> CCP staff and ISD will be on hand prior to the test to help move players to the starting location </li> <li> Don't forget to fill out the feedback thread after the test (links will be clearly posted at the end of the test!) </li> </ul> What should I bring? <ul> <li> You will want a Battleship, carrier, dread, or support ship </li> <li> Use drones! </li> <li> Give weapon linking a try </li> <li> Spider tanks 4tw </li> </ul> </blockquote> EVE Online: The Wild Wild West of Space [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20049 One of the elements that has always fascinated me about EVE Online is the stability and resilience of the in-game economy. What you may not know is that CCP has a team of economists that work with the development team to provide players with a stable economy unlike some of the other MMOs out there. We had a chance to sit down with the Lead Economist for CCP, Dr. Eyjólfur Guðundsson, to talk about the EVE economy and what makes it so special. <hr /> <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: First of all, what is Unholy Rage? I mean, there was a discussion earlier on it, but what are the underlying principles of it? Dr. Eyjólfur Guðundsson: Unholy Rage is simply the name of a task force that we put together within CCP to fight off activities that are very well known within MMOs in general - they're usually called gold farming. In general, it's behaviour where players - but I don't want to say players, because they're not really playing the game - it's the behaviour where individuals use the game as a business for themselves, rather than using the game as an environment to play. This is very prevalent within all MMOs, but the problem is that these entities are usually using tools and additional tools that are not allowed to use to give themselves additional advantages, so they can gain more than a regular player. So that's really what we're going after. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: And this task force lead to the banning of several thousand people, as I understand it?  <a name="pause" title="pause"></a>Eyjólfur: Yes. We've always monitored the behaviour of rule breaking players, and we have consistently been banning people on and off, that's nothing new. What was new with this task force was that we analyzed them in much more detail than we had before. We analyzed their behaviour and various groups of these entities. And once we thought that we would have a big enough impact, we banned them all at once, rather than just ban them as we came across them. So the big change is in terms of the methodology that we were using to find them and then dealing them once we found them. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: How many accounts were banned? Eyjólfur: The initial blow was 6,000 accounts at once. But it's difficult to talk about how many players or how many accounts were banned, because they have a tendency to try to get back in, and then we ban them again, and so on and so on and so on. So it's just a never-ending process. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Just sheer numbers, then? Eyjólfur: In total, it's roughly 18,000 accounts that have been taken out of the game. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: All permanent? Eyjólfur: Yes. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: For a game that's so dependent on the economy, how do these bans affect it? You take all that capital out of the game, but the prices stay the same. Even though you remove it, players don't necessarily see that until the financial report comes out. How does that affect the game, short term, and overall, how does it affect the game? Eyjólfur: Because the EVE market has become so big, it is very resilient to any changes that happen to it. And players, if they notice a shortage of product in one place, or a change in the price of another, and they will evolve to meet those changes, just like any upper class trader does. So the market, by itself, is fairly stable. Just find some new equilibrium, and continue without any problems. Even though these sound like large numbers, we have 300,000 players online in EVE Online. So even though we have taken out, at one go, about 6,000 players, which were only about 2% of our player base. And they were doing specific activities, focusing on botting and exploiting the game. Just taking them out had only a good impact on the rest of the players. It's not really a question about removing anything from the game, because it wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/144103" target="_blank"><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/b/b/bb582a50db6b27aaebe17c99fb2d444d.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: You mentioned during the special round table that RMT doesn't exist unless there is demand. There is a lot of truth to that, and I like the way that you present that to the players because I think it's something that a lot of people don't think of. If you use something, it's going to be in demand. What do you think are some of the ways to get that message across to players? What kind of part can the player play to help scale down the RMT and the botting? Eyjólfur: Well, in general, of course, it's the same that you do in real life. If you don't want something bad to be in your society, don't use it. If you don't want something of a certain nature in your environment, be sure that you're not part of it. But we have decided to have this two pronged attack, this pincer attack we have on this - both in terms of the demand and the supply. And we fought really hard to work it out. We don't want to break the game, and we want to keep it a closed world. We do not want people to be cast out from the world because there is a reason why EVE is designed the way it is, and we want to be able to keep that design. And in order to keep that design, we have to be sure that it is a closed world. And when I say closed, I mean that it is closed from the real life economy. So in real life, you can put money into EVE, while players should not be able to take value out of EVE, because then it becomes a business, rather than a game for the participants. So we thought really long and hard about what is it that is really going on here, and how can we facilitate this in a positive manner. And the solution was that people that have a little time; they would really appreciate help from people that have a lot of time. And the best way that those people can help each other is to simply exchange time cost. So if you're a player with little time on your hands, because of real life duties, but you have good income, then you might decide "well I've got a subscription to EVE, and I'll give a time cost to this guy and that guy, and they will give me some cash back. In-game cash. So that means that you are paying in-game subscription time for three to five people. That benefits EVE, because EVE is better as more people join. The sandbox approach, in terms of design, really requires that you have a lot of population. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: What kind of tools do you have in-game to facilitate that? Eyjólfur: Basically we designed it to use the tools that we have, which is the market. So you, as the guy who is looking around to give time-cost to people, you can simply go to the market, and you can sell the time cost on the market, and for the market price you know exactly what you get, and they know exactly what they're buying. Yes, you guys are exchanging value within the game, but nobody is taking value out of the game. And the in-game currency that's being exchanged is earned through positive game play. So it does not break the game, it helps people function together, and it is keeping EVE larger and more interesting. So, in fact, as a player, if you're a person that has a lot of time on your hands, you can actually play EVE for free. Even though anybody will tell you that there is no such thing as free - you are just paying with your time! <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Now, one of the first questions that was asked at the economy round table, which led to the epic discussion that went on, was where you saw the economy going in the future. Based on the discussion and the already established fans that you have, where do you think that CCP is going to bring the economy in five years? Eyjólfur: We have a big picture on the horizon that says that we want to have more advanced tools available to players. And the focus is on the tools. The players have shown us that the market, by itself, is player driven. So we don't have to think at all about the market as such, we just have to make sure that there are the tools available to make more advanced financial options. And to do that, we need to continue to add tools into the game. So as long as we are adding tools and new stuff, as long as that is happening, the game will continue to evolve, and it will evolve by the players. Once again, when I just started working with CCP, I was really amazed with the involvement of the players; not only within the game, but in terms of the stuff that they are creating outside of the game. And then the meta-game as well. The meta-game is really a strong element of the economy. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: OK, so tools play a major part, as a lot of the economy is all player driven. Which tools could you add to facilitate things like... a player driven stock market, for example. Eyjólfur: We could take it in several dimensions. It could be simple tools, as simply making currently available graphics more interesting. It could be advanced tools that add to the corporate floor that we have. So you would have new kinds of corporations, maybe corporations that can be a better foundation for a stock market, for example. So all that that requires is a new level of programming and game design for those concepts. So that's a big task, as such. And nothing has been decided on this front yet, but just this just an example of where we could take it. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: One of the things where the argument has blown back and forth is adding tools that instil the ability for players to not rip each other off. Trust tools, while they somewhat exist in real life, like the government, or the police, it's not so much in EVE. What are your thoughts on that, and is that something where you definitely think that there's a middle ground? Eyjólfur: There's definitely a middle ground, and I would tend more towards the EVE ground, rather than the middle. I have a strong belief that players themselves, if they want to, then they can create this trust. As we mentioned earlier, there are a range of individuals that are known for their trust. And trust does exist in EVE, contrary to what you might believe when you read the real life stories about EVE—about the scandals and so on. But the fact of the matter is that there is actually more trust than distrust. Because without the trust, we wouldn't have hundreds of people showing up in local, and fighting against another group of several hundred players. So there is definitely trust in EVE. What people are maybe talking about is to maybe institutionalize that trust, so that you, as an individual, don't have to think too much about, and just go on and do your business.... That's definitely a valid argument, but that would make EVE less interesting for the people. So keeping it to the initial design of EVE, to the initial vision that this is a hard world where you have to be really careful about where you go, and with whom you interact. It's a more interesting way to play EVE. You can play real life in real life, but in EVE, you want to play EVE. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: No, I definitely agree with you, I think that adds an element of immersion that keeps players really engaged, in an "anything can happen" kind of thing.  During the panel you posited a metaphorical question about a player named Chribba. No-one raised their hand when you asked "who doesn't trust this guy," so, obviously, there are players that everyone trusts and everyone knows. But then with that great power comes that responsibility, where he could completely rip everyone off. I guess the question that I'm trying to ask here is... aren't there tools that you can give the players to help prevent that, and even offer punishment if players go rogue? Eyjólfur: We would much rather the players themselves punish the individuals. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Maybe tools to help players punish the individuals. Eyjólfur: They can put out a war declaration against the person that they think has done something bad. That means they can find them wherever they are in space, and basically take their stuff. So you have the ability to avenge actions that you feel were taken against you. We sometimes use the metaphor from the old government system that we had in Iceland. There was no government. They just met once a year, and if somebody had an issue with a fellow countryman, it was either put up with a duel on the spot, or they were fined, or they were required to pay in other ways. So if that person that had that judgement put on him decided not to honor it, then he was an outcast. So you were an outcast if you didn't want to go by the rules. And this is basically what you can say is a part of EVE. You can go about suing anybody you want to - declaring war left and right - but, in the end, you will be an outcast. You have to work with people in order to thrive. <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/144098" target="_blank"><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/4/d/4df1bf3109fc1c0337fbee09e28cd5ff.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: The wild, wild west of space. Eyjólfur: It is the wild, Wild West of space, yes. It is even beyond that in my understanding, because the wild, Wild West was all about taking over space and institutionalizing it. In EVE, it's more or less about taking over space simply in terms of profiting from it, so you can continue to do what you want. So I feel that the analogy with the wild, Wild West is much more about taking over wild space, then putting it to use. Players can do it if they want to, but generally they just go out there, take all this space, profit from it, and then someone comes and takes it eventually. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: What about the UI? Will you be adding anything to that? Eyjólfur: The UI is something that we are always working on. We have a team within the development team that is focusing on UI. So, just like all other UI that you need, it needs to be constantly evolved over time. There are definitely a lot of ways that you could take the UI within the game and provide the players with more interesting depth; which is kind of exciting for us, <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Changing pace entirely. You come from an economic background; you're an economist in the real world, as well as in the imaginary. How has this experience changed your life and even your view of humanity? Eyjólfur: That's a good question. How has this changed my view of humanity? Let's put it this way. From a standpoint as an economist, I've been really impressed by the fact that when you have an economy, like EVE Online, where you have very few regulations and very few rules, how efficient the market is. And it's actually conforming perfectly with the economic theories that are about. So EVE fits the economics often more efficiently than real life does. And that is because there are fewer distortions in EVE. The market is displayed, and the profits are homogenous. So it is closer to the theoretical world rather than real life. This has made me fight for more open markets and fewer regulations. It makes sense to me. You just have to make sure you don't have a misbalance between lack of information on one hand, and lack of regulation on the other hand. This is what I think really was a problem with our current financial recession. It's that we were relaxing the regulations faster than we could take off information. Let's put that aside for now. So it has really confirmed what I've always thought about economics. It can really describe behaviour, and it has really meaningful ways of communicating to us about what people want. We've got plenty of examples in EVE, where prices have changed instantaneously when we change something. And people instantly change to the prices as they go up. People instantly change their choices, because they have their preferences, and we make a change, and that doesn't fit into their currently selection. Taking to a more philosophical level in terms of what has it done in terms of early humanity. If anything, it has rather increased my belief that humanity will be able to solve its own problems, rather than not, because it's incredible to see what the players can do with their dedication and with their knowledge to improve the experience of EVE. They’re truly creating the content of EVE, because of the interesting factors that are happening left and right within EVE. They come up with tools to report on these issues, to communicate with each other on these issues, which is actually quite exciting. And they are doing things much more rigorously than I would have imagined. Taking that all together, I would say that, yeah, they've increased my belief in humanity. In that humanity can really solve its problems if you allow people to tackle the solutions directly. Not try to direct them in any way as to how they should solve their problems. Just give them the time and the tools, and they will, with their creativity, come up with really all sorts of solutions. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Do you think that you've learned some things, having worked on EVE, that you could apply to real life economics? Eyjólfur: Absolutely. I think I'm learning more every day about how effectively problems can be solved, if you allow individuals to interact, and that goes with economics as well. So every day that we look at the date, there is always an interesting observation that you can see about how the market is functioning, and how important transparency and the information flow are. So I've definitely learned a lot about the application of the knowledge I had before. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Wrapping up here, the EVE economy is rated one of the coolest things around, as far as virtual economies are concerned. DUST 514 and EVE Online will somewhat depend on each other. How much influence have you had with the economy that will exist in DUST? It won't be as complex, as I understand, but it certainly will have some depth to it. Eyjólfur: Well, Dust 514 and EVE are just going to be an awesome combination. This is the first time that you'll see a console game that is based on the player tactics there, merged with an established MMO that has players in the hundreds of thousands. Just like when we started EVE, well, we started the development of EVE around 2000; people told us that some of our choices were impossible. Now we're saying that we'll take those ideas to a different level. To me, this is something that is going to be absolutely awesome as a concept, and very interesting to see if we can take the economy of EVE and extend it to Dust 514. So we are in a constant discussion eternally about what is the best way of doing this, and how will we go about doing this. And, so far, all we can say is, really, when you've started something as complex as this one, it's something that you think will last for a long time, you start up slow and then you expand it. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Definitely, because you have EVE, which is an established game and it has a stable economy. If you put too much interdependence on a game that’s future is completely uncertain, that could lead to trouble. I would imagine that there is a lot of emphasis on making sure that EVE doesn't rely on DUST 514 too much. Eyjólfur: I mean these should grow organically. We want the EVE players and the Dust players to talk together and then form the social interaction together. And we learn from experience that these things happen slowly. And you want to take small steps - you want to take good steps! - but you want to take small steps as you move along. And as a design philosophy, that's definitely something that we will be using when we're doing this. But it's still going to be absolutely interesting to relay a lot of interaction that these players will still be able to have. It's going to be awesome. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: When do you think the Icelandic government is going to tap onto CCP for some help? Eyjólfur: So we're more often looking for an outsider's view of things, rather than looking closer and seeing what can happen. And I think there's a small community, so people know what they're doing. Unfortunately, I think that the Icelandic government is currently too bogged down into the legal aspects of our current problems, rather than thinking about the future aspects. And maybe that's just what the government should be doing, because we have some very interesting phenomenon that's going on in Iceland these days. We have a ministry that was established by the people, called the ministry of ideas. And these are entrepreneurs. Young people that meet, I think they meet at least once a week, and they establish an incentive for entrepreneur companies. And they are doing some interesting stuff, and just taking up ideas and just saying "this is stuff we can do!" And I really like that kind of grassroots growth, saying "we can still do stuff!" And I think that should come from the people, and that is what is going on. CCP is born in that environment. They're born from an idea of some young guys saying "I know we can do it, we just have to work really hard." Here we are, five years later, and we're still thinking ten years down, saying "I know we can do something, something more." So I think that CCP and the other entrepreneur companies - they do their thing, and the government needs to deal with the boring legal stuff, trying to figure out the mess that we're in, and hopefully they'll be wise enough to make sure it doesn't happen again. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM</a>: Well, congratulations on a job well done. You and your team have done some amazing things to EVE Online. We're looking forward to seeing what happens next. Thank you so much for sharing your time with us, we appreciate it. Eyjólfur: No problem! Andrew "Tamat" Beegle Editor-in-Chief ZAM.com CCP Forms Permaband, Spits Hot Fire [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20014 And now for something completely different. When you think of CCP, you probably picture ships flying through space in EVE Online, or maybe even wonder <a href="http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20004" target="_blank">what you'll see</a> in DUST 514. Whatever images pop into your head, I doubt a rap group was one of them. Well, say hello to Permaband. Members of the CCP team formed the group and posted <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VgvM7av1o1Q" target="_blank">their video</a> for the song "HTFU" on YouTube. According to the link on the EVEOnline <a href="http://www.facebook.com/eveonline" target="_blank">Facebook page</a>, the song was performed and produced in house. Oh, and they "spit hot fire." It's true. Here's a taste of their rhymes: "Every day is a fight, there's no room for bloopers. Bugs coming at us like in Starship Troopers. We help when we can, every child, every man. Treat the boogie man to a permanent ban!" Check out the video if you don't believe me. Actually, wait a minute. If you're at work, don't watch the video yet. Wait until you're home. As CCP puts it, the video's "not safe for YOUR work, sorry--so quit and join us so you can watch it." Fanfest EVE Online: Dominion Interview [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=20002 We learned an abundance of new information during the CCP Presents keynote on Saturday. After the presentation we sat down with EVE Online's Lead Game Designer, Noah Ward to get clarification on some of the newly announced features including Planetary Interactions, Mining Enhancements and the rise of the Jovians. <hr /> Noah Ward: Hi, my name is Noah Ward, I also go by Hammerhead, and I am the lead game designer. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> First of all, can you just go into a little bit more detail about the sovereignty capture system that's going in? Noah: It's really simple, and that was the whole goal of it. You just plunk down your clay marker and that's really all it takes. There's a bit of a timer. In order to take it back, you have to have 51% of the gates in the system controlled with these, we'll call them "disruption beacons," I don't know if that will be the final name. Basically you have to have, what we consider air superiority of the space in order to make the clay marker vulnerable. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> OK, so there will be new planets and stars. Does that have anything to with DUST? Are those in preparation somewhat? <a name="pause" title="pause"></a>Noah: It does. The planets in EVE and the planets in DUST are the exact same planets, it's the same universe. And the look of the planets in EVE and DUST are the exact same. So when you are in orbit over a planet in EVE or DUST, they're all procedurally generated and every planet has a unique ID in the database, and the look of the planet is seeded from its unique ID, and it will look the same across both, with the same climate and everything. <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/144103" target="_blank"><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/b/b/bb582a50db6b27aaebe17c99fb2d444d.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> So what's the story with the Jovians? We hear they're evil, they're awesome. Harbingers of doom speaks pretty loudly to me, so what's the story? Noah: I mean, can't really say, they're an enigma those Jovians. I mean, I can't really go into more details about them. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> So no basic stories or anything leading up to what's going on? Noah: No, not yet. We're going to have the planetary interaction stuff, we're going to have Incarna, we're going to have DUST, and Jovian are out there. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> On that topic, going over the planetary interactions, we heard that it was a little bit like gardening. What are some of the upkeep elements involved in having a district in these things? Noah: It's a planet, it's a living world down there and they're going to need inputs and outputs and various commodities. I would really like to see a way where they could interact with each other and you could have trade between districts, but also space elevators or mass drivers where you could get stuff off-world. Maybe one planet is like a water planet, and has entirely one type of commodity there that's valuable, but lacks a whole bunch of other commodities. So there you'll have trade opportunities and arbitrage opportunities for the players. So, I mean, I really want it to be heavily trade based, but I want it to be a dynamic system that the players will be able to influence. Rather than, like, we have this NPC trade system in game now where it's sort of static. Where, you know that if spiced wine is sold at this station, it will always be sold at this station and the range will be this much. What we want for the planet is a much more robust, a more real feeling world. And if this planet needs water or whatever type of commodity, then you'll be able to figure out ways to profit from that. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> Gotcha, but it's not as complex as say, Sim City, you won't actually be involved in the actual design of the planets. Noah: No, you're not drawing a little issues like "this is the commercial district and this is that", etc... <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> You're just dealing with the established populace that already exists? Noah: I also want it to scale really well. Say in our science and inDUSTry, there are fifty lab slots per station, and they all fill up. I really don't want a situation where players run into where they hear about this awesome planetary interaction, and they come into the game and they're like "Oh no, the planets are full! You can't play! Sorry!" It needs to be infinitely scalable. Obviously people have to fight over resources, but I want everybody to be able to enjoy it. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> But is there a finite number of districts that players can own? Or is it just going to scale as there are more players, there will be more areas? Noah: I'm not sure. The goal is that everyone is able to play, so however that ends up working out. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> But you have the opportunity, or the possibility of disrupting these districts. You can pollute them, etc. What kind of negative things can you do if you're not responsible? Noah: Well, all sorts of stuff. Or, your neighbours can be polluting you. And maybe this is the reason you go to war, you want to send some DUST mercenaries over there and tell them "dude, your factories are puking out stuff, and I'm trying to grow food here, and you're screwing me over. So either stop it or...." <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> So as the owner of one of these districts in EVE, when DUST 514 is out, you can actually hire a mercenary group to say "screw it, let's burn it to the ground! Let's get this pollution thing fixed!" That's something that can be solved that way as well? Noah: We're trying to build it so that you want DUST Mercs. Like, this is the one thing where EVE Players might be thinking; "Why the hell do I want some 12 year old on an Xbox or whatever, to be influencing MY EVE." Well, as the lead game designer of EVE, I'm really focused on the EVE players, and fulfilling the EVE player’s wishes, and making sure that their game is a game that we all want to play. And I'm never going to screw with their game in that sort of way, where they can have their experience messed up. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> For those who might not be familiar with Incarna, can you kind of go into some of the basic details of when that is, and then when we'll be able to see it? Noah: Hopefully we'll see it next year, but it’s about getting out of your ship and walking around. The goals behind it are to have everything player controlled, and all the places you go are owned by other players. We sort of feel like this will stop this sort of ghost town feeling you get in a lot of other games, where they build a lot of cities, and you're the only person. But if all the bars and all the corporation offices and the captain's quarters are all player owned, the players will just close them down if nobody comes. So, hopefully, they're all going to be well populated. <a href="http://www.zam.com/Im/image/144098" target="_blank"><img src="http://common.allakhazam.com/images/4/d/4df1bf3109fc1c0337fbee09e28cd5ff.jpg" alt="" /></a> <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> And this will be an additional way to create resources? Like having a bar, for example, how is that going to work, exactly? How are you going to be able to make money that way? Noah: Well, you'll be able to make money off of both selling stuff from the bar, and the mini-games, you can scrape some stuff off like a casino. And then there are also NPCs that are roaming, they're mercurial - they're not agents! They’re like the true underground of EVE. They're off the grid, and they don't register on any sort of computer network, and you can really only meet them in a bar face to face, because they won't talk to you over a communications network. If you do them favours, then they'll do favours for you. If you run a bar, and one of these guys appreciates you looking the other way, he'll want to do favours for the proprietor of the bar as well, so that's one way to profit. And you're going to want to run a bar that attracts these people, and by attracting these NPCs, that will attract players, and it's sort of a cycle. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> Is that to say that it will affect your flying around in space part of the game as well? Noah: Yeah, it absolutely will. The original idea was that it was going to be in DirectX 10, and not everyone would play it, and only if people had the certain hardware. But then we looked in and we said, "No, we want all the people who play EVE to be able to experience it." And when we changed the direction from being just a DirectX 10 thing all the way down to, like, Shader Model 2, we decided that now we can have this fully integrated. And the vision is that if a player joins EVE in a couple years from now, they will never even be able to fathom that there wasn't this part where you could walk around, like "what do you MEAN you were just your ship? That's not even possible!" So one of these agents might be able to tell you who's on the other side of the gate, or get you some sort of benefit, or a nice wormhole location, all sorts of stuff. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> One of the things that spoke pretty loudly to me was the whole "nuke from orbit" thing that was talked about. Is that mostly a joke? Or are we serious here with nukes from orbit in these districts, and how they will affect planetary interaction? Noah: When you consider, a Dreadnought is a tiny speck, and a planet is this huge massive thing, and in the future when you have all this space combat stuff, you're going to have planetary defences to stop random people from coming in and nuking it from orbit. So what you're going to need is stuff on the ground to knock out these planetary defences BEFORE you can glass it from orbit. But yeah, it's just every space ship captain’s dream to bomb the crap out of a place. So the whole idea that CCP has with EVE is that we're trying to make the ultimate science fiction simulator. We're trying to create this world, this rich, deep world that goes in and expands out and recreates every one of those cool sci-fi moments you've had in movies and books, and everything when you think of science fiction. We want EVE to be like that, and bombing planets is definitely one of them, the seedy bar, and the canteena, all of that stuff. We want all of these really cool, gritty sci-fi experiences to be in our world, but with our spin on it. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> So we start with a nuke and we graduate to a Death Star! Noah: Right! <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> My last question is about the mining enhancements—mining the planetary orbital rings and the comets. In what ways does that add value for miners, and also, how does that make mining a much more enjoyable experience? Noah: I like to think of it as either fly fishing or like golf. It's where it's really sort of easy to pick up, but to master it takes much more. So you pick your tools and you consider, like "do I want to use a Nine Iron?" And so on. So first you're scanning the system to try to find where the good stuff is, so you find that this section of this planetary ring maybe has something. And then you go in there and you use a different kind of scanner. But the results are not just like, "this is Arkanoid, just put your laser on it and do it." There's more to the makeup of the rocks that you can sort of use your knowledge of the system and say, "OK well we're going to pick this item and use it." Like fly fishing has all of these different things, and you look at the river and you think "Ah, the bass want me to use this little orange dude." But you can use anything and maybe catch a fish, but the better you are and the cooler tech you have, and the better your gear and your knowledge is, the more you're going to get out of it. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> So we're graduating from mindless harvesting, there's going to be a skill set to it? Noah: Yeah, there will be a skill set, but we want it to be player skill and not just training up skills. Also, there will be some downtime to it. Much in the same way with fishing and golf, where you smack the ball, and you socialize with some people, and you walk and talk, and then you hit the ball again. In fly fishing, you cast out there and then you hang out with your buddies. We want that experience. First you check out things and you use your skill, and then you just... mine some! And you kick back and you talk to your friends on EVE Voice or something, sing karaoke or be stupid. We really want to maximize human interaction, so in order to have good human interaction; you have to have some sort of downtime. I think it's one of the things that makes Counter-Strike so successful. It's not just constant shooting each other in the face; there's this in between rounds where you get the chance to build a community with people. So if it was just constant clicking, then you couldn't socialize. And we want to make a game where people socialize with each other and have fun with their social structures. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> A continuation of that; if you're mining a comet, is there a finite number of resources, or is a "catch it while you can," and then you'll see it later? Are there going to be specific comets that you'll see? Noah: We haven't really decided exactly how it's going to be, but we do want to be able to have that "eureka!" strike it rich. <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> Like, "there's Haley’s comet!" Noah: Yeah, like you're on Corp Chat and you're like "Guys guys! We need a lot of people here right now, because we're going to miss it if we don't do it!" <a href="http://www.zam.com/" target="_blank">ZAM:</a> Excellent. Thanks for being so generous with your time. Noah: Thanks! Andrew "Tamat" Beegle Editor-in-Chief ZAM.com CCP Presents - Fanfest 2009 Keynote [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=19969 If you weren't one of the 3,000 viewers watching the CCP Presents Keynote today, you'll be excited to know that there was plenty of new information about DUST 514 and what's to come after EVE Online: Dominion. In addition the announcement that EVE Online now has over 302,657 subscribers, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson told the crowd that the company has a new goal of reaching 600,000 active users. Considering the EVE Online team is now 5x the size it was at launch, this is definitely a possible and something to believe in. Make sure to check out our summarized after the jump and stay tuned for our DUST 514 gameplay impressions, and transcribed interviews covering DUST 514, EVE Online and the overarching economy.<a name="pause" title="pause"></a>Technology Upgrades Server and Database Upgrades - Significant Upgrades. Patch Deployment Upgrades - Patch day issues will now be a mostly painless process. Due to upgrades the EVE team can push an hotfix in an hour. What's to Come After Dominion Announcements Formations - "Looks Awesome" and provide squadrons with multiple bonuses. Adds organization. Treaties - Alliances and Corps will be able to make binding contracts to corps or players. This will allow that gang of noobs to mine in your zerosec! Planetary Ring Mining - This will make mining more engaging and interactive as you'll be able to scan down veins of rare ore and other new resources. We were told that players will rediscover that goldrush feeling. Comet Mining - Imagine scanning down comets that contain organic compounds to harvest. That's the overall concept here. Jovians - You may already know them, but not as well as you will in the near future. They are evil, they are uber, they are harbringers of doom. Oh ... and they have l33t ships. Planetary Interactions - One of the features that I'm the most excited about as it's a new barrier of entry. It was explained a bit to sound like human gardening. Nurture good growth. Prune the dead branches. Kill the weeds. Check on it regularly. DUST 514 News No Classes - Instead of choosing a class in a traditional MMO, players will define their role by the gear they choose to carry. How DUST and EVE are linked - Eve and Dust 514 will be link using phased implementation strategy at specific stages during the life-cycle of the two products. No Subscription Fee - DUST 514 will operate on a micro-transaction model. Andrew "Tamat" Beegle Editor-in-Chief ZAM.com Opening Ceremony Focuses on Social Networking [EVE Online] http://www.zam.com/story.html?story=19968 The ZAM team is currently in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the sixth annual EVE Fanfest to celebrate with players and learn more about Dominion and DUST 514. We got the chance to attend yesterday's opening ceremony and heard all sorts of details about COSMOS, the upcoming social networking application that will be implemented in the EVE universe. Actually, forget the codename COSMOS, because it was announced during the ceremony that the real name of the tool is New Eden. CCP Exective Producer Nathan Richardsson kicked off his speech by congratulating a couple who got married on Friday and giving them a book signed by members of the EVE team. The newlyweds actually met at last year's Fanfest and are celebrating their honeymoon in Iceland. Richardsson also discovered through members of the audience that there were players in attendance from as far away as South Africa and Australia. Richardsson then jumped right into a discussion about New Eden by saying that many people in this day and age gather their information through numerous sources and tools. He said that New Eden will let you "communicate with anybody whether they're in-game or out of game, or wherever you are in the world."<a name="pause" title="pause"></a>Richardsson said the EVE team will be using New Eden to increase communication between friends and distribute news about the game through multiple platforms and various types of media. "We don't feel that you should be limited to actually interacting just when you're actually playing, he said. "The reason we're still playing EVE after six years is not because it's the most awesome game in the universe, which it is, but it's also that your friends are there. That's really the key thing here." He mentioned that CCP has sold more than 80,000 EVE novels. "We wanted to provide more back story" with the books, he said. This led Richardsson into a discussion about the big picture for EVE over multiple platforms, from mobile to consoles. "Stop thinking about it as a world. Think about it as a universe which has multiple entry levels," Richardsson said. Richardsson said the API is probably the "most awesome" tool of them all since it allows players to create third-party applications. "I'm constantly surprised by what's actually made," he said. Richardsson continued to emphasize that New Eden will use mobile devices, such as iPhones and Blackberry phones, to keep players connected. He said the social networking tool is CCP's fundamental way to help EVE live on for years to come by bringing the universe to multiple platforms. "While we're doing it, we're exposing so much in-game functionality outwardly, but it's actually enabling us to go to all the other platforms," he said. DUST 514, CCP's upcoming console-based MMOFPS, is one such new entry into new platform. The game will be integrated into New Eden. "There you will have the mercenaries and pilots in the same universe. You will actually be having a mutual, beneficial relationship between the two. ... We actually have meaningful gameplay on both sides," Richardsson said. As for CCP's future plans with EVE, Richardsson said the company is looking at machinima and movies to add to the game's story. Associate Producer Helga then took the stage to give more details on the social networking tool. She officially announced that COSMOS will now be known as New Eden. "It's basically your EVE away from EVE," she said, emphasizing that you'll be able to see what's happening in the EVE universe from anywhere. "It's the start of something really big." She then discussed some of the features that will be included in the New Eden release that's planned for the first quarter of 2010. You'll have access to character profiles with your corporation information and employment history and be able to view your skills and training queues. You'll be able to make status updates to let your friends know what you're doing and keep track of your friends' and corporation/alliance feeds. There will be a new mail system, which was greeted by loud applause from the audience. Labels will be used to organize mail and there will be corporation and alliance mailing lists, as well as spam prevention. There will also be a calendar that will allow you to view corporation and alliance events, as well as keep track of your personal events. Official CCP events will also be posted on the calendar. The EVE client buddy system and standings will be fused together with the new two-way friend system to create a new contact list. You'll be able to use labels to manage your contacts and see an overview of your friends and enemies, as well as your friends' friends and enemies' enemies. Andrew "Tamat" Beegle Editor-in-Chief ZAM.com Darryl "Togikagi" Gangloff News Reporter ZAM.com