Kill of the week this week is courtesy of a TEST Alliance ratter: (more…)
May 19, 2012
May 19, 2012
I missed a spot
Yep, I screwed up. And I will repeat my ability to be an anomaly on the Internet by freely admitting it. 
(more…)
May 19, 2012
Empty ships, empty space
{lang: ‘en-GB’}
All would look harmonious at home but for the stray signature that’s ruining my zen garden of anomalies. How unpleasant, it’s some gas. I activate the ladar site to start its inevitable decay, before leaving it behind me as I jump to our neighbouring class 3 w-space system for today. All that waits for me beyond the static wormhole is a small canister, and that only on my directional scanner. A single planet sits out of range of d-scan, one that thankfully has moons and so the possibility of hidden occupation, so I launch probes whilst out of view and warp in that direction to see if anyone lurks at the edge of the system. (more…)
May 19, 2012
Re-rendering Character Portraits
Recently, I decided to have a bit of a tinker with my character portrait. I didn’t want a complete change-around that some people seem to go for; my character wasn’t about to go changing hairstyles, getting tattoos and magically gaining scars. I just wanted something subtle. A change of angle, pose, lighting, maybe some makeup fixes – just to spice things up a bit. And since its free to do so these days (unlike before we had the new chargen), why the hell not? (more…)
May 19, 2012
Well, that’s about the same
So, I've had a good long while to think about this. It's time to bring out Malcanis's Law: "Whenever a mechanics change is proposed on behalf of 'new players', that change is always to the overwhelming advantage of richer, older players." Jester's first Corollary to Malcanis's Law states "Any mechanics change to sovereignty will ultimately benefit larger alliances at the expense of smaller alliances." (more…)
May 19, 2012
White Power
“You remember me telling you about the questions I was asking of the CSM?” Mike pulled a chair over to the table where Scotty was sitting with Ev.
“You did say you would get back to me if anybody answered.” Scotty nodded.
“What this be about, eh?”
“Mike is trying to see if he can make changes or suggestions to the CSM even if nobody ever votes for him.” Scotty laughed and waved a hand. “So he writes to all thirteen of the CSM elected and asks them questions. Last time he asked about the first weeks, this time he is focussing on the White Paper.”
“What be a White Paper, den?” Ev’s Minmatar heritage was never far from the surface, even if he had been born and bred Gallente. “Sounds fishy ta me.”
Mike fielded the question. “It is a combination historical document and . . . well, a constitution, I suppose. It sets out the reasoning for the existence of the CSM as well as basic ground rules for them to follow in their deliberations. Thing is, it was written a long time ago and has not been kept up to date.”
“How you supposed to keep a historical document up ta date, then. If you change it . . . it no be historical.”
“Good point . . . maybe they need to lay this one down and almost start over. But since I did not want to try writing one just for them too laugh at I decided to try and work with the document at hand as a jumping off point and I sent a question or two to each member of the CSM.”
“Any of them willin ta give you the time o’ day?”
“Yes, but not as many as last time, sadly. But the last to answer last time was the very first to answer this time, Kelduum.”
“He’s that ‘Eve Uni’ guy, right?” Ev asked.
“Right, I asked him . . .
In the white paper it suggests that things that are being considered will be labelled ‘marked for consideration’ This way the voting population can weigh in and comment or argue their cases further.
Should this idea be removed from the white paper or better enforced within the CSM and CCP communications
“See, in the old days you knew what the CSM and CCP were talking abot and you could put your own opinion forward to try to sway the council to see things your way. Now it is all in the election then we know bugger all about what happens the rest of the time until changes are announced. Not what you call a lot of opportunity for input from the voting public. Keld answered . . . “
It would be nice for the CSM to be able to provide a list of topics being covered with CCP at any point, however there will likely be some NDA issues (discussing changes to mechanic X, which influences players expecting specific changes), and the amount of work documenting all the topics covered could easily be a full-time job, so it will likely be one of the elements which is updated significantly.
Obviously its a very fine line between providing information, and providing NDA’d material, and I’m sure as time goes on, the newer CSM members (such as myself) will find the appropriate balance.
“So what is this NDA, then?”
“Secrecy act . . . keep the CSM from spilling beans before their time. The philosopher Paul Barnett once said that if you even hint at a change there will be barbarians at your gates tomorrow demanding it be released right now and complaining each day that they are denied their inaliable right to whatever they think they heard you think wishfully about. He’s right. You Have to keep some secrets becuase a lot of the pilot population is prone to overreact.”
“Next Dovinian answered. I tweeked him about not running a high profile campaign and he was a it rueful about it . . . but hey, he DID get alected.”
“Unlike some folks we know” Scotty muttered.
“Right, well him I asked . . . “
In the paper the method for measuring CSM participation was attendence to meetings. How should the measure be taken with the new CSM format?
There are talkers and there are workers. So far (excluding yourself) who has done the most work?
“If there are no frmal meetings or minutes then how are we supposed to know who did what, if anything. The last election had a fair share of name calling and accusations but no numbers to back any of those accusations up. Dovi answered . . . “
With the CSM having a constant conversation and ability to contact CCP Devs 24/7 (or when they’re around) it’d be very difficult to measure activity in that sense. Through the Skype chats, it’s also very easy to grab a Dev privately and bring your concern up wiht them that way — sometimes that’s a better approach in a few cases.
We have some collaborative tools that we use to work on papers and ideas together, those are really nice because it shows who has made what edits/additions.
He declined to say who worked the least, but that is not what I asked. He DID say that the veteran members . . .
The people who have been contributing the most are the CSM6 veterans by far though from what I’ve noticed. They’ve really been the heavy hitters this time around.
Mike grinned. “I like that guy. He takes pride in what he has done and really seems to care.” Sighing Mike went on. “The next question was the hardest for me to ask but it did impinge directly on phrases in the White Paper . . . and how they affected the Mittani.”
“Uh oh”
“Yeah. See the Mittani was dropped from the CSM becaue of a TOS breach. To quote the legal findings . . .
Following a thorough internal review CCP has decided to respond to this clear violation of our Terms of Service
The White Paper was very explicit on matters like this. It says . . .
Breach of the EULA or TOS by a CSM representative is grounds for dismissal and permanent exclusion from all pending and future participation in the council’. There are no exceptions
So I had to ask someone about this and Two-Step drew the short straw. His response was . . .
Is The Mittani taking part in the alumni skype channel?
Not at the moment. One thing that I would point out is that techincally, the EULA/TOS breach wasn’t considered to have happened while he was on the CSM, which is why he is allowed to run for CSM 8.
Looking forward to going back?
Yes. The only summit I have been to was the emergency summit. I’m looking forward to the chance to do less damage control and more real feedback and brainstorming. Of coruse, I am also looking forward to more Bacon subs from Nonnis..
Scotty whistled. “He is walking the fine line there.”
Mike nodded. “I wasn’t out to vilify or flog a dead horse further, just pointing out that they may want to remove the ‘No Exceptions’ if they plan on making any.”
“Next up was Aleks Karrde, leader of NOIR.”
“He and his did great work in Jita.” Ev said grinning. “Considering the numbers arrayed on each side they were fantastic.”
“Agreed. Him I asked . . . . “
Given that you guys have altered the meeting format to now a rolling conversation, as opposed to formal meetings,
Do you think that there needs to be some method put inot place to keep players up to date as to what is going on?
The guidline recommended in the white paper was every other week. Would it be reasonable to ask that we get updates in such a timeframe?
“His response was guarded . . . “
This is a difficult subject because the rolling conversation almost invariably discusses NDA material. In the case of the CSM/CCP joint channel, the entire thing is NDA protected so devs and CSM can interact freely and frequently.
I’m gonna decline to comment on specific solutions till we have an opportunity to sit down with CCP and collaborate on a solution that allows us to be transparent with players while also preserving the benefits of free, open, and constant communication within the CSM itself and between CSM + the development team.
“But since then it HAS been announced that the CSM will be having a town hall meeting so I suppose that is a huge step forward.”
“Especially if more than one person talks.” Ev grumbled.
“Especially then. Trebor I asked . . . “
There has been suggested that Real Names be removed from the ballots to add a level of anonymity and allow people to campaign without opening themselves up to Real World harassment.
Water under the bridge, of course, for any candidate who has already run.
Where do you stand on this proposal?
“Trebor did nt disappoint me and was as straight forward and common sense as ever. . . .”
I think CSM candidates should have to reveal their identities to the voters.
We are not voting for toons, we are voting for people to represent us to the company. Who those people are in RL has relevance.
“The last word, I leave to the chairman of the CSM who was very busy on many fronts but he still took them time to reply. I asked Seleene . . .”
Will the CSM white paper make it onto the table as a subject for dsicussion/revision in the upcoming summit?
Would you be interested in hearing the opinions of non-CSM members as to specific parts of the WP that need attending to?
“He kept the answer brief and to the point.
it will be at least Monday before I can give you a more detailed reply than YES and YES.
“I thanked him for his answer, that was all I really needed and not much more than that. Now I wish I could listen to the Town Hall meeting live and even ask some question directly but have other duties.”
“So, is THIS the end f your nagging those poor guys?”
Mike smiled. “It is, for this month.”
******************************************************************************************
Lessons
Typed on a tablet so forgive me any formatting issues.
I do wish I could hear the Townhall meeting live but I am on the road right now and umnable to get more than chancy coffee shop level connections or ‘one bar’ of network in a motel.
If any of you DO make it. Ask questions, thank them for what they have done. TAKE PART
and fly it like you won it
m
May 18, 2012
Investor attractant
38 Studios, the people behind the Kingdom of Amalur MMO that's been listed off to the right there forever are having some financial difficulties (look them up on Google). But almost certainly as a result of that, are letting the covers off their upcoming MMO a bit. Today, they released this "fly-over" video of the terrains for the MMO: (more…)
May 18, 2012
The Eve Sidekick
Best to start thinking about this now. Once Eve starts walking around in stations properly, like all good science-fiction characters, we are going to need sidekicks. (more…)
May 18, 2012
With Friends Like These… – New Ally System
In EVE Online, wars are fought for any reason the human mind can come up with and are a true melting pot of emergent game play. We've always left it to the players to define WHY they fight, but we've also always wanted to give you guys more tools to frame your war-mongering ambitions.
The new Ally System introduced in the upcoming Inferno expansion is an addendum to the war mechanics, one that allows players to more easily get aid when finding themselves dragged into an unfavorable war, through our mercenary marketplace. A corporation or alliance can join a defender in a war as an ally, fighting alongside the defending side. The war system will effectively regard the two one entity when it comes to tracking war progress.
A previous dev blog (found here) discussed the ally system a bit, but now we have more to show on the UI side and can discuss the nitty gritty in a bit more detail.
My Kingdom For An Ally
So, lets say you find yourself on the receiving end of war declaration and you want to swing the odds a bit more in your favor. You want to it to be known that you’re interested in getting help.
To do so, you go to your Corporation panel in the Neocom and select the Wars tab.
In the 'Our Wars' tab you’ll see the wars you’re engaged in. You can click the sword in a war in which you’re the defender and check the Open for Allies checkbox on the bottom of the popup window called Allies (which also lists all active allies you have, and existing ally offers). Note that only the CEO (or a Director) can make this change.
Click to enlarge
The 'Our Wars' tab also lists the ally status of your wars and shows the wars that you’re an ally in.
If you’re the CEO/Director, you see an exclamation mark (!) next to the sword, when you’ve received an offer from someone interested in becoming your ally. The offer includes a text field and an ISK amount. You can either accept or decline the offer. If you want to negotiate with the interested party, you can use the normal communication channels for that until an agreement is reached.
Can I Come In And Play?
On the other side of the coin, if you want to become an ally for some interested party willing to pay for your services, your first stop is the All Wars tab in the Corporation/Wars section. This is a list of wars to spectators, but a mercenary marketplace to potential sellers of muscle.
In the All Wars tab you will see a list of all active wars (it shows 50 most recent, you can also use the search function to find wars of a specific corporation/alliance). Wars where the defender is asking for an ally are shown with a plus sign on the sword. Wars where there is one or more allies is shown with an asterisk (*) next to the sword.
Click to enlarge
The best way to find prospective patrons is to filter by checking the ‘Assistance requests only’ checkbox. You can now see all wars where the defender is seeking allies.
Click on the sword icon on the right, this will bring up a box where you can enter message and suggested ISK cost and send it to the defending corp/alliance to initiate contact. When the defender accepts an ally offer, the ally becomes a formal part of the war and can start fighting 24 hours later.
Say Hello To My Little Friend the Rules Lawyer
Now it’s time to step back a little and look at some of the rules and regulations surrounding the ally system. Let’s do it in a nice, tight bullet point list:
- There are no limits to how many allies you can have
- There is no limit to how many wars you can be an ally in
- You get an ally for a specific war, not all wars you’re in. You can ally with the same corp/alliance several times though
- Only the defender can get allies
- If a corporation that is an ally joins an alliance, then the ally status transfers to the alliance as a whole
- A corporation/alliance cannot join as an ally against a corporation/alliance they are already at war with.
- Similarly, if you’re already an ally against someone, you cannot declare a separate war against them or join as an ally against them again. Basically, ally status counts as being at war with the aggressor corp/alliance, so anything that would create a new war state between them cannot happen
- The payment from the defender to the ally is a one-time payment, it does not recur every week
- The ally cannot seperately negotiate peace with the aggressor – the war ends for him at the same time as the defender (either because the bill wasn’t paid or either side surrenders)
- When you offer to ally someone, you must wait for them to respond, or 24 hours (which ever comes first) before making another formal offer.
Just Shut Up And Tell Me Why
So, now many long and fancy words have been spent to explain the what and how of the ally system. But the why is still left unanswered.
One of the main goals we had in reworking the war mechanics was introducing more options for the defender. The line we had to skirt here was maintaining the war system as primarily a tool mechanic (as opposed to feature mechanic), so whatever options we would introduce had to comply to that.
The ally system ended up being a good solution here, because not only does it provide a simple way for someone to get help, but it also introduced risk for the aggressor and an avenue, or career, for the many pilots interested in mercenary-like activity. And most importantly it emphasizes one of the key truths in EVE – that having friends is really important.
Future Is Not A Dirty Word
So what’s in store post-Inferno? While Team Super Friends is not going to do a whole-release worth of iteration on the ally system, there are a few things in the pipeline.
Setting a fixed contract length to ally contracts is one thing we want to do. While the current implementation is fine for the most part, there are a few edge cases where the eternal ally bond can become an issue. It should also make negotiations smoother, when the knowledge of the exact length of the contract is known beforehand.
Another thing we’re looking into is to exclude the ally system from mutual wars – if a war has been made mutual, then no allies can be involved and existing ally contracts are cancelled. This mitigates a little the fact that now when a war is made mutual the only way for it to end is by surrender. We’ll monitor the early experience with the system post-Inferno and make a decision whether this change is needed/wanted.
There are several improvements for the ally marketplace that we want to look into. Most notably, giving defenders the ability to enter more information when looking for allies, such as by allowing them to enter location, price range, etc. In a similar vein, allowing mercenaries to advertise their services is something we’re looking into, where they could filter by preferred area of operation, their strength, etc.
Another area we might iterate on a bit is the war report – we want to show more clearly the contribution of each ally in the war – how much loss they've inflicted and received as portion of the total. This is in addition to other additions we want to make to the war report that are not just ally related, such as introduce timelines and battle reports.
Finally, we want to expand a lot on the information spreading of wars and their state. We want to show information about active wars, their war reports and how wars concluded in EVE Gate. This can include several kinds of leaderboards, such as ranking war loss inflicted vs. war loss received, rank the effectiveness of allies (i.e. how much loss do they inflict of the total, etc.) and similar rank lists. One thing we want to be very careful about here is what data to count and what data is presented. For instance, wars against entities that actively fight back will count more for these rank lists, to encourage people to fight those willing to fight. Getting this information on EVE Gate would give players a better understanding of the military strength of corporations and alliances, with a special focus on mercenary corps. Naturally, it can also act as a nice status symbol for those interested in this kind of activity, with entities competing for the ‘Hall of Fame’.
On the whole, the ally system is an exciting addition to the war system, one that makes wars more of an uncertain business and an interesting avenue for mercenary pilots in New Eden.
New to EVE? Start your 14-day free trial today. (more…)
May 18, 2012
Tower down (in a good way)
Over the last, oh say, 6 months or so I’ve been running my high sec research tower. It finally got to the end of it’s run. I.e. Everything I wanted researched was researched to the levels I wanted them to be. Mostly this means up to 20ME and 20PE unless “perfect” happens before those values. The PE levels were more on the off chance CCP wakes up and notices that the manufacturing durations have very little effect on the price of any manufactured goods and decide “Oh, hey Dr. E was looking for more isk sinks”. (more…)