Welcome to the twentieth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

With the recent completion of the 3rd installment of the Hulkageddon last month, @CyberinEVE, author of Hands Off, My Loots!, asks: “Griefing is a very big part of EVE. Ninja Salvaging, Suicide Ganking, Trolling, and Scamming are all a very large part of the game. What do you think about all these things? You can talk about one, or all…but just let us know your overall opinion on Griefing, and any recommendations you may have to change it if you think it’s needed.”

********************

“So? You got it all out of your system? Those guys really ruined the race for you, didn’t they?” She handed him some painkillers and a drink.

“Who ruined it?” Mike grumbled.

“Those griefers who set up traps along the course of the race . . . they ruined it for everybody.”

Mike winced as he tried to open his eyes. “No. They were what made the race special. It is DEATH race, not ‘oooh, I can jump fast race’. Tell the truth, I don’t believe many griefers exist, at least not as many as people think.”

“I hear people all around talking about them, though.”

“Semantics. I will leave it to better people than I to do the definitions but what some call griefing others say are just the nature of the universe we are in. Some of my associates would probably be happy if they were the only people within three jumps of the belt they happen to be in. I don’t mind a little company . . .and I am willing to accept the fact that some of the company might be less than welcome or friendly. Thing is, we only allow grief to happen if WE make the mistakes.”

“So it is the victims fault? Oh do NOT go there with me.”

Mike winced and rolled over. “I went into 0.0 in a well announced path of a race. I cannot fault Agony for being there to greet me. I have read of many scams, almost ALL of them are based on the greed of the victim. The only griefing I can imagine even coming close to being not the fault of the victim is hisec ganking of miners. A well planned suicide gank crew can catch almost anybody. But if you pay attention and watch for the signs . . . and the changes to insurance . . not as bad as it once was. Smack talk . . . well I have block on my channels for some people who have irritated me. If they get to racial or below even my low standards . . . I no longer hear them. If they cross some very well defined lines then I block and toss their files to the authorities.”

He tried peeking again and found she had dimmed the lights. “Blame the victim DOES have validity. The guy who lost billions in a kestrel . . . it was his fault. He was not griefed, he knew damn well the chances he was taking. If I took my proteus into nullsec I would be a glowing target for every person who felt that killboard statistics were important. They would not be griefing me, they would be playing their game and I would be playing into their hands.”

“But you did take the race loss hard.”

“Yup, I don’t like losing and I wanted to do better. But I wasn’t griefed, I was killed, fair and square. I paid to enter that race and so I was the victim and I WAS to blame. I make a big thing about being what some call a carebear. But I have my eyes open, well figuratively speaking anyways. The big hunts and events of New Eden may be distasteful to some but then so is a Gallente Mardi Gras in Amarran holdings. You know what made me decide to become a capsuleer? In the end it was the stories of betrayal, of scams and of piracy. I wanted to be part of something larger, more dangerous than just planetary shenanigans. Even if I am not one of the predators, I want to prove that I am a canny prey.”

She smiled and kissed his forehead. “You need more rest.”

“I am a panda . . . I show up and fire missiles then I run.” He chuckled and was snoring a moment later.

“Panda? She called up the database in the next room and read the file of a long extinct beast of legend. The first line made her start laughing and looking back at the dark room where he was sleeping.

Panda. Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China. Eats, shoots and leaves.

“Still a big old teddy bear to me . . . ”

***********************************

Lessons

A few people told me that they felt this was a weaker subject for the blog banter. Thing is most of those people are regulars to the game and ahve adjusted to the mindset.

Put yourself back at the start, you have come out of games where friendly fire is impossible. Where pvp happens only in special areas or only when you purposely fly a special tag making it possible. Now you come here. Ganks, scams, suicides and pvp . . . we are an unforgiving group and some laugh if they are threatened with “I am gonna petition this!” type threats. I found it hilarious the anger and disappointment generated when one such petition was successful!

If players really want to be safe from other players . . . well, ask CCP to make a single player version of the game Eve-Elite. I played Elite on an Apple IIc long long ago. I like this better, with all the things that can go wrong there are so many more things that go right. Mainly the people I talk to. . . . you folks make this game addictive.

m

OOC————–

Welcome to the nineteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux (AT) gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

This months topic comes to us from @evepress, who he asks: The CSM: CCP’s Meta Game? The CSM, an EVE players voice to CCP. Right? In the grand scheme of things yes, the players bring up issues and the CSM presents them to CCP. But in its current iteration the CSM was supposed to be given small authority to assign CCP assets to projects that the CSM thought needed work on. As it has come out, this was not the case. So fellow bloggers, is the CSM worth it, has the CSM improved the game in any way, or is it just a well thought out scam by CCP to give us players a false sense of input in the game? What’s your take?

IC————————-

Scotty sat with Mike in the cafe and looked out on the hangers. Occasionally the comm would chime as some fool in a hurry would ask for ships sw3itches 20 seconds after their last ship switch and Scotty would yawn and tell them to slow down and take their time. Then the conversation would continue. “So you don’t think it is some huge stunt?”

‘Well, no.” Mike stretched his neck to see is he could get the waitresses attention and another round of coffee brought over. “The way I see it, as soon as they started the CSM they kinda put their rep on the line. The whining and complaining I see is the same sort you are handling right now. When someone wants change they want it right the hell now. As soon as they come up with a new idea they start to wonder why everyone else has not realized that this is the next thing that must be done and made the requisite changes. You have people who would bounce from ship to ship every 3 seconds if you let them. We have people who are the same way about ideas.”

“Well, there are ideas and then there are things that need to be done or should be done.”

Mike nodded. “I know and I do think that the ball does get dropped or laid aside in favor of some other new toy, every now and again. That is why the CSM is in place. To pick up the dropped balls and try to get them back in play. It is no secret that I am a big fan of the CSM and it would be damn hypocritical of me to slag them just because it was the current consensus.”

Scotty nodded and smiled. ‘So you think everything is fine?”

“Hell, no. I think we have a good CSM council and they are trying harder to be more effective and running into the bane of organizations everywhere.”

“Idiots in Charge?”

“No” Mike laughed. “Inertia and momentum. It is easy for the passenger to yell ‘turn here’ but a lot harder for the driver to comply if he is flying a fully loaded carrier. All organizations have this sort of inertia that makes sudden change damn near impossible. The bigger the organization, the slower it is to react to change, whether it is needed or not.”

Scotty muttered something about ” . . . . agile”

“Elephants can claim to be the most agile elephant in the herd, but they still are not going to be racing up the tree faster than a monkey. CCP is an elephant and it wants to be the biggest in the herd. It can trumpet agile all it wants but at the end of the day it has to plan each step out before it brings down its feet. CSM is trying to be the mahout on top of the elephant but once it is up to speed there are NO sudden turns. Right now the question running on the comms is whether the mahout should give up or whether the elephant may throw the rider completely. I think neither is going to happen.” He took a sip of his coffee. “It is not an even partnership. Never has been, never will be. CSM rides at the permission of the CCP but it is along for the ride and they share a common goal. Both want a better way to go. Five times has the CSM been elected and I don’t think we have the understanding of cooperation between rider and mount, yet. May not happen for a while.” Mike grinned “Maybe when I get elected.”

Laughter answered him. “Going to run again?”

“Try and stop me”

****************************************************

No, I don’t think it is a publicity stunt
No I don’t think the members are in it for the ‘free trip’
No, it is not perfect and probably never will be
Yes, it is getting better
Yes, we did well in the elections choosing good people (I’m looking at YOU Mynxee)

m

Other things said . . . .

1. Growing Pains | CrazyKinux’s Musing
2. CSM: Hoax or Serious Business? « Lost in New Eden
3. CSM-Power to the people or puppets of CCP « A whole lot of Yarrrr!!!
4. Gaming the CSM | A Mule in EvE
5. A Taste Of Democracy | StarFleet Comms
6. CSM: Player Power or Paper Tiger? | I Am Keith Neilson
7. Governance Thrash Redux? « The Ralpha Dogs
8. CCP Doesn’t Care: Blog Banter 19 « OMG! You’re a Chick?!
and a whole buncha others, cross link or go to kinux to see a more complete list

Welcome to the eighteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

On May 6th 2010, EVE Online celebrated its 7th Anniversary. Quite a milestone in MMO history, especially considering that it is one of the few virtual worlds out there to see its population continually grow year after year. For some of you who’ve been here since the very beginning, EVE has evolved quite a lot since its creation. With the expansion rolling out roughly twice a year, New Eden gets renewed and improved regularly. But, how about you the player? How has your gaming style evolved through the years or months since you’ve started playing? Have you always been a carebear, or roleplayer? Have you only focused on PvP or have you given other aspects of the game a chance – say manufacturing. Let’s hear your story!

I’ve been putting off posting my contribution, mainly because I myself am still trying to figure out the answer. Well, okay, I know a bit. Let’s start at the beginning.

Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome to the eighteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by none other than me, CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to crazykinux@gmail.com. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

On May 6th 2010, EVE Online celebrated its 7th Anniversary. Quite a milestone in MMO history, especially considering that it is one of the few virtual worlds out there to see its population continually grow year after year. For some of you who’ve been here since the very beginning, EVE has evolved quite a lot since its creation. With the expansion rolling out roughly twice a year, New Eden gets renewed and improved regularly. But, how about you the player? How has your gaming style evolved through the years or months since you’ve started playing? Have you always been a carebear, or roleplayer? Have you only focused on PvP or have you given other aspects of the game a chance – say manufacturing. Let’s hear your story!

I can’t honestly remember my exact reason for joining Eve Online almost 2 years ago. For some people I’ve come to know in this game, Eve was the obvious next step once they got bored with WoW, or the further exploration of their die-hard absolutism with sci-fi games. But Eve is the first MMO I’ve ever played, and aside from some pretty epic alcohol-fueled Halo-tournaments with my old college roommates, I’ve also never really considered myself much of a gamer at all.

Read the rest of this entry →

Welcome to another special installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to me. Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

What could CCP Games do to attract and maintain a higher percentage of women to the game. Will Incarna do the trick? Can anything else be done in the mean time? Can we the players do our part to share the game we love with our counterparts, with our sisters or daughters, with the Ladies in our lives? What could be added to the game to make it more attractive to them? Should anything be changed? Is the game at fault, or its player base to blame?

I’m inclined to think that incorporating any diversity into this game in terms of RL personas, play-style, or ideas is a good thing, so consider me in the “get more women to play Eve” camp.

I know both male and female players in his game. I’ve met women playing as male avatars, characters that are clearly men with a female avatar, and characters that are clearly men with a female avatar but are vehmently denying it. When all’s said and done though, Eve is a game, and I really can’t fault anyone for playing a game as a means of escapism. If that escapism involves trying to convince people you’re actually a member of the opposite sex than so be it.

The point I’m making here is that I see no difference or matter who’s behind the keyboard of the character I’m talking or interacting with. If it’s someone I’m trying to work and fly with, all I need is a certain level of maturity and intelligence, and you could be any gender or gender combination in the world for all it ultimately matters. The same reasoning can be attached someone I’m trying to garner tears and boo-hoo’s from, as long as that inherent ability to over-react to and cry about internet spaceships is there.

Of the female gamers I know, there is definitely a higher level of maturity than the what can be gleaned from the average glance at a local channel in Eve. However, there’s also a higher mean player age amongst those women I know who game than the male-dominant player-base of Eve. “Older” is a relatve term I realize so for the purpose of this piece let’s say “over 21″. Most of them have played a variety of games for a number of years, and are at the point where they’ve very obviously made peace with the notion that they are a minority: the female gamer.

I think the notion of a “gamer” in general has rapidly lost the stigma and negative connotations it once held. When I was 12 and watching my friends play Magic: The Gathering (I could never really get into that game myself), I and everyone present realized that it was uncool to be playing Magic, at least in the scheme of  adolescent jr high politics. Later on in my teen years when I was rabidly playing Starcraft with my friends online every day after school, there were no illusions that this was something generally considered geeky and uncool, and was in no way acceptable to the majority of our peers. Again, we were ok with that, but we were aware of it.

Be completely honest, 10 years ago when a girl asked what sort of things you did for hobbies, you said things like “I’m good with computers”, not “my clan just totally OWNED in Starcraft using a fuckin RAD combination of zerg rushing and terran turtling strategies” (and if you did, and it worked, go ahead and give yourself a huge pat on the back for having nads of steel).

Now look at where we are today. Gaming consoles (xbox 360, Wii, PS3) are prevelant in the home/dorm/apartment/etc of most self-respecting cool persons under the age of 35. Major game releases are advertised in popular culture; on prime time television, before blockbuster movies, in trendy magazines. So what flipped the switch? Where did this bizarre paradigm shift and the reversal of “geeky” happen?

I think a lot of it is gaming companies, developers, and marketers getting smarter; finding content that becomes more accessible to a larger audience, and pushing that. That douche with the popped collar in your general psyche class talking about “playing Madden with some of the bro’s later online”? Yeah, we used to call those LAN parties my friend, and they were decidedly UN-cool, even to those who were there, trust me.

Four guys in a basement playing at being warrior elves or an alien command force with four other guys in another basement three states away is geeky. Switch out the elves for NFL players and you’ve got “cool” marketing genius.

What I don’t mean to suggest though is that Eve should “change” to incorporate a female player-base. Actually, I think to do so would ultimately discourage them. In the case of video games in general, it is because of dumbed-down pop-culture shit like Madden NFL that we have a generally higher social accepteance of games and the “gamers” who play them. Its not that we’ve CHANGED video games, its that we’ve added enough content across the spectrum that they become accessible, and therefore less misunderstood.

The main obstacle when it comes to opening up Eve to a larger and more gender-diverse group, is that its ultimately an amalgamation of the most male-dominant themes and hobbies out there. Strike #1, its a video game. And yes, as discussed, the social-barriers and stigmas surrounding the idea of a “gamer” are slowly breaking away, but then you have still have Strike #2: its a video game about spaceships (and I am not suggesting that women aren’t sci-fi fans, but I think there is unquestionably a larger contingent of male sci-fi fans out there then female ones).

Ok, so its a sci-fi video game, but if you can manage to get people to swallow that, you still hit them with the big one: its a massively multiplayer online ROLE PLAYING game. Strike three, do not pass go. Video games might be losing their stigma, but labels like “role playing game” are still eyebrow-raising to most people. Hell, it was even a deterrent for ME when checking out Eve, until I realized that it didn’t have to be literal.

Ultimately, I don’t think there’s a quick solution to bringing in more women to this game. The idea’s I’ve seen so far in this blog banter about Incarna encouraging women to play or “showing women how much fun building stuff in Eve is!” seem short sighted at best and fairly sexist at worst.

There will be more women in Eve eventually; I think it’s thankfully inevitable. Continue to break down those stigma barriers and show that anyone, male or female, can have fun kicking back and relaxing with a little online spaceship fun, and you’ll get anyone hooked on this game who wants in.

o7,

-Aiden

List of Participants:

1. The Ladies of New Eden
2. Is EVE a man’s world?
3. Sorry, No Pink Spaceships Here Please
4. EVE Blog Banter: Chicks ‘N Ships
5. Eve Blog Banter: The Girls Who Fly Spaceships
6. It’s not about fluffy bloody Kittens people!
7. Space Boobies Are Bad, m’kay?
8. Special Blog Banter: I Like Girls
9. Special Edition or making Eve More Casual
10. I wish my wife played EVE
11. Is there something special about women?
12. CK’s Blog Banter
13. The Female of the Species
14. EVE Online Can Appeal to Women By Adding Casual Content
15. Blog Banter: The Ladies
16. Women Who Want EVE
17. Tech 2 stilettos
18. New Eden doesn’t need to change for Eve – Adam needs to get over himself
19. EVE Online and… women (sorta)
20. Think Outside the Spaceship
21. EVE’s monthly banter – Women, women, women
22. Girls Just Wanna Have… Guns!
23. Draco Horizons (Blog) <– Needs to add intro (with links) and list of participants
24. Don’t change Eve for me!
25. Where Are Teh Laydeez of EVE?
26. Where Are All The Wenches?
27. EVEquality: The Rise of the Female Gamer
28. Women? In MY SPACESHIP? Is she from Mars as well?
29. Blog Banter: Captain Kirk Hates Eve
30. The Female of the Species
31. The Ladies of New Eden
32. EVE and the X by X Genetic Succession Unit
33. Sociability V
34. Girl on Girls in Space
35. What women want (in Eve)
36. Time Is On Our Side
37. Roc Appeal <– Needs to add intro (with links) and list of participants
38. Women in EVE
39. Getting In Touch With Our Feminine Side
40. It’s a woman’s world (they just don’t know it yet!)
41. Women in EVE – Can it be done?
42. You’d Rather Be Playing The Sims, Right?
43. Blog Banter #17 – Women in Eve
44. How To Get The Betty’s
45. EVE: WTB girls?
46. All about EVE
47. Ladies to the gunfight
48. Hell hath no fury
49. The Ladies of New Eden (An Analysis on How Men are not from Mars, and Women are not from Venus)
50. EVE Blog Banter 17: The Ladies of New Eden <– Needs a link to the original banter post in the intro
51. The Ladies of New Eden
52. Getting ladies to play Eve Online
53. Why Don’t More Women Play EVE?? <– Needs a link to the original banter post in the intro
54. Getting Girls to Play EVE
55. “Prove It”: Women In Eve
56. Your Agent Has Ended Your Mission…
57. It’s Hip To Be Square: Taking Videogames Out of the Basement

CK asked

What could CCP Games do to attract and maintain a higher percentage of women to the game. Will Incarna do the trick? Can anything else be done in the mean time? Can we the players do our part to share the game we love with our counterparts, with our sisters or daughters, with the Ladies in our lives? What could be added to the game to make it more attractive to them? Should anything be changed? Is the game at fault, or its player base to blame?

Genetically, we are different. Men are XY and women XX. So what? Is there some intrinsic quality . . . an X-Factor that makes women less prone to play Eve?

Hell no.

Should Eve reinvent itself changing basic gameplay in hopes of somehow capturing the elusive female of the species?

Again, Hell no.

Well then, why in heavens name am I even writing this? Packaging. I started looking into how Eve is presented, the new player experience and the press it gets. Sometimes we are so immersed in the game that we cannot see the forest because all the damn trees are in the way. I encourage you to step back and look for yourself. From the Eve homepage, where anyone might go if they were curious about the game. . .

EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN

* Are you that rogue captain that enjoys the thrill of sneaking through stretches of enemy territory?
* Do you enjoy the discovery of new worlds?
* Are you in search of an MMO so vast that there will always be someplace new to explore?
* 7,000 star systems – NPC and Player controlled regions – hidden worm-hole space waiting to be explored.

BUILD YOUR EMPIRE

* Are you a person who knows how to close a deal? Does competing in a marketplace with 2,000 transactions a minute pique your interest?
* Are you looking for a game where one can build a legacy as a financial market leader, CEO of a company or even just the main guy to go to for the best arms deals in New Eden?
* Huge universe wide player driven market-place – intense research and production system – constantly evolving economy.

DOMINATE YOUR ENEMIES

* What is your definition of epic combat? Is is fleets of hundreds clashing in battle? Is it war for control of entire constellations?
* Does high risk PvP get your blood racing? 1000+ ship fleet battles – hundreds of ship types – thousands of ship module options
* In a shingle-shard universe, all players are part of one community. Your actions, be they those of a savior or scourge, impact not just a small group or independent shard, but the universe itself.

Did you see it? Was what you found in the game mentioned up there? I can tell that I found a lot more than that in Eve.

Did they mention the rich social fabric? The building of corps, alliances, of the art of the deal and the misdeal? Did they mention the metagame, the fact that we were ranked as the best player community of 2009 by 10 ton hammer? Did PvE even get a nod?

nope

Incarna might make a difference but not for the reasons some folks have said. Not because girls like to play dress up. It may make a difference because CCP will get a chance to play dressup. To change how they show this game to the world and how we will be seen and judged. I don’t want radical changes to the game, I have said that in CSM campaigning and I am still saying it. I am one to look at the details, like the packaging.

Bottom line. I have met some women who play Eve, most are better players than me (hi Mynxee, Shae, Kry). Each plays for different reasons and stayed because they liked the game. There is no X-Factor. But if you hang out subtle signs of ‘boyz club’ then you shouldn’t be surprised when the girls ain’t about.

m

What better folks than I had to say

Cataclysmic Variable
Eveoganda
Ombeve
0.5 or higher
Where the frack is my ship
Flashfresh

if you go to CKs blog, linked at the top you will see there are a hell of a lot more links . . . and damn it Shae, yours is absolutely an entry.

m

Mike smiled in relief as Ms Dom left. They had been planning the mission for two hours with no break. She walked . . . no that was innacurate . . . strutted away, drawing the eyes of every hetero male in the hanger.

Scotty whistled softly. “She is all that and a bay full of drones.”

“Twice as deadly.” Mike replied still looking at the proposed ships layout and timeline. “Trust me on that one.”

Scotty shook his head and looked to Mike. “So there is nothing on between you two?”

Mike smiled wryly. “She’s a friend. Now what do you think my odds of survival are?”

Ev answered that one. “With her? Poor to none, mon. Wit dis mission, dey be even worse. No two ways about it. Now I have these here and they be warmin up so best you help me put them out of their misery.” Bottles were passed around, opened and partially drained. A collective male sigh was given before the conversation started back up. In the tradition handed down over the centuries the three men began to discuss how the universe could be improved.

Scotty ventured the first opinion. “The pilots are getting better trained now. I wish we had the ‘new pilot experience’ back in the day. Would have kept a lot more podders for the long haul. Back when it was ‘here’s your ship, ya know some stuff, off you go!’ we didn’t have the retention we do now. Podders came and left and half the time it was because they didn’t know what they wanted to be when they grew up. Now the ones that stayed . . . they knew the right ways to fly and space is a better and a more dangerous place because of it. You meet a veteran of the old days and you know he’s been there and back.” He took a pull of his drink. “Yeah, I wish they had better training to the careers, back in the day.”

Ev was next. “No, no, mon, you gots it all wrong. It be the unfinished and the unrepaired that be what I would go back and fix. The ships that nobody fly or fly for all the wrong reasons.” He looked to Mike. “I know you be having a destroyer or two in your hangers, and what you be using them for, anti frigate work, like it say on de labels? Sha, NO, mon. You fly them for the same purpose damn near everybody do.”

They said it in unison “Salvager” and laughed as they took a drink.

“Ya don’ wants all the ships to be big an small versions of each other, no way. But you wants a rock paper scissors so that each ship is afraid of another one. Nobody be in the king ship cause there always be an assassin out dere.” He nodded sagely. Da world and the ships be pretty good now but there still be tings dat could be better and it woulda been even betta if the mix had been righter, sooner. But water under the bridge and smoke in the breeze, mon, no worries now, none at all. Cept o course if you plan on flying this plan, den you got plenty o worries.”

Mike sipped his drink and nodded. “If I could go back? Hard to say. Everything has been getting better, in its own time. I hear even bigger changes are just around the corner.” He paused. “Maybe that is what I would change. I sometimes wish I didn’t hear as much as I do.”

“Come again, Mon? You wants to be less informed?”

“Well, not about the immediate stuff. But sometimes I get my hopes up for some new change, some new thing that never seems to arrive. Kinda becomes a disappointment, no matter how good it will be when it gets here. Till you are sure you can deliver you shouldn’t be getting folks hopes up.”

Scotty looked off in the distance. ‘I wonder if Ms Dom subscribes to that philosophy.”

Mike grinned. “Oh lordy, Scotty. I am tempted to set you up with her, just for all the isk folks would send my way when it came to its inevitable conclusion. I have heard people wishing to pay a bounty on the docking engineers for a long long time. You dead would speed docking and ship switching oh so much. She would take you to heaven, only problem is, you wouldn’t be coming back.”

“Ah, but what a way to go . . . ”

They all looked off in the direction she had left and toasted the thought.

*****************************

Lessons

This post is based off of a conversation in the eve bloggers channel. It was posed “If you could go back in time how would you have CCP change what was done in the past.” Or words to that effect. I think we all were too lazy to look in our own conversation logs to get the exact words.

Lacking focus I, of course, came up with three answers.

1) New player experience
2) Balance issues
3) Bloody Incarna/walking in stations

Some other opinions may be found in the blogs of 0.5 or higher
and Victoria Aut Mors and Paritybit

(I was tempted to title this “Tyrannis:  Kiss My Asteroids Goodbye”, but that doesn’t really reflect my feelings…  :) )

This is my first entry into a CrazyKinux Blog Banter competition.  Here’s the discussion point:

Tyrannis will see some new industrial and planetary interaction opportunities like we’ve never seen before in New Eden. It’s a step in linking EVE Online and DUST514 as well. So I need you to write what you believe are the short and/or long term consequences of this development, in terms of the new industrial capacity it presents to players, in terms of the opportunities for pirates, for industrialists, for sovereignty, etc. Surprise us!

I’ve been pretty excited to see Dust 514 come out; I’ve actually been playing a lot of Modern Warfare 2 lately because I haven’t had the brainpower or time to play EVE, and I would love to be able to dip into a little EVE-related FPS action when I’m pressed for time or just don’t feel like thinking about gate camps and transverse velocities and all that jazz…

So Tyrannis is definitely the first step towards that.  Putting stuff on planets.  Before you have a good reason to fight over a planet, there has to be a value there, and Tyrannis is definitely putting the value there.

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