I've been running level 3 missions for the last several days, and I'm just loving the fit I'm using, even though I've still got a bit more than six days before I can install those Tech 2 Armor Hardeners.
One interesting difference I've noticed about the missions I'm doing now and the ones I was doing just before I left the game two years ago is that many level 3 agents now offer missions that take you into low-sec. On the one hand, I think it's a great idea for CCP to do more to encourage players to enter low and no sec areas, but on the other hand, it's also a great benefit to pirates who just sit at the gates in well-traveled low-sec systems like Egghelende and pick off noobs as they enter or leave.
As a player who's well-experienced in dealing with pirates (though not as much in actually winning those battles), I always check my star map to see how many recent ship kills there are in a low-sec system the agent wants to send me to before I accept a mission. If I find it too much of a risk (last time I was offered a mission going to Egghelende I checked and found that 15 ships had been destroyed there in the last hour), I just decline or delay the mission.
The problem is that it seems that the pirates really don't care, they're just always sitting there because they know that a significant number of noobs will not know to check the star map before entering a low-sec system. Even if experienced pilots like me who know better just avoid the system until we know (or at least have good reason to believe based on the evidence) that the pirates have left the system, there are more than enough players who will jump in anyway, either because they don't check the map first or because they may foolishly believe their uber-fit ship can take them on.
While I've always believed that if you let your ego overshadow your common sense in this game it's going to end up costing you bigtime in the long run, I also believe that piracy, while permitted within the game, shouldn't be this easy.
From a common sense perspective, it makes sense to me that CONCORD should be just as aggressive toward those flagged as criminals in low-sec as they are in high-sec. In real world terms, the way it is now makes about as much sense as the police showing up to deal with crime in affluent areas but ignoring crimes committed in poorer areas of the same jurisdiction. We have, of course, seen the real-world results of such policing and they are the same as in EvE: When the police are not a significant presence in those areas the crime rate goes up, as criminals come out of hiding and become more aggressive.
Please note that this is not an argument against piracy in EvE. I used to feel that way, but I've come to accept piracy as a valid part of the game. My problem here is that CONCORD does not confront and deal with piracy in a way that makes any sense for a truly competent police force, certainly not one charged with protecting as large a jurisdiction as empire space in EvE.
In my opinion, low-sec piracy should carry significantly more risk for pirates than it actually does. While I accept piracy as part of the game, I don't accept that the risk involved should be as one-sided as it currently is. A realistic police force would check those low-sec gates and systems regularly and confront those who appear to be in the area to commit crimes. A real police force would not simply ignore areas where muggers are known to wait for victims, and neither should CONCORD.
My suggestion here would be for CCP to institute a mechanic where a CONCORD fleet would appear in these systems at irregular intervals to engage and eliminate any criminally-flagged ships that happen to be there. My reasoning on this is that by making these appearances random pirates would be taking a real risk by simply hanging out near low-sec gates and waiting to pick off ships just to pad their kill-boards. There would still be a very real risk to players entering these systems because CONCORD would still not be a constant presence, but the fact that they might show up at any given time would help to discourage long-term pirate gate-camping and at least allow the possibility that missions and other reasons to travel into low-sec would be less likely to be discarded out of hand because a player doesn't want to risk her 70 million ISK mission-running battlecruiser in a low-sec system to gain a million ISK reward payout.
CCP has said that they want to encourage more players to get into low-sec and 0.0. That's something I strongly agree with, but I think if there's to be a hope of that actually happening, there has to be a lot more effort made by CCP in making low-sec and 0.0 more accessible to newer and less potent players. As it is now, the game discourages those interests because players know that pirates run wild and completely unchecked outside of high-sec. On the other side of the coin, pirates know that they have nothing to fear from CONCORD unless they attempt to go into high-sec and so that encourages more piracy because it's so lucrative and relatively low-risk. As long as the pirates field a fleet that is effective against most of the ships which venture into low-sec, it will continue to be a faucet of low-risk profits that will prove attractive to more and more players, and thus encourage more low-sec piracy.
In my opinion, if CCP does nothing to address this there will eventually come a point where almost no one wants to risk venturing outside of high-sec anymore because the risk is so great. New players and those who'd like to explore low-sec and 0.0 will find those areas of the game effectively inaccessible because every access to those areas is camped by pirates. That's when players will become disillusioned and bored with the game, and leave for greener pastures. At that point, EvE will become a game where low-sec and 0.0 are only really accessible to those able to travel with large enough fleets to discourage pirate attacks, those who are already members of large corps or those who have a lot of in-game friends who are willing to escort them.
To me, that would be the very worst possible outcome for this game. Wormholes are an inventive way of circumventing this reality for some, but for new, solo, or inadequately-equipped players they're really of little or no value in terms of circumventing piracy.
CCP needs to address this problem, and they need to do it now, before it gets worse than it already is. EvE is a game that has a lot of correlations to real life in terms of how things happen and the results. It's time CCP injected a little of that realism into the way CONCORD does its job and in the risks criminals take in committing crimes.
Unless CCP is comfortable with the idea of low-sec and 0.0 becoming the virtually exclusive domain of the most wealthy and powerful corps and pirates, it's high time they do what they have to in order to open up these areas to the rest of the player base. No doubt much bitching and moaning will ensue, but it's really the only way to ensure that EvE will be able to not only gain but also hold on to new players over the long term. Regardless of whether you're a pirate, a noob victim, or anything in-between, encouraging more new and middle-range players to participate in and stay with EvE should be a goal every player can get behind. It's good for the game, it's good for CCP, and it's good for the players.
To my way of thinking, it's just a no-brainer. First and foremost on every agenda, CCP's, the players, anyone who cares about this game, is to do everything possible to keep EvE fresh, interesting, and welcoming to everyone, especially to new players who wish to join us. Hopefully, this, if nothing else, is something we can all agree on.
Showing posts with label CCP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label CCP. Show all posts
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Gettin' Itchy
Now it's been about four days since my PC stopped working properly, and I'm really starting to miss it. There's so much I've come to take for granted since I've had it, such as being able to run basically any software currently on the market, virtually instantaneous websurfing, and a lot more that I just feel out of synch when I use this old Dell. Normally, I'd never touch this machine except to keep it updated. Now I'm on it for long periods every day until I get my own rig back and it just feels "off".
In order to get my EvE fix and to try to catch up on some of what's been going on in the game while I was gone, I've been watching some of the 2009 Fanfest videos. Some are very interesting, others are...less so. I'll no doubt be watching at least a few more of these today. Playing video is one thing this PC does pretty well, even though I have to play 'em on lo-res or they take too long to download. Another advantage my PC has that this one doesn't is that it's directly connected to the cable modem via the wireless box. This PC is connected wirelessly and gets roughly half the upload and download speed mine does. Even if this PC could run EvE, I'm not sure it could maintain a stable and strong enough connection to play, or play well.
Y'know it's funny. Since I've been back in EvE, I'm tending to focus on it more and more. Two weeks ago, EvE rarely crossed my mind and hadn't in quite some time other than the occasional gaming media article about bank collapses, etc. I completely missed the whole BoB thing. Now that I find myself without the ability to log into EvE for a few days, I'm spending more and more time searching out EvE-relevant media.
The truth is that I'm a media whore. I love it, especially when it's about something I care about. I'm not just a media consumer though, I'm also a media-maker. In fact, I'm making EvE-relevant media right now. It's because I'm a media-maker as well as a media consumer that I understand how important it is that there's both "official" and "unofficial" media being created around a game like EvE, or really around any product, cause, or idea you're seeking to promote if you're hoping to market it effectively in modern mainstream culture. EvE is a game that succeeds at both, though it's arguable which is the more potent.
CCP has released a plethora of videos through its YouTube Channel and there's a pretty regular trickle of dev blogs. Yet at the same time, there's also a buffer between CCP and the bulk of the player base, the Council of Stellar Management. Ideas flow from the player base to the CSM, and then those which get support are passed upwards to CCP. From what I've seen and read, the system works pretty well as far as getting good ideas passed upwards to the devs, but it's nonetheless a filter between the average EvE player and the game's creators. We've heard that COSMOS/New Eden/Spacebook will enable new levels of communication between players and CCP but we've heard precious little detail on what this actually means in the practical sense as yet.
On the other side of the coin, there's the unofficial EvE media, the underground, if you will. It's blogs like this one. It's gaming forums where EvE comes up regularly in conversation or even has its own separate discussion forum. It's everywhere EvE is being talking about and CCP isn't starting or participating in the conversation themselves...and that's a lot of places.
The fact is that there's enough media out there about EvE that I could fill my day with nothing but EvE media if I wanted to (and that's not counting the EvE novel I'm reading right now). That's a great thing as far as I'm concerned. The more of it is out there, the more people read, watch, enjoy and participate, in the media and in EvE. It's a winner all the way around, and especially for the game we all love and are seeking to promote.
In addition, underground and unofficial media serve another, equally important purpose. It fosters a sense of community among EvE players beyond the confines of the game itself and the official website. The reality is that very often players will feel freer to speak their minds outside of official media sources where participants are often identified as they are in-game. That's not to say that many official forums, including EvE's, don't have plenty of trash-talking and negativity already, but there are no doubt many players who either ignore the official forums entirely unless they no choice (such as an official CCP announcement) because of the tone often seen in these places. Those players who still wish to read about and discuss EvE will look for other places, places with interests and social interactions more in keeping with what they're comfortable with.
Personally, I think the prevalence of unofficial community media that springs up around an MMO is a great gauge of the overall level of interest in and commitment to the game in its player base. People who don't really care much or who aren't really interested in playing a game over the long haul don't (usually) create blogs and other media promoting and talking about it. Only the players who are in deep and looking long-term do things like that. Of course, I should also note that I'm talking about real fan media here, not commercial enterprises. MMORPG.com and Ten Ton Hammer have some great stuff quite often, but their content is written by paid professional writers, and that's just not the same thing.
As someone who has worked professionally as a magazine and newspaper columnist as well as someone who has maintained a personal blog for six years on and off, is a contributor to a popular group political blog site, and has created, written, and moderated three different gaming blogs (so far), I think I'm pretty well-qualified to address this issue.
First, the commercial gaming media does not enjoy the same kind of popular deference as mainstream newsmedia like the New York Times, NBC News, or even Fox News (assuming we're still calling what appears on Fox actual news). Unlike the knotty social and political issues of our time, there's usually no one right answer that even people on the same side of the issue can agree on. Games, unlike real life, are entirely subjective. Except in the more extreme cases, video games are not good or bad by definition, that can only be determined by those who participate, and only by and for themselves. One player's alliance collapse is another's reopening of valuable null-sec territory.
In my experience, the commercial gaming media doesn't really get any more credibility from the gaming community than the more well-read unofficial media, even though the folks in the marketing departments apparently think they do. They'd do well to learn from the punk movement of the early 80's where the record reviews that really mattered to the hardcore punks didn't appear in the big glossy magazines, but rather in mimeographed 'zines, usually created by a single person or a small group and sold at local clubs, concert venues, and on the street. The people creating non-commercial 'zines were seen as doing it for the love of the music and the band, while the commercial media was seen as doing it for money. Thus, the reviews were seens as far more honest and credible and carried far more weight with the hardcore faithful.
I believe that's what we're seeing now. The blogs and online fan media are, in fact, the next evolutionary step of the 'zine, and I believe they're being perceived by the truly hardcore much as they were thirty years ago.
Companies like CCP could do more to support us. For example, have you taken a look at CCP's fan sites page? I don't think it's changed much in the two years I was gone, and that's really sad. Crazy Kinuk's on there, but he's the only EvE-relevant blogger who is. Frankly, that sucks! There are literally dozens of great EvE blogs that should be on that list. This is something that would require just a small amount of effort on CCP's part, and considering how much effort we put into our blogs and media in promoting their product you'd hope that CCP would do whatever it could to make it easier for us.
Methinks I might pose this issue to the CSM. Any other EvE bloggers and blog readers think this is a good idea?
In order to get my EvE fix and to try to catch up on some of what's been going on in the game while I was gone, I've been watching some of the 2009 Fanfest videos. Some are very interesting, others are...less so. I'll no doubt be watching at least a few more of these today. Playing video is one thing this PC does pretty well, even though I have to play 'em on lo-res or they take too long to download. Another advantage my PC has that this one doesn't is that it's directly connected to the cable modem via the wireless box. This PC is connected wirelessly and gets roughly half the upload and download speed mine does. Even if this PC could run EvE, I'm not sure it could maintain a stable and strong enough connection to play, or play well.
Y'know it's funny. Since I've been back in EvE, I'm tending to focus on it more and more. Two weeks ago, EvE rarely crossed my mind and hadn't in quite some time other than the occasional gaming media article about bank collapses, etc. I completely missed the whole BoB thing. Now that I find myself without the ability to log into EvE for a few days, I'm spending more and more time searching out EvE-relevant media.
The truth is that I'm a media whore. I love it, especially when it's about something I care about. I'm not just a media consumer though, I'm also a media-maker. In fact, I'm making EvE-relevant media right now. It's because I'm a media-maker as well as a media consumer that I understand how important it is that there's both "official" and "unofficial" media being created around a game like EvE, or really around any product, cause, or idea you're seeking to promote if you're hoping to market it effectively in modern mainstream culture. EvE is a game that succeeds at both, though it's arguable which is the more potent.
CCP has released a plethora of videos through its YouTube Channel and there's a pretty regular trickle of dev blogs. Yet at the same time, there's also a buffer between CCP and the bulk of the player base, the Council of Stellar Management. Ideas flow from the player base to the CSM, and then those which get support are passed upwards to CCP. From what I've seen and read, the system works pretty well as far as getting good ideas passed upwards to the devs, but it's nonetheless a filter between the average EvE player and the game's creators. We've heard that COSMOS/New Eden/Spacebook will enable new levels of communication between players and CCP but we've heard precious little detail on what this actually means in the practical sense as yet.
On the other side of the coin, there's the unofficial EvE media, the underground, if you will. It's blogs like this one. It's gaming forums where EvE comes up regularly in conversation or even has its own separate discussion forum. It's everywhere EvE is being talking about and CCP isn't starting or participating in the conversation themselves...and that's a lot of places.
The fact is that there's enough media out there about EvE that I could fill my day with nothing but EvE media if I wanted to (and that's not counting the EvE novel I'm reading right now). That's a great thing as far as I'm concerned. The more of it is out there, the more people read, watch, enjoy and participate, in the media and in EvE. It's a winner all the way around, and especially for the game we all love and are seeking to promote.
In addition, underground and unofficial media serve another, equally important purpose. It fosters a sense of community among EvE players beyond the confines of the game itself and the official website. The reality is that very often players will feel freer to speak their minds outside of official media sources where participants are often identified as they are in-game. That's not to say that many official forums, including EvE's, don't have plenty of trash-talking and negativity already, but there are no doubt many players who either ignore the official forums entirely unless they no choice (such as an official CCP announcement) because of the tone often seen in these places. Those players who still wish to read about and discuss EvE will look for other places, places with interests and social interactions more in keeping with what they're comfortable with.
Personally, I think the prevalence of unofficial community media that springs up around an MMO is a great gauge of the overall level of interest in and commitment to the game in its player base. People who don't really care much or who aren't really interested in playing a game over the long haul don't (usually) create blogs and other media promoting and talking about it. Only the players who are in deep and looking long-term do things like that. Of course, I should also note that I'm talking about real fan media here, not commercial enterprises. MMORPG.com and Ten Ton Hammer have some great stuff quite often, but their content is written by paid professional writers, and that's just not the same thing.
As someone who has worked professionally as a magazine and newspaper columnist as well as someone who has maintained a personal blog for six years on and off, is a contributor to a popular group political blog site, and has created, written, and moderated three different gaming blogs (so far), I think I'm pretty well-qualified to address this issue.
First, the commercial gaming media does not enjoy the same kind of popular deference as mainstream newsmedia like the New York Times, NBC News, or even Fox News (assuming we're still calling what appears on Fox actual news). Unlike the knotty social and political issues of our time, there's usually no one right answer that even people on the same side of the issue can agree on. Games, unlike real life, are entirely subjective. Except in the more extreme cases, video games are not good or bad by definition, that can only be determined by those who participate, and only by and for themselves. One player's alliance collapse is another's reopening of valuable null-sec territory.
In my experience, the commercial gaming media doesn't really get any more credibility from the gaming community than the more well-read unofficial media, even though the folks in the marketing departments apparently think they do. They'd do well to learn from the punk movement of the early 80's where the record reviews that really mattered to the hardcore punks didn't appear in the big glossy magazines, but rather in mimeographed 'zines, usually created by a single person or a small group and sold at local clubs, concert venues, and on the street. The people creating non-commercial 'zines were seen as doing it for the love of the music and the band, while the commercial media was seen as doing it for money. Thus, the reviews were seens as far more honest and credible and carried far more weight with the hardcore faithful.
I believe that's what we're seeing now. The blogs and online fan media are, in fact, the next evolutionary step of the 'zine, and I believe they're being perceived by the truly hardcore much as they were thirty years ago.
Companies like CCP could do more to support us. For example, have you taken a look at CCP's fan sites page? I don't think it's changed much in the two years I was gone, and that's really sad. Crazy Kinuk's on there, but he's the only EvE-relevant blogger who is. Frankly, that sucks! There are literally dozens of great EvE blogs that should be on that list. This is something that would require just a small amount of effort on CCP's part, and considering how much effort we put into our blogs and media in promoting their product you'd hope that CCP would do whatever it could to make it easier for us.
Methinks I might pose this issue to the CSM. Any other EvE bloggers and blog readers think this is a good idea?
Sunday, September 23, 2007
Holding Patterns...
...yep, still waiting for that ore, but it seems that's going to take care of itself one way or the other very soon. We've working on it and I expect I'll be back in space very soon.
In the meantime, while I'm waiting, I decided to check out the first free episode of EvE TV this morning. Very well done...it seems this show gets better and smoother all the time. If it stays free, I doubt I'd ever miss an episode. As it is, Jalipo is just an unjustifiable expense for me right now. No it's really isn't all that much, but right now, it's one of those luxuries that I'm doing without to save money...it's gotta come from somewhere, and the food and gas budget ain't it. Once again, I quietly thank myself for paying for EvE for a full year in advance.
I have no doubt that if EvE TV becomes a free show its viewership will skyrocket. I heard SpiralJunkie say during the show that the Alliance Tournament got about 17 million downloads...not too shabby and more than enough to justify a profitable rate for commercial ad sponsorship. This week's free episode was described as a test, and what I really hope they're testing is if there's really enough people who will watch the show for free to make it worth trying to fund the show through sponsored ads, or perhaps for CCP to fully finance this great big ad for their product themselves.
If I had my choice, I'd much rather it were CCP paying the bills. Not only could players be confident that CCP would take as hands-off an approach to the show as they do with the game itself, but viewers wouldn't have to deal with the ads, making it a much more attractive media offering in general over the long haul. The other reality, as Spiral alluded to on the show, is that a lot of EvE's players and potential viewers of the show are college students who have very little disposable income. It's my guess that many players aren't watching EvE TV, not because they don't want to but because, like me, they just don't have the extra money to shell out for it. I'll be interested to see what happens here. I'm smelling the possibility of something big.
Oh and you may not see a lot of posts here over the next several days. Yeah, it's busy time again. My radio talk show is about to return from hiatus (October 4th, 7pm eastern check my other blog for details...fair warning though: It's not really about EvE, though I do occasionally talk about it on the air.), so I've been focusing a lot of my time on getting ready for that.
Til next time, fly safe.
In the meantime, while I'm waiting, I decided to check out the first free episode of EvE TV this morning. Very well done...it seems this show gets better and smoother all the time. If it stays free, I doubt I'd ever miss an episode. As it is, Jalipo is just an unjustifiable expense for me right now. No it's really isn't all that much, but right now, it's one of those luxuries that I'm doing without to save money...it's gotta come from somewhere, and the food and gas budget ain't it. Once again, I quietly thank myself for paying for EvE for a full year in advance.
I have no doubt that if EvE TV becomes a free show its viewership will skyrocket. I heard SpiralJunkie say during the show that the Alliance Tournament got about 17 million downloads...not too shabby and more than enough to justify a profitable rate for commercial ad sponsorship. This week's free episode was described as a test, and what I really hope they're testing is if there's really enough people who will watch the show for free to make it worth trying to fund the show through sponsored ads, or perhaps for CCP to fully finance this great big ad for their product themselves.
If I had my choice, I'd much rather it were CCP paying the bills. Not only could players be confident that CCP would take as hands-off an approach to the show as they do with the game itself, but viewers wouldn't have to deal with the ads, making it a much more attractive media offering in general over the long haul. The other reality, as Spiral alluded to on the show, is that a lot of EvE's players and potential viewers of the show are college students who have very little disposable income. It's my guess that many players aren't watching EvE TV, not because they don't want to but because, like me, they just don't have the extra money to shell out for it. I'll be interested to see what happens here. I'm smelling the possibility of something big.
Oh and you may not see a lot of posts here over the next several days. Yeah, it's busy time again. My radio talk show is about to return from hiatus (October 4th, 7pm eastern check my other blog for details...fair warning though: It's not really about EvE, though I do occasionally talk about it on the air.), so I've been focusing a lot of my time on getting ready for that.
Til next time, fly safe.
Sunday, September 16, 2007
I Am The Goddess Of Drones...
...or, at least, I'm going to try to be.
I'm currently training up Drone Interfacing V, to be followed by training Advanced Drone Interfacing all the way as well. By the time I'm done with those, sometime around the beginning of November assuming I don't stop and train other stuff in-between, I'll be able to put ten drones in space at the same time.
I decided to make this a project because the bonuses are so good for doing it. When I finish Drone Interfacing V, on or about October 10th, not only will I be able to begin training to control more drones, but I'll have also raised the damage my drones deal out by 100%. Considering that my next ship is going to be a Dominix, basically a drone boat, it's well worth the time spent in my opinion.
I'm already able to use Tech II Heavy Attack Drones, so I'm thinking that by the time I get all of this trained I'll hopefully be a pretty formidable mission runner and, with some more help and experience, an equally useful asset in PvP combat.
Once again, I find myself marveling at the craftmanship and finesse that has clearly gone into so many aspects of creating EvE. Just as it should, the farther along I find myself in this game, the more complex an undertaking it becomes to make it to the next logical step. The bigger and more valuable the prize, the more risky, expensive, and time-consuming it is to make it yours.
In this case, I know exactly how to get what I want. It's just a matter of time, money, and effort to make it happen. There's still the possibility of an unforeseen disaster, and it's going to take plenty of time to have this project fulfill it's true potential. The potential payoff is big, but so are the risks. Yeah, not too much like RL, huh?
Right now, I feel like I'm kind of on the cusp of something, though I'm really not quite certain exactly what. Of course, the new corp, Stonewall Interstellar, is a big part of it, but it's also as an individual character and even perhaps as a player. It just feels like my own role in the game is in kind of in flux right now, that many things are changing and will continue to change for me in this game.
It also may be stuff from RL spilling over as well. It's been a busy time for me and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. I jump into EvE when and as I can and that hasn't been much over the last several days. Most often, I've been popping in to do a mission or two before bed while I listen to my favorite radio talk show (besides my own ;)). It's really an interesting juxtaposition to be blowing away a squadron of Amarr ships while listening to a lesbian sex talk show. I've actually carried on on-air conversations as a guest or as a caller to various shows while in combat or salvaging. Weird perhaps, but it's a marriage that works well, for me anyway.
Chances are, if you see me in-game during the hours of 10pm to 1am eastern on a weekday, I'm listening to Diana Cage. From 2pm to 6pm eastern weekdays, it's Michelangelo Signorile. Other times, probably a CD or my mp3 collection. On very rare occasions, I'll even turn on the game sound.
Ok, that's enough for now. I think it's time to actually jump in-game for a while.
Catch ya out there, and fly safe.
I'm currently training up Drone Interfacing V, to be followed by training Advanced Drone Interfacing all the way as well. By the time I'm done with those, sometime around the beginning of November assuming I don't stop and train other stuff in-between, I'll be able to put ten drones in space at the same time.
I decided to make this a project because the bonuses are so good for doing it. When I finish Drone Interfacing V, on or about October 10th, not only will I be able to begin training to control more drones, but I'll have also raised the damage my drones deal out by 100%. Considering that my next ship is going to be a Dominix, basically a drone boat, it's well worth the time spent in my opinion.
I'm already able to use Tech II Heavy Attack Drones, so I'm thinking that by the time I get all of this trained I'll hopefully be a pretty formidable mission runner and, with some more help and experience, an equally useful asset in PvP combat.
Once again, I find myself marveling at the craftmanship and finesse that has clearly gone into so many aspects of creating EvE. Just as it should, the farther along I find myself in this game, the more complex an undertaking it becomes to make it to the next logical step. The bigger and more valuable the prize, the more risky, expensive, and time-consuming it is to make it yours.
In this case, I know exactly how to get what I want. It's just a matter of time, money, and effort to make it happen. There's still the possibility of an unforeseen disaster, and it's going to take plenty of time to have this project fulfill it's true potential. The potential payoff is big, but so are the risks. Yeah, not too much like RL, huh?
Right now, I feel like I'm kind of on the cusp of something, though I'm really not quite certain exactly what. Of course, the new corp, Stonewall Interstellar, is a big part of it, but it's also as an individual character and even perhaps as a player. It just feels like my own role in the game is in kind of in flux right now, that many things are changing and will continue to change for me in this game.
It also may be stuff from RL spilling over as well. It's been a busy time for me and it shows no signs of slowing down any time soon. I jump into EvE when and as I can and that hasn't been much over the last several days. Most often, I've been popping in to do a mission or two before bed while I listen to my favorite radio talk show (besides my own ;)). It's really an interesting juxtaposition to be blowing away a squadron of Amarr ships while listening to a lesbian sex talk show. I've actually carried on on-air conversations as a guest or as a caller to various shows while in combat or salvaging. Weird perhaps, but it's a marriage that works well, for me anyway.
Chances are, if you see me in-game during the hours of 10pm to 1am eastern on a weekday, I'm listening to Diana Cage. From 2pm to 6pm eastern weekdays, it's Michelangelo Signorile. Other times, probably a CD or my mp3 collection. On very rare occasions, I'll even turn on the game sound.
Ok, that's enough for now. I think it's time to actually jump in-game for a while.
Catch ya out there, and fly safe.
Monday, September 3, 2007
The Difference Between Flying Big And Flying Smart...
...can be pretty huge sometimes.
I was all excited about buying a Megathron, but I didn't really completely think through how I was going to put it in space. Once I had it, I quickly discovered that there was just no way I was going to be able to afford to fit and insure it. I went back to doing Level 2 missions in the Thorax for a day, but then I decided that the best thing to do was to just fix my mistake and get realistic.
I repackaged and sold the Megathron, and used the proceeds to buy, insure, and fit a Dominix instead. After selling the Mega I had about 108 million ISK, and by the time I was done making it spaceworthy I found myself at around 13 million so I can only imagine how long it would have taken to actually put that Megathron in space by running missions with the Thorax.
Really, it's a classic case of having eyes bigger than my wallet. Yes, I was able to afford the actual purchase price of a Megathron, but it would have cost me another 31 million just to insure it and probably at least that much again to fit it properly. On the other hand, I've already got the Dommie in space, just about fully fit and ready to start taking on Level 4 missions instead of having to probably wait weeks before being able to put a Megathron in space. Yes, a very big difference indeed.
I was all excited about buying a Megathron, but I didn't really completely think through how I was going to put it in space. Once I had it, I quickly discovered that there was just no way I was going to be able to afford to fit and insure it. I went back to doing Level 2 missions in the Thorax for a day, but then I decided that the best thing to do was to just fix my mistake and get realistic.
I repackaged and sold the Megathron, and used the proceeds to buy, insure, and fit a Dominix instead. After selling the Mega I had about 108 million ISK, and by the time I was done making it spaceworthy I found myself at around 13 million so I can only imagine how long it would have taken to actually put that Megathron in space by running missions with the Thorax.
Really, it's a classic case of having eyes bigger than my wallet. Yes, I was able to afford the actual purchase price of a Megathron, but it would have cost me another 31 million just to insure it and probably at least that much again to fit it properly. On the other hand, I've already got the Dommie in space, just about fully fit and ready to start taking on Level 4 missions instead of having to probably wait weeks before being able to put a Megathron in space. Yes, a very big difference indeed.
*****
It seems my post about "gay" and "lesbian" being censored on the the E-O forums has drawn some attention and support from CCP and hopefully some positive action as well. I hesitate to go into too much detail here as yet, but I will say that I'm very happy to see attention being paid to this issue and I have every reason to expect to be able to report positive developments in the future. As always, more when I have it.
*****
Ok, that's it for now. Til next time, fly safe.
Thursday, August 23, 2007
Actions Speak Louder Than Words
Wow. I'll admit, I'm pretty stunned.
When I wrote ""Gay" Is NOT A Dirty Word!" several days ago, it was my hope that maybe it could inspire some policy changes or something along those lines, but nothing prepared me for what I discovered when I checked out the E-O forums yesterday.
What I found was a DevBlog by Kieron saying that both ISD and the Aurora events team were basically being disbanded and would be replaced with a new system for handling their duties once their policies and procedures have been reviewed by CCP. Of course, I'm nowhere near arrogant enough to believe for even a minute that my post alone brought down the ISD, especially given the fact that the events team, which I never mentioned, also got the axe. At the same time, I suppose it is possible that what I wrote here might have added to the issues CCP felt needed to be addressed with a revamp of the system and guidelines under which the forums are moderated.
In all honesty, I didn't expect this when I wrote my post. I felt strongly about the issue I addressed and my hope was (and is) that I'd be heard, agreed with, and changes would be made as a result. That, in my opinion, is both the best and the most someone like myself, someone who's both a regular player and a commentator of EvE, can hope for. As activists of any stripe know well, you can't realistically expect to be able change the entire world as an activist...the best you can really hope for and effectively work toward is changing your own little corner of it for the better, or, at least, doing what you can to help that change occur. While again I certainly can't rationalize taking any sort of credit for the changes in this case, it nonetheless does feel like a victory anyway.
There's a lot of overlap between what I do in RL and in this situation. Many, in fact probably all, of the community organizations I interact with in the course of being an activist and community commentator rely chiefly on volunteers for many, if not most, of the non-leadership positions within their organizations. As CCP has no doubt learned, there's a very big difference between what you can expect in terms of work performance between paid employees and volunteers.
Paid employees usually (if they're good) take a certain proprietary view of their jobs. When what you're doing is putting food on your table and paying your rent, it's hardly surprising you'll tend to take it more seriously than when you're doing something without pay, solely for personal fulfillment or enjoyment. It's also not unexpected that unpaid volunteers who are volunteering essentially to become more involved with something they do for enjoyment will be more likely to want to do things their own way, and try to bring their own attitudes and desires into the process more aggressively and more often, and take more liberties in their jobs than those who have the added concern of protecting a paycheck.
That isn't in any way an indictment of any ISD volunteers specifically or of volunteerism in general, it's simply a reflection of human nature. When push comes to shove, protecting one's paying job just takes a greater priority in most cases than volunteer work, especially when it comes to playing by the rules. Not every volunteer does so for altruistic reasons. For many, it can be an "insider" status that's the draw. For others, it may be the opportunity to insert one's own agenda into the mix in a more impactful way than can be done as a mere participant.
Not everyone wants to be a leader, and fewer still are really capable of actually being one, but certainly more than enough want to be that companies and organizations which rely in whole or in part on a staff of volunteers to handle certain jobs can find themselves with a situation where too many people are going "I, I, I..." instead of "we, we, we...". When that happens, the entity employing these volunteers may have to periodically take a step back, look honestly and critically at the overall situation, and ask the question "Is what we have here what best serves the interests of our organization and what we do?". If the answer is "No", then changes will likely have to be made, and I suspect that's what happened here.
Another reality of working with volunteers versus paid employees is that when you're offering some form of authority or power over others as a aspect of the job, volunteers are more likely to see that power as a perk and a status symbol than as a responsibility. Some volunteers will likely be much more enthusiastic and possibly even overbearing in finding ways to wield that power. After all, what good is being given power over others unless you use it, right?
On the other hand, paid employees are more likely to simply see authority over others as a means to an end in getting their jobs done, and will use it in that way, instead of going out of their way to use their given authority just because they have it. In addition, the larger the group of those in authority, the more likely it is that someone, or several someones, are going to choose to put their own agenda and interests before those of the entity which gave them that power in the first place.
I've had a lot of time over the last several days to think about these issues. I've been a forum moderator on several different boards and email lists, and I've dealt with these issues from the top of the authority food chain as well as from the bottom. With all the experience I've had as not only a moderator but also one who's been subject to moderation myself, I've got a pretty clear idea of the kind of changes I'd like to see here.
I don't know if CCP is looking to hire people to take on that job, but if they were to offer it to me, I'd take it in a second (I am, as a matter of fact, looking for work right now), and I think I'd be damn good at it. I've been through best of it and through the worst of it, and I think I've got an insight into this kind of public discussion forum and how they function which would allow me to recreate the moderation system for the E-O forums in a way that would be more welcoming, more inclusive, more worthwhile, more enjoyable, and more in concert with the actual game itself than what we've had until now.
Among the first things I'd do is get rid of the word filters, or more specifically, the way in which they've been being used. Personally, I think it's kind of silly to ban cursing in a game intended for teens and older, but even if CCP wanted that I'd try to avoid having to ban any words which can be used in polite conversation. Words that are exclusively used as slurs are another issue, and there's no reason not to exclude words that are only used as slurs to express hate. Curses, on the other hand, are used in common (if not polite) discussion a lot, and if they're not being used to attack others there's really no reason to ban them. In fact, banning these words and replacing them with asterisks actually makes forum readers think about them more as the mind automatically tries to fill in the sentence with correct word.
Basically, I'd try to use the game itself as the best model of what CCP wants EvE and the official media around it to be, and use that as guideline. Key to this goal would be taking an issue on the forums, examining how it's handled or dealt with in the game (if at all) and then using that as a guide to formulate policy.
For example, if I were charged with dealing with the word filter issue, I'd ban words like the N-word and other racial, ethnic, religious, etc. slurs, but only those words which have one, clearly offensive meaning. Words that have common, acceptable usages wouldn't be subject to this. I'd then deal with bigotry, bias, and other offensive posting on a case by case basis. In other words, I'd make the guidelines for moderation of the E-O forums based more on what people actually do rather than the specific words they use.
A good example of what I'm talking about is the use of the N-word. You can hear it said on hip-hop songs all the time by black performers and no one bats an eye. Yet, let it come out of the mouth of a white person in a public forum and it will often be seen as bigotry and a reason to fight. It's not as much the word itself that causes the problem as the context in which it is used and by whom it is used. The words "faggot", "queer", or even "girl" (when used by men) can elicit much the same kind of context-based responses which can vary greatly depending on how they are used and who's using them. Again, it's not so much what's actually said that's the issue as it's the meaning behind the use of the words in the first place.
Another thing I'd do if I were recreating this forum for the better is to allow more personality and localism in the topics and discussion groups. Have a bunch of people who are gay and want a gay-relevant forum for EvE players on the E-O forums? Submit an application, go through a screening process to ensure that you're not trying to create a hate group or other such negatively-based discussion group and that such a forum would have enough interest and participation to make it worthwhile, and let the players have at it.
All kinds of shared interests besides the game itself could be served and promoted like this, just as they are in-game. Not only sexuality, but nationality, ethnicity, lifestyle (i.e. popular culture interests outside of the game itself such as music style, profession, political views, etc.), and more could be valid EvE-related interest groups that could be given a place on the forums to be discussed by like-minded players.
With more freedom of expression, there would have to also have to be a certain additional amount of accountability as well. If you're allowed to create a new forum and there are problems and complaints regarding it, you're going to be asked why and what you plan to do about it. If you don't have a good answer or can show you're actively working on finding one, your forum is either going to go away or you're going to be replaced by someone who's better able to administer it.
One of the most basic overriding ideas I'd impose is that having the status of a moderator, paid or unpaid, or any other type of authority not offered to the average player is a privilege, not a right, and one that can and will be taken away if you abuse it or fail to demonstrate that you can and will use it wisely and in the best interests of both CCP and the EvE player community. Founders of these kinds of discussion groups and volunteers in general would be held to a high standard, with a hard and fast set of rules and guidelines to be followed. You break the rules, you pay for it in a significant and memorable way, just as a player posting there would. Break the rules too often or in ways that clearly indicate that you're looking to impose your own agenda and rulebook as the norm rather than CCP's, and you're gone, no matter who you are, how many friends you have, how long you've been doing the job, or how powerful or popular you are in-game.
I'd also create a zero-tolerance policy for any sort of real bigotry or other infraction that harms or negatively impacts the game or its playerbase in a serious way and makes EvE or the forums seem less friendly and welcoming. Yes, you'd be able to type the word "gay" and have it appear in print, but if you used it as a slur against another player you'd quickly find yourself whacked upside the head with the banning stick, plus probably lose the ability to apply to create or administer your own group forum, maybe even be banned from the game itself if it's serious enough. Do it repeatedly and you'll end up being banned in perpetuity or at least long enough that you're going to remember your mistake.
I'd also want to make sure that there would be a way to appeal a decision or action against a player that was both fair and effective. In-game, players with such an issue can petition to have it addressed, and if they're not happy with the result they can appeal it to a higher authority. I'd want to set up a similar system that was in concert with how CCP wants it done. If a moderator takes action against you in some way and you believe you're in the right, you'd have the right to petition and state your case, and you'd know that your petition would be carefully reviewed and investigated by those vested with the power to change the result if they feel it warranted. You'd also be informed, within the limits of what's considered appropriate for public consumption, of any decision made on your petition, what action will be taken as a result, and why that decision was made.
That may seem like a lot of rules (and this is hardly a complete list), but in reality there's a lot of space for individuality, personality, and just plain old fun in there, just as in the case of the game itself. EvE has plenty of rules, regulations, guidelines, and such things which impact the gameplay in significant ways, but the game is designed in a way that these things only come into play as necessary to keep the game balanced and fair, while still allowing the main purpose, fun and entertainment, to be the real goal, one that any player can seek and find within it, or even make it for themselves. In this way, I see no reason why the E-O forums should be any different from the game universe they focus on.
Anyone who's played a while knows it works. CCP hasn't made such things issues in-game except when they absolutely have no choice but to step in, and there's no reason why the same policies couldn't be incorporated into the forums with the same level of success. While there will always be those who create problems and require an authoritative response in the interest of the game and the players and a whole, the vast majority of EvE players participate in both the game and the forums because they want to play the game and talk about it. When the real troublemakers are dealt with quickly and effectively, the rest are them left to enjoy themselves, and most will do it in a way that doesn't mistreat or disparage others in ways that aren't acceptable within the EvE universe. When you get right down to it, the forums should be a positive and accurate reflection of what players find in-game, not the seemingly almost entirely separate entity unto itself with its own completely different set of rules of conduct it has been.
Yeah, I'd love that job, and I think I'd be good at it, in large part because I've given these issues as much thought as I have. I've been a forum warrior for a long time and I've learned a lot from it. I've also been a manager of both paid employees and volunteers that I know that experience would serve me in good stead in something like this as well. And hey, not for nothing, but when I'm motivated I can write up a storm when I set my mind to it, another skill that can be exceptionally useful in this kind of work.
Regardless of what CCP actually chooses to do here or how they decide to do it, I do hope they'll do it in a way that makes the forums and the way they're run reflect the values the designers have made a part of the game itself. To my way of thinking, it's taking one of the very best parts of EvE, the players and the in-game social interaction between us all, and making it publicly accessible outside of the game. If done correctly, the E-O forums can not only be a place where people already playing EvE can come and interact with each other outside of the game, but also where someone who's never played can go and quickly come to understand the biggest reason why EvE is so special, unique, and so very worth playing: the people, the community of New Eden...often rowdy, sometimes raunchy, rarely (if ever) afraid to voice an honestly held opinion, but most of all, just a pretty great bunch people having some fun together playing and talking about a game we all share a great love for. When you get right down to it, there's really nothing more or less to it than that.
When I wrote ""Gay" Is NOT A Dirty Word!" several days ago, it was my hope that maybe it could inspire some policy changes or something along those lines, but nothing prepared me for what I discovered when I checked out the E-O forums yesterday.
What I found was a DevBlog by Kieron saying that both ISD and the Aurora events team were basically being disbanded and would be replaced with a new system for handling their duties once their policies and procedures have been reviewed by CCP. Of course, I'm nowhere near arrogant enough to believe for even a minute that my post alone brought down the ISD, especially given the fact that the events team, which I never mentioned, also got the axe. At the same time, I suppose it is possible that what I wrote here might have added to the issues CCP felt needed to be addressed with a revamp of the system and guidelines under which the forums are moderated.
In all honesty, I didn't expect this when I wrote my post. I felt strongly about the issue I addressed and my hope was (and is) that I'd be heard, agreed with, and changes would be made as a result. That, in my opinion, is both the best and the most someone like myself, someone who's both a regular player and a commentator of EvE, can hope for. As activists of any stripe know well, you can't realistically expect to be able change the entire world as an activist...the best you can really hope for and effectively work toward is changing your own little corner of it for the better, or, at least, doing what you can to help that change occur. While again I certainly can't rationalize taking any sort of credit for the changes in this case, it nonetheless does feel like a victory anyway.
There's a lot of overlap between what I do in RL and in this situation. Many, in fact probably all, of the community organizations I interact with in the course of being an activist and community commentator rely chiefly on volunteers for many, if not most, of the non-leadership positions within their organizations. As CCP has no doubt learned, there's a very big difference between what you can expect in terms of work performance between paid employees and volunteers.
Paid employees usually (if they're good) take a certain proprietary view of their jobs. When what you're doing is putting food on your table and paying your rent, it's hardly surprising you'll tend to take it more seriously than when you're doing something without pay, solely for personal fulfillment or enjoyment. It's also not unexpected that unpaid volunteers who are volunteering essentially to become more involved with something they do for enjoyment will be more likely to want to do things their own way, and try to bring their own attitudes and desires into the process more aggressively and more often, and take more liberties in their jobs than those who have the added concern of protecting a paycheck.
That isn't in any way an indictment of any ISD volunteers specifically or of volunteerism in general, it's simply a reflection of human nature. When push comes to shove, protecting one's paying job just takes a greater priority in most cases than volunteer work, especially when it comes to playing by the rules. Not every volunteer does so for altruistic reasons. For many, it can be an "insider" status that's the draw. For others, it may be the opportunity to insert one's own agenda into the mix in a more impactful way than can be done as a mere participant.
Not everyone wants to be a leader, and fewer still are really capable of actually being one, but certainly more than enough want to be that companies and organizations which rely in whole or in part on a staff of volunteers to handle certain jobs can find themselves with a situation where too many people are going "I, I, I..." instead of "we, we, we...". When that happens, the entity employing these volunteers may have to periodically take a step back, look honestly and critically at the overall situation, and ask the question "Is what we have here what best serves the interests of our organization and what we do?". If the answer is "No", then changes will likely have to be made, and I suspect that's what happened here.
Another reality of working with volunteers versus paid employees is that when you're offering some form of authority or power over others as a aspect of the job, volunteers are more likely to see that power as a perk and a status symbol than as a responsibility. Some volunteers will likely be much more enthusiastic and possibly even overbearing in finding ways to wield that power. After all, what good is being given power over others unless you use it, right?
On the other hand, paid employees are more likely to simply see authority over others as a means to an end in getting their jobs done, and will use it in that way, instead of going out of their way to use their given authority just because they have it. In addition, the larger the group of those in authority, the more likely it is that someone, or several someones, are going to choose to put their own agenda and interests before those of the entity which gave them that power in the first place.
I've had a lot of time over the last several days to think about these issues. I've been a forum moderator on several different boards and email lists, and I've dealt with these issues from the top of the authority food chain as well as from the bottom. With all the experience I've had as not only a moderator but also one who's been subject to moderation myself, I've got a pretty clear idea of the kind of changes I'd like to see here.
I don't know if CCP is looking to hire people to take on that job, but if they were to offer it to me, I'd take it in a second (I am, as a matter of fact, looking for work right now), and I think I'd be damn good at it. I've been through best of it and through the worst of it, and I think I've got an insight into this kind of public discussion forum and how they function which would allow me to recreate the moderation system for the E-O forums in a way that would be more welcoming, more inclusive, more worthwhile, more enjoyable, and more in concert with the actual game itself than what we've had until now.
Among the first things I'd do is get rid of the word filters, or more specifically, the way in which they've been being used. Personally, I think it's kind of silly to ban cursing in a game intended for teens and older, but even if CCP wanted that I'd try to avoid having to ban any words which can be used in polite conversation. Words that are exclusively used as slurs are another issue, and there's no reason not to exclude words that are only used as slurs to express hate. Curses, on the other hand, are used in common (if not polite) discussion a lot, and if they're not being used to attack others there's really no reason to ban them. In fact, banning these words and replacing them with asterisks actually makes forum readers think about them more as the mind automatically tries to fill in the sentence with correct word.
Basically, I'd try to use the game itself as the best model of what CCP wants EvE and the official media around it to be, and use that as guideline. Key to this goal would be taking an issue on the forums, examining how it's handled or dealt with in the game (if at all) and then using that as a guide to formulate policy.
For example, if I were charged with dealing with the word filter issue, I'd ban words like the N-word and other racial, ethnic, religious, etc. slurs, but only those words which have one, clearly offensive meaning. Words that have common, acceptable usages wouldn't be subject to this. I'd then deal with bigotry, bias, and other offensive posting on a case by case basis. In other words, I'd make the guidelines for moderation of the E-O forums based more on what people actually do rather than the specific words they use.
A good example of what I'm talking about is the use of the N-word. You can hear it said on hip-hop songs all the time by black performers and no one bats an eye. Yet, let it come out of the mouth of a white person in a public forum and it will often be seen as bigotry and a reason to fight. It's not as much the word itself that causes the problem as the context in which it is used and by whom it is used. The words "faggot", "queer", or even "girl" (when used by men) can elicit much the same kind of context-based responses which can vary greatly depending on how they are used and who's using them. Again, it's not so much what's actually said that's the issue as it's the meaning behind the use of the words in the first place.
Another thing I'd do if I were recreating this forum for the better is to allow more personality and localism in the topics and discussion groups. Have a bunch of people who are gay and want a gay-relevant forum for EvE players on the E-O forums? Submit an application, go through a screening process to ensure that you're not trying to create a hate group or other such negatively-based discussion group and that such a forum would have enough interest and participation to make it worthwhile, and let the players have at it.
All kinds of shared interests besides the game itself could be served and promoted like this, just as they are in-game. Not only sexuality, but nationality, ethnicity, lifestyle (i.e. popular culture interests outside of the game itself such as music style, profession, political views, etc.), and more could be valid EvE-related interest groups that could be given a place on the forums to be discussed by like-minded players.
With more freedom of expression, there would have to also have to be a certain additional amount of accountability as well. If you're allowed to create a new forum and there are problems and complaints regarding it, you're going to be asked why and what you plan to do about it. If you don't have a good answer or can show you're actively working on finding one, your forum is either going to go away or you're going to be replaced by someone who's better able to administer it.
One of the most basic overriding ideas I'd impose is that having the status of a moderator, paid or unpaid, or any other type of authority not offered to the average player is a privilege, not a right, and one that can and will be taken away if you abuse it or fail to demonstrate that you can and will use it wisely and in the best interests of both CCP and the EvE player community. Founders of these kinds of discussion groups and volunteers in general would be held to a high standard, with a hard and fast set of rules and guidelines to be followed. You break the rules, you pay for it in a significant and memorable way, just as a player posting there would. Break the rules too often or in ways that clearly indicate that you're looking to impose your own agenda and rulebook as the norm rather than CCP's, and you're gone, no matter who you are, how many friends you have, how long you've been doing the job, or how powerful or popular you are in-game.
I'd also create a zero-tolerance policy for any sort of real bigotry or other infraction that harms or negatively impacts the game or its playerbase in a serious way and makes EvE or the forums seem less friendly and welcoming. Yes, you'd be able to type the word "gay" and have it appear in print, but if you used it as a slur against another player you'd quickly find yourself whacked upside the head with the banning stick, plus probably lose the ability to apply to create or administer your own group forum, maybe even be banned from the game itself if it's serious enough. Do it repeatedly and you'll end up being banned in perpetuity or at least long enough that you're going to remember your mistake.
I'd also want to make sure that there would be a way to appeal a decision or action against a player that was both fair and effective. In-game, players with such an issue can petition to have it addressed, and if they're not happy with the result they can appeal it to a higher authority. I'd want to set up a similar system that was in concert with how CCP wants it done. If a moderator takes action against you in some way and you believe you're in the right, you'd have the right to petition and state your case, and you'd know that your petition would be carefully reviewed and investigated by those vested with the power to change the result if they feel it warranted. You'd also be informed, within the limits of what's considered appropriate for public consumption, of any decision made on your petition, what action will be taken as a result, and why that decision was made.
That may seem like a lot of rules (and this is hardly a complete list), but in reality there's a lot of space for individuality, personality, and just plain old fun in there, just as in the case of the game itself. EvE has plenty of rules, regulations, guidelines, and such things which impact the gameplay in significant ways, but the game is designed in a way that these things only come into play as necessary to keep the game balanced and fair, while still allowing the main purpose, fun and entertainment, to be the real goal, one that any player can seek and find within it, or even make it for themselves. In this way, I see no reason why the E-O forums should be any different from the game universe they focus on.
Anyone who's played a while knows it works. CCP hasn't made such things issues in-game except when they absolutely have no choice but to step in, and there's no reason why the same policies couldn't be incorporated into the forums with the same level of success. While there will always be those who create problems and require an authoritative response in the interest of the game and the players and a whole, the vast majority of EvE players participate in both the game and the forums because they want to play the game and talk about it. When the real troublemakers are dealt with quickly and effectively, the rest are them left to enjoy themselves, and most will do it in a way that doesn't mistreat or disparage others in ways that aren't acceptable within the EvE universe. When you get right down to it, the forums should be a positive and accurate reflection of what players find in-game, not the seemingly almost entirely separate entity unto itself with its own completely different set of rules of conduct it has been.
Yeah, I'd love that job, and I think I'd be good at it, in large part because I've given these issues as much thought as I have. I've been a forum warrior for a long time and I've learned a lot from it. I've also been a manager of both paid employees and volunteers that I know that experience would serve me in good stead in something like this as well. And hey, not for nothing, but when I'm motivated I can write up a storm when I set my mind to it, another skill that can be exceptionally useful in this kind of work.
Regardless of what CCP actually chooses to do here or how they decide to do it, I do hope they'll do it in a way that makes the forums and the way they're run reflect the values the designers have made a part of the game itself. To my way of thinking, it's taking one of the very best parts of EvE, the players and the in-game social interaction between us all, and making it publicly accessible outside of the game. If done correctly, the E-O forums can not only be a place where people already playing EvE can come and interact with each other outside of the game, but also where someone who's never played can go and quickly come to understand the biggest reason why EvE is so special, unique, and so very worth playing: the people, the community of New Eden...often rowdy, sometimes raunchy, rarely (if ever) afraid to voice an honestly held opinion, but most of all, just a pretty great bunch people having some fun together playing and talking about a game we all share a great love for. When you get right down to it, there's really nothing more or less to it than that.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Space: The Final Frontier?
No, not in this game, anyway. With the coming of walking in stations, EvE is not going to be expanding outward as much as inward, giving pilots a more human presence outside of their ships, with more than just a headshot icon to represent their human aspects. It's an interesting concept, and one I think is inevitable in order for this game to really add a new dimension to it. Not only that, but it seems to be an absolute prerequisite in order to stay competitive with what's coming soon in the MMORPG market.
Star Trek Online has posted its first devblog and the screenshots are absolutely stunning. This game will have planets that can be landed on, with terrain that's as just as realistic as you'd expect. It seems that right from the very start STO will offer players much more human-oriented experience than EvE currently does, which seems right in concert with what ST fans have come to expect in all aspects of the Trek legend.
Right now, EvE is more about the greater universe and the various ways to manipulate it, with the true human element of the game being the interaction between the players themselves, rather than the characters. Right now, that's limited to text or audio chat, while the true in-game player-to-player gameplay interaction really isn't person-to-person but ship-to-ship.
In some ways, I think this is kind of unique and interesting, but in others, maybe not so much. There's a certain detachment that comes with the lack of a real in-game human element, something that it appears STO will have in abundance. If you're an EvE loyalist as I am and expect to continue to be one for a long time, be afraid, be very afraid...if the actual game is even half as good as what's been released so far, STO is going to kick major ass.
EvE does have certain major advantages, of course. For one thing, it's long past the beta stage...the game has evolved into one with major political players, alliances, wars, a depth that seems absolutely unequaled in other games. It's going to take a significant amount of time before STO even approaches that level. And yet, it's Star Trek, and that might well make all the difference. Even so, STO is still in fairly early stages of its development, so by the time it does actually debut EvE will be even further evolved than it is now. It's also interesting to note that comparisons between the two games have already started in the gaming press, with EvE apparently being held up as the standard by which STO will be judged, as well it should be.
It's clear to me, and probably to CCP and anyone else involved with EvE in any capacity, that STO, when it finally debuts, is going to exceed EvE's playerbase in size faster than you can say "Engage!". That much, I think, is pretty much a given. The real question is whether EvE will survive it and for how long. Personally, I suspect that if STO draws the same kind of playerbase as WoW does, New Eden will continue to be a safe(r) haven for more mature and sophisticated sci-fi MMORPG players. If that's the case, chances are everyone wins.
Fingers crossed...
Star Trek Online has posted its first devblog and the screenshots are absolutely stunning. This game will have planets that can be landed on, with terrain that's as just as realistic as you'd expect. It seems that right from the very start STO will offer players much more human-oriented experience than EvE currently does, which seems right in concert with what ST fans have come to expect in all aspects of the Trek legend.
Right now, EvE is more about the greater universe and the various ways to manipulate it, with the true human element of the game being the interaction between the players themselves, rather than the characters. Right now, that's limited to text or audio chat, while the true in-game player-to-player gameplay interaction really isn't person-to-person but ship-to-ship.
In some ways, I think this is kind of unique and interesting, but in others, maybe not so much. There's a certain detachment that comes with the lack of a real in-game human element, something that it appears STO will have in abundance. If you're an EvE loyalist as I am and expect to continue to be one for a long time, be afraid, be very afraid...if the actual game is even half as good as what's been released so far, STO is going to kick major ass.
EvE does have certain major advantages, of course. For one thing, it's long past the beta stage...the game has evolved into one with major political players, alliances, wars, a depth that seems absolutely unequaled in other games. It's going to take a significant amount of time before STO even approaches that level. And yet, it's Star Trek, and that might well make all the difference. Even so, STO is still in fairly early stages of its development, so by the time it does actually debut EvE will be even further evolved than it is now. It's also interesting to note that comparisons between the two games have already started in the gaming press, with EvE apparently being held up as the standard by which STO will be judged, as well it should be.
It's clear to me, and probably to CCP and anyone else involved with EvE in any capacity, that STO, when it finally debuts, is going to exceed EvE's playerbase in size faster than you can say "Engage!". That much, I think, is pretty much a given. The real question is whether EvE will survive it and for how long. Personally, I suspect that if STO draws the same kind of playerbase as WoW does, New Eden will continue to be a safe(r) haven for more mature and sophisticated sci-fi MMORPG players. If that's the case, chances are everyone wins.
Fingers crossed...
Monday, April 30, 2007
Cruisin'...
The last few days in EVE have been exceptionally flawless technically, even if I did lose another Thorax. In fact, it was a miscalculation on my part, an inaccurate assessment of my survival risks. Getting another Thorax fitted, ready to run missions, and insured at Bronze Level basically wiped me out financially, so I've been running Level 2 missions and I'll probably continue to for a while. In the meantime, however, my three AU Basic PvP Class-ready frigs and all the extra mods I bought for them are still sitting at the staging station, waiting for the next time the class will be held, in slightly less than two weeks. Of course, this time I'll be ready, my net connection will be ready, and I won't be living on pain medication...all of which are very good things.
I had an interesting in-game conversation earlier today with someone who's a pirate, but who I don't think is a Privateer about the pros and cons of the recent wardec nerf. This person apparently feels it's going to hurt the game, while I feel what CCP did was exactly the opposite, an action taken to protect the game and its accessibility to new players. To be honest, I really don't want to get back into this topic full-bore as I think I've covered it and stated my opinion pretty well, but I will say this. something else I've said here before, but which I don't think enough players understand is key here:
First and foremost, EVE is not a game, but entertainment media, a commercial product which is intended to make a profit for the company that creates it, CCP. If EVE succeeds in this, it will continue to grow and improve...if not, it will wither and die. This has nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, to do with the actual quality of the game or how much we love it as players. It has everything to do with basic economic reality: If it sells, it lives, and if it doesn't, it dies.
In this way, it's really no different from the business I'm in, or trying to be in, anyway. As regular readers have probably picked up from my references, I'm a radio talk show host. The kind of show I do is very specialized, especially intended for a specific kind of listener but also designed to be accessible to everyone who cares to take the time to listen. In order for me to be successful in doing this professionally, I need three things:
First, I need to be good. In fact, I need to be better than most. I am.
Second, I need someone in the business who thinks I'm good enough to hire. That, I've got.
The third part is harder: a media company that's willing to take a chance on funding a genre of radio that's largely untested in the commercial market. Finding that is the job of the guy who will be my boss, and it's finding the right business partner that's what's really taking the time here.
To translate this into EVE terms, let's start with this reality that every professional mediamaker of any stripe understands:
Media consumers are unbelievably fickle. The average gamer (online or otherwise), properly motivated, will be just as quick to bail on any given game they lose interest in as the average radio listener will be to bail on any given show that they find boring or less interesting than another. The real difference here, if there can honestly be said to be one, is only in the amount of time it takes for the consumer to "change the channel". The way to combat this is in radio is the very same as it is in gaming: Generating and maintaining a high level of consumer loyalty.
I remember a conversation I once had with a radio professional about getting myself hired in the business, at a major radio provider. He told me something that proved to be right on the money, that his company would be happy to put me on the air as a guest on their shows because I'm damn good, but he doubted that they'd ever offer me a real job because I was just too different from everything that had gone before...in other words, as a guest I was attractive because I was new and interesting (not to mention free to the company), but they'd never actually hire me, because I was TOO new and interesting. How fucked up is that?
This kind of thing definitely applies to EVE as well. Many people download the trial, but how many actually subscribe as a result and how many decide for themselves that EVE just isn't for them, that it's just TOO new and different to actually invest money in? When one looks at the playerbase of WoW and compares it against EVE's, it's pretty clear that EVE caters to a playerbase as specialized as the listenerbase which my show and network do, with much the same results. It doesn't take a game with almost 35 times the playerbase as EVE's to tell me what I've known for years: Media which strays less from the familiar, the tried and true, will be more successful than that which breaks new ground.
So how does a host like me or a game like EVE, both of which break new ground in our respective fields, develop loyal consumer bases? First, we gotta get them to the door...things like free trials and active mainstream and guerrilla promotional activities help with that. Once we got 'em at the door though, we gotta keep 'em there.
For me, as for EVE, you either like what you get or you don't. You like, you stay, you don't, you leave and move on...if enough people stay, it's a success, if not...
In both cases, it all happens early. Chances are, you'll know if you like me and my radio show after just a little while of listening, and a similar amount of time is needed for a new player to figure out if EVE is for them or not. That's why, just as it's critical for me to make my show as accessible to someone who's never heard it before as it is to someone who listens every week, so too does EVE need to be as accessible and fun to play for someone who's been playing for two hours as it is for someone who's been playing for two years. Different play styles, different reasons for listening, sure, but it all has to meet in the middle to accomplish the key goal of both: entertainment...without that, neither can succeed.
That's why CCP needed to do what they did to the wardecs, to protect the game and keep it interesting and fun for players of all skill and experience levels. It's not just good for the game, it's absolutely essential for its continued survival. To all you PvP purists complaining about this, I ask you to consider this question and answer it honestly, whether publicly or just for yourself:
Which would you rather have: A game that has safe, protected areas for new players to learn the game or a game which loses money and eventually goes under, rendering all players equal in the complete and total loss of a pastime we all love?
I know what my answer to that question is, and I hope yours is much the same.
I had an interesting in-game conversation earlier today with someone who's a pirate, but who I don't think is a Privateer about the pros and cons of the recent wardec nerf. This person apparently feels it's going to hurt the game, while I feel what CCP did was exactly the opposite, an action taken to protect the game and its accessibility to new players. To be honest, I really don't want to get back into this topic full-bore as I think I've covered it and stated my opinion pretty well, but I will say this. something else I've said here before, but which I don't think enough players understand is key here:
First and foremost, EVE is not a game, but entertainment media, a commercial product which is intended to make a profit for the company that creates it, CCP. If EVE succeeds in this, it will continue to grow and improve...if not, it will wither and die. This has nothing, I repeat, NOTHING, to do with the actual quality of the game or how much we love it as players. It has everything to do with basic economic reality: If it sells, it lives, and if it doesn't, it dies.
In this way, it's really no different from the business I'm in, or trying to be in, anyway. As regular readers have probably picked up from my references, I'm a radio talk show host. The kind of show I do is very specialized, especially intended for a specific kind of listener but also designed to be accessible to everyone who cares to take the time to listen. In order for me to be successful in doing this professionally, I need three things:
First, I need to be good. In fact, I need to be better than most. I am.
Second, I need someone in the business who thinks I'm good enough to hire. That, I've got.
The third part is harder: a media company that's willing to take a chance on funding a genre of radio that's largely untested in the commercial market. Finding that is the job of the guy who will be my boss, and it's finding the right business partner that's what's really taking the time here.
To translate this into EVE terms, let's start with this reality that every professional mediamaker of any stripe understands:
Media consumers are unbelievably fickle. The average gamer (online or otherwise), properly motivated, will be just as quick to bail on any given game they lose interest in as the average radio listener will be to bail on any given show that they find boring or less interesting than another. The real difference here, if there can honestly be said to be one, is only in the amount of time it takes for the consumer to "change the channel". The way to combat this is in radio is the very same as it is in gaming: Generating and maintaining a high level of consumer loyalty.
I remember a conversation I once had with a radio professional about getting myself hired in the business, at a major radio provider. He told me something that proved to be right on the money, that his company would be happy to put me on the air as a guest on their shows because I'm damn good, but he doubted that they'd ever offer me a real job because I was just too different from everything that had gone before...in other words, as a guest I was attractive because I was new and interesting (not to mention free to the company), but they'd never actually hire me, because I was TOO new and interesting. How fucked up is that?
This kind of thing definitely applies to EVE as well. Many people download the trial, but how many actually subscribe as a result and how many decide for themselves that EVE just isn't for them, that it's just TOO new and different to actually invest money in? When one looks at the playerbase of WoW and compares it against EVE's, it's pretty clear that EVE caters to a playerbase as specialized as the listenerbase which my show and network do, with much the same results. It doesn't take a game with almost 35 times the playerbase as EVE's to tell me what I've known for years: Media which strays less from the familiar, the tried and true, will be more successful than that which breaks new ground.
So how does a host like me or a game like EVE, both of which break new ground in our respective fields, develop loyal consumer bases? First, we gotta get them to the door...things like free trials and active mainstream and guerrilla promotional activities help with that. Once we got 'em at the door though, we gotta keep 'em there.
For me, as for EVE, you either like what you get or you don't. You like, you stay, you don't, you leave and move on...if enough people stay, it's a success, if not...
In both cases, it all happens early. Chances are, you'll know if you like me and my radio show after just a little while of listening, and a similar amount of time is needed for a new player to figure out if EVE is for them or not. That's why, just as it's critical for me to make my show as accessible to someone who's never heard it before as it is to someone who listens every week, so too does EVE need to be as accessible and fun to play for someone who's been playing for two hours as it is for someone who's been playing for two years. Different play styles, different reasons for listening, sure, but it all has to meet in the middle to accomplish the key goal of both: entertainment...without that, neither can succeed.
That's why CCP needed to do what they did to the wardecs, to protect the game and keep it interesting and fun for players of all skill and experience levels. It's not just good for the game, it's absolutely essential for its continued survival. To all you PvP purists complaining about this, I ask you to consider this question and answer it honestly, whether publicly or just for yourself:
Which would you rather have: A game that has safe, protected areas for new players to learn the game or a game which loses money and eventually goes under, rendering all players equal in the complete and total loss of a pastime we all love?
I know what my answer to that question is, and I hope yours is much the same.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Insert Headslap Here...
...really.
It was so simple, and something I should have thought of weeks ago. I've been having problems with disconnects, major lag, etc. that seemed to be far worse in recent days than I'd had to deal with since I started playing EVE. So, one night, on the off-chance that it might help, when no one else was home I disconnected the wireless router I have hooked up for another computer in the house, plugged the broadband directly into my computer, and ran EVE to see if there would be any difference.
Holy crap...we're talking night and day here. No dropped connections, far less (though by no means no) lag, the sound going out a lot less often...basically, disconnecting that router improved the performance of pretty much every single aspect of the game it might possibly have had an impact on. It's not quite like playing a whole new game, but it is definitely like implementing one's own little private "patch", filled with performance improvements. Not too shabby a result for just reconnecting a few wires.
As far as the actual game itself goes, I'm still amazed at how much more ISK in general I'm bringing in with the Brutix versus what I was bringing in with the Myrmidon. I've spiffed up my guns...I've now got five 250" Prototype Gauss Guns plus a medium Nos in my high slots...and I seem to be plowing through missions even faster. I don't know if some of these missions used to be tougher and I'm just enjoying the delayed benefits of a CCP nerfing, if that's I'm just a better pilot in general, if perhaps I've just happened upon a fitting that works especially well for my ship and the mission I'm doing, or something I haven't thought of as yet, but whatever it is over the last few days I seem to be making ISK a lot faster than before.
Also, I'm looking forward to the Griefateer "war" being over. I'd like to get back to the main E-Uni group, but there's just no way I'm going to risk losing yet another ship to these assholes...two, totaling somewhere around 50 or 60 million ISK with all the components, is plenty, thank you. Simply put, I refuse to deal with "players" who have no honor and only "play" to annoy others...if what it takes is joining the Dropouts every time these selfish children decide to attack a school corporation, than that's what I'll do. I'm all in favor of a fair PvP fight, but to engage with these "players" would be a lowering of standards to a point I'm just not willing to degrade myself to.
Personally, I think the way they play and the tactics they use should be bannable offenses. They declare war on noob corps, wait until the ships are compromised, and then attack in force. Frankly, it really surprises me that CCP hasn't at least tried to address this problem as one thing I do for a fact is that it discourages new players from continuing to play long-term. After all, no one really likes a game, no matter how good it is, if they can't play for even a couple of hours without getting podded and set back virtually to the beginning of the game by griefer assholes. I know this for a fact because it was a key reason why I left the game when I originally tried it and didn't return for a year. I'd wonder how many did exactly what I did but never bothered to return and see if it had improved.
And yes, it has improved significantly from the first time I played, but nowhere near enough. I strongly suspect that CCP is losing many, many, potential long-term EVE subscribers to this. Maybe they're happy with the number they have and really don't care, but if they do and they really want this game to attract more "lifers" than just the very hardcore, they're going to have to put some sort of leash on the griefers...at the very least, allowing them to organize and declare war on noob corps should be forbidden.
These are not real players. They don't podkill noobs to accomplish any actual in-game goals, they do it to entertain themselves at the expense of other players. They hurt the game, and they hamper its continued success. There shouldn't even be a question...this crap needs to stop and it needs to be made to stop now. Simply put, these children should be made to either behave or go away, end of story.
It was so simple, and something I should have thought of weeks ago. I've been having problems with disconnects, major lag, etc. that seemed to be far worse in recent days than I'd had to deal with since I started playing EVE. So, one night, on the off-chance that it might help, when no one else was home I disconnected the wireless router I have hooked up for another computer in the house, plugged the broadband directly into my computer, and ran EVE to see if there would be any difference.
Holy crap...we're talking night and day here. No dropped connections, far less (though by no means no) lag, the sound going out a lot less often...basically, disconnecting that router improved the performance of pretty much every single aspect of the game it might possibly have had an impact on. It's not quite like playing a whole new game, but it is definitely like implementing one's own little private "patch", filled with performance improvements. Not too shabby a result for just reconnecting a few wires.
As far as the actual game itself goes, I'm still amazed at how much more ISK in general I'm bringing in with the Brutix versus what I was bringing in with the Myrmidon. I've spiffed up my guns...I've now got five 250" Prototype Gauss Guns plus a medium Nos in my high slots...and I seem to be plowing through missions even faster. I don't know if some of these missions used to be tougher and I'm just enjoying the delayed benefits of a CCP nerfing, if that's I'm just a better pilot in general, if perhaps I've just happened upon a fitting that works especially well for my ship and the mission I'm doing, or something I haven't thought of as yet, but whatever it is over the last few days I seem to be making ISK a lot faster than before.
Also, I'm looking forward to the Griefateer "war" being over. I'd like to get back to the main E-Uni group, but there's just no way I'm going to risk losing yet another ship to these assholes...two, totaling somewhere around 50 or 60 million ISK with all the components, is plenty, thank you. Simply put, I refuse to deal with "players" who have no honor and only "play" to annoy others...if what it takes is joining the Dropouts every time these selfish children decide to attack a school corporation, than that's what I'll do. I'm all in favor of a fair PvP fight, but to engage with these "players" would be a lowering of standards to a point I'm just not willing to degrade myself to.
Personally, I think the way they play and the tactics they use should be bannable offenses. They declare war on noob corps, wait until the ships are compromised, and then attack in force. Frankly, it really surprises me that CCP hasn't at least tried to address this problem as one thing I do for a fact is that it discourages new players from continuing to play long-term. After all, no one really likes a game, no matter how good it is, if they can't play for even a couple of hours without getting podded and set back virtually to the beginning of the game by griefer assholes. I know this for a fact because it was a key reason why I left the game when I originally tried it and didn't return for a year. I'd wonder how many did exactly what I did but never bothered to return and see if it had improved.
And yes, it has improved significantly from the first time I played, but nowhere near enough. I strongly suspect that CCP is losing many, many, potential long-term EVE subscribers to this. Maybe they're happy with the number they have and really don't care, but if they do and they really want this game to attract more "lifers" than just the very hardcore, they're going to have to put some sort of leash on the griefers...at the very least, allowing them to organize and declare war on noob corps should be forbidden.
These are not real players. They don't podkill noobs to accomplish any actual in-game goals, they do it to entertain themselves at the expense of other players. They hurt the game, and they hamper its continued success. There shouldn't even be a question...this crap needs to stop and it needs to be made to stop now. Simply put, these children should be made to either behave or go away, end of story.
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