Immersing Yourself in EVE

For many years the word "immersive" has been widely used in the digital industry; more notably in the video-gaming world.  It is an important property which contributes to the playability of every game.  Defined as "noting or pertaining to digital technology or images that deeply involve one's senses and may create an altered mental state".  This altered mental state can be one of the chief reasons why many people choose to play video games.  These digital worlds in which we immerse ourselves become an escape or exciting alternative to what we experience in real life.

While it is near impossible to boil down our desire for gaming into a few simple words and explanations; you can not deny that the immersion factor plays a huge role in almost all forms of media.  From books to music, first-person-shooters to documentaries;  we live in a world where our mental state is constantly shifting and adhering to the media we choose to consume.  Without getting into the psychological, physiological, or philosophical implications behind all of these "mental states",  I believe it is safe to say we all possess a degree of control over our varying immersion factors. 

When it comes to EVE Online, there are many ways we can do this.  I see it as an arbitrary spectrum:  At one end we have the hardcore role-player that never leaves character; this person has read every EVE chronicle and novel ever published, they have also written some of their own fan fiction.  They are fiercely loyal to their faction and can be seen shouting proclamations in local chat.  At the other end of the spectrum we have the ultra meta-gamer.  This player spends more time using third-party tools and spreadsheets than they do in-game.  They are heavily involved in EVE politics and scrupulously research the market and game mechanics to ensure their in-game superiority.  I am not saying their is not any cross-over between the two ends of this imaginary spectrum.  I know numerous people, including myself, who partake in multiple parts of the game.  Although, as diverse as our interests may be, we tend to get comfortable in our play style.  It can end up becoming too routine.  This can lead to disinterest and the inevitable "break" from the game.

I believe to fully appreciate all that this game has to offer, each of us should expand our horizons and try the different facets of EVE that have never held much sway over our gameplay choices.  By exposing ourselves to these different areas we will get a well-rounded experience that will increase our immersion, and thus result in more enjoyable gameplay.  I encourage you try some of these different areas of EVE.  Join an RP channel, tinker around with EFT, read a chronicle, go exploring, put a chunk of ISK towards some risky investments; whatever you do, try something different.  Wherever you fall on my arbitrary "immersion spectrum", know that all of us have a commonality in our interest of science fiction and internet spaceships.  If a person enjoys one aspect of this game, chances are you will at least be able to appreciate that aspect and gain some knowledge along the way. 

One last thing.  If you haven't heard the old EVE soundtrack in awhile, or have never heard it before, I think it's well worth a visit.  I played the whole thing while on an exploration session the other night and it was pretty awesome.  You can find it on SoundCloud here.

Late Boarding on the Sov/Structure Changes Hype Train, Pt. 2

In part one of this entry I eagerly wrote of the many changes that are coming to the sovereignty and structure elements of EVE Online.  These topics are thoroughly covered in the semi-recent dev blogs posted by Fozzie (sov) and Ytterbium (structure).  By internet standards this is old news, but I'm still surprised to not see more elation and chatter about these topics.  The never ending assault on POCOs and POSs continues, sovereignty wars rage on, things are persisting as-usual.  Seemingly unbeknownst to the majority of players, change is coming.  The old ways of structure bashing and lengthy sovereignty takeover will be snuffed into ash, and like a phoenix; the new system will gloriously rise in an inferno of change to purify the lengthy and monotonous system which we presently take for granted.

If you haven't figured out by now, I abhor structure farming, the mere mention of POS bashing sends me into a fit of disinterest.  The EVE experience I was so hoping to log-in to becomes bile in my mouth.  Admittedly, many times these events turn out to be something worthwhile.  They can result in decent escalation and fantastic fights, but equally likely they result in cat-and-mouse games with nothing being accomplished other than a reinforcement timer or single explosion, followed by an order being given to set destination to "home".  I also detest POS management and moon mining, need I explain? With these two new systems being integrated in the near-future, we can say goodbye the humdrum and move on to more meaningful gameplay.  You're probably still not as excited as I am, but that's alright, I'm prone to enthusiasm...  

Instead of delving into every detail of the upcoming structure changes,  I'm going to highlight a few aspects which I found most interesting (all of these are clearly designated by CCP to be a work-in-progress and are therefore subject to change):

Custom Fitting:

No longer will you have to anchor multiple items inside of a POS to carry out the desired function.  All of the functions will be determined by what you fit on your structure.  This should result in an easier management system and will probably (hopefully?) come with some interesting visual differences between each structure, much like what we see with strategic cruisers.


Visually Captivating:

Each type of structure will come with a much more distinct look and feel.  Not to mention they are also going to be much larger than what we are currently used to seeing.  I imagine with the increased polygon count which CCP is striving for, these new structures will be a sight to behold.  Also, the new visual effects for anchoring structures looks marvelous.

Choice of Designating Access: 

It will be your choice as to who has access to each structure which you deploy.  No longer will your structures have to be bound to your corporation or alliance.  By all means, help your fellow corp and alliance mates as much as possible, but nothing is keeping you from anchoring an industry or research hub for public access and profit.

Side note:  

The dev blog seemed to be eluding to the goal of replacing the current NPC infrastructure with player owned objects.  This is further hinted to in an image on the dev blog which shows a mock-up structure management window that displays player owned structures in 0.8-1.0 systems.  It is currently impossible to anchor starbase structures in systems with security 0.8 and above.  Perhaps this restriction will be lifted or reduced and we will indeed see the majority of structure use migrate from NPC structures to player owned structures.

I am still curious for more details surrounding the implementation process and how the transition will take place.  Even with a smooth transition I believe we'll see yet another sharp rise in mineral prices (miners rejoice!).  Since mining really isn't my forte, I'm more thrilled to see how these changes will drastically morph player interaction.  Pretty cool stuff!  I will now step off my hypebox and patiently wait for more information on these prodigious changes to this amazing game.

Late Boarding on the Sov/Structure Changes Hype Train, Pt. 1

I have been procrastinating, until today, the reading of the recent dev blogs regarding the upcoming changes to sovereignty and player-controlled structures in EVE Online.  Before my examination I had envisioned the future changes to be of limited consequence.  I assumed the apparent hype to be reserved for those who partake in large-scale EVE politics and sovereignty control, i.e. Goons, Northern Associates, Shadow, etc...to my delightful surprise, this is not the case.

I cannot credit my new home under a rock to any particular reason; perhaps my recent return to EVE and playing catch-up has blinded me to these potential game-changing changes, or the simple lack of conversation about these topics among the people I play with is the reason.  Maybe I just need to browse the EVE Online forums more....whatever the reason, I am thoroughly impressed and amped-up for the direction the developers are taking.  I have boarded the hype train and am feverishly stoking the furnace.

Granted, the specific changes outlined in the dev blogs are subject to revision and intentionally labeled as a "work-in-progress", but the goals of these changes should be maintained as they are developed.  Specifics aside, the direction in which the game is headed is very exciting, it will revolutionize the way players interact with the game universe and each other.  There IS reason to be hyped for these changes, if you have not already, will you not come aboard the train with me?

Rather than attempting a complete explanation which would be lacking, I encourage you to read Politics by Other Means: Sovereignty Phase Two and Back Into the Structure, If you don't have the time or motivation, I don't blame you.  They're rather long and I had them on my "to-do" list for the better part of a month.  Below is a summarization of the the new sovereignty system.  I will follow up with some of the specifics regarding the new structure system in Part 2 of this post at a later date.

The Old:

Currently there are four main structures involved in null-sec sovereignty.  These are the Infrastructure Hubs (I-Hubs), Territorial Claim Units (TCUs), Conquerable Stations, and Sovereignty Blockade Units (SBUs).  In order to claim a system, an alliance must anchor and online a TCU.  Establishing sovereignty over a system gives the benefits of being able to anchor I-Hubs, 25% reduction in starbase fuel cost for the alliance, and protection in the form of reinforcement timers for conquerable stations belonging to the sovereign alliance.

The I-Hubs allow the system to be upgraded for that alliance which brings about many more benefits such as establishing jump bridges, cyno jammers, capital ship construction arrays, and PVE upgrades.  The I-Hubs also provide another form of protection for the territorial claim unit,  as the TCU in a system will be invulnerable until the all the I-Hubs in the system are destroyed.  

Sovereignty blockade units come into play when an invading alliance is trying to conquer the system.  SBUs must be onlined by the invading alliance at more than 50% of the stargates in that system (e.g. 2/2 gates, 3/4 gates, 3/5 gates, etc...) to cause the I-Hubs and any conquerable stations to become vulnerable.  Both the I-Hubs and stations have dual reinforcement timers, one for low shields, and one for low armor.  The station manager sets a desired exit time for the reinforcement of both the I-Hubs and station; there is a 24±3 hour delay for I-Hubs and a 48±3 hour delay for stations, plus any difference between the time of the attack and the desired exit time.  For a much more in-depth look at current sovereignty mechanics, check this out.

All this really means is that taking over a system is a long and arduous process, as all of these structures are tied to each other and there are multiple reinforcement timers.  I'm sure many of you have read about and/or witnessed some of these incredibly massive battles.  While this may seem exciting from an outside perspective, I would think the increased time dilation and the large amount of time being spent pelting structures would get old very fast.  The current mechanics around contesting sovereignty also limits the fight to one system, which ends up creating a bottleneck and forces players into instant ship escalation.  "Bring the biggest thing you have, don't worry about moving, and welcome to time dilation insanity"; doesn't sound like much fun to me.

The New:

The beauty of the new sovereignty system is that it rids the need for drawn-out sessions of structure farming and brings in new elements that encourage mobile fleets and requires much more military logistics strategy.

Sovereignty blockade units are being removed and replaced by a module called the Entosis Link.  This will be a high slot module with low ship fitting costs.  It will be used to contest I-Hubs, TCUs, and stations.  The module will have a cycle time that can vary from 5 to 40 minutes depending on which structure it's being used on and the system defenses that are in-place for that structure.  While the Entosis Link is active your ship will have increased vulnerability as it will be immobile and unable to receive remote assistance.  The Entosis Link can also be used defensively to pause an attacking players Entosis cycle.  

Along with the removal of the SBU mechanic, each of the three main structures involved in sovereignty control can be independently captured and held by different alliances.  So there may be systems where the I-Hub, TCU, and station are controlled by competing alliances.  Each structure will still maintain its historic role and provide similar benefits to that of the old (current) system.  

When a structure is successfully contested by an Entosis Link, the structure will go into reinforcement mode for approximately 48 hours.  This timer will expire during a four hour "prime-time" window that is set by the defending alliance of the structure.  This ensures that the alliance has the opportunity to mount a successful defense.  When the structure's reinforcement exits during this prime-time window, a new event will start.  Objects called Command Nodes will randomly spawn in systems within the parent constellation, regardless of the sovereignty of other systems in that constellation.  They will be explicitly labeled and show up on the anomaly scanner, so it will be easy to figure out which nodes belong to the structure of interest.  The Command Nodes will be captured using the Entosis Link, thus starts the tug-of-war.  Each Command Node will be worth points, the alliance with the most points at the end of the event will win.  The defending alliance will usually have the home advantage and receive more points (depending on other factors) for capturing Command Nodes than the attackers.  If the I-Hub or TCU is the contested structure, and the defending alliance is unable to win the Command Node event, it will blow up and allow an alliance to anchor and online their own I-Hub or TCU.  

If a station is the object of interest then the losing alliance gives up control of the station and it will enter a 48 hour Freeport Mode, during this time anyone will be able to dock and use the station services free-of-charge.  When it exits the Freeport Mode, another event will begin that is similar to the first one.  The difference being is that the Command Node event tied to a station after Freeport Mode can be won by any alliance, and there will be no defense mechanics in place for the previous owners.  Mechanically it will be a free-for-all.  Here is a link to a flow chart provided by CCP that illustrates each situation.  

The mechanics of this new system will make it harder for large alliances to hold on to unused systems and opens up great potential for smaller alliances.  With the induction of phase 1 of the sovereignty changes (capital ship jump timers), this also means that alliances will have to make some tough logistical choices when defending or attacking in attempts to capture Command Nodes during these events.  This should result in a much more enjoyable PVP experience that limits the blob factor of what we see in current sovereignty wars. 

Overall I think this is a fantastic approach to the problems we face with the current system.  I imagine there are some people who don't like this new approach; no longer will they be able to hold sway over large regions of space through pure blob force and induced boredom.  They will have to actively fight and maintain each structure within each system, ignored pieces of space will soon fall to those who wish to stake their own claim.  New Eden is about to get a lot bigger, and I'm all for it.

Riding the Ever-Changing EVE Bike

"Like riding a bike."  These words are the epitome of the recognizable and mundane.  Many things in life fall under this category, once learned, they are almost impossible to forget.  This concept is easily applied to many video games, such as some of my favorite first-person shooters and other unnamed RPGS.  EVE Online is definitely not one of those games.

If you have ever taken an extended sabbatical from EVE Online, or are just beginning your EVE Online adventure, you are well aware of the trials faced when diving into this rich and complex video game.  As I come back from a 1.5 year break, I'm excitedly crawling my way back to the level of competency I had when I left the game.  For now, most of my time spent "playing" is actually spent reading about changes or fiddling around with new ship fittings on EFT.  

Not only am I playing catch-up with all of the major changes (the biggest being capital ship jump travel),  I'm finding that I have forgotten how to do many simple things that used to take little thought.  My fellow corp-mates were about to go on a frigate roam and told me to grab a fully fit Tristan out of the corp hangar.  I spent a good five minutes trying to remember how to access the corporate hangar before finally finding the right menu.  Shortly afterward, I was helping my friend move his jump freighter.  I shamefully admit that I had to Google search how to broadcast a cyno before my friend could make the jump<ins>facepalm</ins>.

If you find yourself in a similar situation I encourage you to read all the patch notes which have been released since you started taking your break.  Read them in chronological order (starting with the oldest first) and plow your way through to the latest patch.  This will alleviate some of the confusion you may feel while getting back into the game.

If you're a new player I strongly suggest reading up on as much as you can about the game.  Pay close attention to how dated your resources are, as they may not be applicable to the game anymore.  There are many guides and articles on the EVE wiki worth checking out.  Finish the in-game tutorial and join the "Help" channel.  There are amazing people in that channel that can help you answer almost any question.  It can even be a good resource for those that consider themselves EVE experts.

Taking a break has given me a whole new appreciation for this game.  The intricacies and numerous changes that have taken place in the short span of a little under two years is a testament to the greatness of EVE Online.  I am invigorated knowing that my time and money is invested in a game where the developers are dedicated and passionate about what they do.  CCP's open ears to feedback and their communication with the players far surpasses that of any other developer.  I'm happy to know that I'm playing a game this is continually modified and added upon.  Some of the changes currently being presented at Fanfest 2015 look incredible.  I cannot wait to see how this game will be morphed and shaped into something less recognizable in the years to come.