A New Eve Online Thread (Because HAHA)

[gurugeorge]

One of the most coherent, fair and comprehensive responses I've seen yet to the whole debacle here, from Tippia, one of the more level-headed regular forumites.

[Aeon221]

Your post hits all the relevant stuff dude. Depressing as hell what they're up to.

It's really funny looking at the back and forth between me and Mark over CCP being terrible communicators and the whole license fiasco. He thought he players were childish for raging and not trusting ccp, I thought we were being rational with our uprising based on prior history where forum shrieking killed bad changes.

A few weeks later and that whole imbroglio looks like a love tap by comparison. CCP has declared war on Eve, straight up. I'm gonna see about getting TEST people to make some kickass propaganda and protest vids, if peeps haven't already started.

[Dave47]

While I'm "a 0.0 player" I'm very casual. I play EVE not because of the work CCP does, but because of the work players do. Creating a forum, explaining things, editing a wiki, running a TS server, writing an operations calendar... Without these, EVE would be unplayable. (As it was the first time I tried the game, before Qt3 turned me on to MRCHI.)

EVE is a "hardcore game" not because the average player is hardcore, but because the hardcore players have such tremendous influence in shaping the experiences and perceptions of the casual players. In most online games, the social stuff only really becomes mandatory as you approach the endgame. In EVE, I cannot imagine someone getting past the first month without getting involved in the social aspect. The single player "EVE experience" is just too frustrating and clunky to compete against a modern game.

The ramifications of this seem obvious to me: EVE, more than any other game, needs to avoid alienating their obnoxious minority of hardcore fans. Yes, they're obnoxious, and yes, they're only like 5% of the player base. But unlike other MMOs, they really do have influence somewhat commensurate with their gigantic egos.

[Aeon221]

I free ride off the efforts of a few crazy dedicated people who alarm clock to fix jb networks and spend all their time analyzing our accounts/maintaining the pos/filling the wallet/buying the free rifters/jfing shit I buy from jita/etc.

One of our FCs remarked on how he had spent 16hrs straight FCing for various stuff, basically home defense ranging from pos takedown to pos rep. His last op during that stretch was the one I showed up on, where we saved a blue pos from mercs, guarded a bunch of caps and a couple supers while they repped it, and then got titan'd (by a pilot who had been alarm clocked for the op) over to 6vdt where we hunted down some raiders camping our station. It ended up being a couple hours of prep, fighting, etc. And through the whole thing he performed great and led us to victory against a superior force while operating on almost zero sleep for a week thanks to various stuff.

Those are the kind of people that make the game worth playing; the crazy weirdos that keep the alliances running.

CCP? They provided a framework, and filled it with monkey dung. If I play more than one or two missions a week, I stop logging in because they're so fuckawful boring. I even set up a domi that can afk them and still can't be bothered to do it. The UI? Shit, shitter, shittiest. POS management is an eyefucking nightmare. Industry is a click intensive pain in the dick. The only thing worse than this game solo, and that just barely, is Pride of Nations.

But with people? Oh man does it work fine. This might be the one game in the history of gaming that people would quite willingly play for decades without anything more than a skeleton crew providing regular balance updates, small scale usability tweaking and anti-lag efforts. If you look through the forums, you'll see millions more posts about Gallente balance than you will requests for new content. That. Ain't. Normal. Add in reasonably price mt goodies and focus on fixing over adding and you'll make out like gangbusters, CCP, and have a more docile community to boot.

Instead they've opted for stuff guaranteed to piss off the tiny minority of players that make this game playable, from 3rd party devs to die hard alliance staff.

Basically, the income from this game is as reliable as a US t-bill. Fucking with it by pissing off the hardcore is the height of stupidity.

[Marcus]

Some of them might be obnoxious but most of them are right. I am honestly debating pulling my EVE sub at this point.

[Marcus]

Basically, the income from this game is as reliable as a US t-bill. Fucking with it by pissing off the hardcore is the height of stupidity.

Yeah this too. I mean they may not be making WoW money but still they were making money and by trying to "fix" shit they stand to lose it all. I'm not even sure if I will bother with DUST either.

[Aeon221]

Holee shit, I just looked at the Eve forum and, uh, every forum has multiple pages of people freaking out. I've never seen anything like this. There's apparently a protest in Jita and they've got over 2000 players logged in screaming away in local. They're trying to crash the server by firing on an invincible memorial. Apparently the uproar is everywhere. t20 had nothing on this.

edit: Woah, CCP shut down Jita.

http://i.imgur.com/VcwUN.jpg

edit2: there's rumors that eve-central isn't going to be updated for post-incarna because the creator is pissed off at CCP. That's pretty much the end of trade and most market apps.

edit3:

blogs from CSM reps on the ragestorm (will add more as I find them):

http://meissaanunthiel.blogspot.com/...-fuck-ups.html
http://seleenes-sandbox.blogspot.com/

3 time former CSM, former chairman, Dierdra Vall: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard...&page=108#3213

and because you people probably don't know why he matters, Dierdra Vall on Excellence from last year: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard...readID=1327362

edit:

People voting overwhelmingly in favor of PAYING MORE MONTHLY to get rid of MTs: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard...readID=1535768
old vote thread on MT, community response is DO NOT WANT: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard...readID=1395464

edit: watch this thread asplode: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard...readID=1536168

[Brian Rubin]

Wow, this really looks like a serious implosion, doesn't it?

[Brian Rubin]

Wait, I'm having a tough time deciphering that image, what's it mean? And they SHUT DOWN Jita? Can they DO That?

[Aeon221]

Wait, I'm having a tough time deciphering that image, what's it mean? And they SHUT DOWN Jita? Can they DO That?

That's players shooting an unkillable monument in Jita with everything they have to cause node lag and crash it entirely. They're trying to take out Jita. It's already apparently impossible to enter the system yet again.

CCP locked everyone out of Jita for a while hoping things would cool down, but instead people started congregating in Perimeter and rioting there.

Seriously, the whole thing reminds me of Tunisia. First that dude self immolates, and then a big corruption scandal breaks and all of a sudden people are rioting all over the fucking place.

Somebody important is going to have to step down at this point, I don't think anything less than a big scalp is going to calm people.

[Juan Rayo]

Holy shit what a rage storm, I LOVE IT

Yeah they can shut down any system, blocking it from players entering. They could also take it down entirely forcing people to relog in there or somewhere else, but I imagine this would only make the fans more pissed off.

Wished I was sub for this alone haha

[Brian Rubin]

This is absolutely amazing to watch. I'm glad I don't sub so I wouldn't be as pissed. As it is now, I'm just sad. Even though EVE has problems, the promise of EVE has always been insanely compelling, and now they're planning to ruin that. Sigh.

[Calistas]

The Tunisia analogy is fascinating. Please keep us posted on how and where the in-game protests are going?

[ThornFalconeye]

Woo! Fight the power! I cant make it to jita but they have 1100 people in the MASS-PROTEST channel calling to bring down each trade hub. Amarr is next apparently.

EDIT: jita hub is closed, Amarr is up to 1200 people in local

EDIT: i am in dixie :) and it is heading to dixie.

[Aeon221]

Knocking out Jita is srs bznz. It means that players can't trade. With that and Eve-Central out, we're pretty much talking about a total collapse of the Eve economy. It's unreal.

At this point, I think a dev stepping down has become a matter of time.

[Juan Rayo]

Man is any gaming media picking this up? has to be kinda unprecedented no?

A friend was telling me Amarr is seeing people mass as well, while the protest continues in Jita.

What an fascinating community CPP has created in EVE.

edit: one of the apparently many "Jita cams" broacasting the events.

[Calistas]

I know a writer from Hollywood (he is the guy who offed Optimus Prime in the original animated series of Transformers!). He has written very intelligently on a mailing list I am on about news and story "beats". I would love to hear his thoughts on the beats of a revolution. You could replace "jita" with "Cairo" and "Amarr" with a Red Sea port and the above news could have been the real world a few months ago.

[Aeon221]

Two players protest outside of Icelandic Parliament: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTC3A2PNPKo

edit: Petition asking if the game dev who wrote the YES side for MT should go: http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard...readID=1537074

edit: in game help channel locked to no speak.

edit: riots starting in Amarr, the next largest hub. Chribba has deployed the Veldnought in support of protesters.

edit: Jita lockdown has dropped the population to 600 as players log or exit the gates. Still no access available.

edit: Helicity Boson of Hulkageddon fame was banned over the issue. Multiple threadnoughts demanding his "release" from multi-account 90 day ban. Apparently he's EVE's self immolater.

edit: http://www.evenews24.com/2011/06/24/...y-crowded-too/
eve news (shit as they are) is reporting on the issue, and Massively is rumored to be penning a piece on it as we speak due to player tipoffs. This is about to blow up all over CCP.

edit: Jita unlocked again and already back at over 2000, Amarr sitting at over 1500.
http://i53.tinypic.com/2lcbseo.jpg people in Amarr are also shooting a monument to cause lag and node death. Players have actively declared war on the server.

Apparently some five thousand players are involved in the protests. In a game where 50000 is a good day. TEN. PERCENT. OF. THE. POPULATION. RIOTING.

edit: Holy fuck, Amarr is already breaking 2k. Un. Fucking. Real.

edit: WTs are refusing to fire on one another, opting to protest instead. :boggle:
NO MT alliance formed to coordinate future protests.

edit: people crashing out on undock in both systems

[Juan Rayo]

Calistas, yes, it´s fun to see this happen in a videogame. On the other hand, your friend offed Optimus, turning me OFF Transformers forever.

[19:56:49] Thorian Vorski > AMARR LOCAL HITTING 1,000
[20:01:58] Vexion Daran > Join cahnnel “MASS-PROTEST”
[20:02:34] Dano Kador > EVERY1JOIN HELP CHANNEL AND TELL ISD TO SHOVE IT
they wil give u something like #shit
[20:02:31] JMERCENARY > 2000 in jita in lockdown, 1000 in AMArr, 600 IN PERIMETER!!!! THE RIOTS ARE SPREADING ALL OVER EVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Blips]

This could provide researchers a unique opportunity to study how riots / revolts / etc form and spread. Depending of course on how well documented the activity is. The only downside is CCP shutting down servers :S

I'm just upset that this is happening now, and now in year or two from now.

[Calistas]

I am letting the Web Ecology Project know, they will love this stuff!

[Brian Rubin]

This is just downright amazing.

[Aeon221]

Dodixie has been tipped as next target, which could eff me over royally because that's where my implant fit JC sits. Derp. No logging in for me tonight!

edit: Amarr locked down by traffic congestion. Jita apparently locked down _again_. They can't keep em locked down because if players can't trade at all, Eve dies. Sooo. Something is gonna happen here.

[Brian Rubin]

Aeon221, thanks for keeping is updated. I know I, for one, really appreciate your efforts.

[Aeon221]

http://www.justin.tv/deamosseraph#/w/1380742320

Live cam of Jita protest in action.

RPS article on it: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2011...incarna-anger/

The shit has just officially hit the fan.

edit: Apparently Liang Nuren, another major eve duder, got banned too. There are support threads for him as well on the forums. It's like CCP did not watch what the hell happened in Tunisia, and feels the need to repeat it in game :boggle:

[Mark Weston]

All things considered, comparing this to the events in Tunisia and Egypt is kind of sad.

It reminds me of the dim and distant days when I was a student and our Student Union decided to go on strike. Students on strike? Who the hell did we think we were inconveniencing?

This made me laugh though;

My understanding is that a blog is being worked on. I don';t know what the ETA of it is, as the Community team has been too busy handling war declarations from various countries.

[Brian Rubin]

Holy freaking crap. Are they attacking that monument thingy?

[Aeon221]

All things considered, comparing this to the events in Tunisia and Egypt is kind of sad.

It reminds me of the dim and distant days when I was a student and our Student Union decided to go on strike. Students on strike? Who the hell did we think we were inconveniencing?

This made me laugh though;

I'm not making a comparison to Tunisia on either scale or seriousness, merely as an accurate description of how things are going.

First a big expose amid a general anger about the way the game was going, then a few players got banned, and then mass protests erupted in the major "cities".

The timelime is eerily similar, just sped up, as are the events. There's even a figurehead for the rage to target: CCP Soundwave, who has made RMT his baby.

[Aeon221]

Holy freaking crap. Are they attacking that monument thingy?

Yeah, the monuments are targets because they're invulnerable and can be shot to cause lag from all the modules. Players are ungrouping guns and staggering fire with drones launched everywhere to increase the effect.

End result, it's completely impossible to get into either system. I'm expecting node crash myself, that's what those numbers mean in 0.0.

Dodixie local is spiking.

edit: Kugu is basically silent on the whole thing. What little discussion there is is entirely dismissive. Unreal.

[SadleyBradley]

This is fascinating. I wonder how this is going to shake out, though. Is CCP going to hold steady and potentially lose a lot of players (evidently, about a tenth of the population, which is also most likely the most passionate about the game)? Or are they going to back down from MTs altogether, losing face and money?