EVE Online: Tyrannis Announced

[Ten19]

http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/community/devblog/2010/EVE_Tyrannis-2_t.jpg

Just announced today, the newest upcoming (free) expansion to EVE Online: Tyrannis. The focal point of this new expansion will be enabling the industrialization of every planet in the game, be they Earth-like, gas giant or lava or anything. This will be a brand new layer of industry and commerce on top of the already complex (and to me, compelling) economy in-game.

It will also introduce the social networking element of EVE, EVE Gate. Enabling you to check your in-game mail from a browser, and tend to other social activities.

ETA is "before the summer solstice".

Full blog here (http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=733).

Also keep in mind, that the current plan was for one more big expansion and then Incarna (walking on stations), so here's hoping they keep to that.

I'm effing excited!

[Goronmon]

Those CCP guys really don't stop.

[BrassGecko]

I know I want a pet planet. Interesting times!

[Goronmon]

Stuff like this makes me wonder. Is CCP as unique as they seem to be in their ability to develop and maintain an MMO? I mean, they are creating this updates with content that some developers try to build a hole game around and fail, yet they just keep coming up with bigger and better things.

[Felonous]

Looking forward the this expansion.

http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/community/devblog/2010/PI_blog_01a.jpg

But the winter expansion that should have WIS (walking in stations) seems to be more interesting to me.

[Chaos Machine]

Stuff like this makes me wonder. Is CCP as unique as they seem to be in their ability to develop and maintain an MMO? I mean, they are creating this updates with content that some developers try to build a hole game around and fail, yet they just keep coming up with bigger and better things.

unique in that their game was self funded and that they answer to no publisher, they continually reinvest their profits into improving their game instead of lining the pockets of a cutthroat publisher. To date, they have never charged for any of the content updates they have made to the game aside from the monthly subscription fee. I also think that eve is the only mmo in history that has had its subscriber base grow since day one. They also have a rather unique way of getting rid of "gold farmers" they essentially make it legal to trade in game money for 30 day timecodes instead of cash(all handled through the games market interface). This allows people to essentially play the game for free if they even have the slightest motivation levels. Those that are lazy and have money to spend get what they want too! its a win win without the annoyance of PHUK MAC jr. spamming you with ads for his iskfarm.

[shodan2020]

Man, I'm so glad I resubscribed. I can't wait for this expansion!

[kyrieee]

CCP are pretty good at PR. They manage to portray themselves as much better at managing the game than they actually are. Take the CSM for example; it's the player elected council that's meant to communicate the community's opinions directly to the game designers / engineers. CCP flies them over to Iceland and stuff.

The CSM often gets mentioned in MMO discussions and people like to point out how awesome CCP are for keeping it going, but in reality communications between CCP and the last CSM apparently "broke down". They're supposed to talk to CCP daily / weekly, how hell can their communication "break down"? It's more of a PR thing than something which has a great influence on the game which is a shame.

I don't think CCP are bad, but they're not as good as their image

[jpublic]

My problems with EVE, as much as it constantly tempts me is:

1) The three times I went back to it I was essentially overwhelmed. There's far too much in the game for me now, and I don't feel as new player (which I essentially was each time) there's enough of a guide-in from the game.
2) Seriously, who designs a game that actually encourages you to NOT PLAY.

[BigJonno]

The only thing that stops me from playing EVE is that it's ship-based. I have absolutely no interest in playing any kind of MMO that isn't character-based. That said, I'd guess that they have to spend a lot less time and effort on art assets than other MMOs with similar graphical quality because they're not having to come up with new gear models all the time.

[Goronmon]

The only thing that stops me from playing EVE is that it's ship-based. I have absolutely no interest in playing any kind of MMO that isn't character-based. That said, I'd guess that they have to spend a lot less time and effort on art assets than other MMOs with similar graphical quality because they're not having to come up with new gear models all the time.So, the only thing that stops you from playing an MMO based around space combat, is the fact that it's based around space combat? ;)

[BigJonno]

So, the only thing that stops you from playing an MMO based around space combat, is the fact that it's based around space combat? ;)

Pretty much, yes. :D

[bstiff]

I amazed by the planning that players use to pull off some of the scams, assasinatin, insurance fraud ect. I guess it just shows you what will happen when humanity ever gets into space. Does CCP ever sanction any of the culprits or just let it play out in game?

[Ten19]

1) The three times I went back to it I was essentially overwhelmed. There's far too much in the game for me now, and I don't feel as new player (which I essentially was each time) there's enough of a guide-in from the game.
Being that EVE is essentially a sandbox MMO, it's pretty impossible to have a guide in-game that tells you EVERYTHING to do, you have to get a hold of the basics. They have been drastically improving the new player experience and in-game tutorials recently, almost every expansion it seems they make them more robust. Ultimately, you should talk to other people (i.e. a channel full of CoG's) to help you wrap your brain around it.


2) Seriously, who designs a game that actually encourages you to NOT PLAY.
Seriously, I think you're missing the point. The game isn't encouraging you not to play, it's encouraging you not to have to do mindless fucking grinding to progress, and instead focusing on USING your skills you have so far.

[BrassGecko]

I amazed by the planning that players use to pull off some of the scams, assasinatin, insurance fraud ect. I guess it just shows you what will happen when humanity ever gets into space. Does CCP ever sanction any of the culprits or just let it play out in game?

It IS the game. :p

My problems with EVE, as much as it constantly tempts me is:

1) The three times I went back to it I was essentially overwhelmed. There's far too much in the game for me now, and I don't feel as new player (which I essentially was each time) there's enough of a guide-in from the game.
2) Seriously, who designs a game that actually encourages you to NOT PLAY.

1. I'd suggest finding a corporation that focuses on the parts of the game that interest you the most.
2. I just don't understand this. Yes, your skills train whether you're logged in or not, but there's no benefit to not playing. You can do a lot of stuff pretty much right off the bat, skills just increase your options and let you do things more efficiently.

Edit: TEEEEEENNNNNNNNNN

[kyrieee]

Seriously, I think you're missing the point. The game isn't encouraging you not to play, it's encouraging you not to have to do mindless fucking grinding to progress, and instead focusing on USING your skills you have so far.

The thing about EVE is that there are grind mechanics to fall back on. Mining, missioning etc. are very secure ways to make money, but not at a terribly great pace. The richest people in the game did not get rich by grinding, but figuring out good ways to make money isn't easy, it requires a lot of ingenuity, which means that many people just revert to the (not very good) grind mechanics.

[Shadowstorm]

As an industrialist/trader, this expansion really sounds awesome. However, I've been really loving some of the posts over on the EVE-O forums about what kind of content could be delivered to make certain aspects of the game much, much better. In particular, the post below makes a great case (IMO, of course) for the reworking of how lowsec works in EVE.

Lowsec needs some serious attention to make it the great place it should be... And im not talking about FW, which is pretty much unrelated to 'real' lowsec.

Lowsec is about criminals, it's about piracy, its about the dark underworld of new eden. I think its about time it had some deserved attention. It would take a lowdec patch to really turn it into the place it should be, I suggest ccp do just that, the update should be called 'Outlaw'.
I have the following proposals for this, and by no means are these all my ideas, so thanks to all the people who have put ideas around before...

1: Criminal underworld, similar to 0.0 sov, recognition should be given to the 'overlords' who dominate systems, some sort of benefits may be 'bought' with underhand payments to authorities, such as the rats in a system may not engage unless fired upon, or reduced facility rates, offices etc.

2: Criminal Faction agents for missions.

3: The BlackMarket, have a market that can ONLY be accessed when in lowsec, and with items that can ONLY be sold on the black market. All 'illegal' items moved onto this market. Maybe with npc smuggling items too. Create more illegal items to load onto the market. More drugs, maybe illegal implants... see also 4.

4: Pirate faction ships and items become illegal in hisec, so whilst usable in hisec, become available only through the black market....

5: Make better smuggling opportunities, with these illegal items, make a smuggling profession more viable.

6: crooked cops, have random faction npcs for that region wander lowsec, looking for payoffs.. hand over a little isk to go free, or fight them..Maybe the overlord can see to it that these crooked cops don't interfere with their people...

7: Have lowsec borders between all the empires, or at least the empires who are at war, so there is no 'safe' route for people, this way people would actually hire escort personnel to protect haulers, another career opportunity. Smugglers would also be employed in such places...

8: New pos modules such as pleasure hubs and so on, could be you need to supply it with drugs/food/alcohol etc and in return it earns money. Would need to be limited to like 1 or 2 per pos though to avoid large pos 'super brothels' being built en-mass in systems to make huge isk.

9: Some form of cyno jamming as in 0.0, lowsec is becoming blobbed with caps... possibly only the system that an alliance has 'godfather' status could be cyno jammed...

10: Better ore, better missions etc, to keep the isk warriors coming in despite the risk.

A lot of people are saying how there aren't enough people coming to lowsec, but people need to have a reason to go there. Im not interested in getting more carebears to wander in to get ganked (yes im a pirate, but i prefer a fight), what id like to see is more organizations fighting for turf. Gang wars, pirate factions fighting each other, or real opportunities for anti pirates to go in and wage war against their hated enemies.

We need a deeper immersion for lowsec, bring it on please, make lowsec the dark and dangerous underbelly that society loves to hate... Lowsec shouldn't be a dangerous version of hisec, just as 0.0 isnt a no concord version of hisec. It should be a separate experience in itself...
Trust me, I almost know what I'm doing.Granted, some suggestions might be questionable, like this:

Pirate faction ships and items become illegal in hisecBut, the sale of these ships could become illegal in high security systems/regions. Aside from that, lowsec could become very, very awesome and even more profitable (speaking as someone who makes a lot of his money by moving cargo from highsec to popular lowsec areas to sell them at a mark-up on the local market).

Also, EVE Gate is a step in the right direction and introduces a bit of a social twist to it, however I would really like to add and modify my character's skill queue in the browser. Now that would be cool (and convenient). I would also like to see t3 frigates and the Black Ops class of ships to be modified. (http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1263689)

[kyrieee]

I've had so many discussions on how to fix lowsec. They tend to be very interesting but they always end with "CCP won't do anything about it anyway"

[LordDon]

You need a sub before you can buy Plex with Isk, right? I couldn't just start a 14 day trial and buy Plex from there to essentially play for free right from the start could I?

[BrassGecko]

Looks like you can buy it whenever (http://support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=495).

*If you are currently using a Trial account, your account is converted to a paying account and the 30 days are added onto the remaining days left in your trial period.

You just have to make the isk to buy a plex before the trial time runs out... might want to get a 21 day try for that. :p

... and just ask any of us who already play if you're interested in the 21 day trial, we get a free month if we invited you and you subscribe so I can't imagine anyone turning you down.

[Narradisall]

I read that was Tyrannids.

I had visions of fleets of ships coming up against the Hive Swarm.

[LordDon]

You just have to make the isk to buy a plex before the trial time runs out... might want to get a 21 day try for that. :p

... and just ask any of us who already play if you're interested in the 21 day trial, we get a free month if we invited you and you subscribe so I can't imagine anyone turning you down.

Wow, that's incredible. I wonder how hard it would be to amass the 300 mil Isk before the 21 days are up.

[BrassGecko]

Wow, that's incredible. I wonder how hard it would be to amass the 300 mil Isk before the 21 days are up.

I suspect you'd have to put in a lot of play, and some of the ship types and skills are restricted on the trial accounts.

The best way I can think of would be to learn salvaging real quick and follow someone around on level 4 missions to get a share of the large bounties and rewards, plus the substantial salvage value... and then turn around and carefully do the most valuable buying and selling you can find with that isk while you tag along for more missions.

10-15 million isk per day should definitely be possible with some time commitment, if you're not worried about buying much in the way of skillbooks, ships or equipment.

[kyrieee]

Salvage prices have really taken a big hit in the last 6 months. Buying PLEXes straight from the trial is a bit optimistic IMO. Even if you manage it it's probably going to be very grindy / gimping

[BrassGecko]

From a semi-soul crushing evening salvaging L4 missions, I've seen 10 million from salvage and something similar from bounties and rewards, after it's all split two ways and without selling the other loot. I certainly wouldn't enjoy playing that way, I just think that with fair time investment and a mission runner to follow it IS possible from a standing start.

And then you'd have to start earning it all again immediately for the next month, minus whatever profit you were able to keep after Plex and skills and equipment...

[Goronmon]

Yeah, 300 million isn't exactly trivial even for a veteran account without a solid time commitment, so expecting it in 21 days for a trial account is quite the feat.

[Ten19]

New Dev Blog today, revealing the new model/texture for the Scorpion:

http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/community/devblog/2010/Scorpion_2010_01.jpg

My pants, they are tight.

Read the full blog here: http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=732 Hopefully they'll be giving this treatment to all the ships, it's well overdue.

The bog includes a demonstration of the various texture variants with the new model, and really shows that they're trying to make a good distinction between all the types, something I'm a BIG fan of.

http://ccp.vo.llnwd.net/o2/community/devblog/2010/Scorpion_2010_02.jpg

EDIT: Also for fun, here's a shot of what the Scorpion looked like when I started playing :p

http://izlin.free.fr/eve/ships/scorpion.jpg

[Sly Marbo]

That is sexy.

[MagGnome]

This game continues to amaze me.

The concept of a free expansion seems to be lost on most MMO developers, so kudos to CCP for giving players tons of new content!

[Ten19]

This game continues to amaze me.

The concept of a free expansion seems to be lost on most MMO developers, so kudos to CCP for giving players tons of new content!

Have you tried the trial yet? Do it. Dooo eeeeet. Get one of us to spawn a 21 day trial for you like. Like a mushroom.

Also, a bit more detail about Tyrannis in today's dev blog:

http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=741

My industrial-side is grinning with anticipation.

[MagGnome]

I'm definitely going to try the trial soon. I know I keep saying that, but I mean it. :p

I just got a free copy of Fallen Earth, so I'm playing that for now. I really can't juggle two MMOs at once (I've never really played one before FE), so EVE will have to wait for now.

[Felonous]

CCP just posted a developer blog with more details on how planetary interaction is going to work and to announce that some of the code is going live on the test server already.

http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=741&aid=105650

[Ten19]

CCP just posted a developer blog with more details on how planetary interaction is going to work and to announce that some of the code is going live on the test server already.

http://www.eveonline.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=741&aid=105650

You did read my post two posts ago, right? :p

[Felonous]

You did read my post two posts ago, right? :p

Bastard!

Ok, lets try this one...

New Tyrannis teaser video released on youtube:

5Xp_F0ti7oQ

Take that! HAHAHAH!