EVE Blog Banter #9: If I were a CCP Dev I would...

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

"Last month Ga'len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith "WebMandrill" Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?"

Since I'll be judging this banter for the contest, along with my fellow judges James Egan and Richie Shoemaker, I've decided not to participate and to focus my attention on going through the articles. Please remember that the banter and article submission is open for one (1) week. After which, no additional articles will get added or be open to the contest. 

Good luck to all!

The Drone Bay: Episode 22 - Like a Dysfunctional Family Reunion...

Recorded on Monday evening, the latest Drone Bay podcast was released today. And yes, all 3 cohosts were present during this recording! It had been over 8 months since we were last all together on a show, but it felt great to be back and talk about EVE together. This latest episode is a bit more open in format since it's was a bit of a re-introduction. The next shows should have the old structure back.

The Drone Bay Episode 22: Like a Dysfunctional Family Reunion

ZOMG a proper Drone Bay! Well...kinda. All three hosts are back, and there is some EVE talk for you all. We are hoping this is the beginning of a more regular recording schedule, so listen up and enjoy as the Three Musketeers (or is that Amigos?) of EVE podcasting return to the airwaves!

Contact Info:

In-Game Channel:
The Drone Bay

E-Mail:
dronebay|at|gmail.com (comments/questions for everyone)
crovan|at|eve-mail.net
crazykinux|at|gmail.com
alsedrech|at|gmail.com

Blogs:
Bitter Old Noob (Crovan)
CrazyKinux’s Musing
The Littlest Drone (Alsedrech)

Friday Video: Is an EVE Online FPS about to be announced?

Way back in November of last year, Fanfest attendees were bombarded with information on what the devs were planning in the near and far future for the EVE Online franchise. I say franchise because it's well known that CCP North America (formerly CCP White Wolf) was working on bringing their World of Darkness RPG to the world of MMOGs.

Amongst the information we were shown was the video below. Unfortunately, I was taken a bit by surprise when the clip started and missed the beginning. In the first few seconds, we see the interior of a ship as the player roams around. This was very similar to a wish I shared about a year ago, in which I compared Gears of War 2 with a potential EVE FPS . I guess I wasn't far off.

After those videos and slides were shown (see the EVE Ecosystem for XBOX360 & PS3 dev platforms) , a lot of the gaming press started speculating as well (see Massively, 1Up.com and EuroGamer as examples of that coverage).

If CCP Games decides to make (or already has) an EVE FPS, they'll need to get the required industry expertise. And they're going to need to have someone to oversee this corporate expansion — something the Icelandic devs are fairly familiar with.

Case in point: earlier today, Massively's James Egan wrote about a tweet I made earlier this week regarding CCP NA looking for an HR Manager. Seems their Atlanta office is about to see some important growth.

At this point in time, it's all speculation. And even though Hilmar (CCP's CEO) is about to make a major announcement at GDC Europe later this summer, an FPS might be a bit too early. We'll just have to wait in anticipation of Hilmar's address.

EVE Blog Banter Contest Prizes Announced!

Contest Starts: June 30th, 2009 - Ends: July 6th, 2009 (end of day) :: DO NOT PUBLISH BEFORE!

Email me for details: crazykinux[at]gmail.com

Just got word back from CCP Zymurgist about the prizes we'll be giving out to the contest winners. They are,

1st place: Gurista's Hoodie

2nd place: Poster (winner chooses 1 amongst 3 different posters)

3rd place: EVE Mug (winner chooses 1 amongst 4 different mugs)

Honorable mention: Keychain Bottle Opener (got one myself!)

Some pretty sweet EVE loot in there! So who amongst you will be wearing that hoodie?

Let the writing begin!

The EVE Blog Banter Contest!

Building on the success of our last EVE Blog Banter, with over 40 participants, I've decided to spice things up and have ourselves a little contest for this next banter. I've been in talks with the some very enthusiastic Community Representatives at CCP, who were as excited about it as I was.

Contest Starts: June 30th, 2009 - Ends: July 6th, 2009 (end of day) :: DO NOT PUBLISH BEFORE!

Email me for details: crazykinux[at]gmail.com

The Banter will be done in the similar fashion as in the past, with articles going live on the 30th of June. You'll all have a week to participate by posting your article and emailing me its title and URL before July 6th, end of day. Once all the articles are in, these will be listed at the end of my article, as they always are. The deadline this time though, will be thoroughly implemented.

The judging will be done over the next few days, with the results being announced on July 13th, which should give the 3 judges sufficient time to read through all the articles (hopefully!). The judges in question will be none other than Richie "Zapatero" Shoemaker (EON's Editor-in-Chief), James Egan (Writer and EVE Online Game Lead at Massively), and by myself.

Three winners will be announced - a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, as well as a 4th "honorable mention" prize will also be awarded. The prize details will be announced shortly, once I get confirmation from CCP.

What might the subject of the next EVE Blog Banter be you might ask? Read on...

"Last month Ga'len asked us which game mechanic we would most like to see added to EVE. This month Keith "WebMandrill" Nielson proposes to reverse the question and ask what may be a controversial question: Which game mechanic would you most like to see removed completely from EVE and why? I can see this getting quite heated so lets keep it civil eh?"

So there you have it! The contest is open to all amateur bloggers, though the judges, obviously, can't be amongst the winners.

Friday Video: Oceansize

I'm always amazed at the talent that's out there. Hollywood, instead of giving us sequel, prequel and nyquil until were num with indifference, should look towards the work of sutdents from schools such as SupInfoCom Arles. Just take a look at the video below, and you'll understand.


Oceansize from Oceansize Team on Vimeo.Oceansize is a short 3D movie made by 4 students of Supinfocom Arles in 2008, Romain Jouandeau, Adrien Chartie, Gilles Mazières and Fabien Thareau. You can check the official site for more stuffs and informations: www.oceansize-lefilm.com
(via Geeks are Sexy)

EVE Online Postcards for Monday June 8th, 2009

And the Gates of Heaven lit up...

It's been a while since I last did a postcard post. The one I did was back in October of last year, and that of a stargate against the background of a star and planet. So as I take the baton and start running this series again, I thought it would be appropriate to cover that subject again.

The following screenshots were taken earlier this evening, as I travel 20-some jumps from Khanid Prime to Zirsem.

Inspiring n'est-ce pas?

See them all on my flickr accoount.

EVE Online Speedlinking for Saturday June 6th, 2009

It's been a very busy 2 weeks in the EVE blogging community. Indeed, early on Monday was added almost 300 new EVE blogs to my EVE Blogroll. The vast majority of the new blogs came over from Podlogs and Gamescribe, 2 new blogging platforms geared towards EVE Bloggers. Usually I list the new blogs on my Speedlinking posts, but in this case I've decided to part with tradition and only add those blogs which the owners have taken the effort to either post a comment on the Blogroll, or have written to me personally, letting me know about their new EVE blog. That's the list of blogs you'll find below.

Amongst the new blogs of the last 2 weeks:

• Break Vol
• The Eyes of the Hawk
• Dropping out of Warp
• EVE on High
• The Maverick Minmatar
• Blogganeers
• Talk Unafraid
• EvE Chronicles by Von Richtburg
• Ashireka's Adventures in EVE
• Adventures in Mission Running
• Declarations of War
• Phoenix Corporation (The)
• Soulprayer.de
• VelociLogic
• Revenge of the Voice (The)
• Yarrbear Tales
• Kai Honsou
• Inanity and Doom

Some in the EVE blogging community have voiced their concerns that so many new blogs might not be the best for the health of our nascent community. I amongst them, was certainly concerned enough to mention that quite a few of these new blogs might not be around for long, and may already have followed the Dodo. None though, have been as loud and elaborate in voicing their opinion then long time EVE blogger Spectre over at EVE Newb. You just have to head over and read "Your blog sucks". There's no way to summarize that kind of post!

New EVE Blogging Community Monthly Extravaganza

• Calling all EVE Bloggers - If you have the writers itch!

EVE QEN Q1-2009

• 2009 is a good year .... for EVE (pdf)
• Kirith's Highlits of the 48 page document

New EVE Novel (upcoming)

• EVE: The Burning Life (Amazon.com) (Amazon.ca) (Amazon.uk.co)

Various

• @chainercygnus brings some interesting ideas to EVE Login Security in EVE & You
• Station Trading Guide (via Kai Honsu)
• Drone Bay Episode #21 Special Fanfest '09 edition
• Fly Reckless Episode #32
• Podded is back after a hiatus with a few podcast under its wings in May (via @Mynxee)
• Your corp ship maintenance array and you, Letrange explores wormholes, ships and POSs
• Blinky on the next Alliance Tourney
• Over at the EVE Tribune Kirith's Fighting Spacecraft
• Shae explains the merrits of Interior Design for the Discerning Corporation over at the Hellcats
• The CSM results were made public and discussed here and there in the community
• Nyphur covers EVE Online's aggression mechanics in his lastest EVE Evolved series over at Massively.
• Roc reports on the success of Capsuleer!
• There were some late addition to our latest (8th) EVE Blog Banter, so make sure to head back and have a read!
• Check out EVE Online Postcards for some amazing screenshots of New Eden!
• Scopique explains the ins and out of living on the other side of a wormhole in Wormhole Shenanigans.

Non-EVE Gaming news items (mostly E3 stuff!)

• Rock, Paper, Shotgun has a plethora of great articles on Mass Effect 2, Star Wars The Old Republic, Diablo III and on the now FREE BattleForge!
• The Gaming-Griefer intelligently explores the dark and dirty world of violence in video games.
• GameSetWatch highlights the best news of the (E3) week.
• Last but not least, Hawty McBloggy (aka @bsangel) has some Halo coolness for us and some Project Natal funnies!

There you folks, see you again in 2 weeks. Well in regards to the Speedlinking that is! :D

The Drone Bay: Episode 21 - Fanfest 2009 Preview Special

Recorded earlier this week, the latest Drone Bay podcast was released today. Though I couldn't join Crovan and Alsedrech as the show was recorded during my work day, my podcast mates did a good job torturing the 3 devs present to get the most information from them on the next EVE Online Fanfest! Well, seducing might be a better term than torture.

Having been at Fanfest myself, I highly recommend that you attend if not this year, at least once! Have a listen and you'll get a brief idea of the amount of fun, facts and friends you'll discover if you decided to attend the Party at the top of the world!

Here's a few links to my account of the fanfest last year!

• EVE Fanfest Day 1 - Recap and more
• EVE Fanfest Day 2 - Lots more goodies!
• EVE Fanfest Day 3 - Highlights

Good to hear you guys again!

Friday Video: Star Wars - The Old Republic

I don't consider myself a Star Wars "fan". Yes I've seen all the movies and most of the mini-series, but any geek who considers himself or herself as such, will have at least done so. Nevertheless, of all the current MMOs in development, Star War The Old Republic has got to be the one I'm most curious and excited about. So when LucasArts and Bioware released the following video during E3, the Force was flowing in my veins like there's no tomorrow!

So? Any goose bumps?

Walking in Stations teaser looks amazing in HD

I recently hinted at my desire to add mini-games within the confines of a space station. The idea came to me after seeing the SecWars mini-game created for the Walking in Stations expansion, which last I heard should be released before the end of the year. Here's a glimpse of what to expect.

It's evolved nicely since the first time we saw Ambulation over 2 years ago, don't you think? It'll also be interesting to see how our avatars evolve when WiS (aka Ambulation) finally comes out!

The EVE Blogosphere passes the 500 blogs mark!

You read that right, FIVE HUNDRED PLUS blogs! The actual total is 535, but since some of the blogs aren't active anymore, I'm not gonna be fussy with the actual headcount.

This extraordinary turn of event is the result of the enthusiasm that reigns high in the EVE Blogosphere as well as the recent work of two dedicated member of the Capsuleer Class. I'm talking about the founders of both GameScribe and Podlogs, respectively @AnMiTh and @EddieGord0.

These two individual recently came to the same conclusion, and roughly at the same time: they both wanted to provide gamers, specifically EVE players, with a blogging platform geared towards their needs. And though you'd expect these two individuals to be fighting it out so that only one EVE blogging platform remained, the opposite is the actually the case. On top of having created some of the original EVE themes for GameScribe, the creator of Podlogs recently helped his GameScribe counterpart when the site was maliciously hacked late Friday evening. Unknown to @EddieGord0, a Podlogs fan hacked into GameScribe and temporarily disabled the site.

Through herculean efforts by @AnMiTh, GameScribe went back online before the end of the week-end. And though the new GameScribe Community was shaken by the unfortunate event, the site owner has redoubled his efforts and taken every precaution possible to prevent such hacking from occuring in the future.

As a witness to these events (via emails back-and-forth with the two site owners), I saw them help each other out in a very gentlemen-like behavior. It was a moment to be proud of as a member of the EVE Blogging Community!

Now getting back to the 535 EVE blogs, I already know what some of you "glass-is-half-empty individuals" are gonna tell me: a lot of these blogs don't have any content, nor article. I agree, some of them - including the one I created for my character - don't even have one post by their author. Indeed, it remains to be scenes if all these new blogs will be active , or still be active a month from now. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic that the EVE Blogosphere will thrive in the next few month. A lot of it will depend on the response we, experimented EVE Bloggers, give these blogging noobs. So if you come upon a blog that has little activity, write a comment. Maybe tease the author in writing something new. Who knows where this will lead.

And so, I leave you with this promise: in the next few weeks, I'll be working on creating several new lists, grouping these blogs by subjects matter, whether that be industry, pirate, PvP, Mission Runners, etc. But don't expect to see these lists soon, because at over 500 blogs, that's one fat gorilla!!

CK out!