Friday Video: Halo 3: ODST Rap

I bought ODST a few weeks ago, and until earlier this week, it was pretty much gathering dust. Not for the lack of interest, but lack of time and opportunity to play the game. I haven't gone far in the game in the last few days, but so far I'm liking it a lot. There's this sense of claustrophobia and vulnerability that changes the game play from previous Halo games. It's quite refreshing.

Here's a well put together rap video of the storyline for Halo 3 ODST from the guys at JT Machinima.

[Warning: Spoiler alert]

EVE Online Dominion Trailer and Expansion site go Live

About an hour ago CCP Games released the trailer for their latest expansion and launched the Dominion site. Have a look and be prepared to be amazed once more!


I really look forward to this expansion as the end of the year will see me have a bit more time to log into EVE in the evenings and play with my mates from Phoenix Labs; which is something that has been very difficult these past few months for reasons I'll explain in a later post.

As for this expansion, it seems to me that they've out done themselves again if one looks at all the features that will arrive next week. Can't wait for it!

Friday Video: The Rings of Earth

Ever wondered what Earth would look like if it had rings, like Saturn's or Jupiter's? Well someone did wonder, and he created the video below. I wanted to share this video, not only because it's intriguing, beautiful and inspiring, but also because of the upcoming visual change that New Eden is about to receive when Dominion comes out on December 1st.

I've already posted some of the videos of these changes that were taken on SiSi, the EVE test server, but an Earth-like planet with rings isn't something I saw, or even thought of. Maybe this is something CCP would consider and eventually roll out in the next few months. It would truly make New Eden even more majestic if it had a few of these Earth-ring planets!


What do you think?

[Found via Geeks Are Sexy]

"When Worlds Collide" - DUST 514 makes the cover of EDGE Magazine

The latest issue of EDGE Magazine has the upcoming DUST 514 FPS as its cover feature.

I'll be honest, when I first looked at that cover I thought I was looking at Sheppard from Mass Effect. It took a few seconds and a few words to realize I was looking at a character from DUST 514. So is this the look of what to expect when Incarna (aka Ambulation, aka Walking in Station) rolls out, hopefully by the end of next year?

Anyways, getting back to EDGE, here's some more details on the cover feature:

Subscribers are about to receive their shiny copies of the latest issue of Edge, featuring the debut of Eve Online maker CCP's FPS Dust 514. In shops on November 24.

Though Eve itself is firmly based in Iceland, Dust 514, which is set in Eve's universe, is developed by CCP's new Shanghai studio. A MMOG shooter, Dust's battlefields are absolutely tied to Eve, with Eve players' corporations hiring Dust players to fight for control of planets for them.

In other words, instead of the matchmaking being handled by heartless servers, Dust 514's action will be defined by Eve's players. And who better to try such a fascinating experiment than CCP? It is the developer which, in Eve, produced the most fascinating MMOG culture in the world.

[UPDATE: The site seems down at this moment, though it was up earlier today!]

The Oracle of EVE - An EON contest!

Have you ever dreamed of what EVE Online could be, or should be? Ever wondered what EVE could be in a 10 years, 5 years, or even next year? Well here's your chance to prove that you've got that game designer flame burning in you! It's little contest, simple in its elegance, and pleasurable in its rewards!

Looking ahead to 2010, come up with either realistic predictions of new EVE features, or wild speculations of what might happen in game during the course of the year.

What we're looking for here are the best, most accurate and entertaining, well constructed pieces of speculative reporting ever concocted about EVE Online, And the best 10 will make into the next issue of EON magazine, which comes out early January. Not only that, but I've been told that for those winners attending the next Fanfest, the folks at MMM Publishing will even chip in a beer token!

These 10 best articles will be hand-picked by myself and EON Editor, Mr Zapatero himself!

Here are the Rules and Regulations:

• Your article has to be between 350 and 400 words. No more. No less.
• Stick to one prediction / one subject per 400 words.
• No formatting (no lists, bullet points etc).
• Take one in-game screenshot to illustrate your prediction. If it's in-space, please have it as high-res/spiffeh as possible.
• The 10 articles picked will each cover different subject (no more than 1 article about Incarna will be picked. We're looking for variety here!).
• Write your article on your blog, post the URL in the comments below.

The Prizes:

• Your article gets published in the January 2010 EON issue.
• You get a free copy of that EON issue
• One FREE beer token for next year's EVE Fanfest

The contest starts today and ends on November 30th EDT. The 10 winners will be announced the following week!

Here's a limited list of ideas to get your fingers twitching on your keyboards:

• The EVE economy in 2010
• Fanfest in 2010 and why people should go
• Incarna
• What will happen to out portraits once Incarna is released?
• It's been too long since we've had new ships
• The next Summer expansion
• How the political map of EVE might change in 2010
• The CSM in 2010
• Will Chribba still be the King of EVE?
• Who are the rising stars of EVE: The names to look out for in 2010 and why
• Who will dominate in the alliance tournament
• Re-arranging the stage: How the empires might shift in 2010
• Faction Warfare needs some love, or does it?
• Looking forward to Dust 514
• The EVE blogging community in 2010
• etc.

So, are you up to the challenge?

EON Issue #017: DUST 514 - Table of Content

In this day and age of the InterTubes, it's nice to walk away from the digital world, find a nice quiet spot in the house, sit down on a comfy couch with a nice alcoholic beverage (say a Taylor Fladgate port or a Grand Marnier) and start reading a high quality, visually stunning & intelligently edited magazine such as EON.

You may think that I'm stretching the truth here, just for the sake of you the reader, but the opposite is actually the case. EON has become an integral part of my EVE experience. And these days, with the sort of schedule that I have, it's a real treat roam through its A4-sized pages.

This latest issue - "EON #017 DUST 514" - is no exception to the rule. And with the lead article on the new and upcoming EVE console first-person shooter, how could it not be interesting!

IN DUST WE TRUST

For console gamers DUST 514 promises to be the most unique shooter ever

devised, but for those of us already fighting between planets what will it

mean to have hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions, fighting on the

ground? A crack squad of E-ON special forces capture CCP to find out how the

EVE FPS will fuse with EVE Online, plus we get the views of players to see

if they are as excited about DUST 514 as they should be.

THREE CHRONICLES

Officially, the early days of Amarrian expansion were a time of glory for

New Eden's largest empire, while today the worlds within the factional

warzones are seen as frontiers that will one day reward the brave pioneers

that have tried to tame them. The problem with official versions of events

past and present is that they are very often wrong, as evidenced by three

new chronicles in this issue of E-ON, which show a very different side to

life on the frontiers of New Eden.

TRUST FUNDS

Players have never been as rich as they are currently, yet the status of

banks in the New Eden economy has never looked bleaker after a string of

high-profile trust issues that have left the industry in tatters. Player

economist and blogger LaVista Vista delves into the history of banking in

EVE to see if it has a future and what it might look like.

PLUS

• News on Cosmos and Dominion from Fanfest 09
• Testflight: Electronic Attack frigates
• Profiles of Pandemic Legion, Dr Caymus and Jeran Tek
• Interviews with CCP Molock and CCP Manifest
• Win signed copies of The Burning Life
• Full round-up of 0.0 activity in Quarterly Report
• Guides to wormholes, modules and EVE: Conquests
• Websites for new players
• Šand all the latest news

Table of Content - EON 017

• Page 6 --- E-ON Upfront (News)
• 12 ---- Quarterly Alliance Report
• 18 ---- Postcards from the Edge (Screen shots)
• 20 ---- Cover Feature: DUST 514
• 26 ---- In Crowd: Ned Coker
• 29 ---- In Character: Dr Caymus
• 30 ---- Chronicle: Word of God, by Nixon Bardsley
• 34 ---- Alliance Profile: Pandemic Legion
• 37 ---- Feature: The Descent of Money
• 42 ---- Chronicle: Invisible War, by Paul Elsy
• 46 ---- In Character: Heath Ledger
• 48 ---- Testflight: Electronic Attack Frigates
• 57 ---- In Character: Jeran Tek
• 58 ---- Chronicle: Broken Contracts, by Douglas McKinney
• 62 ---- In Crowd: Scott Holden
• 64 ---- Insider's Guide: Ship Modules - Part 2
• 70 ---- Insider's Guide: EVE Conquests
• 74 ---- Insider's Guide: WormHoles
• 78 ---- EVE Directory, by Dierdra Vaal
• 80 ---- My 0.02 ISK, by Wormsworth
• 82 ---- Teh Funnies (EVE Humour)

Order yours now!

The upcoming and visually stunning Planets & Moons of EVE Online

From starfields, to moons, to beautiful earth-like worlds, New Eden is getting a much needed visuals boost. Though we can't call this Trinity III, it sure will forever change the visual landscape that capsuleers will soon get to watch as they warp through the EVE universe.

We should get to "Oooooh!!!" and "Aaaah!!!" in just a little over 2 weeks, when Dominion rolls out on December 1st!

The NPE in Dominion - A CCP Eris Discordia Interview

I recently had the opportunity to interview the developer responsible for the New Player Experience (NPE) in the upcoming Dominion Expansion at CCP Games, none other than CCP Eris Discordia. Below is the result of my interrogation. Please feel free to comment and ask additional questions!

Enjoy

What was the main goal of the changes you brought forth with the NPE?

While the NPE is continuously evolving, the goal of the Dominion changes is to teach skills to new players that should make them valuable to any corporation as talented recruits. Aside from that, we also wanted to gain a better understanding of how the NPE is experienced by new players. To do this we added a lot of data logging in the tutorials and career paths, to identify areas for improvement. These areas are indicated by red flags in data--for example, when thousands of people read one tutorial three times we see that spike and know that the there is an issue with the tutorial. It may simply be confusing or there may be a larger problem. Once we’ve identified an area, the idea is that we then focus on it to make it better.

EVE Online vs World of Warcraft: The differences, by @tladb

This is a guest post by @tladb which was originally a comment on my original World of Warcraft and EVE Online comparison.

Enjoy!

The biggest difference between the two games is the role of the players. In essence WOW is a solo game with the ability to join up with other players. EVE absolutely depends on the players to make the game.

In an extreme case if you were the only player on a WOW server you could arguably still have an interesting time just doing the quests solo and exploring the world. (Sometimes it feels like this in less populated areas in Azeroth now.) In EVE this situation would be pointless.

WOW is much more directed than EVE is sand-boxed. Basically all your activities in WOW are scripted by Blizzard. In EVE it is the players that direct the activities to a much greater extent. This means that after a new EVE player has finished the introductory quests it is up to them to find a role in the game. In WOW the NPC's will often direct you to the next area for quests. This may be the hardest thing to come to deal with. Are you going to be a pirate, a pirate-hunter, a miner or an explorer or even a corporation director, etc. In EVE these are all possible, but the player has to decide and then work out how to apply those skills. Especially since many of the occupations depend on other people.

This emphasis on player interaction is the major theme within EVE. The economy depends on other players not only in buying and selling basic materials and quest trash but also in making available important weapons systems. In WOW to get the best gear you need to get it from the NPCs either from instance drops (going into dungeons and killing the same NPC again nd again and ..) or PVP grinds.

In EVE, the items are player-built. So if there is a popular item in EVE not only will that be available at a price but in the supply chain to provide that many EVE players could benefit. Even at a relatively early level you could be part of that chain. There is also the point that making and trading items in EVE is much more involved and and potentially more interesting in comparison to WOW.

Friday Video: Behind the Scenes Featurette on Avatar

The more footage of this movie I see, the more excited I become. I'm almost tempted to get the game as well. Yeah, I know, that's very fanboy! Then again, who the hell am I kidding EVE Fanboy! :p

Behind the Scenes Featurette on Avatar! - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

Ship Setups - Blockade Runners, by Casiella Truza

This guest post comes to us from Casiella Truza, who writes the blog Ecliptic Rift and can be found tormenting the Tweet Fleet at @casiella.


Think industrial pilots and traders don't get to have any white-knuckle fun?

Think again. We operate in the shadows of giants, in the spaces they cannot see nor follow. You might think that waxing poetic about a transport ship sounds slightly insane, and while you might have a point, the fact remains that the blockade runner presents pilots with tremendous fun and opportunities for profit.

This ship class gets bonuses to shield boosting or armor repair, depending on the racial type. But that bonus doesn't mean much in most cases, because this ship can equip covert ops cloaking devices, meaning it can warp cloaked.

In low-sec, a blockade runner pilot is nearly uncatchable at stargates. Once you've jumped through and see a gate camp, just choose your destination, issue the "warp to" command, and cloak immediately. If you do it right, only the Local comms window and perhaps a flash on the overview will signal your presence to the enemy. Your most vulnerable period will come when leaving a station, so if you get caught, keep moving, stay within docking range, and engage your shield booster or armor repairer.

Null sec might give you a little more trouble if you run into a warp disruption bubble, but even then you should generally survive if you keep your wits about you. Zoom out, find the closest point on the surface of the bubble, and align to it, then immediately engage your afterburner and cloak. You might reach the edge of the bubble before the enemy can decloak you, in which case you should align to the celestial nearest your heading and warp. Other typical nullsec navigation tricks may work better for you. Comment below and share your ideas!

Blockade runner pilots typically belong to one of two schools of thought. The first, and the one to which I belong, assumes that you use the ship to move small, valuable cargo (though not so small as to fit in a covops frigate). In this case, your ability to slip through gate camps or other hostile fleets matters most. You'll want nanofiber internal structures in your low slots, which will increase your agility but lower your structural integrity. (Protip: if structure HP matters for a hauler, you've already lost.) Inertial stabilizers can shave about half a second off of your align time, but they also increase your signature radius. With no rigs, I have 4063 m3 of space in my Prowler, or 5373 m3 with a couple of Medium Cargohold Optimization rigs. I also have an EFT align time of 5.8 seconds (5.2 if I use inertial stabilizers). If you feel like an opportunist and can fit it properly, you might throw a salvager in your spare high slot.

[Prowler, Quick]
Nanofiber Internal Structure II
Nanofiber Internal Structure II

10MN Afterburner II
Medium Shield Booster II
Invulnerability Field II

Covert Ops Cloaking Device II
[empty high slot]

The other school of thought wants to increase cargo space no matter what. Replace the lows with Expanded Cargoholds, and you can substantially increase your cargo capacity to 6604 m3 (or 8734 m3 with rigs). Then again, your align time increases to 7.9 seconds, and those two full seconds can mean the difference between a successful run or crying about Tech II insurance payouts.

Have fun space trucking!

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

Friday Video: Escape From City 17 - Part One - New Cut

I originally posted the video of this short film way back in March. And though I've been waiting for Part 2 for quite sometime now, I've only been able to find this recut of that first part. Still, I can't wait for the follow-up act!

Duvolle Laboratories: Get your Clone, Now!

CCP Games seems to be exploring various new ways to promote your favorite capsuleer MMO. Their previous videos and promos were different from the rest of what was currently being done by other MMO publishers, but they were still "typical marketing material". This somewhat changed when they released "The Butterfly Effect" video, which was actually meant to explain what EVE was.

With the Duvolle Laboratories website though, they're expending their marketing efforts in new and original ways. After answering a few questions to see if you qualify for a clone, you're shown the possibilities of your new clone. Depending on your answers you could be starting a new career in Military, Exploration, Business or Industry.

Interesting promo!

[Found link through this Forum thread]

Ship Setups - A Mission Running Dominix, by Shinzann

This is a guest post by Shinzann from Adventures in Mission Running. You can follow him @R_Javorsky.

Original can be found at The Ancient Gaming Noob

The Dominix is one of the old warhorses dating back to the Gallente-Caldari War. While no longer regarded as the king of the hill, it is by no means obsolete. Its formidable hulk and powerful weapons batteries means that anyone not in the largest and latest battleships will regret ever locking horns with it.

Gallente Battleship Skill Bonus: 5% bonus to Large Hybrid Turret damage and 10% bonus to drone hitpoints and damage per skill level.

With the right skills, a Dominix truly can be a warhorse of a ship. Shield-tanking, armour tanking. Blaster, railguns or drones. Quite a few possibilities exist for kitting out a ship like this. Personally I prefer the active armour tanking drone boat set up. I can tank almost every level 4 mission I run across in Tranquility, all I need to do is swap out a couple hardeners and some drones and I'm good to go.


Original can be found at EVE Journal
The setup I use? It looks a little something like this:

[High Slots]

425mm Railgun II

Neutron Blaster Cannon II

Large Remote Armor Repair System II

Republic Fleet Large Proton Smartbomb

2x Drone Link Augmentor I

[Middle Slots]
Omnidirectional Tracking Link I
4x Cap Recharger II

[Low Slots]
Large Armor Repairer II
Armor Kinetic Hardener II
Armor Thermic Hardener II
Mission Specific Hardener II
Mission Specific Hardener II
Damage Control II
Amarr Navy Energized Adaptive Nano Membrane

[Rigs]
Large Anti-Explosive Pump I
Large Anti-EM Pump I
Large Capacitor Control Circuit I

[Drone Bay]
5 Mission Specific Tech 2 sentry drones
5 Mission Specific Tech 2 heavy drones
5 Mission Specific Tech 2 medium drones

The railgun and blaster are there purely to draw aggro and to supplement the damage from the drones. The sentries are to snipe further away targets, the heavies for cruisers and battleships that get closer, while the mediums are for smaller targets that get too close. The smartbomb can also be used for small, close in targets as well. During normal operation with just the armour mods active, the setup is cap stable.

As long as you don't bite off more than you can chew, or forget to turn on the armour mods, the Dominix is a very sturdy boat.

The opinions shared here are those of its author and not necessarily mine. /CrazyKinux

EVE Fanfest Giveway: The Two Lucky Bastards!

In the end, putting the contest together was the easy part. I had the EVE Fanfest Swag, the extra magazines and the desire give it all away to some lucky members of the EVE Blogging and Tweeting Community. That was easy. Picking only 2 winners out the multitude of you who linked, tweeted and blogged about this blog, was much more difficult than I'd originally thought.

In the end, I used a dash of subjectivity, a sprinkle of luck, and a few pints of the good stuff to choose these two lucky capsuleers - @starryeyedpod (A Starry Eyed Pod-Pusher) and @ChainerCygnus (Corrupted Datacore)!

Thanks for all that you've done and keep up your excitement about EVE, this blog and the EVE Blogging Community.

Here's a reminder of what you'll both be splitting amongst yourselves:

• 2x EVE Fanfest 2008 T-Shirt
• Some EON coasters
• 2x Random EON magazine issues
• Some EVE Online Postcards
• 1x EVE fridge magnet
• 1x EVE mini-mouse
• 2x packs of EVE Collectible Card Game (CCG)
• 2x Fanfest Schedule
• 2x 1-Year Lonetrek Extended Hosting Plan
• 2 50% Lonetrek Promo Codes

Friday Video: James Cameron's Avatar Trailer

So we're Monday, and though I usually post these sorts of videos on Fridays, with Halloween and a Birthday Party over the week-end, I missed my window of opportunity to post this on Friday. Nevertheless I still wanted to share this amazing trailer. The video isn't embedded since that feature was disabled on YouTube, so just click on the screenshot below and make sure to watch it in HD!


Watch the trailer, then let me know your thoughts!