There's No Place Like Home

 Recently Dunk Dinkle and Rixx Javix have shared their thoughts on the current state of EVE and what it may portend for its future. Find Dunk’s piece here and Rixx’s counterpoint here. They have different points of view but they are extremely experienced, passionate and knowledgeable pilots whose point comes from long years of experience and from a genuine desire to make EVE the best sandbox it can be. 

I support a lot of points both of them make, I feel they do not address a fundamental problem with EVE that is not solved by merely reseting the server or finding a way to make do with the tools we have at our disposal. 

Dunk maintains that since EVE players have min/maxed all game loops in EVE there is little in the way of compelling content to keep old players around and the challenges facing new prospective players are so great that many of them will quit soon after taking their first steps never to be seen again.

Rixx’s position is that EVE being a sandbox, you make the EVE you want to see and that you have to figure out how to get there and make your own fun.

Both have a point. What I feel they don’t do is to address a fundamental problem with EVE: we do not have the tools to do more than wage war.

EVE is an amazing place that allows for many new experiences if the pilot can bestir themselves to give them a try and become good at the content of their preference. Though this is true, there are other considerations that have not been adressed and of which I feel they are material issues with the sandbox that have sofar not been adressed.

1. It’s all work and no play

Mostly, all activities are geared towards enabling the next war to take place. All industrial activity is aimed at producing the capital assets required to wage wars. Which will sit well with the crowd that maintains that EVE is a PvP game and that making war is the whole point of the place. This means that most of what people do in EVE is geared towards waging war, at whatever scale and price point is comfortable for any given party. There is no room for those who do not need to be engaged in forever wars to give their own expression of the sandbox.

The sandbox is supposed an expression of everybody’s best idea of what happens there, but what happens there in actuality is that people wage wars. War should be the rare occasion where conflict is resolved through violence. 

Speaking from my own experience, not nearly as illustrious as Dunk’s or Rixx’s, but after that same amount of years: I’ve been in corporations that were in alliances and those alliances switched allegiances so often and so fast that it was impossible to keep track of who we were at war with in any given week. Leadership was not responsive and it was near impossible to keep track of what to do (other than pew pew). As an industrialist it was extremely hard to ply my trade because there was no telling who was going to come after me. A single war would be a manageable situation and easy to fit into the daily reality of a capsuleer’s life. Run on wars made it impossible to update the mental map of where we were war-wise at any given time. I’ve been in Brave, Pandemic Legion, the Goonswarm and other alliances. Often out of my conscious control, but as a result of decisions made at the alliance level I was not privy to. But the kicker is: I don’t need all that much war, I can happily live without it and I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one. 

2. There’s no place like home

I have been voicing a concern for quite a number of years now that the pod pilot in EVE, at the top of the New Eden social stratum, does not have their own address. We are the ship we fly in, we may own a station, we still do not have a home. And that station? It may not be there anymore the next time you log in. The Captain’s Quarters were the closest approximation for pod pilots to have a home in space and as homes went they were sparse, uniform and they were to cozy what a meal ready to eat is to gourmand dining.

The point is: there is no personal home for the pilot to connect to, no place that serves as a hook to lure the pilot back. What could be a perfect environment as a third place does not allow the pilot to carve out their own niche in space and call it home. This home could take all kinds of form and be subject to the conditions that make New Eden the place it is, with some special conditions applying. Logging in to New Eden should be a way to come ‘home’. There is no upper limit to the shape and size that could take, some homes would become a rich source of lore in their own right. How amazing would it be if we were able to build our own cities in the sky and festoon them with all manner of goods and services sourced from all over the cluster.

3. Lore versus them

New Eden is based on a large body of lore. Lore that many people passionately enage with. The lore round table at Fanfest is typically one of the most densely packed rooms. People crave story. What better way to give them story than to make their choice of faction have deeper meaning, have a stronger impact on what they can and cannot do but with the added benefit of having privileged access to that lore that is tailored to their faction. Stories would be told, culture could be established, nurtured and broadcast to the wider world. 

Lore would serve as the cement of New Eden, explaining why things are the way they are and serving as the driver for all manner of interaction. Be it war, working or weddings. Everything under the suns of New Eden would happen because it had a foundation in lore. Customs and culture would drive interactions, would serve as a genuine casus belli and would give the player a reason to study the culture of New Eden and the best way to interact with it.

Pilots have already established that lore is the driver for some of the most meaningful interactions they have in New Eden. The important thing would be the possibility for a pilot to establish new culture that could be adopted by the wider community. And once established would serve as a cultural reference, establishing yet deeper identity, a new compelling reason to log in and join the tribe.

Many such expressions already exist and are widely followed and enthusiastically acknowledged:

• the statue to Katia Sae recognises a grand endeavor
• the memorial at Titanomachy 
• the statue to Chribba celebrates one of the greatest personalities in New Eden 
• the statue at Molea is our hope that are fallen friends find their way home 
• the celebration of John Bellicose’s life is one of our finest traditions
• the shot up statue at 4-4 commemorating the Summer of Rage 
• the exquisite pod pilot license created by Greygal establishes a deeper identity for us as pod pilots 
• Bob as the god of wormholes 

The list goes on. 

What New Eden needs is the tools to express more than a desire for yet another war. We need tools that help us build things, that help us create new methods and technologies and find an expression for the ideas that live within us and that inspires others to so engage with the rich opportunities New Eden has to offer that it may even become a reference outside of the client.

It would be beyond min/maxing because it is not about extracting the most value out of a cultural idea; it is about using the tools of the sandbox to build sandcastles of the imagination that stand as monuments to our desire to express ourselves in our preferred third place and that weave the culture of New Eden into the rich quilt of ideas and customs that we can establish, build and nurture.

In so doing we build a stronger identity for ourselves as pod pilots, the nec plus ultra of the best New Eden has to offer; we answer the question: what keeps you logging in; we can show new pilots: this is why you want to be here, this is why EVE is the best place on the internet and, by all means: do carve out your own place and make a name for yourself.

EVE can be forever when we have the tools and the means to make the sandbox our own.

Modern Problems Require Modern Solutions

An environment as intricate and complex as EVE Online places great demands on the people who are enamoured with the idea of being an immortal space-faring super being, which capsuleers are, but who are perennially at odds with features in the environment, the true function and reach of which eludes them because they don’t know how a lot of what is going on actually works.

And who can blame them. EVE is a constantly evolving universe where rules change, where the environment changes, where new features are introduced and old features change their function.

To make matters worse there is something like ‘the meta’, rules of the game that are not encoded in the game but that play a large and very important part in how the game works. They are not features of the game, they are emerging facts from the game that come about by how people interact with the environment.

How are new players to learn about all these features?

Through videos on YouTube.

A repository of videos on YouTube could be established that explain a feature, not a range of features, a single video for every feature, instructing the budding player and the veteran alike, who may not be familiar with function and reach of a specific feature, about how the game works.

It would require an angelic mind and too much patience for one person to generate all these videos by themselves, but luckily this is the era of the internet and we are humans: we can collaborate!

How do we achieve this feat of strength?

We start by creating uniform content. Uniform content is:

- use a naming convention for video titles such that it is clear that this is a video on EVE Online, that it is an instruction video and that it explains a named feature / process / method.

e.g.: 

EVE Online - Tutorial - Fitting Interface - [date]

EVE Online - Tutorial - Wormholes - [date]

EVE Online - Tutorial - Mining Lasers - [date]

EVE Online - Tutorial - Ship - Avatar - [date]

EVE Online - Tutorial - Planetary Industry - [date]

Uniform naming conventions will more easily return actionable results without wasting time. It will establish over time that this is the way one looks for relevant content with regards to features. It does not matter who generated the content.

Uniform content is talking about the feature, and about the feature alone. No editorialising is required, but if there is a known bug associated with the feature that would certainly merit a mention. Start with “Today we are going to discuss [this feature].” And then get right on with that.

Uniform content means the user will be clearly shown what the creator is talking about. The creator will show where the feature is (don’t zoom in on the feature to the point where it’s not possible to find how that location relates to where all the other features are), visual cues that stand out come to mind, and how it can be accessed and whether conditions apply to being able to access the feature “I can’t find where I can assign roles in a corporation!” That’s because you’re not in a corporation or on a level where you could do that. Clearly showing where the feature is, and how to interact with it, will avoid confusion and frustration. 

Uniform content means a certain level of quality will become expected of the video with regards to clarity of explanation, display of content, a voice speaking with conviction and authority and to set the right expectation of what a feature will do and what it won’t do if applicable.

Uniform content means the content creator will put their credentials on the video so they can get the credit for the video. “Hi, I am <name>, this is a tutorial video on EVE Online, discussing <feature>. Edit: after an exchange with Greybill it bears pointing out that users will not enjoy having to sit through any length of introduction, they will want to see the feature explained well. A credit at the end of the video is a better idea because it allows for direct connection to the content and it still gives the creator a credit for their work.

Uniform content does not mean hastily slapped together videos with nebulous explanations about this or that feature or phenomenon. The idea is to take any feature and make a genuine effort to explain it clearly, carefully and completely. Some videos will take more effort than others, they will obviously be longer for features that merit more clarification.

The creator will refer to the feature by its actual name to avoid confusion. The creator will not make shortcuts with regards to explaining a feature. “Oh, everybody knows that!” That’s the point, they don’t know it, that’s why they’re watching the video. Assuming they do know it will only cause confusion and frustration.

Creators will find out how hard it is to actually convey information to the uninitiated. It will be a skill that once acquired will serve them well in the blue room.

The [date, e.g.: 16-Jul-2022] part indicates at what point in time the content was relevant to the environment. Because there are so many frequent changes this will tell the user that the content was relevant to a certain time. When a feature / process / method has changed a new video will be created documenting the current state of affairs. Insofar as the creator is aware of pre-existing material referring to how the feature used to work, they can link to an earlier video below, so that the user can verify and compare how this feature used to work.

Over time this will build an institutional memory that everybody can tap into and use to become familiar with how this wonderful environment presents itself and how it is expected to work.

The author is unfamiliar with content creation on YouTube to the point where content could be ‘assigned / transferred’ to an account that was responsible to receive all these videos, and whether that would be preferable.

Creators are free to make videos in their own language although for uniformity’s sake creating them in English will help most of the demographic in EVE as English is the lingua franca of the game. 

Creators who want to create videos in their own native language, using the idea of uniform content, are obviously more than free to do so.

This way the burden of documenting a phenomenally complex universe with lots of moving parts could become a shared experience, deepening immersion, expanding an understanding and appreciation for the features, techniques and technologies used in the game client.

ISK versus Reward

Among the very many wonderful features the EVE client affords the intrepid capsuleer is the shareholder component of the corporation interface. This part of the interface has seen the dawn of the ages and little development since.

It is time to make better use of this feature, even though in its current form it serves little to no use, the proclivities of certain capsuleers curtailing its potential.

Consider:

- each type of activity within a corporation or alliance carries a token

- there is no fixed amount of types of tokens, we do not know what kind of activity will be important to a corporation / alliance that is not covered by the templates offered in the interface

- a token can be assigned to a pilot [it can also be revoked, in some cases the reasons will be blindingly obvious] or a corporation within an alliance

- each pilot can have more than one kind of token when they engage in more activities that benefit the corporation / alliance

- when the executor alliance assigns a token to a corporation, the corporation can assign a child token of that token to its eligible pilots

- each corporation can have more than one token assigned to it

- the corporation can either issue alliance-level tokens and/or their own to pilots in the corporation

- pilots will receive EVEmail to indicate they have been awarded a token, this will see a graphic representation in their toon’s character sheet

When the time comes to award groups of pilots in recognition of a job well done, the following occurs:

- the executor [either alliance or corporation] assigns an ISK amount to a group of pilots that are holders of one or more tokens

- the ISK is distributed equally to all token holders

- the executor will be able to provide a message to all recipients indicating what the reward is for

- an email will be sent to recipients so they can have their own record of when that money came in and for what reason

- the pilots’ wallet will have a tab in which a log is displayed indicating at what time they received a reward and what the size of the reward was

- if the executor is an alliance, it can award every pilot in a corporation or send ISK to certain groups of pilots within that corporation

- a log will be generated to document the event [which corporation was awarded how much ISK, for which type of pilot, which pilots received how much ISK when and for what reason]

- executors will be able to export logs of awards to a csv file using the new add on for Microsof Excel

Benefits:

- alliances / corporations / pilots will be able to distribute and receive rewards for activities

- the modified interface for shares within a corporation will now be put to good and active use

- adequate reporting will provide clarity to all pilots, corporations and alliances of where monies are distributed and for which reason

- greater ease of use to distribute rewards [maybe group medals could be awarded likewise?], incentivising rewarding pilots contributing to the success of the corporation / alliance

- CCP will find a way to make this interface both gorgeous and functional, incentivising its use to reward pilots for their contributions

- a deeper immersion into the inner workings of alliances / corporations

Costs:

- a rework of the shareholder interface within the corporation

- a potential for misunderstandings if improperly implemented / used 

Optimal Experience

It’s somewhere in the 90s, you’re in gorgeous and grim Iceland, you’ve got the sparkle of joy, the glimmer of youth, the very zest for life itself.

You’re in Iceland. I get it, you’re in the most beautiful country on Earth, the women are stone cold gorgeous, the food is divine and the drink almost too strong to be legal. What more could anyone possibly want? How is life not already going to be as good as it’s going to get?

But wait, you have all this and paradise going for you, you’re a bunch of smart guys with too much energy and no way to give it a productive release. It’s a bit of a conundrum.

So you find yourself in an attic somewhere one evening and maybe you’re sharing a drink with the boys. Maybe it was more than one drink, maybe it was a lot of drinks, who knows, I didn’t see anyone keeping tabs. What does it matter anyway?

Out of the din of merriment comes a spark. Between the standard bragging of drinks consumed, sharks devoured and the vigorous tales of the expression of love and the women it was made with, an idea rears its head.

“Wait, wait, I’ve got it.”

“What, atomic farts?” The room erupts in roaring laughter and maniacal giggling. Atomic farts are produced, because that’s what you do then, it totally fits the mood.

“No no, wait, I’m serious. I know what we’re going to do.”

“You’re going to start a restaurant!”

“I’ve got two words for you,” someone says. “Rams testicles.”

“In June?! Were you raised by Grýla?"

The crowd erupts in more laughter, they remember the last time their friend tried to prepare this refined delicacy all too well.

“You’re going to import old cars from Europe, repair them and sell them on!”

“NO! Just no. I’m not driving all the way to Bifröst again to pick him up *pointing at him* and the girl he was shagging. He didn’t even pay for the gas. I’m not touching one of those things ever again.”

The crowd knows the story, raises a glass in toast and downs it in one gulp.

The man with the idea waits until he’s got everyone’s attention. “We’re going to make us an online game where the players run the economy.” He nodded in contentment, completely satisfied with how great of an idea it is.

There’s a bit of a stunned silence. They all want to laugh, but the idea totally came out of left field and they don’t quite have an answer for it.

“That’s the biggest crock of shit I ever heard and I’ve heard some.”

There’s giggling, there’s some muttered comments, shaking of heads, scratching of balls, pouring of more drinks.

“I actually kind of like that. I mean, it’s never going to work but it’s a great idea.”

“Why is it not going to work?”

“Why would I want an economy, run by players, in a game? What game is this anyway?”

“It’s a space game!”

“And what do you do in this space game?”

“You, ah, collect resources, you use them to build space ships and then you have epic battles with those space ships!”

“And what is that supposed to look like?”

“Um... gorgeous?”

“And who is going to make that?”

“We are?”

“How are you even going to set up that infrastructure?”

*shrug* Dunno?

“Who’s going to pay for all that?”

“Good question! That’s a very good question! I don’t know where we’re getting the money from but I like the way you think!”

Because they’ve got nothing better to do the group starts to mull over why this is a terrible idea. In that process something amazing happens. A number of the objections against the idea are addressed an, upon reflection, they are considered ‘hard but doable’. The group starts to warm to the idea. Some kind of triage occurs. What can we do now, what will we need that doesn’t exist yet? What’s impossible and where are we getting the freaking money from?

Near the end of the evening, when minds are not just floating in amniotic fluid but also in a nice marinade of various alcoholic beverages somebody makes the comment. “This whole idea is insane, you’re all insane and why would you even want to try this?”

Someone shrugs, “Kæruleysi?”

The group raises the last glass as a toast to the idea.

And so it comes to pass that this ember of an idea is used as kindling to start a raging fire of enthusiasm where all the problems are solved and all the issues are addressed that pop up when developers in a country that has never made a game, let alone a massively multi-player online game, decide to define the future of MMORPGs based on the harsh and cruel nature of the land they inhabit.

New Eden is born.

A set of features is implemented, the sandbox takes shape. The developers aspire to be nothing more than the custodians of the sandbox. The players are who shape the fate of this universe and all that goes on within it.

New Eden is a harsh mistress, unforgiving of mistakes, errors, a lack of knowledge or imagination. Those who understand what happens and why, and know how to exploit the opportunities presented are the people who thrive.  Those who do not are left bewildered, frustrated and angry and they leave the scene often bitterly disappointed.

Success in New Eden is broadly defined by how efficient one maximises the harvesting of resources and the application of force resulting from the equipment produced, with the minimal effort required to meet the goals and needs of the organisation to which one belongs.

Over the years the developers have offered new features to engage the player base. New ships are regularly added to the inventory, new systems to engage with the sandbox are introduced and sometimes suggestions by players are added to greater or lesser appeal.

New Eden now runs into an issue: it is by and large ‘solved’ as a problem. The New Eden demographic is the domain of people with great problem solving skills. They use their real world knowledge in the game to maximise their impact on the game (players also report being able to leverage the wide variety of skills they need to be successful in EVE in the real world and also achieve success there).

The current state of New Eden has people kvetching over the numbers governing ships and processes. So and so feature is overpowered; this and that feature doesn’t yield anything valuable. Some people feel ignored or misunderstood.

It tells us that this is not the problem. What we are seeing is the realistic maximum that can be derived from current game features. CCP Fozzie, a genius who cannot be praised highly enough for his myriad insights and contributions to the game, has done a remarkable job of working on the balance of ships in New Eden (please don’t point out what is and is not wrong with the current state of affairs, this discussion is on the level of how many angels can dance on the tip of a needle).

Here is what the sandbox needs: more sandbox.

The original feature set required that raw material was harvested, processed and turned into weapons and products that helped the corporation/alliance fight over systems where more raw material could be harvest, processed and turned into more weapons to fight more wars. As a start this was more than enough.

New Edens min/max is war. There’s nothing wrong with that. But it’s extremely limited and limiting.

New Eden is a star cluster of about 8000 systems and most of what people do is engaging in war. It is this author’s contention that 8000 star systems offer enough space and resources to do very much more than merely waging war over who has the next batch of resources to fight more wars.

In a storied universe with 4 major factions (not counting our elusive Jovian friends and the awful and corrosive Triglavian crowd) there must be room to do more than shoot at things. A near-permanent state of war is a stressful environment and it restricts what can be achieved. 

Capsuleers are the elite social stratum of New Eden. They have no home. They supposedly live in the fluid in the pod and only occasionally walk around in stations (excusez le mot).

The question begs for why the history of the factions does not yield a panoply of opportunities to build new things, to do new things, to explore more and use that production to drive entire new ways to engage with the universe.

Why are the cultures and the customs of the factions not driving factors for why and how things are done in New Eden?

What could Delegate Zero conjure up as a means for us to engage in a more meaningful way to build enduring features, based on the lore of New Eden? To better connect with the universe, to deeper immerse us in the cultures we embrace, to enhance the environment with our inventions and productions.

Hilmar wants to build New Eden as a way for us to have a deeper lived experience of what we do in New Eden.

Why not provide us with tools to create new items and processes and see what we make with them? Why not make New Eden our first home among the stars?

The author does not ignore or dismiss technical feasibility, time constraints, available human power to create all what he has in mind, marketing requirements, the cost of developing and implementing new features, corporate goals and shareholder demands. These are the real driving factors behind how and why things happen.

The author also does not ignore the idea that a compelling feature set, that provides agency, delight and fun [remember that one?] to the environment will draw in more players who want to explore the New in New Eden and through their contributions make the gaming universe and even more compelling value proposition. For shareholders, for management, for developers, for the people who go there to find a wider expression of their hopes, dreams and their talents to create a better universe still.

We have since had the crossover content from the Dr. Who universe, which was well-received within the community. This proves that engaging content can be had that offers a wealth of beauty, intrigue, prizes and one more reason to log in to add another strand to the rich tapestry of the New Eden quilt.

Although EVE does mesh with the idea of the Time Lord universe, since it is not bound by time or space, there won’t be that many candidates from outside New Eden that fit so well in its narrative.

However, because there are so many ways to build content for New Eden, connecting to other universes should not be necessary to create a more engaging universe that draws from New Eden lore exclusively.

MINING ARMAGEDDON

 I want to thank CCP for making me a rich capsuleer.

The latest Dev blog on changes to the mining mechanic read like it was a punishment for miners for engaging in the activity.

It took a while for the implications to sink in but when it did I had the greatest smile on my lips.

As a miner I have been exposed to all the vagaries the industrial pilot has to go through to try and make a living in New Eden. Poor equipment, expensive equipment, being AWOXed by the shooter ostensibly there to protect the miners (HA!). That was Hulk #5. Being hunted by CODE, getting can flipped. You name it I’ve seen it.

I offered the idea that miners should stick together so they could force an increase in the prices of their products, making it a far more equitable exchange of time versus income. I was roundly laughed out of the room for even suggesting I could make a change that meant something. I, as a miner, had no recourse, was unable to fight back.

Well sweethearts, that party ends with CCPs changes to mining as they are announced. No more mister nice guy. We’re done being at the bottom of the food chain. This time it’s war and I’m going to win.

Here is where the magic happens, from the From Extraction to Production Dev blog:

• Type A: Standard yield
• Type B: Higher yield, high waste, less reliable
• Type C: Lower yield, very high waste, very unreliable

Do you see it? It’s right there.

The best feature for miners in the history of New Eden: the Type C mining crystal. The ONLY mining crystal I will ever use. It is in fact essential to the success of my plan that I only ever use this mining equipment. It is at the very core of the effort. You thought scarcity was over *laughs in miner*? Sweet Summer child, the best is yet to come.

This mining crystal wastes vast amounts of ore for a very low yield. I can scarcely contain myself from the joy I feel.

This mining crystal, ostensibly created to deny third parties access to mining resources, is in fact a perfect conduit to deny ANYONE access to mining resources.

The point of three tiers of mining crystals is so the miner would have their regular production assured using the Type A crystal versus the lay-waste-to-everything version in the Type C crystal. There are riots in Jita by people who do not appreciate the magnificent gift this is.

What is going to happen? I’m mining. I’ll be mining anyway. But now I will be mining in the most unproductive way possible. This should be a bad thing but it’s actually not. Because: I’m mining and in so doing I’m wasting vast amounts of ores that others won’t be able to mine. Can you see it coming?

When my fellow miners engage in the same technique, and I fervently hope they do, it will mean entire systems will be stripped of their resources, leaving none to be harvested by others. What it does is: it kills the competition. It’s economics 101. Scarce resources brought to market will claim a premium price.

I don’t care that I mine in the most unproductive way possible. My ore is going to be the only game in town. There’s not going to be any other ore. It’s all gone (it will never be all gone, it’s going to be very much harder to find any).

What it will look like is this: a price fork between 75 and 100 ISK per unit of Veldspar (forgive me my enthusiasm). You’ll be paying my price because there won’t be any other (again, there is going to be more ore but will come from scarce resources, a fact that my peers will hopefully see as an excellent opportunity to fatten their own purses).

It takes in excess of 4 billion units of Tritanium to build an Avatar titan. When my plan comes to fruition the age of titan blob fleet fights will effectively be over. They’ll put up a museum for the last one to be displayed and the collective of new pilots to gawk at and the experienced pilots to reminisce. Because nobody is going to be able to afford to build one, let alone a fleet of these monsters at the prices my ore will go for.

I’m giddy with anticipation. Thank you CCP, you’ve made this miner a happy man.

Barsoom

“Just enough room in the hold for a few tools and a change of underwear.”

The head designer’s terse description of the Barsoom’s hold belies the massive maintenance bay with which it is equipped.

The maintenance bay serves to capture and hold the wrecks of super capital ships lost in battle. When a ship is thus captured, the Barsoom will be able to move the wreck to the dry dock.

A diagnostic will then be performed that will assess the level of damage to the ship as well as the materials required to repair it. A blue print will have to be invented for the particular wreck in the dry dock as well as the full bill of materials required to repair it.

Although the required materials to repair the ship will likely be considerable, it will still be a fraction of the materials needed to construct an entirely new super capital ship.

A preliminary design for the Barsoom looks as follows:

Remember this picture the next time you smirk at someone who ‘only’ has an arts degree.

The elysian minds in far and fair Reykjavík will know how to give this ship the expression it deserves.

The Barsoom design is a super capital class freighter and has all the characteristics associated with it.

The advantage of its operation is to salvage ships that now are typically lost forever, at the risk and the cost of capturing the wreck in this ship and handing it off to a dry dock facility. A diagnostic procedure needs to be run to establish to what degree it has been damaged and what effort will be required to restore it to full functioning order.

It is a big risk to deploy this ship for the reward of recovering a destroyed super capital class hull.

Floor plan

 Now that the Caldari Navy Assembly Plant in Jita System, colloquially known as ‘4-4’ has been upgraded significantly and the wizards in fair and far Reykjavik have given us a space dock that has no equal in gaming anywhere, it is time to tap into the EVE community’s bottomless talent pool to take this wonderful effort to the next level.

Among the very many gifted artists that provide us with pictures, paintings, songs, music, propaganda, cosplay and other artistic expressions, there are also many professionals whose talents fit into the New Eden universe. Among them are architects. They could use their talent by building an entire floor plan of the reworked 4-4 Caldari Navy Assembly Plant (4-4 is mentioned specifically because there are other Caldari Navy Assembly Plants). 

A non-exhaustive list of that work would contain:

- Structural elements

- Electrics

- Plumbing

- Signage

- Elevators

- Space docks

- Space ship berths

- Hangars

- Residential facilities

- Maintenance facilities

- Medical facilities

- Schools

- Local businesses

- Corporate quarters

- Embassies of the mega corporations

- A parish of the Star Diocese

- Restaurants / theatres / an opera house / bars and cafes / music halls

- Convention centres

- Laboratories

- A base for Concord

The architects designing the interior would know how to give this idea the proper expression it deserves. It is not this author’s goal to interfere in this process in any way.

This floor plan would enhance immersion and all its exquisite details would be yet another fibre in the rich quilt of New Eden lore. No doubt it would receive attention and acclaim for the intricate work of art it would become in its own right. 

It would greatly enhance New Eden’s standing as a ‘real place’ and it might foster in the minds of the designers of this grand living work of art in fair and far Reykjavik that other stations could be thus enhanced so that they too could be brought to life with their own floor plan in the fullness of time.

Feel free to discuss this idea with anyone who might be so inclined to contribute in their own way to bring this idea to life.

The Giant’s Causeway

Deep within null space in a rarely visited system, far away from its parent’s star, a structure will be erected.

It is a broad road made out of fairy dust, twinkling with a mesmerising glitter of sparkling lights. All along this road are stood a row of gigantic statues on either side of the road. Each statue’s hands rest on the pommel of their sword. Each statue outlines the figure of one of the creators of this universe, in quiet celebration of their contributions to its success. The genius in far and fair Reykjavik will know how to provide a proper sound scape to enthral its visitors.

The road ends at a familiar structure, a monument to the greater capsuleer community.

Developers who could not serve the required time to receive their swords will be placed at the start of the road towards the monument, one arm stretched out towards the monument. They too have served with honour.

The monument can be interacted with. For the price of one PLEX the capsuleer invoking the procedure will see their character’s face lighting up the sky on a huge billboard. 

Alliances will be able to have their logo proudly displayed atop the Territorial Claim Unit above the causeway. If left unchallenged the TCU will keep displaying the alliance’s logo for as long as the regular fees for a TCU are maintained. If this fee is allowed to lapse the TCU will revert to a neutral state. It is entirely up to the alliances in EVE whether they want to challenge their rivals for the right to have their logo displayed.

Proceeds from these interactions will be donated to the children’s hospital in Reykjavik.

Stealthy Salutation

 A statue will be created. It will be to recognise and honour the contributions of Rixx Javix to the greater New Eden demesne.

This is a statue with uncommon characteristics:

- The statue will spawn in a new low-sec system every time it is re-discovered

- It will show up on D-scan as an undefined anomaly

- When a pilot warps towards the anomaly within 150 kilometres they will be pointed and scrambled

- On closer inspection the anomaly reveals itself as a statue of Rixx Javix

- The statue can be interacted with, a pilot can donate 1 PLEX to the statue

- On offering one PLEX:

    - any neutralising effects on the ship are disabled

    - Rixx Javix will sing Gloria Gaynor’ “I will survive” in the fashion of Wombo.ai

    - When the song is completed the pilot will receive one Warp Core Stabiliser, as a token for how much importance they have for Rixx Javix

    - The sequence completed the statue will despawn after 10 minutes and appear in a different low-sec system as an undefined anomaly

- Proceeds of any PLEX donations will be sent to the children’s hospital in Reykjavik

- A simple counter will keep track of how many times pilots have contributed PLEX

- No pilot will be forced to spend PLEX. They will simply be able to cruise out of the field of influence of the statue until they are out of reach of the effects it has on the environment immediately surrounding it. They want to keep in mind that this can put them at a tactical disadvantage if other pilots have noticed their presence and choose to engage

This statue, like all others dedicated to pilots so recognised, serves to honour the respective pilots and to inspire others to contribute to New Eden’s rich quilt of lore and history in the same vein.

 

To Scammers With Love

 The Caldari Navy Assembly Plant at Jita Planet 4, Moon 4, will acquire a small and modest pewter statue of a nerd sejant at a desk with a basic computer setup.

This is an actual character with a name to be determined by the Elysian minds in fair and far Reykjavik. The statue will have a caption “Ode to the Jita Scammer”. It will be possible to interact with this statue by donating 1 PLEX to it. 

On receiving 1 PLEX the statue will light up and perform an awkward little dance in celebration after which the character will make a statement in the Jita local channel. The prompts it produces can include but are not limited to:

“I’m leaving EVE for good. Donate 1 PLEX and you will receive a free gift” (A free gift will be made available, it will always be a t1 warp core stabiliser)

“Give me 1 PLEX I’ll give you 3 in return!” (no PLEX will ever be distributed by the character)

“Read my bio and give me 1 PLEX for prizes.” (A free prize will be made available, it will always be a t1 warp core stabiliser)

“Please, I’m new here, give me 1 PLEX!”

Seasonal and event-appropriate comments can be created as required.

Because this is an existing character it is possible to donate money or PLEX directly to it.

All the PLEX and money the character receives will be tallied and an equivalent amount of money will be donated to the Reykjavik Hringurinn Children’s Hospital (or a similar institution benefiting children’s healthcare).

By celebrating EVE scammer folklore this way, pilots will at once be able to acknowledge this valuable social convention and its history, avoid being actually scammed by the wonderful people in Jita local and at the same time make a valuable and worthy contribution to help children receive the health care and services they need.

Edit: As a refinement on this idea this character, as a wire frame outline, could be depicted on one of the billboards (or one more could be created) that can be found at the Caldari Navy Assembly Plant.

Advantages:

- it is lit up and easier to find

- it is easier to have it animated

- the wireframe outline of the character behind the desk is a social commentary on how easy it is to see through the scam it wants to perpetrate

- a counter could be displayed “X PLEX was donated to a better cause already"

The Colonisation Of Cyberspace

Colonisation has a sad and brutal history. The main reason being that the nations that went out to colonise the world, or at least that much of it they could reach, did so to advance their economic interests, using violent means when diplomacy would not suffice. 

It stands to reason that foreigners from abroad, making onerous demands, are not the most welcome of visitors. For the nations on the receiving end of this unwanted attention the sad reality was that the visitors often brought new weapons against which they had no defence. It is a universal truth that people with superior fire power are seldom polite.

Technological advances today offer us yet another opportunity to colonise a territory, to carve out a place for ourselves and to seek such opportunities as this undiscovered country may afford. This time we may choose to use our extensive experience, knowledge and history to build a place for ourselves in this territory in which we can bring to fruition the full expression of the talent and intellect that is locked inside each and every one of us.

This place is called cyberspace, a term first coined in the 1960s, by Danish couple Susanne Ussing and her partner Carsten Hoff. William Gibson is credited with first using it in a work of fiction.

Today we have many examples of the virtual places first dreamt of by the people who could envision such spaces to exist before the technology was actually capable of delivering the full experience they envisioned.

Creating and populating such virtual worlds is an endeavour with which we now have quite a bit of experience and there is a great multitude of people who are aware of their existence, who live and thrive in them as their preferred third places.

One such place is EVE Online, created by CCP, it encompasses a star cluster of many thousands of stars in which capsuleers come to weave their own strand in the rich tapestry that is New Eden. In it they build their own stories, forge friendships, nurse (petty) grievances and wield the myriad of tools CCP has made available to capsuleers across the entire planet where electricity is reliably available and societies are free enough to allow their citizens to find this place of magic and wonder, there to build a new expression of their identities, affording them the opportunity to become what the real world often does not allow them to be.

New Eden is ready to become its own nation. CCP have sought to introduce new ideas and concepts into the world, often with reckless abandon, to see which idea takes root, which concept will wither or thrive. It has formed a nation with its own language, its own customs, its own history, its own art and music that has no rival in the world.

The first step is to establish New Eden as a nation. The second is to provide its citizens, all of whom belonging to the elite social stratum commonly referred to as ‘capsuleers’ or ‘pod pilots’, with a passport establishing their identity as a member of this new nation.

From personal experience this author can only marvel at what this nation would bring forth into the world in the way of systems to establish, settle and become an entity unto itself. Which rules would we choose to enable and apply, which form would our nation take and how would we construct this entity such that it would add to the lives of its members?

There are enough capable members among us who would be able to contribute to this idea, if they so chose, to create one of the first expressions of a virtual sovereign nation. Our success, as it has in the past and today, would embolden others to try and claim their own stake in this virtual realm.

I, for one, would be thrilled to one day be able to proudly declare: Civis New Eden Sum!

The Torment of Sisyphus

It is said there is no recourse for the scourge of botters. Botters in EVE will thwart the most cunning devices used to stop their nefarious activity.

And yet, in the panoply of human misery that we so freely inflict upon one another there are things we can do, that CCP can do, to make the botting experience a bitterly frustrating one.

1. At random intervals, set the bot account’s SP amount to 0. They can now no longer fly any ship. No more botting.

2. At random intervals, set the wallet to 0 ISK. They can no longer afford to buy anything. No more botting.

3. At random intervals, remove injected skill books. Using skill injectors will no longer work. No more botting.

4. At random intervals, remove all the ships in their inventory.

5. When an account is flagged as a known botting account, revisit them on a more regular basis and see whether their values have gone up again so that they can resume their illicit activities? And set them back to 0.

“But,” I hear you say, “they can just buy PLEX for their account, buy skill books, buy skill injectors, buy/make new ships, and carry on.”

To which the answer is: how many times will they do that until that sum goes to zero? At what point does it become so much of a pain in the nether regions that it’s no longer worth the effort? How many times would someone sit there and click through the interface, giving CCP more of their money to purchase the PLEX to be able to carry on their illegal activities?

The point is pain. The point is frustration. Not because we want that for them but because we want to protect and preserve that wonderful universe for the people who genuinely want to engage with it, warts and all.

When the pain of botting becomes more than the pleasure derived from it, the botting activity will stop.

The Elysian minds in fair and far Reykjavik would be able to devise a cinematic that is displayed where the botting account is directly confronted with the proof of their activity, and where punishment is meted out in a swift and certain manner.

The message would borrow from the lessons of the Sisters of the Bene Gesserit, of Frank Herbert’s Dune fame, whereby the announcement of the impending punishment is in itself a punishment. “We are aware of your activity, you know it is illegal. We will always protect ourselves against the likes of you. We are looking out for you. We will be watching you. We will never relent. You will never win.”

There is no greater punishment than despair. It should be meted out with great eagerness and enthusiasm and in copious amounts. CCP wanted EVE Online to be a bleak and dark land where pain is part of the experience. Botting accounts seem like the natural target to feel the impact of the most exquisite Hobbesian hellhole in the realm of digital entertainment. 

I do not believe in the invincibility of botters. It only depends on what CCP is prepared to do to protect us from these evil ne’er do-wells. If the punishment is factored in and considered to be ‘the cost of doing business', then it’s not an effective punishment. An effective punishment is providing a disincentive to the activity that needs to stop. The fact that this is an unpleasant experience for the perpetrator is a key factor of the punishment process.

Celebrations

A weapon will be created. It is a DoomsDay weapon called Santa’s Secret Super Soaker.

It loads a gigantic snowball that when fired, literally, explodes into a million little snowballs. This ammunition is distributed at the behest of CCP for the abundant expression of the joy of life itself. Call it: Snowflake Surprise.

For 1 PLEX a specialty munition can be had that explodes into a cascade that shows the outline of all the ships of the faction the titan is a part of. Call it: Trooping The Colour.

For 5 PLEX a specialty munition can be had that explodes into a cascade that shows the outline of all the ships in EVE in a dazzling array of sparkling colours. Call it: One Big Happy Family.

For 10 PLEX a specialty munition can be had that explodes into the contours of the face of the capsuleer firing the weapon. Call it: Self Portrait.

For 100 PLEX a specialty munition can be had that displays the contours of the faces of all the capsuleers in the corporation. Call it: Home Team Advantage.  

Why? Because: immersion, baby. Zest for life. Bragging rights, representation, making a statement. It’s EVE Online, live a little!

A Winning Proposition

We cannot have an alliance tournament.

Or, so I’m told.

CCP does not want to organise them, it takes too much man power.

The player community doesn’t want to engage, it consumes too much time and effort.

No human endeavour faces more adversity than the one humans do not want to engage with. The arrow bends to the negative and nothing happens. It’s as simple as that.

Yet, on the face of it, an alliance tournament, and certainly single or (small) fleet engagements as an eSport, would seem like a no-brainer.

The important question is: why would we even want to do that? Because, dear friends, this is the era of gaming. This is the era of eSports. 

People are already becoming professionals in team-driven games. EVE Online is just about the most natural environment for such eSport to emerge from. We have to build nothing new in the way of ships and fittings. 

CCP already have experience with gaming on a global scale. 

More and more people engage with games and are enticed by the possibilities games afford to enjoy them and to make a name for themselves.

There is an enormous potential for this to be a major revenue driver for CCP.

What would we need in the way of resources:

1. The blessing of CCP, without which no amount of dreaming will come to fruition.
2. A dedicated cluster, but not of the entire New Eden universe. One region should be ample to host all the engagements we require. If the phenomenon takes off on a scale we had not expected the amount of available space can be expanded to meet our requirements.
3. The panoply of ships, fittings and ammunitions that are the basic requirement to even have these engagements. All of which exist already.
4. A dedicated interface to clearly distinguish from the normal New Eden environment we know and love. I have some ideas how that could be made to look. My visions are as nothing to what the Elysian minds in fair and far Reykjavik would conjure up to make that the gorgeous dance of light and delight to invite us to engage.
5. A call to arms to have those among us who are of that persuasion to engage on a larger scale and at the same time, to invite people not of our ken to meet the wonderful universe of New Eden and see if their efforts meet those of our most talented theory crafters.
6. We will want to design types of engagements to be a challenge on different levels, much like what happens now in the Proving Grounds.

What is the upside?

We build a world class eSport that resonates with millions of players who will make their own path, build their own reputation.

We make EVE Online a household name in the world of gaming as the home of massive multiplayer eSport tournaments.

There is an almost limitless potential for additional revenue for CCP to be made building non-pay-to-win (this point cannot possibly be made strongly enough) assets that can be had for PLEX. Including, but not limited to:

- Team / Alliance ship SKINs

- Team / Alliance uniforms

- Medals “Give me enough medals and I'll win you any war” [Napoleon Bonaparte]

- Trophies

- 3D models

Any number of items that enrich and enhance the experience for the players so involved. As an example: 

Wargaming.net in their World of Tanks franchise have created an enormously lucrative business model selling electronic products. I am not blind to the risk of this being taken too far, specifically with the non-pay-to-win features. 

At the same time there is no reason why CCP should not benefit from making their IP available in the form of an eSport that entices people who are not familiar with EVE Online as a worldclass MMO to get to know it better and maybe join our ranks.

What is the downside?

You tell me.

Burial Rites

  The Kronos came to rest in its berth in the station’s humongous space dock, the hull thawing in the pressurised atmosphere. Siddartha stood in the open airlock, having just decanted from his pod and made his ablutions, breathing deeply to take in the smell of space. It smelled a bit like steak. Just a tiny fraction, a hint of fragrance. Space couldn’t really smell like anything of course, there were not enough particles about that would afford space a smell. He had noticed the smell depended on what ship he was flying. The consensus is that it is the smell of components extracted from the metals in the ship that make it seem as if space has a smell.

His ship was hovering over the dock, illuminated from all sides by the glaring lights of the docking berth. Even now, as the ship was attuning itself to pressurised atmosphere, alll manner of crew and dock hands were opening various ports and cavities, to service the ship, to remove its cargo and to replenish consumables. You could tell a lot about how a station was run by the way the dock hands handled their duties. These were quiet, efficient and focused. They had established an almost effortless rapport with the crew to discuss and divide the duties each was going to perform. Siddartha was pleased with the no-nonsense attitude of the station crew. Their movement on and around the ship had more of a strictly orchestrated choreography. They clearly knew their way around his ship. Many pilots docked in this station using all manner of ships, they would have had ample opportunity to hone their skills on the multitude of hulls that came in for service.

In the cavity of the dock, the tools and machines that took care of the heavy lifting of equipment and cargo had their own kind of rhythm. Siddartha closed his eyes to allow the din of the space dock to bring forth its own music. It didn’t take long for a attern to establish itself. The drum of the hydraulics being recalibrated, the hiss of the consumables being recycled, the occasional thump when some object hit a larger object, the occasional shout as a chorus. To the uninitiated this was mayhem, chaos. To him it was the living, breathing heart of New Eden, an expression of the essence of what it meant to be a capsuleer. It was why he did what he did.

“Excuse me, sir?”

His train of thought was interrupted by the foreman whose team was working on his ship.

“What do you need?”

“Status update, sir. We want to know how you want the ship conditioned.”

“Sure. Go ahead.”

“Were you planning to reship this visit, sir?”

“I might, I’m waiting on confirmation. I still want her to be ready for action.”

“Thank you, sir.” He checked off a line on his touchpad. 

“We have updated all your consumables. Your crew was going to handle loading ammunitions from your corporate hangar. Did you want to swap weapons or modules?”

“No, I’ll take this configuration.”

“Alright.” Another tick. “Some of your modules were overheated and 3 drones show extensive damage. Do you want those damages repaired?”

“Yes. Obviously, how do you think I’m going to survive the next scrap with faulty equipment?”

“It’s an item on the list, sir.” The foreman switched the context of his screen and made adjustments. Right away some claxons sounded, notifying the crew repairs were going to be made to the ship and its drones. The crew dispersed, one man barely got out of the way in time for the automated sequence to start. The foreman made a note to call in the crew member for further training.

“Your cargohold has some valuables and common items. How would you like them to be handled?”

“I will put the valuables on the market, the common stuff will go to the corporate hangar to serve as equipment for ad hoc fleets that need to put together a working fit for non-essential operations.”

“Perfect, sir.” Another check.

“Your hold also, ahm, contains other cargo that we are not properly equipped to deal with, I’m afraid.”

Siddartha smiled. He had been waiting for it.

“We found what appear to be four capsuleer corpses.”

“That would be correct.”

“How would you like them to be handled, sir?”

“You don’t have to worry about those. I will take care of it.”

The foreman refused to display his discomfort by heaving a sigh of relief for not having to handle corpses. You never knew why the capsuleer types do the things they do. You don’t want to give them the satisfaction of showing they got to you.

“Thank you very much for your time, sir. Did you have any other questions or requirements?”

“Is this station capable of fitting SKINs?”

The foreman tried hard not to be indignant.

“Of course, sir. Our station can handle any SKIN available to you for whichever ship you choose to fly.”

“I thought as much. Do me a favor and fit this ship with the Biosecurity Responders SKIN, please.”

“Of course, sir. When the repair cycle has completed we’ll fit your ship with the SKIN.” He marked the requested procedure on his tablet.

“Thanks. I appreciate it. That will be all.”

The foreman nodded curtly and joined his team to handle the rest of the pilot’s requirements.

Siddartha made his way to his hold. The crew was busy finishing the transfer of goods. The four tanks holding the corpses had been left untouched. This was one cargo he never had to fear somebody would make off with.

One by one he opened the tanks to allow each corpse to thaw out. As soon as they were able to be handled he started working on them. He closed the eyelids of those who had been taken with their eyes open. He disengaged the connectors that were still attached to the body. He removed any clothing on the corpse and respectfully performed ablutions, straightening out the limbs and closing any wounds caused by the impact of the rending metal as the capsule disintegrated under incoming fire.

Siddartha performed these duties without haste, in great serenity. Soft music was playing in the background. He does not believe in the super natural. The universe as it presents itself is enough of a profound mystery on its own without having to invent stories about it. However, not even today, in this era of advanced knowledge, was humanity capable of saying it knew everything there is to know about the universe. On that off-chance that his perception was wrong about that, and if there was anything left of the essence that had animated these bodies while still alive, he did not want to deprive them of an opportunity to experience what little comfort he was still able to provide. And thus he played music. If not to soothe his own soul then perhaps those of these recently departed now under his care.

When he had completed the procedure he placed each body in a stasis container. He called for his crew to come and collect them. A junior aide looked at the containers with morbid fascination. Although she had been warned never to address or question a capsuleer, much less ask them why they do the things they do her mouth was faster than her mind could silence her.

“I’m sorry, sir. These corpses, they are the pod pilots that died during our recent engagement?”

Siddartha was too focused on his duties to be annoyed by the question.

“Yes. What of it?”

“I’m not sure why you would destroy their capsule and then collect their corpses and prepare them for their funeral? It seems odd somehow.”

“What is your name?”

“I’m Natalie, sir.”

“For whatever reason we entered into the engagement that ended up with them dying, Natalie, they are capsuleers. However we may think or feel about them, whatever our political inclination is, they are, for better of for worse, my kind, my people and therefore worthy to be treated with the utmost dignity and respect. These bodies, each of them are vessels that souls once passed through. I feel… compelled to treat them how I would like to be treated myself. Does that answer your question?”

“Yes, sir. It does. Thank you.”

“Alright. Please transfer these to my Obolus. These 4 will fill out its cargo hold and I will need to make a trip soon.”

Without a further word the crew moved the containers carrying the bodies out of the hold, to transfer them to the Obolus.

Siddartha opened a communications channel that his alliance would find deeply problematic if they knew about it. He did not spend time making conversation with the party on the other hand. He only made them aware that he was coming, he was friendly and not a threat.

When the four bodies were transferred to the Obolus, Natalie was curious.

“Don’t people get buried by shooting them out of a tube into space in this station?”

“Yeah?”

“So… why are these not loaded into a tube? It looks like the pilot is taking them somehwere?”

The oldest crew member shook his head wearily.

“There’s so much you don’t know about how this universe works. Look at this thing. It’s small, it’s got no weapons. It’s just got a hold to store one specific cargo into it. Where do you think this is going?”

“I honestly have no clue. Launch them into space himself, by way of a burial rite? You know, out of deference to his fellow capsuleers?”

The three other crew members burst out laughing.

“It’s a great crock of shit, that. We see him do this regularly. He doesn’t care about his fellow capsuleers, what nonsense. He’s in it for the ISK. This is not a celestial hearse to carry these corpses to the stars. He’s not burying them, he’s selling them to the Drifters.”

=====

Important note: This story was inspired by the line “each of them are vessels that souls once passed through” which Natalie provided.