PLEX. Something happened. ECB Intervention. Prices have moderated. Sorry, just had to get that out of the way early. No further mention of PLEX ahead. This is not a deep thoughts kind of article. No seriously, beer for PLEX? At that exchange rate? Ah whatever.
I’ve watched parts of FanFest in the past, but this year I watched virtually all of it on the stream. The free stream mind you, because I wasn’t paying for HD or the ability to chat it up in Twitch and spam pictures of CCP Guard. I personally thought it was great. I’m quite certain that being there in person would be even better, if for no other reason than to mingle with some of the real people behind the avatars that help make this game what it is.
Having watched so many of the presentations and interviews, I came away pretty energized for the future of the game. Actually, more than just the game; for CCP and the EVE Universe in general. I know, I know, that is what FanFest is really designed to do. It’s a celebration of EVE Online and a chance for the developer to pump up the player base with bold visions of things to look forward to in the future. Well Op Success, CCP.
Despite my personal view on FanFest and the upcoming Kronos expansion, I’ve read some comments and stories that are diametrically opposed. Which is entirely surprising to me given that (as far as I know) most people agree with me most of the time. Seriously though, I am a bit surprised at those who think FanFest was just “so-so” or that Kronos is just a patch. Short of being a DUST player sitting in the front row of the DUST Keynote, if you can’t get enthused about anything that went on at FanFest or the fact that Kronos is shaping up to be the biggest expansion in EVE history, well, you may be a little broken inside.
I’m not saying every last detail of FanFest had to stimulate the pleasure center of your brain. You may not have watched the Economics presentation by CCP Dr.EyjoG as many times as I did or cared what some small alliance living in Provi had to say, but there had to be some things that spoke to your enjoyment of EVE. No, not everything is going to be 100% in your direction, but CCP has a diverse group of players they need to relate to, not just you. Between EVE Online, Legion, Valkyrie and the EVE Universe model, CCP’s vision is one I can buy into, albeit with properly measured expectations.
I may not be a probable Legion player, I just don’t dig on FPS all that much, but even the DUST naysayers have to be pleased with the fact that it will be on the PC. It just seems like a good business decision. Bit of a weak reveal given it was during the DUST Keynote, but overall it looks like a move in the right direction. Time will tell, if you can afford to give them the time.
You may not be a future Valkyrie pilot, but if you didn’t get a positive vibe from that presentation and what it could become as a game and for CCP, I don’t know what to say. They’ve come so far in such a short period of time, and that team, led by Executive Producer Owen O’Brien, looks energized and focused. Valkyrie looks exciting as hell and I can’t wait. Even during the big trailer during CCP Presents, I literally got a chill watching the Valkyrie pilots shooting down the launch tubes and into battle. No, I don’t expect that integrated battles between EVE, Valkyrie and Legion are coming soon ™, but that was some badass Battlestar Galactica level shit right there. Yeah it was just a trailer and nothing will ever live up to a trailer, but it’s fun to imagine. Not bet on, but imagine.
EVE Online: Kronos, the last of the big expansions as we have come to know them (more on that later), but it’s a big one. “Bah, it’s all just industry and I don’t carebear.” Sorry, but it isn’t all just industry. Sure, a huge rebuild is coming to industry and it is the centerpiece of the expansion with too many individual changes to mention. It will also touch every last one of us to one degree or another. That makes it big. Whether you are a resource gatherer, builder, researcher, trader, space trucker, pirate, mission runner, or PVPer, small or big, hisec, lowsec or nullsec, you WILL be affected by these changes. Maybe not in your day-to-day play style, but you basically can’t avoid the butterfly effect of what is coming from this change. Some may have wanted changes to sovereignty, some massive POS revamp, or a refreshed set of missions, but frankly, any of those would touch even fewer players. Industry in EVE is the backbone of what makes EVE run. We have had plenty of expansions dedicated to various other aspects of getting things blowndafuqup. I’m fairly certain it will be a while before industry gets the kind of love it is getting in Kronos. So if you can’t look forward to the industry component itself, well, just keep in mind that it will probably be a long while before you hear “industry expansion” again.
Outside of the massive indy revamp, there are quite a bit of other things in Kronos that will hopefully tickle your fancy. Huge changes to drones, badass new warp effects, super-badass-looking Mordu’s Legion ships, intelligent changes to pirate faction ships, the new Prospect expedition frigate, changes to the Phoenix that might make it worth flying, alliance bookmarks. I’m quite certain I’m forgetting even more and that some will say that these are all just “fixes” or “small changes” that could have put out in any point release. But they weren’t. They were ladled on top of a massive rebuild of the industry backbone that helps set the stage for future releases. And yes, things like the POS revamp and corporation roles and sovereignty mechanics are all on the table for the future. As is the potential for making even more things buildable and destroyable.
So what should we expect in the future? Well, first off, we should not expect anymore huge expansions. That’s not to say that big changes or new features aren’t going to be released, but after June 3rd the days of the semi-annual expansion will be behind us. Does that mean “Winter is Coming” is dead? Nah, but the piñata expansions, with a broad array of “things” inside, are over. Instead, CCP is moving to faster and more numerous releases throughout the year. Why make us wait 6 months for something that is ready today? After June 3rd, the next scheduled release will be sometime around mid August with another to follow in September. Somewhere around every 6 weeks (give or take) we should expect to see new stuff.
So what does the new release schedule mean to us as players? It means the end to what I am calling the “Christmas Day Effect”. No more waking up one Tuesday in June or December and waiting hours to unwrap gigabytes of presents. It’s kind of like that point in life where you go from being a child and expecting a room full of presents to becoming an adult and realizing you don’t need to wait for one special day to get a shiny new gaming rig. At first it’s a little sad. The kid in all of us likes “lots of things” at once as opposed to a trickle here and there. This change is going to take some getting used to. It’s going to require we manage our expectations a bit.
Whereas the “Christmas Day” expansions probably contained something that got a majority of EVE players’ juices flowing, that may not be the case every 6 weeks. Hopefully CCP will help to manage player expectations by commenting about what is coming in the near term, even if that doesn’t mean in the next release. In the end we’ll all have to recognize that Santa Claus and the Yule Lads aren’t coming anymore. To be honest, I’m a little concerned over what will happen the first time a release comes that doesn’t have a grab bag assortment of goodies, but honestly the reaction probably won’t be any worse than what the naysayers and trolls would roll out anyway. Some sort of “EVE is Dying” refrain, I’m sure. Whatever.
Hopefully everyone is happy with the new CSM. If not, maybe you should vote next time. Oddly, I think almost every candidate I voted for was elected. Even those down in the “I’m not sure” slots 10-14. I have a lot of respect for what these fellow players try and do on our behalf and we should all cut the new team some slack as they get into the groove. That being said, I cut zero slack after their first announcement. I won’t say I will agree with everything they say or do, but who gives a rat’s arse about what I say anyway. By and large these are some intelligent players seeking to help our cause as best they can. They are volunteers from across the EVE spectrum. If their first move says anything at all, it is that this isn’t nullsec power blocs seeking to marginalize anyone, or that they are making decisions about the game based on in-game politics or personal preferences. I wish them all the best in the coming year. For those who think it’s just some glamour position, it isn’t. I doubt many of them will play EVE as much as they did before being elected, and that’s a little sad. So, cut them some slack as they get on with OUR business. Reach out to them, take some time to read/hear what they have to say, but maybe, just a little, try and ease up on just tearing it all down.
That’s it. Hopefully you made it this far. And to think I just created a twitter account @dirkmacgirk. How will I ever keep it to 140 characters? Thank the space gods that someone prints my longer tripe.
– Dirk MacGirk
