Massively http://massively.joystiq.com Massively http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/http://massively.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Massively http://massively.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[EVE Evolved: Preparing for the Inferno expansion]]>http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/20/eve-evolved-preparing-for-the-inferno-expansion/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/20/eve-evolved-preparing-for-the-inferno-expansion/http://massively.joystiq.com/2012/05/20/eve-evolved-preparing-for-the-inferno-expansion/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , , , , ,

EVE Evolved title image
The Inferno expansion is set to launch on Tuesday May 22nd, promising a complete revamp of EVE Online's war declaration system and a whole host of new modules. If you're in a wardec corp, you'll need to make a few adjustments to the way you operate when the patch goes live. The minimum war fee will increase to 50 million ISK even if you're declaring war on a small corporation, making very small corps less-appealing targets. The fee increases based on the number of members in the target corp, but it doesn't start increasing until around the 130-member mark. If you want to get your money's worth, you'll be best off picking a target corp with 100-150 members or selecting very high-value small targets.

Be very wary of wardeccing large alliances after the patch. While the previous war system swung in favour of the attacker, the new system has gone to the opposite extreme. Large corps and alliances are now significantly more costly and dangerous to declare war on, especially as the defender can now call mercenaries into the war at any time. Players have complained that the increasing war costs could be abused by getting all alliance members to add alts to the corp, but this would be a logistical nightmare to apply in practice and would increase fees by only a few hundred million ISK. If alt padding becomes a problem, CCP will undoubtedly step in and revise the fee structure.

In this week's EVE Evolved, I look at the new modules and gameplay changes coming in Tuesday's Inferno expansion and give some tips on preparing for the patch.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Preparing for the Inferno expansion

MassivelyEVE Evolved: Preparing for the Inferno expansion originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 20 May 2012 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fleet warfare in EVE Online is a big step up from the small, casual PvP gangs discussed in last week's PvP Masterclass article. In this guide, I explore the day to day activities of EVE's largest combat machinations, from 30-man faction warfare gangs to 300-man territorial fleets. In stark contrast to a small and highly mobile gang, a large fleet is a lumbering hulk that favours combined firepower and good co-ordination over all else. Massive fleets of hundreds of pilots routinely clash in the outskirts of EVE's lawless 0.0 space. But when they move at the speed of their slowest member and are really only as good as their fleet commander, what can you do to make sure your fleet is a success?

Fight-by-numbers:
The essence of fleet warfare is that using more ships is usually better. By focusing all attacks on one enemy at a time, a larger fleet has a very high damage potential. It also allows a more diverse range of ship types to take part in the fight such as an electronic warfare wing or sniper squadron. Forming a large fleet usually requires some planning and co-ordination, making them less suited to casual PvP and more suited to organised assaults on specific targets like POS.

Read on as I tackle the question of how to make a fleet effective from the perspective of both the fleet's individual members and the fleet commander.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: PvP masterclass - Fleet warfare

MassivelyEVE Evolved: PvP masterclass - Fleet warfare originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 02 Nov 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online has evolved into a game where being fast and agile allows you to choose your fights, dictate range and thus control the course of the battle, disengage whenever you choose, and often move so quickly that you're largely unassailable. However, the era of the nano craze will soon be coming to a close, according to EVE Online developer CCP Nozh.

His latest dev blog addresses the insane velocities achievable, even by previously lumbering battleships, with combinations of speed modules, rigs, pirate implants and performance-boosting drugs. (For those less familiar with EVE or its more deviant aspects, you can in fact use and sell drugs in the game.) CCP Nozh outlined the dev team's design goals in stemming the speed crisis:

Continue reading Speed kills

MassivelySpeed kills originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 27 Jul 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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To blob or not to blob, that is the question. Blobbing in EVE Online has always been a hot topic for debate on the forums and a tough issue to tackle for developers. At its simplest, blobbing is a PvP strategy in which massive fleets are used to completely overwhelm the enemy. Although the term blob usually has negative connotations, fleet warfare is a strongly advertised aspect of EVE and is required for 0.0 alliances to take and hold space. When two or more sides in a conflict can field massive numbers, huge fleet battles can ensue.

What is a blob and why is it undesirable?
The word "blob" is one of the most widely misused terms in EVE and it's one that few people agree on a definition of. To some, a fleet is only a blob if it has hundreds of ships in it. To others, a gang of 15 battleships hunting their lone frigate would be considered a blob. For the purposes of game mechanic discussion, a blob is really just a fleet that's so large it causes normal fleet warfare to break or encounter problems that make it a lot less fun for those involved.

The basis of the blob is the universal constant in EVE warfare that more ships is always better no matter what your target is. If you have a choice between fielding a small gang or a large one, the larger gang is almost always the better choice because it gives a higher chance of victory with fewer losses. What makes a blob undesirable is that once fleets get above a certain size, fleet warfare is not nearly as fun as it should be.

Do you hate blob warfare? Read on to find out why blob warfare isn't as fun as it should be and how the blob problem could possibly be solved.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: To blob or not to blob

MassivelyEVE Evolved: To blob or not to blob originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 26 May 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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