Massively

EVE Evolved: Outlaws of EVE

Brendan Drain — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Lore, Professions, EVE Evolved

EVE Online's Community Manager CCP Wrangler once said that "EVE isn't designed to just look like a cold, dark and harsh world; it's designed to be a cold, dark and harsh world." That sentiment sums up the core philosophy behind the game, which permits such nefarious gameplay styles as thief, smuggler, scam-artist, pirate and market manipulator. Underhanded deals go on every day in EVE, with bounty hunters hired to ruin someone's day and spies tearing corporations apart from within. Many are drawn to EVE because it's one of the few MMOs that allows players to embrace their darker side. The opportunity to be a real villain in a sandbox universe can be intoxicating.

Perhaps more intoxicating is the notion that the presence of tangible villains affords players a rare opportunity to play the role of hero. For every pirate gang lurking at a stargate in low security space, there's an anti-pirate squad somewhere planning an attack. For every thief ready to empty their corporation's hangers, there's a security specialist weeding out spies. The true outlaws of EVE are people who have earned their infamy through acts of ruthlessness in their chosen field.

Over the years, we've interviewed and examined some of EVE's most notorious outlaws. In this article, I look back at four of EVE's most wanted, how they earned their infamy, and what they're doing today.

Continue reading EVE Evolved: Outlaws of EVE

EVE Evolved: Outlaws of EVE originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 08 Aug 2010 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE Online spymaster The Mittani to present at GDC 2010

James Egan — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, real-world, Game mechanics, MMO industry, PvP, Politics

EVE Online developer CCP Games typically has a presence at major industry events like the upcoming Game Developers Conference, but the session that's caught our attention so far isn't a presentation from the devs -- it's actually from a member of the EVE community. That GDC 2010 speaker is Alexander Gianturco -- better known to most EVE Online players as Goonswarm's spymaster, The Mittani. Others may know the infamous player as the "Sins of the Solar Spymaster" EVE columnist at Ten Ton Hammer. Gianturco will give a lecture at GDC 2010 titled "Uniquely Ruthless: The Espionage Metagame of EVE Online" that will give an insider's perspective on the political machinations possible in the game's sandbox of New Eden.

His talk will hit on topics like the disbanding of the Band of Brothers alliance, how the espionage metagame has changed over time, and of course the myriad aspects of EVE's sandbox that allow players to even engage in such pursuits. The session description for Uniquely Ruthless: The Espionage Metagame of EVE Online states that Gianturco's presentation should be of general interest to anyone with a love of spies and their stories.

EVE Online spymaster The Mittani to present at GDC 2010 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 25 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Star Wars: The Old Republic releases more intel on the Imperial Agent

Eliot Lefebvre — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Previews, Star Wars: The Old Republic

One of the frequently-voiced concerns about Star Wars: The Old Republic is the possibility that the non-Force classes will wind up becoming almost irrelevant. Who's going to pay attention to being a spy when you can wield an energy sword and fling lightning, right? As a matter of fact, the Imperial Agent would like very much if no one ever notices they exist. They're quite happy to stand in the background and never be observed, because as the latest developer's entry explains, that's precisely what the Agent does best. They exist in the shadow, the man of many faces and a hundred names, a presence whose influence is strongest when it isn't evident at all.

Star Wars: The Old Republic faces the difficult task of making the Sith -- traditionally the villains of the franchise -- into a playable and likable faction rather than monolithic evil. As the developer entry points out, the Imperial Agent is a major part of that, of giving the chance to look at someone who is quite possibly a proud citizen of the Empire and happy to serve in keeping the peace and bring down the Republic. It's also a look at the parts between the lines of the films, the spies and intel operators whose role was important but whose faces were rarely seen. But you might decide not to look at the full discussion of the class anyway -- and as we've mentioned, really, that's what the agent would want.

Star Wars: The Old Republic releases more intel on the Imperial Agent originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The challenges and rewards of espionage in EVE Online

James Egan — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Interviews

Goonswarm spymaster The Mittani took a different approach with his latest EVE Online column at Ten Ton Hammer, and conducted an interview with a corporate saboteur titled "The Most Dangerous Agent". While it should be stated that most players in EVE do not engage in espionage, it's a career path of sorts that any player could potentially engage in, provided they have the combination of intelligence, social skills, and dedication needed to succeed. It's that aspect of dedication which often goes unmentioned -- the challenge of maintaining long-term duplicity.

The Mittani's interview with a player anonymously referred to as "Darwin's Accelerator" explains how a player with destructive aims greater than simply engaging a few enemy ships at a time can use intel to devastating effect, wiping out entire fleets. Maintaining a persona that fits in with the target organization and thus won't arouse suspicion, however, can be difficult if the infiltrator genuinely dislikes the members that comprise the corporation or alliance.

Continue reading The challenges and rewards of espionage in EVE Online

The challenges and rewards of espionage in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Major EVE Online alliance CVA disbanded: espionage or hack?

James Egan — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, in-game, Guilds, News items

Major EVE Online roleplaying alliance Curatores Veritatis Alliance (CVA) disbanded today, possibly the result of a traitor within their ranks, leaving a power vacuum in the Providence region they once held. It's possible for high-level directors of an alliance to disband the organization, and this is exactly what happened today to Curatores Veritatis Alliance. CVA was an alliance loyal to the game's NPC faction the Amarr Empire and had a long history of enforcing rule in lawless space and resisting rival player organizations of Minmatar freedom fighters -- notably Ushra'Khan -- who they branded as terrorists. In short, CVA has played a significant role in the player-driven setting of EVE Online.

At this point, speculation as to how CVA was disbanded is rampant. The concept of a mole using high-level access to destroy an alliance from within is not unprecedented in the game, although some players are asserting an account hack took place. EVE pilot "BULLETPROOF 50CENT" of the corporation Traceless Representatives of Anonymous Players (TRAP) has claimed credit for the disintegration of CVA. He stated: "I am known as bullet, just a small, relatively unknown member of a covert organization, created by and dedicated to the taking down of what we saw as the single largest evil in EVE -- CVA."

Continue reading Major EVE Online alliance CVA disbanded: espionage or hack?

Major EVE Online alliance CVA disbanded: espionage or hack? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 28 Oct 2009 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Earthrise developers seeking community input on alts

James Egan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, New titles, Opinion, Earthrise

Earthrise is an indy-developed science fiction MMO on the way from Masthead Studios in Bulgaria. The developers have stated that Earthrise will be a sandbox game, with a large part of the player experience based on what guilds try to accomplish in the post-apocalyptic setting of Enterra. Given this emphasis on player-driven content, Masthead Studios has been running a Community Consensus over the past few weeks where the devs seek input from Earthrise fans on various aspects of the game's design.

Today Masthead Studios wants to hear what the community thinks about alts. In most MMOs having extra character slots is expected, but alt play in a sandbox game where players will engage in espionage could get out of hand. Would the ability to easily for any player to create a cell of spy alts unbalance the game, or should there be a tight limit on character slots per account?

Continue reading Earthrise developers seeking community input on alts

Earthrise developers seeking community input on alts originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 19 Oct 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Latest lore update for The Old Republic chronicles shadowy Imperial spies

James Egan — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Lore, New titles, Star Wars: The Old Republic

A few of us on the Massively team are fans of the Lance Henriksen-narrated lore updates for Star Wars: The Old Republic that explain the MMO's timeline in video. The guy was Bishop, after all! So far these videos have given us a good idea of the game's backstory and have dropped some clues as to what we may see in the title. One of the more recent episodes was Return of the Mandalorians which focused on the independent warrior nomads who rose to challenge even the Jedi. While they aren't evil, war is their way of life and they thirst for conquest. According to the latest timeline update, "The Empire Changes Strategy", the Mandalorians had some help along the way from the Imperial spies who orchestrated their ascent to power.

Henriksen narrates a tale of Imperial intelligence operatives pulling strings from the shadows for their Sith masters, and of the rise and fall of Mandalore himself. We think this continuation of the Star Wars: The Old Republic story is worth a look, and you can find it on the game's official site.

Latest lore update for The Old Republic chronicles shadowy Imperial spies originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 05 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Hints of espionage in Earthrise

James Egan — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Economy, Game mechanics, New titles, PvP, Earthrise

One of the interesting things that happens when you create a sandbox MMO where players can establish political systems, even empires, is that factions of those players will form and work against their opposition. In some cases, this is through large scale PvP campaigns. But another, more subtle aspect to warfare between guilds is espionage, should the game developer allow it. Fortunately for Earthrise players, Masthead Studios won't just allow espionage in their post-apocalyptic game -- they encourage it.

Espionage is the focus of the latest Question of the Week asked by a member of the Earthrise community. It seems that spying will be an important aspect of conflicts between guilds, but so will visits to other guild territories for trade runs. Masthead Studios implies that there will be a pass system used to allow non-guild members access to a guild's territory: "Even though one might expect only allies and friends to the guild would be allowed to visit using a pass system, it is possible for clever spies of enemy guilds to find a way to sneak in and report to their headquarters about the development of enemy bases."

Continue reading Hints of espionage in Earthrise

Hints of espionage in Earthrise originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Agency declassifies intel for revamped game site

James Egan — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: The Agency, Spy

One of the new titles on the way from Sony Online Entertainment is The Agency which promises to bring espionage into the world of MMOs. There were no announcements for The Agency at today's Sony press event at the E3 Expo, but we've noticed that there's new content to be found on the game's official site.

A quick search of The Agency site reveals some new screenshots and wallpapers, concept art, info about both playable factions -- U.N.I.T.E. (spies) and Paragon (mercenaries) -- and a tongue-in-cheek 'evaluation quiz' for recruitment to each faction. In addition to the new art assets, they've also got their latest trailer up on the site as well. If you've been looking forward to some spies-and-mercenaries gameplay in an MMO, check out what's new on The Agency's revamped site.

The Agency declassifies intel for revamped game site originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 02 Jun 2009 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

The Agency still has a pulse, fact sheet confirms

James Egan — Wed, 13 May 2009 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: New titles, The Agency, Consoles, Spy

Sony Online Entertainment could have a PC and console hit on their hands if their spies and mercenaries MMO The Agency lives up to expectations. The Agency has fallen off of the media radar of late, but development is moving ahead on the title.The last word we've received on when we'll be able to get our hands on the game is that The Agency will be released in 2010. Massively has some previous coverage of The Agency but we're always looking out for more info, and that's what we found today.

While we've touched upon some of this information in the past, SOE has released a brief fact sheet that explains the concepts behind The Agency and its "modern setting of bullets, bomb blasts, and betrayal." We're still hoping that there will be more info announced about the game at the E3 Expo in June, but until SOE declassifies their intel, you can check out The Agency fact sheet below the cut:

Continue reading The Agency still has a pulse, fact sheet confirms

The Agency still has a pulse, fact sheet confirms originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 May 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE PvP Tournament assassination: Machiavellian or bad form?

James Egan — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, in-game, Guilds, PvP, Opinion

Struggle between player alliances in EVE Online is very much at the heart of the game. While most conflicts play out in sweeping alliance warfare, with its requisite fleet battles involving hundreds of players, some alliances also choose to face one another in arena combat with the rapt attention of many thousands of their fellow pilots: the Alliance PvP Tournament.

The Alliance Tournament in EVE Online provides a way for players to demonstrate what they're capable of under controlled conditions, and offers a shot at fame or notoriety among the playerbase. In some cases, alliances may face off in the PvP tournament to settle a score in a very public way. The rules of engagement in place ensure that all alliance teams are on equal ground with one another. EVE players can be devious though, if nothing else... as one match this past weekend proved: one alliance competitor assassinated his team's captain once the match had begun, and then self-destructed his own ship. The would-be saboteur, ironically named "Happy Joymaker", later announced he had infiltrated the alliance for the express purpose of a public execution of his target.

Continue reading EVE PvP Tournament assassination: Machiavellian or bad form?

EVE PvP Tournament assassination: Machiavellian or bad form? originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 01 Feb 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

Rumors of The Agency's death have been exaggerated

James Egan — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:30:00 EST

Filed under: MMO industry, New titles, The Agency, Spy, Rumors

Rumors abound that Sony Online Entertainment's MMO-in-development, The Agency, has been cancelled. This stems from a GameFly email sent out that the title is now removed from GameQ's, with the explanation message that "For unreleased titles, the game has been canceled by its publisher... We apologize for any disappointment this may cause. If you have any questions, please contact us."

Well that's exactly what our sister site PS3 Fanboy did. Only they went right to SOE, not Gamefly, to check on The Agency's status. Andrew Yoon from PS3 Fanboy confirmed with SOE's Katie Hanson that the project is, indeed, alive. So there you have it. The Agency has not been targeted for assassination. You can check out the declassified intel over at PS3 Fanboy.

Rumors of The Agency's death have been exaggerated originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Nov 2008 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE's spies and metagamers

James Egan — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Forums, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, Opinion, Politics

EVE Online is one of the few MMOs where players in guilds (corporations and alliances) have some valid concerns about spies from rival groups infiltrating their ranks. The concept of being a spy or saboteur is a profession of sorts that arose in the game. There aren't any game mechanics that necessarily enable spying or make it into a viable profession, nor are there any rules that prohibit most of these activities.

Wes from EVE Tribune recently wrote a piece called "Metagaming", dealing with how espionage can impact rival corporations and alliances in EVE. Wes asks, "Why is everyone so paranoid about spies and metagaming?" then goes on to explain how espionage in EVE works, categorizing spies by their modus operandi:

Continue reading EVE's spies and metagamers

EVE's spies and metagamers originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 12 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

A newbie's first war declaration in EVE Online

James Egan — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, Tips and tricks, Opinion

It's almost guaranteed that at some point in your time as an EVE Online pilot, you'll encounter a war declaration from another corporation. In some cases, the wardec may be provoked -- another corp's pilot killed or harassed, perhaps one ninja salvaging too many, and the next thing you know Concord sends you an email notifying you of hard times ahead. Then again, wardecs can also simply be used for kicks and consequence-free highsec kills. Potentially, a war declaration can also be a form of ransoming, a way for aggressors to extort money as a 'fee' to retract the wardec. Regardless of its cause, the situation remains the same: your opponents are free to fire upon you in high security space without triggering a response from Concord.

For a newer player, a feeling of panic can sink in. That warm, comfy security blanket of highsec no longer offers its sheltering protection from harm. Perhaps for the first time, there's real risk involved in playing the game. That's an angle of war declarations that writer Sam Guss discusses in a piece for MMORPG.com called "EVE Online: Surviving Your First War." (Guss is also a writer at EVE-Mag). But that's really just the backdrop. He recounts his own experience with being wardecced, from the surprise of the initial wardec to the sobering 24-hour countdown to war against far more experienced PvP-ers.

Continue reading A newbie's first war declaration in EVE Online

A newbie's first war declaration in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 05 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

EVE exploit warning affects corp infiltration practices

James Egan — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Exploits, Game mechanics, Guilds, PvP, News items

War declarations are an essential part of EVE Online. They allow corporations and alliances to fight for control over resources, territory, or simply to get revenge on their rivals. Then again, others declare war for the opportunity to grief in Empire space. Perhaps it's this latter tendency that prompted the latest announcement from CCP Games. They're branding the monkeywrenching of rival corporations during wartime as an exploit.

GM Grimmi states: "The practice of insta-joining/leaving warring corporations for the purpose of surprising war targets, or getting them in trouble with CONCORD, is considered an exploit from here on. Reports of this will be investigated on a case by case basis and warnings will be issued at the discretion of the GM. Repeated incidents may result in bans on accounts involved." This doesn't seem to apply to 'normal' corp infiltrations, though it does beg the question of why a corporation at war would even be accepting new recruits at all. What's the protocol in your corp, do you continue to accept applicants into the fold during a wardec, or is the risk of alt spying and sabotage too great?

EVE exploit warning affects corp infiltration practices originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Aug 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

TR's Ranger classes get a second look

Chris Chester — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Classes, Game mechanics, Patches, Previews, Tabula Rasa

We're pleased to report that this week's Tabula Rasa Feedback Friday is uncharacteristically juicy. The decision was made in the Classes and Combat teams that Rangers and Spies needed a serious looking at in patch 1.7. Their logic was that the two Ranger classes, Spies and Snipers, are too narrowly restricted by their class-defining weapons. Snipers have been struggling with this recently with the changes to Torqueshell rifles. And while Spies have been anything but hindered by their spectacular Blade damage, their effectiveness discourages Spies from trying different tactics.

Among the changes that will be heralded in patch 1.7 (it's worth reiterating here that patch 1.6 is still in testing and has no confirmed release date) is a new ability called Fire Support, which will take the place of Carpet Bombs in the Ranger repertoire. It's different effects at different ranks should give it increased utility for single-target DPS. Another ability with the potential to be quite cool is Tactical Evasion, which, at pump 5, would give the Ranger player the ability to set up a temporary beacon that you will teleport back to after a given amount of time. It sounds like a near way to rush into a crowded area, take out an important target, and get away quickly. To check out the full range of changes, make sure to check it out on the official site.

TR's Ranger classes get a second look originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 21 Mar 2008 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

Tabula Rasa resolution hotfix live

Chris Chester — Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches, Tabula Rasa

Well, it took quite a bit of concerted bitching, but it looks like the worst of the effects from Tabula Rasa's patch 1.5 have been addressed. A hotfix went live this morning which corrected the issues people were having with the resolution automatically resizing to 1158x864 every time the client was restarted. The patch notes say that some players may still experience problems if they run the game full screen at resolutions of 1280x960, but I got the game running silky smooth on my GeForce 7600 at 1440x900, so it's probably a driver issue affecting very specific cards. If anything, I've actually noticed a performance increase in graphic-intensive outdoor areas, so this patch is quite welcome indeed.

Also coming as part of the hotfix is a respec for the Spy class, whose abilities underwent a number of changes in patch 1.5. This change is perhaps the stranger of the problems fixed. It was not a coding or optimization error, as with the resolution problem, but simply a lack of foresight on the developer's part. One wonders how they didn't initially foresee the need for a respec, but were so quickly able to amend their position once the patch went live? It's very strange, but hey, kudos to them for seeing the light.

Tabula Rasa resolution hotfix live originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 28 Feb 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

On Tabula Rasa respecs and resolutions

Chris Chester — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Classes, Game mechanics, Patches, Tabula Rasa

With Tabula Rasa already on the ropes with recent reports of financial failure, the last thing the TR community wanted or needed to have to deal with was the awfully-implemented patch 1.5 that rolled out onto live servers yesterday. Pushed out of testing a scant five days after it was revealed on the public test server, the patch was bugged by resolution issues and big changes to the Spy class weren't accompanied by a respec to make them worth the trouble. Morale among the AFS-faithful was not terribly high this time yesterday morning.

Evidently, the developers actually paid notice and took a rare opportunity to break their usual Monday/Friday announcement schedule to address these concerns. They're working on a hotfix for the resolution problem, and suggest in the meantime that players run the game in windowed mode. Not that doing so addresses the fact that the resolution resets every time you load the game, but at least it doesn't crash. They've also revealed that part of their plan in patch 1.6 is to make respecs a more readily available resource. Instead of the crummy awards players currently get for defending and attacking CPs, players will soon be able to collect talent and attribute respec credits for their trouble instead. It's a good idea, and enough of a distraction that most of the doom and gloom has abated, albeit temporarily.

On Tabula Rasa respecs and resolutions originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 27 Feb 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

New TR patch shoved out the door

Chris Chester — Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:05:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, Bugs, Game mechanics, Patches, Tabula Rasa

Well, that was quick. I'm not too sure why I'm surprised, but players woke up this morning to find that Tabula Rasa's patch 1.5 had snuck out the door last night, and is patiently waiting on player desktops. Players didn't quite have a full week to fully digest the patch notes after they showed up on the public test server before they're going live, which is either helpful or incredibly reckless depending on how much stock you put into the QA process. In this case we're going to go with "reckless" because early reports (confirmed after we ourselves downloaded the patch) show a strange bug where the game resets your resolution every time you load up the game, causing crashes for some (this blogger included).

As to the content of the patch itself, we've already talked about some of the neat things that players will find within. One of the changes we didn't get around to talking about are the changes to the Spy class. They've reworked the way Traitor works in PvP to make it more like a traditional Mind Control, in addition to throwing in a new melee attack for Spies that is similar to other players' melee attacks, and takes into account bonuses to damage and knockdown given by putting pumps into hand-to-hand. (Spies are one of only two melee classes in the game, so this new attack is distinguished from their normal blade attacks.) Oddly enough though, Spies do not get a respec.

Full patch notes available after the jump.

Continue reading New TR patch shoved out the door

New TR patch shoved out the door originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 26 Feb 2008 09:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments