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EVE Online invading Japan March 28th

Jef Reahard — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:50:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, MMO industry, News items, Sandbox

EVE Online has already captured the hearts and minds of sandbox gamers in Europe and America. Now, CCP is intent on bringing its sci-fi MMO to Japan (which boasts the world's fourth largest online gaming market).

Beginning March 28th, Japanese players will experience New Eden in their native language. True to form, however, is CCP's decision to dump all of its worldwide playerbase into the melting pot that is the Tranquility server. The firm is also partnering with Korean free-to-play giant Nexon to make the deal happen, with the latter handling billing services as well as marketing and PR duties while CCP focuses on development.

[Source: CCP press release]

EVE Online invading Japan March 28th originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 01 Mar 2012 11:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online in Japan [Updated]

Brendan Drain — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Launches, MMO industry, News items, DUST 514

The Japanese games market can be difficult for western companies to break into, with accurate client localisation and translation acting as a huge potential roadblock. In an unexpected press release today, EVE Online developer CCP Games announced a strategic partnership with Japan-based MMO publisher Nexon to bring both EVE Online and DUST 514 to the Japanese market. EVE is currently available in English, German and Russian, and Japanese players have so far found considerable difficulty in playing the game.

Unlike EVE's Chinese release, the Japanese client will connect to the main Tranquility game server. Nexon will add the game to its portal website and use its own billing system for Japanese subscribers. As we've seen with EVE's sizeable Russian playerbase, it's likely that entire alliances and communities will build up within the game once it hits the shelves in Japan. While the language barrier between players from different parts of the world can limit social interaction, it turns out that everyone understands the language of smashing internet spaceships to bits with lasers. The PC release of EVE Online in Japan will appear later this year.

[Update: CCP has informed us that this deal with Nexon does not apply to anything DUST-related.]

CCP partners with Nexon to release EVE Online in Japan [Updated] originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 07 Jul 2011 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP acquires new FCP hardware to fight EVE Online lag

Jef Reahard — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items, Dev Diaries

Insomnia can be dealt with in different ways. Some people count sheep. Others pop pills. For those of us whose eyes are prone to glazing over upon hearing computer-related techno-babble, reading a dev blog such as the new network performance-related piece from CCP might be just the thing we need to start nodding off.

All kidding aside, though, EVE Online is continually waging a war against lag, and unlike multi-shard MMOs with servers spread across different physical locations, CCP's sci-fi sandbox is beset with numerous technical challenges stemming from its one-server setup. Making matters worse for the IT nerds at the Icelandic development studio is the fact that tons of people like EVE, and those people are constantly setting new concurrent user records and pounding the heck out of Tranquility.

CCP Mort's blog entry details the company's newly purchased Flow Control Platform (FCP), which "ties in closely with our Edge routers; it monitors all traffic to and from the game cluster, has a BGP peering relationship with the Edge routers, and monitors the pipes to our providers for bandwidth and errors." The short version is that FCP is CCP's latest offensive in the ongoing lag wars saga, and the company remains committed to perfecting the EVE Online experience going forward.

CCP acquires new FCP hardware to fight EVE Online lag originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 23 Mar 2011 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP explains plan to get rid of EVE's daily downtime

Brendan Drain — Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, News items

The often-repeated joke that EVE Online is a 23/7 game may soon be put to rest. EVE currently has an hour each day, between 11AM and noon GMT, designated for server maintenance. During this time, important tasks that ensure the smooth functioning of the game are carried out, such as respawning asteroids and load-balancing the server. Over the past year or so, CCP Games has been working to reduce the daily downtime by changing many of these essential downtime functions to happen while the server is up without impacting game performance.

CCP's efforts have not been in vain, as the past few years have seen the duration of downtime drop from an average of 50-60 minutes to under 20 minutes. In a new devblog, CCP Hunter explains what has been done to reduce downtime and what the future holds for New Eden's daily slumber. The devblog reveals that most of the current downtime is taken up by server shutdown and startup procedures, with only five minutes of actual maintenance processes per day. Once all the processes required for the daily downtime are removed, the plan is to have the server running permanently.

CCP explains plan to get rid of EVE's daily downtime originally appeared on Massively on Sat, 30 Oct 2010 11:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online server move delayed by database issues

Brendan Drain — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, MMO industry, News items

Last week, CCP Games announced that the EVE Online server was heading for a move and a bit of an upgrade. Hidden within a few cabinets in a single datacenter is everything that makes up the EVE universe, from characters and ships to planets and the market. The cluster of hardware has been expanded over the years and now exceeds the limitations of the hardware cabinets it occupies. Moving the cluster to a new location within the datacenter should help support future upgrades to keep up with the game's growing subscriber-base.

The shuffle began early yesterday morning at 09:00 UTC and was planned to be completed by 15:00 UTC the same day. Unfortunately, the transition to a new locale has had some unforeseen side-effects for Tranquility. After a long day of server work, final testing of the cluster revealed database issues that must be corrected before the game can go live. At 03:00 UTC this morning, the estimate for restoring Tranquility and the EVE website was mid-day today. With that time having now passed, CCP has released a new estimate of 16:00 UTC. If necessary, further delays will be announced on the official EVE Facebook page, the CCP Games Twitter page and the game's main website.

UPDATE: The server is now up and players can log in again. CCP has explained the reasons behind the long downtime and detailed their plans to reimburse players with skillpoints in a news post.

EVE Online server move delayed by database issues originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE devblog peeks behind the Tranquility curtain

Jef Reahard — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, News items

Ever wanted to know the inner workings of CCP Games' Tranquility server cluster? You're in luck, as CCP Yokai has posted a behind-the-scenes look at both the current and soon-to-be upgraded version of EVE Online's live server setup. In a dev blog at the official EVE website, Yokai fills us in on the hefty blade server configurations as well as cooling concerns and the upcoming migration.

"TQ has morphed and adjusted over the years as much as EVE Online has. It's gotten to the point [where] a couple of cabinets simply don't handle it anymore. So, this first step is to move TQ to a bigger place. We'll still be in the same datacenter and connecting to you from multiple networks to ensure the best performance, but this time with a lot more space and power and room to grow," he writes.

Yokai goes on to illustrate how the new setup will provide added physical space, power, and data capacity. Check out the full article at the official site.

EVE devblog peeks behind the Tranquility curtain originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Gone fishing?

Eliot Lefebvre — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Game mechanics, Crafting, Opinion, The Daily Grind

If you came from an alien world and had to evaluate our culture based solely on our MMOs... well, you'd probably conclude unpleasant things about our culture, but that's not the point. You would certainly come away with the impression that one of the most important hobbies we possess is fishing, considering how many games it shows up in. Nearly any fantasy game (and several others) will give you the opportunity to stand next to a body of water with a rod, cast your line, and wait for a while until a fish bites.

Or until you realize that you're paying $15 a month to play a game that accurately simulates how mind-numbingly tedious fishing can actually be.

Do you like fishing in MMOs? For some of us, yes, it's the sort of thing we look at once or twice and swiftly conclude isn't what we'd like to spend our time doing. For others, however, the calm and tranquility of just standing by the water, taking a look at the virtual landscape, and relaxing a bit is a welcome change from the pace of the game as a whole. Do you prefer when it's there, do you miss it if it's not, or are you completely uninterested in fishing?

The Daily Grind: Gone fishing? originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 13 Jan 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Why you should be playing EVE Online: One server, one universe

Seraphina Brennan — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST

Filed under: At a glance, Sci-fi, EVE Online, Culture, Economy, Game mechanics, PvP, Opinion

"Why you should be playing ..." is a freeform column from Massively.com intended to inform you about our favorite parts of our favorite games. We want you to know why we're playing them, so you can know what to play.

It's been dead for too long, but now it's back. The ultimate opinion column, "Why You Should Be Playing," is making a triumphant return to the pages of Massively! For those unfamiliar with this feature, this is the space where the Massively staff gets to tell you why we play our favorite games. We try to spread the love of MMOs unknown so you get to see some of the great features of MMOs you may not play.

Today's feature has all guns locked on EVE Online and the power of the Tranquility server. EVE has a vast universe of countless star systems and now even sports gigantic areas of uncharted space, but did you know that all of that world is housed on multiple servers that act as one?

Continue reading Why you should be playing EVE Online: One server, one universe

Why you should be playing EVE Online: One server, one universe originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 20 Jul 2009 10:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Making fleet battle reservations in EVE Online?

James Egan — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST

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

This is probably a first in the MMO industry... EVE Online announced higher performance server reservations for large scale PvP battles. Unlike most other MMO titles where you choose a server to play on with your friends, EVE Online doesn't make you choose. Although the server cluster is made up of hundreds of IBM blade servers, from a player's perspective, it's all one galaxy with over 5000 solar systems. This is good for a 'sandbox' game, where players are allowed to do whatever they feel like within the rules of that place. It creates a huge galaxy where everyone can potentially interact... or kill each other. But it comes with a rather substantial drawback at times: lag.

This 'single server' approach makes EVE Online a game where players hope to have large-scale fleet battles not unlike all those sci-fi shows and films we grew up with. But the harsh reality is that there are limitations of server technology that hinder large scale conflicts. Bring a few hundred of your friends to a fleet battle in EVE and you might not be fighting so much as watching a slide show. Definitely not the most fun to be had in the game.

Continue reading Making fleet battle reservations in EVE Online?

Making fleet battle reservations in EVE Online? originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 05 Dec 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE's call to arms: Thursday fleet battles on test server to help combat lag

James Egan — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Bugs, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, PvP, News items

EVE Online's latest expansion Quantum Rise brought some new features for the industry crowd, and a few enhancements aimed at PvP pilots as well. But some of the broad changes they've made to the game mechanics have triggered lag, and lots of it, which CCP Games is hoping to combat with the help of the players themselves. CCP Tanis says, "We take this issue very seriously and as a result, our engineering team has been in high-gear working on fixing the problem and we think we are close, but we need your help."

The help CCP Games is looking for requires relatively little from players, aside from logging into the Singularity test server and entering the fray, blasting each other apart in battleships. The Wednesday tests were already underway when we got word of this, but they're looking to get a large group of pilots (200 or more) for the Thursday fleet engagements on Singularity. The test will take place on Thursday at 11:00 GMT, and another is tentatively slated for 15:00, dependent upon what CCP learns from the previous fights. CCP Tanis lays out how players can get involved:

Continue reading EVE's call to arms: Thursday fleet battles on test server to help combat lag

EVE's call to arms: Thursday fleet battles on test server to help combat lag originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Changes to combat and contracts in EVE confirmed by devs

James Egan — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Economy, Forums, Game mechanics, Crafting, PvP, News items, PvE

New changes to EVE Online seem to be on the way as reported by players on the test server, and confirmed by CCP Games developers on the forums: weapon grouping and contract refinements, in addition to the previously-reported certificates.

Having several high slots of weapon turrets and needing to change ammo types mid-combat has likely frustrated most EVE players at some point. Now, it seems that it'll be possible to link up weapons systems (turrets and launchers only, at first), simplifying reloads and ammo swaps. EVE dev CCP Ytterbium says, "This feature allows players to group weapons together into one slot. From there you can swap all ammo at once without doing the usual ritual of right-click gun 1, load ammo, right-click gun 2, load ammo again etc..." He does caution that the feature is nowhere near ready to go live on Tranquility, and should be considered a work in progress. More information on this feature (which is a welcome change for many EVE players) will be detailed in a future dev blog, he said.

Continue reading Changes to combat and contracts in EVE confirmed by devs

Changes to combat and contracts in EVE confirmed by devs originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 14 Oct 2008 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online implements temporary population control measures

James Egan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Forums, Game mechanics, News items

We mentioned that CCP Games is working on thinning out Local in EVE Online's highsec trade hubs like Jita, but they're also looking into other ways of keeping lag at manageable levels, even if it requires taking temporary (and unpopular) measures. CCP Wrangler announced today that the latest downtime brought with it a new feature to Tranquility: EVE's stargates will check how many players there are in a given solar system and deny access if the system has hit its population limit. The temporary measures are presently being discussed on the EVE Online forums, with a few clarifications and amendments made by the devs.

There is some debate as to whether the pop limit affects Jita alone or if it affects all systems in New Eden, but regardless, the devs have stated multiple times that they're working to resolve the population issue. However, if the system population issue expands to other high traffic solar systems in EVE, this could stand to be a serious problem for the larger 0.0 alliances who rely upon their numbers to hold territory. The latest word from the devs states that only Jita is affected by population limits, and that a node crash is responsible for most of the 'traffic advisory' warnings players are receiving about multiple systems being inaccessible. These are some of the issues that can arise in an unsharded MMO, but hopefully the changes to stargates will remain as CCP states: temporary.

Update: A hotfix deployed during Monday's downtime removed the system cap from all solar systems except Jita, which now has a player capacity of 1024. CCP Explorer stated that the capacity will be raised over time as they make server adjustments. Ultimately they hope to remove the population limit altogether.

EVE Online implements temporary population control measures originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 22 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Elves of WAR: Meet the Archmage, levels 1-5

Dan O'Halloran — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST

Filed under: Betas, Fantasy, Classes, Guides, New titles, Previews, Leveling, Warhammer Online, PvE, Hands-on, Massively Hands-on

Massively's exclusive pre-NDA coverage of the Elves of Warhammer Online continues with this sneak peek at the beginning levels of the High Elf healer class, the Archmage.

The Archmage has an interesting mechanic it shares with the Destruction Goblin Shaman, a ying/yang relationship between his offensive and healing spells. Every time an Archmage casts a healing spell, he gains a point in Force up to 5 points maximum. Every point of Force will reduce the casting time of offensive spells by 20%. That means at maximum Force, your next nuke will be insta-cast. For offensive spells that are already insta-cast, each point of Force will increase that spells potency by 5%. Once an offensive spell is cast, Force resets to zero.

The same holds true in reverse. For every damage spell the Archmage casts, he gains a point of Tranquility, resetting the counter when he finally uses his stored up Tranquility to power a defensive spell. Out of combat, any gained points will quickly fade.

Level one through five spell details after the jump!

Continue reading The Elves of WAR: Meet the Archmage, levels 1-5

The Elves of WAR: Meet the Archmage, levels 1-5 originally appeared on Massively on Fri, 15 Aug 2008 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online API improvements to track the Empyrean Age

Matt Warner — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Server downtime, News items

EVEMon, EVE Fitting Tool, and other essential programs that benefit from the EVE API platform were offline yesterday while EVE Online's Tranquility server transited over to the new Empyrean Age 1.0.1 build. With more pilots than ever participating in Empyrean Age's factional warfare, CCP has also enhanced the EVE API so players have more functionality to help track and report on the state of the war.

The factional warfare data is only calculated on the Tranquility server once a day during downtime, but will cache every hour to make sure that new data is available in the API. Official API documentation isn't included for the new stat-tracking improvements but the regular documentation is online. CCP is also planning long term development and support for the API including a test server with reduced cache times. The EVE Online developers have given players quite the toolbox to work with, and some tools are already benefiting from these changes like EVEAI.Live.

The full list of API improvements and changes are listed after the click through below.

Continue reading EVE Online API improvements to track the Empyrean Age

EVE Online API improvements to track the Empyrean Age originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online blazes into The Empyrean Age

James Egan — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:45:00 EST

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

Massively has been beating the war drums as EVE Online enters a new era in PvP: The Empyrean Age expansion. This time of factional warfare will sweep players of all four races in New Eden into a whirl of conflict never seen before in the game. PvP will no longer be limited to low sec ganks, 0.0 alliance warfare, or Empire war decs. For the first time, it will be integrated with the storyline on a massive scale. And all the while, embedded reporters loyal to their respective factions will be conveying news and swaying the masses of New Eden to their cause. With all of this build-up to the expansion's release, there's a great deal of information to absorb. So we've written about what exactly The Empyrean Age is, and what it is not. Our columnists at Massively have written on the background of the conflict between EVE's races, and torn through some of the complexities of EVE's factional warfare for you as well.

Although factional warfare has been tested extensively, these radical changes to the universe of EVE Online require a hefty amount of downtime to deploy. But after the full day's downtime, the shardless galaxy of New Eden will be set ablaze at 02:00 GMT on June 11. While you're rocking back and forth in your chair waiting for the server reboot, check out Massively's ramped up coverage of the sci-fi MMO and get yourself into the mood for tearing into the hulls of your rival faction. We suspect that a number of EVE vets are going through booster-level withdrawal symptoms today; so for the truly hardcore, CCP posted the full patch notes in all its 18-page glory on their provisional 'downtime site'. And of course, there's always time to watch Clear Skies a few more times while you wait for New Eden to ignite once again.

Gallery: The Empyrean Age of EVE Online

EVE Online blazes into The Empyrean Age originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 10 Jun 2008 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EVE Online: play test factional warfare, June 4-6

James Egan — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Events, in-game, Expansions, Game mechanics, News items

CCP Games announced a new series of factional warfare playtests for EVE Online's imminent Empyrean Age expansion, and are seeking help from all available pilots in New Eden. EVE dev CCP Tanis stated that the first release candidate for the Empyrean Age is being put on the Singularity test server, and that CCP is now focusing its attention on the gameplay mechanics of the long-anticipated factional warfare system.

The playtest will focus on the offense and defense of capture points and the conquering of solar systems. Players will be divided into either Caldari or Gallente factions; each faction will have an offensive and defensive team. The ultimate goal is to capture as many systems as possible while preventing the opposing faction from gaining any territorial control. CCP developers and ISD will be on hand to answer questions and guide players.

When: June 4 to 6 (Wed., Thurs., Fri.) from 11:00 to 14:00 EVE time (GMT).
Where: Singularity test server
Why: "We really cannot stress how important your feedback is to us."
Another Why: Each day the players on the winning side will be given a stock of officer modules !! ... *dramatic pause*... on the test server only. (Sorry.) Also the player who submits the best bug report will be given maxed out skills on the test server.
How: Join the in-game channel "Faction Testing" for instructions.

CCP Tanis also reminds players that the latest Singularity test server patch is required to participate in the playtest. The patch should ONLY be applied to a second copy of the EVE client, and NOT the main client used for everyday play on the Tranquility server. That is, unless you'd prefer to call the test server "home" from now on. Further details can be found in the official announcement; EVE Online account login is required to access this information.

EVE Online: play test factional warfare, June 4-6 originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Trinity 1.01 live on EVE server

Mike Schramm — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:25:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Patches, News items, PvE

Trinity 1.01 is now out on Tranquility. Patch notes are right here, or also after the break, if you happen to be at work.

Highlights include Mac and Linux stability (and EVE Voice now working under Mac), lots of fixes to drones (shields will no longer regen instantly when recalled to the drone bay, and the tutorial was fixed), and a special note, way down at the bottom: "No Windows files were harmed during the creation or deployment of this patch." Ha-- let's hope so. I'm jumping in right now to get some mining done (let's see how that Astrogeology V that I just finished helps out-- if you see anything cool changed in the game, note it in the comments below.

Update: Well that's a bummer-- looks like they also fixed the mining sound issue. Too bad-- I really liked a) not having that grinding noise going all the time, and b) getting a little alert when my lasers had pulled in ore.

Continue reading Trinity 1.01 live on EVE server

Trinity 1.01 live on EVE server originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 18 Dec 2007 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tranquility is flipping out

Mike Schramm — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:43:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Launches, Server downtime, Mac, Linux

It must be all those new crazy Mac and Linux people-- the EVE Online server, Tranquility, is going mad this afternoon. EVEMon is telling me it's up, it's down, and then it's back up again. Probably doesn't hurt that this is primetime in Europe right now, and of course the new Revelations 2.3 patch dropped today.

But if you were planning on doing some mining or ratting anytime this afternoon, better make other plans. Tranquility is taking a beating right now, and it probably won't be super stable again until the Europeans head to bed. If it's like this today, we can't help but cringe at what might happen next month.

Tranquility is flipping out originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 06 Nov 2007 14:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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