Posted - 2011.07.06 10:55:00 - [61]

 

UGWidowmaker

Will we ever see supercapitals wich can dock somehow or anchor itself with a password inside a pos.. ANYWAY to get the hell out of a supercap without the need of having supercap holding alt ?

>> That’s definitely possible. I think having them not be able to dock was a cool feature for a “unique” ship. Of course, the reality is that supercaps today aren’t unique anymore, so we could end up reviewing that in the future. Not Titans probably, but having Supercarriers dock is definitely something we think about.

Posted - 2011.07.06 11:05:00 - [62]

 

Edited by: CCP Soundwave on 06/07/2011 11:06:15

Vierego

Minor inconveniences?

>> Yes! We’re definitely keeping an eye on this. Team BFF just spent an entire release doing only smaller issues like the ones you mentioned. They have a lot of value, and having a shared resource like this thousand papercuts thread is super valuable to us.

Hopefully we can take the momentum we’ve had this last release and do more features this way. We’re looking at 0.0 this winter and I’d like to take a similar approach, where we deliver a lot of value to a lot of people through smaller changes.

Posted - 2011.07.06 11:37:00 - [63]

 

NoShootTheOtherOne

Why can't I ram people & do damage, not just bump them? ?

>> I’ll be completely honest, I love the idea of ramming people. Screw lasers, I’d put a massive spike on the front of my ship and full throttle into people any day. Actually, how about this; You fill your ship with marines, ram into the side of a ship and deploy your marines through the beach. This is secretly my dream.

I’m not entirely we can do it just now though. Navigation might still be too bulky for it to be really fun, and empire would be a mess. It would be another one of those “you can do this here, but not there” things, which I fundamentally hate. Some day though. Some day.

Posted - 2011.07.06 13:07:00 - [64]

 

Kern Hotha

Does CCP still think that new shiny stuff is more important than refining core gameplay? ?

>> No, I think we changed that priority a while back. Now obviously the Incarna teams are an exception, but the flying in space teams have been iterating on the game. Gridlock has been working on lag reduction for a long time, BFF on the little things and PI are as always chugging away on, well, PI.

A lot of the shiny stuff is likely to come out on the Incarna side, while you’ll probably see us continue to refine the flying in space gameplay.

Posted - 2011.07.06 13:15:00 - [65]

 

Nipplator
Also when will the PVP players get something out of a patch again other than one of our ships being made useless, and care-bears being made safer? ?
>> Hopefully this winter. CCP Tallest has been talking a bit of ship balancing in the features and ideas forum. We’ve looked at the Dramiel and Logistics, next up is supercaps which should impact the PVP landscape quite a lot. Overall though, balancing and ship/module changes are back on the map, so stay tuned for more !

Posted - 2011.07.06 13:21:00 - [66]

 

Depran Depran

AFK Cloakers i 0,0: No change needed. It is a Black Ops strategy and active Intelligenge gathering about the system and its player compositon, needed for later attack strategies. Should we likewise suggest to abollish gatecamps in 0,0 space, just because it seriously harms my welth? ?

>> I think gatecamps are fine. It’s one of the more tangible ways for alliances and corps to protect their areas geographically and while a lot of people don’t see it as the most exciting form of PVP, it’s as legitimate as any other.
Making money wasn’t meant to be done in complete safety. If anything, I’m a little afraid that EVE has gotten soft; We’re too used to playing in safety, and I’d be more likely to cut some wires in that safety net than add more.

Posted - 2011.07.06 13:23:00 - [67]

 

chaosyourgod

can i haz your stuff ?

>> No.

Posted - 2011.07.06 13:41:00 - [68]

 

Aynen

When looking to hire new game designers, what skillset are you looking for that is especially needed at CCP versus other companies? How does CCP's design philosophy and work structure differ from that of other game developers? Is it generally easy to find designers that have the right mindset and skills to fit in at CCP?

>> The ability to sort good ideas from bad ideas is crucial and it’s usually where most people are weak. Thinking up features can be done by almost anyone, but thinking up good features/cutting 100 ideas down to 5-10 takes skills. Apart from that, FiS game design is almost impossible to do if you haven’t played a good amount of EVE, which is just a sideproduct of the complexity of the game. Having a related specialty, such as UI design, math, psychology etc is also pretty awesome.

I can’t really talk much about how we compare to other game developers, but we favor things like human interaction, verisimilitude and freedom of choice over a lot of other design principles. I don’t know many companies that focus on those things.

And yeah, it’s pretty difficult finding good game designers.

Posted - 2011.07.06 13:59:00 - [69]

 

Serpents Smile

Is the constant and rather rapid grow of player build outposts conform CCP's visions? If not, to counter that, some players have suggested to turn these conquerable stations in destructible stations. Would that be an option CCP would consider?

>> I think having a dynamic playerbase makes it almost impossible to have a single vision that will last forever. A lot of the older content like titans, outposts and so on was built for a game that looked dramatically different than today. I think we’ve accepted that we have to keep a constant, fluid vision for what we want with the game.

Right now, we’re in a situation where there is a significant amount of stations in 0.0, and for the past six months or so, destructible stations has been climbing its way up the list of necessary changes. Do we know how exactly this will play out? No. Can I put a date on it? No. What I can do is tell you that we feel it’s an increasing problem that we’re trying to find a solution to.

Posted - 2011.07.06 14:21:00 - [70]

 

Macmuelli

Or is there a chance to expand the Empire via factional warfare and building/connecting stargates to new systems?

>> I’m not a big fan of putting more systems into EVE. I think EVE is a deeply social game, and diluting system population won’t benefit the game really. If anything, I’d like every system have be inhabited by a few people, especially in known space. Exploration content like Wormholes on the other hand, that rely on venturing into the unknown could potentially be expanded.


Sweet Clyde

Will there be more specialized ship classes in the near future, for example T2 versions of tier 2 BC and tier 3 BS, maybe T3 frigs?

>> I think EVE is ready for another ship expansion. I can’t tell you exactly when that will be, but we are definitely in a place where it’s a relevant suggestion. I think the key for this is doing something entirely new. They have to have some functionality/gameplay apart from scaling tank/damage. Adding a whole new dimension to PVP would be awesome, so they provide a different experience than we’ve seen before.


Hemmo Paskiainen

What are the toughs about probes that can only detect wormhole signatures and not radar/mag/plex ect?

>> That’s unlikely at this point, but we’re working on a solution where it becomes more apparent what type of signature you’re scanning. So you’ll be able to see the type at a much earlier stage, so you can pick and choose in a more efficient manner.

Posted - 2011.07.06 14:33:00 - [71]

 

0oO0oOoOo0o

At Fanfest you promised to do something for the vets (as responce to a question at the dev pannel), give them more long-term goals, more meaningful things to spend SP for or some such things. What are your plans or intentions in that area ?

>> This is a very good question. I think with the lack of new skills, ships etc we’ve partially neglected the veterans. There are probably a lot of players out there who haven’t had a meaningful training goal for a very long time. I’d like to put some more skills into the game, and possibly even cap ships. Wouldn’t necessarily have to be better caps as such, just more variety to give people some goals to work towards.

Al Forment

Are there plans to do anything for industrialists - like making a pos more usable and useful?

>> Yeah, you’re likely to see some industry changes this winter, and some re-distribution of resources. In terms of POSs, Greyscale has a pretty awesome idea of making them modular. So you’ll basically have POS you can “fit” with different stuff. Hopefully, making them cheaper to run (fuel bill based on attached mods?) and easier to deal with will make them more popular with the average player.

Templar86

Will we ever see a 2nd type of dreadnought ? like we do with carriers?

>> Possibly. It’s certainly something we could look into if we add more roles to capships.

Posted - 2011.07.21 11:57:00 - [72]

 

Nomad Quento

I am an EVE API developer (market orders) and it would be really benefitial if we could see the EVE backend database ID for the current item. For example if I buy a frigate, it has an unique ID throughout the whole game (from it is born until it is killed/scrapped). If I then sell this exact frigate I can track the profit on that exact frigate instead of as we need to do now - first in, first out. Tracking stuff would be cool in the API - for example for history on stuff (who has owned my ship before I bought it?).

>> The problem with that is that you ship won't always have the same ID. It is correct that as long as your ship is assembled, it will have a unique ID. But as soon as you repackage it, stack it, move it between stacks, sell it on the market, then the ID will change. I'd really suggest you stick to FIFO for accounting. I'm pretty sure it would be the only way to stay sane when it comes to accounting for items based on their ID

stoicfaux

Can we get a means to hook into the logserver.exe and parse the information in real time?

>> Nope. I'm afraid that's something we don't allow.

Andrea Griffin

Are you people still harassing Tuxford about the Tranquility incident? Shame on you, give Tuxford a break already! Everyone goofs up once in a while.

>> Since I sit in very near proximity to Tuxford, it does happen rather often, in a friendly way that we refer to the incident in question. But Tuxford is a good guy, and he can take it

Andrea Griffin

Do employees of CCP frequent the FHC forums?

>> You'd be surprised how much we lurk around. I personally read FHC, if nothing else then just for the ponies.

Andrea Griffin

What is the best locally brewed beer in Iceland?

>> A lot of beer is actually brewed in Iceland, because it's so expensive to import it. Personally, I'm a fan of the stout they serve at the Icelandic Bar down at the square by the parliament. It's very nice!

Posted - 2011.07.21 11:58:00 - [73]

 

Veritas Vates

Can we have a single character API key, to give someone limited access to just one of the three possible characters on an account?

>> Absolutely, on August 30th.

Slozhenitsyn

Are you testing your releases under wine? atm everything runs so good that some of us are afraid that new neat features will break things up.

>> Not that I'm aware, as we don't support linux. But the way we support Mac, is through a proprietary fork of Wine which is made by Transgaming. So when we fix things on Mac, there's a chance that it improves the quality on Wine too.

Johnathan Roark

Any plans to keep the 3rd party app devs more informed or get them more involved with changes in the api?

>> We try our best, I swear. Expect some news on, for instance, the Customizable API key system soon, and maybe a new neat feature on top of that!

Ix Forres

What is CCP doing, if anything, to stem the tide of third party developers who in the past year have stopped developing new applications for EVE Online or stopped maintaining older ones? Does CCP care, and do you think that such a trend is reversible given that most of the heavyweight 3rd party devs have already left or stopped playing EVE a long time ago due to chronic bittervet syndrome through CCP's action (or inaction) towards them as a community?

>> I personally think that as compared to a year ago, we've done a lot to try and improve that relationship. We've been developing more features in that time, we're working on some new major ones, and we hosted a whole developer track at fanfest. If you have any suggestions for what we need to improve, however, that would be greatly appreciated.

Posted - 2011.07.22 12:14:00 - [74]

 

Mara Kashuken and Valhasi Ju'ma'ha

How serious are you about working with the CSM?

How have you modified your development methods to suit their input and what influence have the last CSM had?

>> Dead serious. We made the CSM stakeholders in the development process for EVE so they have a real voice within the company. We go to them for advice and we go to them for early feedback on our ideas and their feedback has often proved invaluable. The CSM has been growing steadily in since it's founding, both in the eyes of the community and the outside world, as well as within the company. Key staff members have been learning the benefits of working closely with the CSM on important matters. Do we always implement their suggestions? No, not always, but we always listen and if we can't do something they want us to do, it's our job to explain the reasons why so they can report back to you. Some of our early ideas never see the light of day after being shown to the CSM and many issues they have brought up have been resolved.

Soden Rah

More responses and attention to feedback threads?

>> That's a good pointer and I agree that we could often do better in tending to designated feedback threads. Consider it noted.

Immabe Aholder

Why do Russians control CCP?

>> I think you might be confusing us with CCCP?

Kogh Ayon

Player participation in translating EVE?

>> I don't think we'll ever have volunteers officially translate the actual content of the client. EVE has only officially been translated into Russian, Chinese (for Serenity, the Chinese server) and German. A Japanese translation is next and we will probably add more languages as time goes by.

Amitious Turkey

Who has the biggest nerfbat??


>> TomB will always have the biggest nerfbat. He´d nerf me if I said anything else.

Hired Goon

Did you like Star Trek V?

>> Personal confession time. I never really got into Star Trek that much. I was more of a a Star Wars kid (not the one and only). Star Trek had laser pistols that looked like remote controls, Star Wars had swords made out of friggin´ lasers. There's no comparison.

Hakaru Ishiwara

By what guidelines do CCP personnel operate when it comes to contributing meaningful content to threads that they either spawn or that address their area of expertise?

>> Posting in general is encouraged. The Community Team helps developers spot threads of interest to their area of expertise, but many of them also browse the forums quite a lot on their own. Devs are encouraged to tread lightly when posting about stuff that's outside their area of expertise, but apart from that people are encouraged to discuss ideas and upcoming features with players. We actually want to do a whole lot more of that but it's always a battle against all the other things we need to get done. But there has been an initiative to encourage more posting so hopefully you'll see more blue bars in the future.

Posted - 2011.07.29 16:18:00 - [75]

 

Edited by: CCP Greyscale on 29/07/2011 16:21:04
Emma Royd
Various industrial-type questions?
>> Nameable starbase structures: pretty sure this is on the CSM's list of "starbase stuff that needs fixing" that we're intending to look at at some point
Ice compression: I'll try and remember this if we do another look at the Rorq at some point
Rorqual fuel: we don't have the tools to do multiple fuel types right now, and that's not likely to change in the nearish future I suspect
Industry plans: I'm actually looking at nullsec industry right now (well, I'm typing right now, I was looking at industry a couple of hours ago)
DUST release date: this thread isn't a place where we're going to announce anything more than we've already said, sorry.

WEEZZIE
Multiple alts on same account?
>> We've discussed letting people pay a little extra to have multiple alts train on one account, but I don't think that's got out of the discussion phase yet.

badasskitty
New map?
>> Redoing the map is something we'd very much like to do, but it's not scheduled right now

Templar86
System security change?
>> We don't have any immediate plans to mess with system security that I'm aware of right now.

Liang Nuren
Ship tier system?
>> The tier system is something that we may revisit in future, as it's probably less relevant to today's EVE than it was in the past.

NoShootTheOtherOne
Why do we warp through planets?
>> Probably because it was much easier than actually solving that problem back when EVE was originally developed, and we've never got round to revisiting it. I'd recommend playing I-War 2 for an example of how long it can take to warp around things, though.

WEEZZIE
Overview revamp?
>> We were just discussing this, actually, although mainly as an intellectual exercise. It's likely that any significant revisit of the overview would be oriented towards moving more information off a flat list and into space, but only if we can find a good way of doing that. It's not on the schedule in the immediate future.

Sweet Clyde
Item sorting?
>> The type hierarchy and the market hierarchy serve different masters and it's not easy to reconcile the two. I'm sure we'll get to this eventually, but not in the immediate future.

Salpun
Various questions?
>> Dev blogs: I have two lined up for the next week or two, I know that much
Blueprint colors: yes, as you've found out by now
"Long pole items": I have no idea what this even means, sorry


Stefan Knecht
New S&I in the NEAR future?
>> No.

BetsyAnn Tractorfarmer
Various questions?
>> Marauder buff: not high up on our list of things to look at. One ship doing the job of two other ships doesn't seem hugely imbalanced though.
Invention balance: I don't know, I've not looked at that stuff recently.
Anom nerf: if R&S have seen an actual correlation there (picked out from all the usual stuff like seasonal shifts in numbers and so on), they've not told me about it.
Listening: we do listen, just sometimes we disagree.