CCP Zulu published a dev blog on Sunday, June 26 which talked about an upcoming summit with the CSM and CCP to “discuss the events of the past week, to help us define and address the real underlying concerns, and to assist us in defining and iterating on our virtual goods strategy.“ During the last two days the CSM have discussed these issues with CCP Zulu (Senior Producer for EVE Online), CCP Soundwave (Lead Game Designer, Flying in Space) and CCP Flying Scotsman (Lead Game Designer, Incarna). CCP and the CSM have produced statements below which reflect the main talking points of the summit along with a video featuring CCP Zulu and The Mittani, the current Chairman of the CSM.

The CSM departed Iceland today and many of them will be in transit for quite a few hours. We are confident that they will want to answer your questions and reply to your comments but this may not happen until they are back at home.

Statement on behalf of CCP from Arnar Hrafn Gylfason, Senior Producer for EVE Online

Following the series of events surrounding the launch of Incarna, CCP invited the Council of Stellar Management (CSM) to an extraordinary meeting in Reykjavik to discuss and address a variety of topics ranging from ship spinning to performance to virtual goods strategies. The discussions were very productive and both parties came to an understanding and agreement on key topics. That meeting has now ended and a firm resolution reached by both parties.

CCP acknowledges that the reaction following the leaked internal communication could have been handled better. Good communication and trust between CCP and the EVE community has always been a fundamental priority for CCP and will continue to be so.

It is CCP‘s plan that the Noble Exchange (NeX store) will be used for the sale of vanity items only. There are no plans, and have been no plans, as per previous communication and CSM meetings, to introduce the sale of game breaking items or enhancements in the NeX store.

The investment of money in EVE should not give you an unfair advantage over the investment of time. The CSM, under NDA, has been presented with CCP‘s plans for continued evolution of the business model and agrees that nothing they saw breaks this principle. CCP has committed to sharing their plans with the CSM on this front on an ongoing basis.

CCP acknowledges that communication surrounding the launch of the virtual goods store should have been better. To address that, we will write up dev blogs that explain the pricing strategy of the NeX store and the price tiering system. We will also communicate that we intend to put the focus on further fleshing out the lower price range and give visual examples of upcoming items.

The CSM raised concerns with performance running multiple clients after the Incarna launch where the minimum hardware spec will only support one client logged in when in a station environment. CCP will work on creating a minimum hardware spec that supports multiple clients, but wants it to be clear that the current minimum specification aims at single client with low settings.

The CSM helped CCP understand the emotional connection players had with „ship spinning”. They vehemently demanded the return of the feature, which  CCP committed to introduce in some form at a future date. Until that functionality is added back in, the option to load station environments will remain in the Settings menu.

We are very happy with the results of the meetings and appreciate the commitment to EVE the CSM members have shown by attending the meeting on short notice.

Arnar Hrafn Gylfason
Senior Producer of EVE Online

Statement on behalf of the Council of Stellar Management from The Mittani, Chairman of CSM 6

The CSM came to Reykjavik for this extraordinary summit to address the cloud of suspicion and fear which has descended upon CCP and the EVE community in the aftermath of the Incarna expansion and the various internal leaks.

The issues we have addressed and discussed with CCP are:

Captain’s Quarters: We discussed the hardware and lighting issues within the CQ and we were satisfied that they were being addressed. We were pleased when Torfi announced that the current “Disabled Incarna Door” will be replaced with an environment that will provide similar functionality and performance to the pre-Incarna Hangar, and this environment will be available until Incarna performance is similar to pre-Incarna performance. While the final details and timelines have not been worked out, ships will once again spin all over New Eden.

Noble Exchange Rollout Debacle: We were shocked and appalled to discover how badly the planning and implementation of the Noble Exchange was executed. Despite the fact that they did not have enough assets of the right types to do a proper rollout, they launched anyway. The CSM believes that if CCP had properly communicated the details of their vanity goods pricing strategy and had sufficient low-tier items available at launch, the controversy would have been greatly reduced. CCP will issue a dev blog in the near future explaining their vanity goods strategy and how it will be implemented in the Noble Exchange.

Game-affecting Virtual Goods: We are convinced that CCP has no plans to introduce any game-affecting virtual goods, only pure vanity items such as clothing and ship skins. We have been repeatedly assured that there are no plans for ‘gold ammo’, ships which have different statistics from existing common hulls, or any other feared ‘game destroying’ virtual goods or services. We have expressed our deep concern about potential grey areas that the introduction of virtual goods permits, and CCP has made a commitment to discuss any proposals that might fall into these grey areas in detail with CSM at the earliest possible stage.

The Fearless “Greed is Good?” Leak: We accept CCP’s position that Fearless is a deliberately controversial internal publication and does not represent the policy of CCP Management or of CCP Zulu, the Senior Producer of EVE Online, nor the direction of game design.

The Leaked Hilmar Global Email: We were appalled by the leaked Hilmar email and the atrocious and out-of-touch messaging it contained. We sympathize and agree with those players offended and disgusted by it.

Arnar (CCP Zulu)’s Angry Friday Blog: We were disappointed by the tone taken in Arnar’s Blog, but we understand that he was in a state of extreme agitation and reacting to the leaks coming from within his company, which he saw as a breach of trust. While we may disagree with some of his decisions, we are united in our support of Arnar as the Senior Producer, and were pleased with his followup Apology Blog. We hope that his statement today will begin to restore your trust in his leadership and vision.

We believe that the situation that has unfolded in the past week has been a perfect storm of CCP communication failures, poor planning and sheer bad luck.  Most of these issues, when dealt with in isolation, were reasonably simple to discuss and resolve, but combined they transformed a series of errors into the most significant crisis the EVE community has yet experienced.

We hope that this meeting will be the first step in the restoration of trust between CCP and the EVE community, and we will keep the community informed as to CCP’s efforts in delivering on the commitments they have made to us and to you.

German and Russian translations of the statements by CCP and the CSM are available by clicikng on the flags below.

Aldrat, Metropolis – Seamus Donohue, professor at EVE University, has produced a 46-part video guide to a pod pilot’s life in New Eden.

Eve University has long-held a reputation for providing capsuleers with an excellent post-licencing education. The instition hosts lectures by both staff and guests alongside practical classes; while they have produced texts and video lessons in the past, this is the most extensive series of holos so far.

Professor Donohue said “The first round of filming was only a few prototype episodes, [filmed on] April 1st and 2nd.” In each episode, the Professor undertakes a typical capsuleer task; the film shows his every interaction with the NeoCom, accompanied by an audio track in which Seamus explains what he is doing and why, and shares his thoughts on the activity.

Professor Donohue said “The learning curve for New Eden is infamously steep. Almost outright vertical, one might say. The universe is complicated, so it’s easy for a new citizen to become confused.”

Zeroniss, the Media Manager for EVE University, felt that the series’ publication would benefit both the University and pilots throughout New Eden. “It cements our reputation for excellence in education further and it will inevitably lead to increased recruitment in the long run. I feel that one of the first assumptions made about EVE University is that it is a training institution. Video tutorials is a rarely explored medium of tuition and it is both refreshing and welcoming to see this medium being explored in a fashion that is beneficial not only to EVE University students, but particularly newer citizens [of New Eden].”

The completion and publication of Professor Seamus Donohue’s 46-part series teaching the basics of a pilot’s life in New Eden means the Professor is now free for other tasks. “I will probably produce one-shot videos on specific subjects, like how to use vessel directional scanners, or how to run a simple manufacturing job at New Eden industrial facilities.”

GalNet References

Professor Seamus Donohue’s Guide to Life in New Eden

Jita, The Forge – One of the oldest surviving publically-owned enterprizes in New Eden, BIG Merchant Bank [BMBE] recently celebrated its fifth birthday.

The BIG Merchant Bank is part of the BIG family of services run by Tornsoul. BIG is perhaps most famous for the BIG Lottery, but over the years a number of services have arisen based on BIG’s reputation for honesty and reliability.

Despite occasional setbacks and an attempt at an outright takeover by Eefrit from EVE Financial Services four years ago, Tornsoul has managed to keep control of one of the largest companies in New Eden, and even show a profit.

According to CEO Tornsoul, there was some doubt when she first came up with the idea, but it soon caught on and there are now a number of competitors, though many others have closed up shop following internal thefts and embezzlement.

After five successful years of operation, BIG Merchant Bank of EVE remains in business, offering large-scale ISK loans with interest rates of 1 – 2% a week on secured collateral.

GalNet Resources

BIG Corporation Evelopedia Entry
BMBE GalNet Portal

6OYQ-Z, Tenal – The Northern Coalition [NC] is currently being pressed hard by fleets from the Drone Region Federation, Pandemic Legion and the Northern Coalition. alliance.

Today, a fleet from the Northern Coalition. alliance, along with allies Ev0ke, Ewoks, Not Found., Polaris Syndicate, Cartel. and Merciless. reinforced five out of eleven Capital Ship Assembly Array towers in the 6OYQ-Z system in Tenal during a three-hour joint operation. They have also been attacking in Pure Blind and Fade regions.

Simultaneously, Raiden. and the Drone Region Federation have been attacking towers in Vale of the Silent, Venal and Geminate.

The plan seems to be to collectively deprive the NC of a part of their capital ship production facilities as well as the extremely valuable Technitium deposits in the Venal region.

A spokesman for the Drone Region Federation had the following to say about the attack on their enemies: “Everything they do is to split NC forces, just like in any war, you need someone making the front line as big as you can. This tactic has always worked against those who can only fight when they outnumber, but if they have split interests and split areas, they will either have to choose or break down.”

As things begin to unravel, the Interstellar Correspondents will look to bring more news as it happens.

Z-UZZN, Querious – On 15.3.11, Pandemic Legion [-100] invaded Z-UZZN, resulting in the Atlas. alliance [ATLAS] owned station, ‘Z-U ATLAS LAZY HOUSE’ being placed into reinforced mode.

Public relations Officer for Against All Authorities [.-A-.], bl4xy, explained that they were aware that -100 were forming a fleet but also believed that the station would be saved. He said: ‘We have eyes in their staging system 24/7 so we know when they are forming up. Knowing PL they’ll always come for a fight, win-win for everyone. We were expecting to save the station, or at least have a good fight in the process.’

When asked about .-A-. and allied forces relationship with -100, bl4xy said, ‘we know PL isn’t in this to control space and I doubt they want Querious. Everyone’s in this for fights – tensions aren’t any higher than between any other two enemies.’

In closing, bl4xy stated: ‘As always, great fun having a fleet fight, especially against decent opponents who can hold their own for a change.’

Elise Randolph, member of -100, explained the reasons for invading Z-UZZN: ‘We reinforced the Z-UZZN system because it was close to them and close to us – a nice venue for both parties to have good fights.”

There was a suspected combined loss of more than 400 ships in the fight which saw the station go into reinforced mode and with both sides apparently eager for fights, further confrontations seem likely sooner than later.

GalNet References

Battle report