The patch has been deployed and like all expansions released for an MMO, there are issues that you encounter in production that your testing simply will always miss.

MMORPG’s are a very complex animal and if someone things that software development is as simple as baking cookies, well, try baking cookies in 250,000 ovens at the same time and you only have 1 mixing spoon.  You can get it done, but it’s going to take a lot of stirring.

EVE Online is no different.  Apocrypha has a lot of changes to the game that will affect how things will operate.   Wormholes, removal of the classic client, probing changes, etc…

All these things are a lot to manage and people will just have to be patient.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I am having my ‘emo moments’ concerning this patch and how the game is not currently playable, my corpies can testify to my comments on Ventrilo.

So, let’s all just wait a few days for things to smooth out.  Set that long skill, head down to the pub and have a pint.  Let things chill for a while and then come play.

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We have come to it finally, the latest expansion for EVE Online, the Apocrypha expansion.  As always, there are patch notes that you can read (http://www.eveonline.com/updates/patchnotes.asp?patchlogID=183) and I do recommend that you read them as there is a lot to read.

I would also suggest that you go back and read all the wonderful reviews by the many EVE Bloggers out there as they have spent a great deal of time on the test server, playing with all the new features of this expansion.

While you are stuck without EVE on patch day, I would suggest that you use this time for other activities, such as:

• Clean up your corporate forums.
• Clean up the area around your computer.
• Do some general house cleaning around your home.
• Perhaps take a shower if you are one of those ‘dedicated’ gamers out there.
• Find other things to do while you wait for the patch to install and the new client be ready for download.
• As always, expect the downtime to last longer than planned and set a VERY long skill to train.

In case you need a good laugh, here is a Star Wars related video I came across this past weekend that it just too funny to not watch.

Building the LEGO Millennium Falcon from Gizmodo on Vimeo.

Some other things you could do, you could visit the plethora of EVE related blogs.  Below, we have some new additions to the OPML download.  Many thanx to Cyber over at New Eden Diaries (http://newedendiaries.com)f or these submissions!!

• Blacklight (http://blacklightsredshirt.blogspot.com)
• Blinky Blinky (http://sercedos.blogspot.com)
• Fly Reckless (http://www.flyreckless.com/blog) I don’t know how I missed this one!!
• Posting from the Edge (http://zapatero.wordpress.com)  I am such a tard, I missed this one too!!
• Addicted to EvE (http://addictedtoeve.blogspot.com)
• Personal Files, Ciarente Roth (http://ciarentediary.blogspot.com)

You can get all these and more in an easy to use OPML file to import into your favorite RSS reader on the OPML Download Page.

You could also read this great fiction that is accompanying the new expansion.  It’s been setup as a series of breaking news stories, located at the CCP Roleplayed RSS feed (http://www.eveonline.com/feed/rdfnews.asp?tid=4) or on the seperate web address CCP has setup for the expansion roleplaying news at http://www.eveonline.com/apocryphabreakingnews.  It’s definitely worth reading!!!

I would also watch the the new  trailer for the Apocrypha expansion as some of the stories do tie in with what you are reading

So, what things do you do to pass the time on Patch Day?

Tags: Apocrypha, CCP, Dev Blog, Downtime, Expansions, OPML Update, Patch Notes, Player Blogs

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I’m not going into any details on the upcoming Apocrypha expansion as of yet, mainly because I’ve not really had time to look at things.  Many of my fellow bloggers are doing a wonderful job of going over details on Tech 3 and such awesome features as the new ship fitting UI.

What I am going to talk about is this lovely eye candy:

Yup, this is a working cut of the new into video for EVE Online.  It’s rather nice, I do recommend watching it.  All new graphics, awesome soundtrack and cuts from many of the EVE Online trailers slipped in.  For a working into, it’s pretty damn good.

Laters!!!!

Tags: Apocrypha, Expansions

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In case you missed it, that past weekend was the finals for the EVE Online Alliance Tournament VI.  Congratulations to Pandemic Legion, you fought an awesome fight in the final, well worth watching.  You can check out all the matches at the CCPGames channel on YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/CCPGames).  I do recommend watching the matches as there were quite a few epic moments, including the “Hero Tanking Tempest” and the ultimate “bait Curse” in the semi-finals.  (Please do note that the semi-finals and finals are not up on YouTube as of the writing of this post but they will be uploaded as soon as they can finished getting them encoded.)

This year’s Alliance Tournament saw over 12,000 people watching the live broadcast on EVETV (http://www.eveonline.com/evetv) and a new PCU record during the Allance Tournament finals of over 51,000.  This is a huge milestone for CCP.  I personally logged onto EVE on Sunday, which I normally do not do to help the number grow.  I had my trader alt online in Jita and I have to tell you, Stackless I/O and hardware buffing for that node has helped considerable as it was rather responsive with close to 1200 people in system.  If they could only bring resources like that dynamically to fights on the fly, lag would no longer be an issue.  No, I am not going to get onto my “lag soapbox” again, it’s not worth going on and on about a problem that they have not fixed, but I do know they are actively trying to work on the issue.

Expansion Time!!!

It’s that time of year again, the spring expansion is coming.  Apocrypha goes live on March 10th, the retail box goes on sale wordlwide on March 12th.  Today was the first day that the March expansion, Apocrypha, was live on the test server.  There are a number of changes that have been made to the game, such as the addition of wormholes, changes to the scanning game mechanic as well as a few items that I will have to look at as I am intrigued by what they say, such as the 250KM drone control range and the fitting screen UI changes.  You can find all the notes for what is on the test server on the in testing link on the EVE website (http://myeve.eve-online.com/updates/intesting.asp)

Linux users will not be very pleased as CCP is discontinuing support for these operating systems directly from CCP as they will no longer be producing the EVE Online game client for those operating systems, however  CCP states that they will be partnering with Cide and Cedega for those emulators to run EVE Online.  For the whole story, read the dev blog at http://myeve.eve-online.com/devblog.asp?a=blog&bid=625.  I can understand Linux as market share is still very low albeit Linux is a far better and stable operating system than Windows.   Granted, in tough economic times, you focus your business so that it can produce the best results, but supporting multiple operating systems would the the ‘Holy Grail’ for an MMO as it’s a rarely touched market for the hard core gamer.  Emulator options may be feasible, but they are usually problematic for those less technical computer users.

Last but not least…

I want to shamelessly plug a new EVE website out there, The EVE Online Portal (http://www.evebloggers.com).  This site is not meant to replace any of the fine websites out there, it’s simply a ‘newspaper’ like page that puts a large amount of information in a single place.  From here you can see the current blogging stream from the EVE Blog Pack, links to current EVE Blog articles as well as current links to stories about EVE on EVE-Mag, EVE Network News and Massively.  There are also links to CCP’s RSS feeds and all the active EVE Online podcasts.  It’s not an RSS reader in a web page, it’s just a clean, simply laid out website for you to get your daily EVE information fix.  It’s a must have for your bookmarks folder or you start page for your web browser.  Be sure to stop by, you won’t regret it!!

See you out there!!!!!..

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Yup, CCP Zulupark opened an interesting thread on the EVE forums last Friday, where he was willing to answer every question the community wanted to ask him.

So, where are things going?  I won’t steal his thunder here, I will simply tell you that you should read his thread:

http://myeve.eve-online.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=905941

Some items that you way wan to note and look for updates to be released at Fanfest:

• Ambulation updates
• Changes to Local Chat in 0.0 and in general
• Tech 3
• New Ships
• Changes to Sovereignty

I am even more upset that I will not be able to attend Fanfest this year, it sounds like there will be a lot of really interesting stuff.  To those of you who will be going this year, keep me updated!!!

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