A Significant Security Vulnerability Within CCP

Summary: EVE is a great game and CCP is a great company, but they have not addressed the important security issues that would leave them vulnerable to a potential Zombie Incursion.

Link: EVE Forums Link

I’ve been playing EVE for quite some time (despite the age of this character), and I’ve really come to enjoy the awesome universe that CCP has created. The backstory, the ships, the depth of everything and the player alliances are all pretty damn unique in the MMO world, lag or not. As such I would like to see CCP (and my) investment safe and sound, but my confidence in the ability for CCP to do this has been reduced somewhat after reading this article. In short, there is one security consideration that as far as I am aware has never been satisfactorily addressed. The threat of a Zombie Incursion.

Before I go on, I feel that I should discuss the natural and man-made anti-undead measures:

CCP Headquarters – Reykjavik, Iceland
Advantages:

Self-Sufficince – Iceland can produce much of its own energy, reducing the impact of a global societal collapse

Geographical Isolation – The fact that Iceland is a small landmass whose only entrances are by air or sea makes it less likely to be swamped by zombies (assuming the underlying virus does not spread beforehand)

Cold Climate – Zombies are hampered by extreme cold, as they lack the ability to regulate their body temperature. In addition, viral entities are hampered by cold

Low Population – The low population density can prevent zombie concentrations from reaching the critical mass at which the military can no longer contain them

Beer – The popularity of bear means the unpopularity of water, and viral agents cannot easily survive in beer but can easily survive in water

Disadvantages:

The Capital – Capital cities are more vulnerable to zombie infestations, possibly due to concentration of government administration that breeds panic and confusion when locally threatened

Limited Local Food Sources – Iceland must import much of their food from other nations, increasing the likelihood that viral agents or zombies could cross via sea

Limited Military – The Icelandic military hasn’t really won any wars lately, have they?

CCP Server Location – London, England
Advantages

Easy Fortification – Server buildings are geographically simple, making them easy to barricade

Ample Supplies – Supplies of food and ammunition are never far away

Powerful Military – The british military is quite competent, allowing them to deal with a Zombie Infestation well

Disadvantages

Population Center – London is a highly populated and dense city, leading to massive zombie hoards that are difficult to contain and barricade against

Extensive Ventiliation – Servers require lots of cooling, making them vulnerable to airborne viruses and power outages

IT Employees – IT employees are known for being physically weak and relatively timid during the daylight, which can be a problem considering that zombies are most active at night

CCP has serious security issues when it comes to protecting their HQ and Servers against a potential zombie infestation – an issue that is very relevant to me considering the investment I intend to make in this game and this character (well, my main at least). Zombies are a reality even if a remote one, and if they do not take the time to protect themselves than I cannot continue to play, as I cannot be confident that my effort would be lost in a single grisly night of terror. A certain other game has gone out of their way to ensure that their employees and players are well-informed regarding the threat of unlife, and while I know that CCP does not have the budget or developer time that Blizzard does this is an incredibly important issue that needs to be addressed. Thoughts?

Summary: This is what happens when you do drugs. The OP in this whine is convinced that Quafe is involved in warp fields and the Amarr Empire's military success and...well...just read it.

Link: EVE Forums Link


QUAFE. You all think that its just a harmless drink that tastes like sprite or something that you occasionally buy and sell. But have you noticed just how often you can find “Quafe?” Its everywhere, even in Caldari and Amarr space. Doesn’t that seem a little strange considering it’s a Gallente-Manufactured drink? Theres a reason for this and its not a good one.

We all know that the Gallente fit the most WCS of any race due to their prevalence in pvp and their inherently superior sensor strength and range (fascinating coincidence huh). What you don’t know is that there are reasons for this that aren’t immediately apparent but are tied completely to the production, manufacturing, and distribution of Quafe. Ill explain.

Check out the Quafe article here:
http://www.eve-online.com/background/potw/mar01.asp

Check out the articles on Warp Travel here:
http://www.eve-online.com/background/jump/


Quafe is affecting the effectiveness of warp drives

1. According to the science articles, faster than light travel creates an energy depleted vacuum that removes all the particles, allowing the ship to travel without this enerys friction getting in the way. It does this between two polar disks, removing the energy and from it and creating NEGATIVE PRESSURE
2. Quafe is sold in the form of a carbonated beverage. This is both the inverse and converse of some of the warp core functionality, because QUAFE ALSO CREATES NEGATIVE PRESSURE inside its container. It’s the inverse because during the process of carbonation carbon atoms are injected into the solution (to create that fizzy sensation).
3. Warp disruption bubbles operate on similar principles as the carbonation bubbles in said drinks (Ron Paul).

Amarr discovred Jump Drives first, correct? Allowing them to grow their empire and enslave the Minmatar. But for some reason they’re no longer as powerful as they once were – and who is the most powerful? The Gallente…the same ones that manufacture Quafe.

As I’ve said before this isn’t a simple coincidence, and I would be willing to bet ten million isk that if Quafe wasn’t in the game the Amarr would be more competitive and in a much better position to pvp then they currently are. Strange then that the Amarr asked Quafe to negotiate the treaty over the Girani-Fa system, isn’t it? Perhaps the amarr were appeasing the Quafe company in order to mediate its effects (strange timing with the new amarr boost, is it not?

In addition! If you’ll check your reginal markets you’ll notice that the sales of quafe have had a consistent downward trend for the past three months – does this incident lead to more stress between the empires? The Amarr seek to reclaim some of their old glory by removing Quafe from their territories, and since its such a huge company when Quafe suffers the Gallente suffer (notice this timing with all the Gallente Nerfs. Boost Amarr, Nerf Gallente, Quafe sales down?). Perhaps this is a prelude to a new Khanid emporer (thi makes sense as Khanid ships are becoming more influencial in the Amarr)?

In conclusion, Quafe has a much more serious impact on our gameplay and race balance than previously thought. KEEP THIS IN MIND with further game changes and more boosts to Amarr and in relation to ingame news and RP developments. And don’t buy it, keep the Market going downwards and maybe the devs might not see the need to nerf the Gallente even more, though using more WCS might serve to counteract this effect.

Cooling off Space and a Real Boost for The Amarr

Summary: The Amarr should use lasers to heat up cold space, which would otherwise damage anyone travelling through it. Also LAZER BOMBS!
Link: EVE Forum Link

Hi Guys! One of the things I like about EVE (just started) are its huge environments, I mean one solar system can be a hundred or more AU wide, which is a lot of ground for people to try and cover when fighting/mining/doing missions/exploring in general. Right now I’ve been trying mining (I choose the mining career so I’m not good at fighting) but I’ve been on the forums some and have an idea for you guys.

Space is really big and cool, especially the massive nebulas in the background, but it still seems a bit too empty and cold…really cold in fact (from the fan fiction and chronicles)! I’ve heard people talk about “tactical environments” before and I have a suggestion that has to do with them.

TACTICAL ENVIRONMENTS – COLD SPACE
Well we all hear about space being cold and stuff, but none of this ever actually effects us unless we get thrown out of an airlock, right? I think that this should change...specifically, that the areas of space near stars should be warmer than the areas of space far awat from stars. Why do you ask?
Well, cold water negatively affected the Titanic by making its steel armor less effective – why shuldn’t we do the same thing for EVE? This outer space that’s far away from the stars should be so cold that it actually damages ships armor and hull (sorry Caldari, but there are way too many of you anyway). That way it gives people something to think about when you’re just warping around and going from place to place. But obviously there should be some way to effect it if it’s in the game, right?

BOOSTING AMARR
We all know that Amarr use lasers but they aren’t very good because they use a lot of cap and do too much EM damage. Well theres another way that these weapons could be used…lasers (thermal damage + radiation) could be used to warm up space and make it less hazardous.

WARMING SPACE
Amarrs could use their lasers to warm space! Think of it as mining except without getting ore at the end of the cycle, but making it so colder space warms up and has less of a chance to harm ships traveling through it. Even if lasers aren’t good for PvP they can be useful, and in big battles lasers can be used to make space warmer for a friendly fleet so the enemy fleet gets damaged more by the coldness of space. They could do the same thing in empire and charge people to travel through the space they’ve warmed in advance for travelers.

LASER BOMBS
Amarrs could also have special “laser bombs” that would have the same warming effect for all the space around them, and at the same time make lasers more effective (warmer space = more thermal damage on lasers right?). It could be used just like the bombs on stealth bombers are used now.

What do you think about these ideas?

Split Weapons System: How Much is Too Much?

Summary: Ships with split weapon systems are overpowered and should be balanced, but more ships should have split weapon systems.
Link: EVE Forums Link

In EVE there are generally two primary types of combat ships; single weapon ships (preferred by the Amarr and Caldari) and split-weapon ships (preferred by the Gallente and especially the Minmatar). It’s obvious from the popularity of Gallente and Minmatar in PvP that these split-weapon ships need to be balanced. Why, you ask? Let me use the power of MATH!

Single Weapon Systems
Advantages: Single Weapon Systems are less skill-intensive to train, so it’s easier to be productive in a single-weapon system, generally speaking. In addition, many single-weapon ships receive two racial bonuses to those weapons (damage + tracking, for example). This is more prevalent on T2 ships, and less so on T1 ships due to T1 ships only having two bonuses.
Disadvantages: Single weapon systems are far less versatile than split weapon systems. With turrets this problem is slightly less pronounced since one could fit different (but non-bonused) types of turrets on ships (the Laserthron is popular in PvP). However, these weapons will not gain the benefit of the ship’s bonuses.

Split Weapon Systems
Advantages: Split Weapon Systems are more versatile, making the ship less vulnerable to threats that would normally spell doom for single-weapon systems. This versatility allows them to tackle more obstacles well especially in PvE, though they are slightly less effective than a more specialized ship.

Disadvantages: Split Weapon Systems are slightly more difficult to train for since you need the primary and secondary skills to train for them. In addition, more slots are needed to increase the damage on both systems. This is not a huge issue however since tanking is generally unimportant in most PvP (remote logistics, e-war, and incompetent mitigate this issue).

Comparison
Damage: Damage varies between individual weapon systems, but generally speaking single weapon systems have a minor advantage IF the ship in question has two bonuses for said weapons.

Adaptiveness: Split weapons have an obvious advantage in adaptiveness since they have the advantages of two weapon systems and can minimize each other’s weaknesses. Tracking too fast for rails? Your missiles will take care of that pest!

Training: Single weapon systems have a slight advantage here, since you only need the support skills for a single weapon system.

Damage Modification: Split weapon systems have an obvious advantage here. While single weapon systems top out after 3 damage mods (due to stacking nerf), split weapons can use an additional 3 damage mods, bringing their damage at least 50% higher than single-weapon systems.

Conclusion
Split weapon systems need to be balanced properly.

Potential Solutions
1. Reduce damage bonuses and make split weapon systems more prevalent – this will bring them in line with specialized systems but create additional ways to use them. Thus split-weapon users won’t whine too much. Single-weapon users will have to adapt, but once the realize the higher damage potential they’ll be happy I think. I quite like this solution so I’ll be providing some examples.
2. Reduce split-weapon ships’ tanking ability – this will account for the higher damage and help them fit more specialized roles. Also, considering the lack of important of tanking in most PvP situations this will not harm them too much.

Revamped Ships

Rokh
6 Turrets, 6 Missile
5% Bonus to Railgun Optimal Range
2.5% Bonus to Torpedo Range
Allows the Rokh to specialize in either long or short range combat, while retaining some ability to defent against both.

Maelstrom
6 Turret, 2 Utility, 250m Dronebay
5% Bonus to Drone hitpoints and damage
5% Bonus to Large Projectile Tracking
The Maelstrom can fit autocannons + heavies for short and medium range engagements, or Artillery + Sentry drones for long range. The extra tracking will help the artillery hit closer-in targets and the drone damage bonus will help drones. The extra

Abaddon
4 Turrets, 4 Missile
2.5% Bonus to laser damage
2.5% Bonus to Torpedo explosion velocity

This allows the Abaddon to solve it’s capacitor use issue and is also in line with Khanid MK. 2. The HAM explosion velocity bonus will make it highly dangerous vs. smaller ships while the laser damage bonus will allow it to compete at range.

We all know what needs to be done. I’ve outlined the problems, compared them factually, and suggested solutions. Now all we need is for CCP to implement them.

Improve Forum Quality: Nerf Me

Summary: I call for the ability of people to post on the forums (including myself) to be balanced. Unfortunately CCP retaliated by making all my posts pink for the weekend.
Link: EVE Forums Link

Greetings, fellow forumgoers! I’d like to welcome you to this humble thread of mine. Please, sit down and help yourself to the pastries I’ve set out. Warm yourself by the fire. But don’t nod off on that comfy couch, for I have an important issue to discuss.

The EVE forums are an important component of this game. It provides an alternative source for help and advice, a political outlet for the various corporations and alliances, and generally a common channel that players can congregate and interact with. Forums, not just EVE’s but the concept in general, is an important part of using the internet, right?

Well, things are not currently so rosy in forum-land, it would appear. Lately moderation has been lacking (for whatever reason) and the result of this is that we have many posts that are, among other things:
1. Ranty
2. Tinfoilery
3. Make No Sense Whatsoever

This is a problem that needs to be solved if EVE is going to continue growing as a game and as a community. But what can we do to help facilitate this?

Equalizing Community Voice
Far too members of the community are using up far too much space on the forums. The top ten posters are probably responsible for 30-50% of all postings here on the forums, and that is a problem. To solve this problem we need to attack the source. Specifically, myself. It’s long past time that my posting style and frequency are appropriately balanced.

Since I began posting on the forums in 2005, I’ve created almost a hundred threads and created over 3 million characters of posting across close to four thousand posts (stats). People, this is too much. People, this is far too much as is healthy for this forum. Efforts must be taken to limit the impact and prevalence of myself and people like me on these forums. I am the most prevelant poster that I am aware of aside from Dark Shikari and a few others, and even DS has curtailed his posting of late.

But what to do?
There are several solutions that I have considered to prevent my posting as much. Here are a summary of them:

1. Whenever I create a topic on any EVE forum or more than twenty forum posts per hour, an e-mail is sent to my wife notifying her of this. A text message sent to her phone could be used if she is not at her computer.
2. For every forum post made, a certain amount of ISK is deducted from my wallet. This amount will vary depending on posting history and number of posts, and will be doubled for any post in CAOD. This should also help curb alt posts in all forums.
3. In order to post on the EVE forums, players must insert a USB-based IV into a major artery and their computers. This IV will inject a small amount of estrogen into the posters bloodstream if their number of posts per hour rises above a certain level. Not only will this limit my alt posts, but the effects will be less pronounced among women, encouraging them to participate in the community.
4. Whenever anyone makes a post, the EVE server inserts a part of their contact information/billing information into their signature. People who post too much will have an increased likelihood of contact details such as phone number, address, and credit card numbers being visible.
5. For every week someone goes without posting on the forums, they receive a coupon to a strip club, amusement park, or *** bar.
6. Each day, prevent one race from posting on the forums based on population. This will encourage players to play other races in addition to reducing forum posts by 20-50%.

I’m also open to any other suggestions. This is an important issue and I hope that we – as a community - can help solve it together. I need to be nerfed.

Revising Alliance Rule: A Solution for BoB and Goonswarm

Summary: BoB is being held in a firm grip by SirMolle and Goonswarm my Sesfan. CCP must implement more forms of government to free these repressed groups so that they can get along.
Link: EVE Forums Link

Revising Alliance Rule: A Plan for BoB and Goonswarm

Alliances have been around for quite a while – May of 2003 to be exact. Of course since them players have had to develop strategies and methodologies to facilitate the management and function of Alliances, surely a difficult task. But perhaps this task is simply too difficult to be manage? In the following expose we will examine two major alliances, the methodologies to run them, and what CCP can do to make this both easier and more productive for the Alliances themselves and all of EVE.

History of Alliances
Alliances have been around since the original EVE was released. Ever since then, their importance has only been increasing. From their inception, to the early alliances of M00, FIX, Curse, Phoenix, and several other original alliances, it’s clear that these large, ungainly entities will be deciding the fate of New Eden’s markets, players, and gameplay. Soon they will come to dominate every aspect of EVE in PvP, PvE, and market warfare. Don’t respect one alliance? Time for them to break the market for you! Don’t take another group seriously? Time for them to break your systems!

The Structure of Alliances
Alliances, of course, are not nebulous structures in and of themselves. They’re composed of uniform (or non-uniform) components, namely corporations and the leaders of said corporations. But! There are some corporations that are taken at higher esteem than others, figuratively and literally – in any alliance there must be leadership of some kind. These “holding corporations” are used to maintain control over the unruly masses of these gigantic player groups through cunning, kindness, or with an iron fist. But regardless of the style, clearly there must be leadership, correct?

Different Styles of Leadership in Alliances
Obviously there are many leadership styles in EVE. From what I’ve seen, most tend toward several different types:

Republic – Representation of Corporations forming a “council” with a leader of some kind

Democracy – Direct rule by the players, utilizes voting to determine goals

Oligarchy – Controlled by several powerful members of each corporation

Theocracy – Used by the Amarr alliances to determine what god wants them to do

There are prominent examples of each type of leadership. BoB and Goonswarm are dictatorships (more on this later), CVA or PIE is a Theocracy, and many alliances are Republics and Oligarchies as well. There are problems with this though!

Problems
Band of Brothers, oh sweet BoB. How sad it is that you are all forced to submit to the will of your grand master, the one known only as SirMolle (sir mole or sir molly? I could never figure it out). This blind and blighted dictator drives you on for better of for worse, hammering the individual corporations and groups together with an iron fist. His will extends not only around you but seeps into you, driving you to carry out his wishes on not only your enemies, but all of EVE. To put it simply: BoB is trying to suppress and oppress EVE. This must be stopped

Goonswarm, my good friends. Though your methodologies and image is much different from that of BoB, deep down the members of Goonswarm are generally good people who aren’t interested in screwing up other players’ time. The leadership, specifically that of the fool Sesfan, forces members of Goonswarm to engage in this unsightly and unbecoming activity. Without this poor leadership Goonswarm would not have its current reputation, and might not even be at war with BoB. Who knows? But this also must be stopped.

THE SOLUTION
CCP MUST IMPLEMENT ADDITIONAL METHODS THAT LETS THEIR PLAYERS CONTROL THEIR DESTINY. How do we do this?

1. Implement firm control methods for alliances: Dictatorship, Democracy, Oligarchy, Theocracy, extcetera. This will allow members of both BoB and goonswarm to shrug off their impotent, harmful leaders and control their own destiny once and for all! By changing these things members of BoB will no longer be interested in suppressing the rest of EVE and Goonswarm will be less evil overall if they revolt against their leadership.
2. Right now I’m issuing a call to action to both BOB and GOONS to rebel against their leaders. Until CCP provides you with more direct means of rule you need to show them that you need it by causing havoc within your respective organizations. Since CCP is in BoB and GOONS anyway they’d notice anyway.

Industrial Ships in Combat: KILLING REAL PVP

Summary: Industrial Ships are too prevalent in combat and their ample cargoholds and module slots make them overpowered.
Link: EVE Forums Link

What is the purpose of industrial ships? They’re to carry cargo around, are they not? Acting as the peons hauling gold to and from the castle, probes harvesting crystals or vespene gas, the ones to do the grinding to us non-carebears don’t have to. That’s the way it’s supposed to be, anyway. But lately there has been a trend. More and more I’m seeing industrial ships taking part in real, honest-to-god combat. Not just getting pwnd like would be proper for supporting class in any other decent game (medics don’t tank well). Don’t believe me?

What makes industrials usable for combat?
They have low HP, low maneuverability, and craptacular cap. BUT! There are several reasons why these ships show up in PvP anyway despite these features, which anyone sane would know that they aren’t meant to be in combat:
1. Cargoholds – Industrials have huge cargos compared to proper ships, usually 10 to 20 times as much
2. Lots of slots – For some reason industrial ships have more slots than cruisers and even more slots than some battleships!
3. Capacitor Boosters – This works well with the large cargo + large slot combination, I will explain shortly

Example of Combat Industrial Ships – Ridiculious!

ECM Badger Mk. 2
Cost: 0.6 Million ISK (ship) + 2-3 Million ISK (fittings)
High: 2 small nosferatu
Medium: 6 Multispectral ECM
Low: 3 Signal Distortion Amplifiers

Gives this thing a jamming strength of 25, which means it can perma-jam a BATTLESHIP! A battleship costs about 30 times as much as this setup
With racial ECMs this ship can lock down TWO BATTLESHIPS which is just crazy. Can a Rook or Falcon do that?


Dampener/Anti-Tracking Badger
Cost: 1 Million ISk (ship) + 2 Million ISK (fittings)
High: 2 small nosferatu
Medium: 6 Sensor Dampener
Low: DC + Reinforced Bulkheads

This ship has 10K effective HP (more than most cruisers) and can quadruple the locking time of THREE ships, count them THREE. Even if they are capital ships that cost 300 times as much as it. Overpowered a bit?

This same setup with tracking disruptors instead of dampeners make it nearly impossible for any two gunboats to operate. Two megathrons cost 200 million ISK.


Sniper-Assist Badger
Cost: 0.6 Million ISK (ship) + 3 Million ISK (fittings)
High: 2 small nosferatu
Medium: 3x Tracking Link, 3x Remote Sensor Booster
Low: Whatever

This industrial ship can significantly help out up to three sniper ships for one ship it can increase it’s tracking by 2X and its sensor range by over 2.5X. Even for three different ships it can improve each’s tracking by 30% and sensor range by 70%. It can also store ammo for them as well (3 dreads anyone? For a stupid hauler!)


Repair Badger
Cost: 0.6 Million ISK (ship), 4 Million ISK (modules)
High: 1 x Medium Armor Repair, 1 x Medium Shield Repair (one offline)
Medium: 6x Small Cap Booster
Low: RCUs

This ship alternates by putting one of its repairs offline and can constantly repair due to the massive number of cap boosters (6000 cargo hold)


Sniper Badger
Cost: 1 Million ISK (ship), 6 Million ISK (modules)
Highs: 1 x 250mm Railgun
Medium: 2 x Tracking Computer, 2 x Sensor Booster, 2 x Target Painter
Low: RCUs

Ok, here is the ultimate in stupidity – an INDUSTRIAL ship with medium weapons. The tracking computers and target painters multiply the damage significantly and with the right ammo this thing has an optimal range of over 60 kilometers. For gods sake its supposed to move CARGO.


What Should We Do?
I have a few ideas that will help make industrial ships used less in combat and more in my killmails:
1. More cargo, less slots
2. Lower Speed
3. Less HP
4. Maximum Targets: 0
5. Negative Resistances – they take more damage instead of less
6. Double Signature Radius

I think some combination of those will help make industrial ships used like they were meant to. You don’t see semi-trucks next to tanks in Iraq do you???