EVE Vanguard x EVE Online - Groundbreak Runs From November 26 To December 9

I intended to make a prediction that EVE Vanguard, CCP Games' under development MMOFPS game, would run an event interacting with EVE Online sometime in 2025. A prediction I can no longer make since such an event is running at the end of November and extending into December. The Pearl Abyss-owned studio made the announcement on its corporate website yesterday.

REYKJAVÍK, Iceland – November 19, 2024 - Today, CCP Games announced a public limited-time access event for EVE Vanguard, the in-development MMOFPS that directly connects to the legendary EVE Online Universe. From November 28 to December 9, players can descend onto diverse planetary battlegrounds as technologically immortal warclones, engaging in intense ground combat that directly impacts the largest player-driven war in gaming history. To obtain an access code visit the EVE Vanguard Discord server.

In YC126.11.28: Groundbreak, players will join live insurgencies that reach from ground to orbit, shaping the future of New Eden. With every deployment, you have the chance to align with a faction of your choice and dive into intense 9v9 battles, capturing artillery cannons to bombard enemy fleets from the surface. Each victory strengthens your side's grip on planetary zones in EVE Online, driving opposition forces out of contested airspace and having real-time impact on the ongoing war in the cluster.

In a dev blog yesterday, the developers gave the lore explanation for the influx of all the players/testers from Vanguard. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the link between the two games is the relatively new insurgency system.

CAPSULEER REINFORCEMENTS

The Deathless is making his presence known all over New Eden – on planets and in space. He has put out a call to the capsuleers of the cluster to join in the fight against Drifter forces, in part to aid Vanguard forces in planetside operations. The Deathless Circle has deployed special towers connected to the newly revealed Warden, which scan local networks for passkeys needed to break planetary defense systems, allowing Vanguard warclones to fight for key positions in insurgencies. These towers are under attack from Drifters, and the Deathless has asked capsuleers to help defend them. There is of course nothing stopping them from destroying the towers and stealing the passkeys for themselves, should they prefer to support suppression-aligned forces. 

In a positive move, players are not confined to insurgencies and the ties to EVE Online players. The devs will take advantage of Vanguard's persistent state and run content between major conflicts.

Between insurgency deployments you can hone your power by raiding planetary zones for rare resources and blueprint parts. Face off against brutal NPC militia and rival warclones, scavenging for materials to craft tactical chipsets and blueprints. Use them to build your own custom arsenal and gain an edge for the next objective. You have the freedom to formulate your own goals, strategies, and fragile alliances, with myriad methods of achieving what you set out to accomplish. Decide where you wish to deploy, manufacture an unbeatable armory, and destroy your rivals. 

In addition to participating in the event itself, CCP is running a rewards promotion for EVE Online players from 28 November to 1 December, or Thanksgiving weekend in the United States. The rewards are up to four SKIN design components, 3,000 EverMarks, and 50,000 Skill Points for participating all four days.

I do want to an additional point not really in the press release or the dev blog. To all the bloggers and content creators creating their end of the year predictions, EVE Vanguard is scheduled to launch on Steam Early Access in 2025. Adjust your predictions accordingly.

CCP Didn't Mean To Swing The Nerfbat On Null Sec Sites

Sometimes I bet the developers over in Reykjavik feel they can't win. On the one hand, for years players have complained about the PvE in EVE Online and that the devs need to update the existing content. On the other hand, players don't like change. The latest example showed up in the patch notes on Friday.

The changes in question seemed rather innocuous when I read through the patch notes. In fact, I lumped the changes into a category called "other null sec site changes."

Nullsec Combat Anomaly Graphics and Gameplay Overhaul

Several Combat Anomaly sites in nullsec have been renovated.

• All variations of the Forsaken Sanctums, Sanctums, Havens, Patrol and Horde sites have had full art and asset renovations
• Over 100 different nullsec anomaly sites now have an objectives panel. So you can now easily see what wave you are on and how many NPCs remain at a glance!
• Several NPC groups now warp in instead of spawning in place where appropriate.

In the patch notes, the biggest concern with the graphics upgrade is the potential of the volumetric clouds in the sites impacting the performance of multi-boxers. Turns out the biggest complaint is the warping NPCs.

Apparently the issue concerns pilots of Edencom ships. I don't play in null sec so don't really have experience with area of effect weapons. I found a thread on the EVE Online sub-Reddit explaining the complaint.

Due to the mechanics of EVE/Vorton guns, if even one single ship lands outside of your 10km bubble, kiss any benefit over AFK spinning an Ishtars goodbye, because now you have to spend JUST AS MUCH TIME killing that one single lone Battleship (usually) as you did the rest of the wave that DID land within the 10km range.

Congratulations. Your clear time just doubled. Because of one ship. Because of 100 meters of range.

This one ship landing .1 km outside of your AOE range effectively doubles the amount of time/ammo taken to clear that particular wave, which ruins the whole benefit/point of running Stormbringers versus just AFK spinning Ishtars.

Now, take the above complaint with a grain of salt, although the explanation of the mechanics seems sound. Also, if I want to put on my tin foil hat, the developers may have balanced the ratting ISK faucet around the speed of clearing sites using AFK Ishtars.

Or, as the developers have done for years, tried to introduce more active gameplay into EVE. We have the age-old conflict of those who want more engaging gameplay versus those who want to gather their ISK as quickly as possible. After all, as we all learned in World of Warcraft, "Time is money, friend."

In the developer response to the issue in Friday's patch notes, making AoE farming, while not an intended consequence of the change, more difficult wasn't unwelcome. In fact, the big concern for the developers was for players not to see the move as an effort to nerf income generation. Here is the explanation from the patch notes.

With the renovation update to Nullsec anomalies, and bug fixes for the NPC dreadnoughts released in Revenant, we did not intend to significantly impact Nullsec income with the changes to the NPCs warping in instead of spawning in place. We also have not made any intentional changes to the AI used by the NPCs which would cause them to attack drones more frequently.

To address these concerns, we are increasing several Battleship and Battlecruiser NPC bounties found primarily in Nullsec by between 30-40% to compensate for the reductions in efficiency for AoE farming (Smartbomb, Stormbringer and Thunderchild ratting) due to the NPCs warping in and potentially requiring higher level of activity for increased drone management for drone setups. We are also happy for this to be a significant boost for more active forms of ratting that were not as directly impacted, such as Marauder ratting.

If anyone wants to know the impact of player backlash against the Scarcity Era, the above is a demonstration. The developers basically stated, "yes, we nerfed your playstyle, but we didn't do it to keep you from making ISK." I'd say we may need to look at this as a filter for future actions, especially in null security space.

For completeness' sake, I'll conclude this post with the actual changes the devs made on Friday to the combat sites.

• Increased the bounties on several NPCs found primarily in Nullsec Anomalies by 30-40%.
  
  
• This results in the following total average bounty increases for these popular Nullsec anomalies:
• Hubs: 28.40%
• Rally Points: 28.50%
• Patrols: 30.20%
• Havens: 31.70%
• Forsaken Hubs: 34.50%
• Hordes: 34.70%
• Sanctums: 35.70%
• Forsaken Sanctums & Teeming Hordes: 36.00%

So for those who didn't engage in AoE farming, CCP handed them a big income boost.

Black Desert Mobile Merges Servers Down To Three

A day after Pearl Abyss' earnings call for the third quarter of 2024, the South Korean game company merged the six Black Desert Mobile servers down to three. The company did give players two weeks notice, so the news wouldn't have caught vigilant investment companies by surprise.

The three servers being merged into the others were known as Oasis servers. In Black Desert Mobile, Oasis servers were special game servers introduced by Pearl Abyss in April 2024. These servers offered opportunities for both new and returning players compared to players on the regular servers. Here are some key features of Oasis servers:

Leveling Up Quickly: Players could level up five times faster compared to regular servers.

100% Black Pearl Refund: Returning players got a full refund of their Black Pearls, which could be used to purchase in-game items.

Quality-of-Life Improvements: Updates like Shadow Gear upgrades and new crafting recipes were available.

Community Events: Various events, giveaways, and special title events were held to engage players.

Given the servers only lasted six months before their announced merge into regular servers, I assume the idea a failure.

At one point Black Desert Mobile was the main driver of revenue for the Black Desert franchise. In the third quarter of 2019 BDM brought in 57% of Pearl Abyss' overall revenue, or approximately ₩76 billion ($63.6 million). In the last quarter five years later, mobile gaming only brought in 21%, or ₩15.6 billion ($21.2 million) of the company's gaming revenue. And unlike in 2019, last quarter mobile gaming revenue was split between BDM and EVE: Echoes, although the vast majority was probably generated by BDM.

Between the long decline of Black Desert Mobile and the failure to upgrade Black Desert Online for next generation consoles, Pearly Abyss is close to falling below the ₩75 billion recorded in company revenue for Q4 2017, the first month of the operation of BDM.

My First Two Days In FFXIV's Patch 7.1 - Crossroads

I've spent a couple of days playing the latest patch of Final Fantasy XIV, Crossroads. I normally refer to the patch number, in this case 7.1. I have to say I'm feeling better about the Dawntrail expansion, particularly the MSQ. After playing for two days I think I came up with a plan for the next two months or so, up to patch 7.15.

First, the MSQ. So far I haven't changed my opinion that the Dawntrail MSQ is only better than the A Realm Reborn MSQ amongst the expansion (and yes, I consider ARR an expansion). The feel of the story reminds me of the Shadowbringers expansion point releases, meaning the quality picked up in patch 7.1. The story also continued to drop pieces of alternative universe writing about the New World. For an example from the early Dawntrail MSQ, what would happen if, instead of Europeans bringing disease to the Native Americans, the Europeans picked up a deadly disease from the natives? We get something similar with the railroad story in Crossroads.

Of course I'm going to complain about the dungeon, Yuweyawata Field Station. The final boss had similar mechanics to the first boss of Alexandria, meaning a lot of dancing around telegraphs. I somehow made it through the final boss after about an hour. I agree with the comment from Alphinaud if you approach him after the fight: "I don't know how we made it through."

I did notice that the trial for patch 7.1, The Minstrel's Ballad: Sphene's Burden, is not required. The trial, as indicated by the mention of The Minstrel, is a harder version of The Interphos and thus is not required for the story in the MSQ. After all, The Minstrel is just providing an idealized story of what actually occurred.

The next bit of new content I started are the Pelupelu society quests. I really liked the little introduction quest required to unlock the feature. The Pelupelu are for combat jobs, just like the first society quest introduced in Endwalker. The experience points granted for doing the society quests is rather good. So good I decided to do society quests for Endwalker and Shadowbringers also. For doing the 9 quests I received a few points shy of 10 million experience points. I figure that reaching maximum level in a society will take 42 days. If so, I think I can not only level Dancer to 100, but Summoner as well. Once that is done, I just need to level a melee DPS and a tank job to complete all of the role quests for Dawntrail. I currently have Warrior to level 60 and no melee jobs started.

I do need to finish up one piece of patch 7.0 content. I still have to complete the quests for 2 of the NPCs in the Wachumeqimeqi district. Once those are done, I understand I can access an overall quest to finish off the area once patch 7.15 arrives, probably sometime in January. I have the feeling a lot of crafting and gathering content will drop in patch 7.15 so I need to finish up so I'm ready when the patch drops.

Looking at the above I have a lot of daily tasks ahead of me. But I really don't mind because I like running around the world and the new quests tell a bit more about the new lands I'm exploring. 

Pearl Abyss Q3 2024 Earnings Call

On Tuesday in South Korea, Pearl Abyss held its earnings call for the third quarter of 2024. The company experienced a quarter-over-quarter revenue decline of 2.8% down to ₩79.5 billion ($58.6 million). Year-over-year the company's revenue has declined 6.3% compared to Q3 2023's revenue of ₩84.9 billion ($64.7 million). 

The drop in revenue alone doesn't tell the full story of Pearl Abyss' poor financial performance in the third quarter. In the third quarter, the company posted a operating loss of ₩9.2 billion ($6.8 million). Over the past four quarters, the company has posted losses in three, totaling ₩19.9 billion ($14.7 million). 

The operating loss translated into a net loss of ₩7.8 billion ($5.8 million). In response to a question from one of the investment analysts, a member from the Pearl Abyss C-suite explained the company had experienced a couple of one-time expenses that contributed to the losses. The first was ₩2.5 billion spent on responding to a tax audit from the South Korean government. The other was ₩500 million in increased electrical costs for air conditioning during the summer's abnormally warm summer.

While the second net loss over the last four quarters, Pearl Abyss has shown a profit of ₩9.2 billion ($7.2 million) over the period. 

In another piece of news, ₩5.0 billion, or 6.3% of Pearl Abyss' revenue did not come from game revenue associated with its two main intellectual properties. In the past Pearl Abyss has posted significant revenue from its financial division. Apparently the same happened again in the third quarter, although none of the investment analysts on the call asked about the subject.

In a look at the Black Desert IP revenue fell from the previous quarter by 10%, down to ₩54.0 billion ($39.8 million). The year-over-year decline was steeper, with the quarter's revenue down 21% from the ₩68.4 billion ($52.1 million) posted in the third quarter of 2023. The financial picture in the fourth quarter looks rosier as Tencent began Black Desert Online service in the People's Republic of China on 24 October. Additional sales are possible as the company plans special events to celebrate the 10th anniversary in December.

The picture was brighter for the games set in the EVE universe. Quarter-over-quarter sales fell 5.1% down to ₩20.5 billion ($15.1 million) in the third quarter. But year-over-year sales rose 28.1% compared to Q3 2023's mark of ₩16.0 billion ($12.2 million), meeting the revenue expectations set on the Q2 earnings call.

Revenue should rise for the EVE IP in the upcoming quarter. In addition to the bi-annual EVE Online expansion launching today, the new mobile game, EVE Galaxy Conquest, launched globally on 29 October. In addition, two games under development, EVE Vanguard and EVE Frontier were mentioned on the call. In response to token sales concerning CCP's blockchain-based MMORPG, the Pearl Abyss CEO referred all such queries to CCP.

The most questions, however, were asked about Crimson Desert. The Pearl Abyss leadership spent a lot of time deflecting questions about the game, probably to not overshadow any upcoming announcement coming up at G-STAR this weekend starting on Thursday in Busan. After a question about the demo at G-STAR, the analyst was told to go to the convention floor and play it himself. I think the question might have struck a nerve as those on the call had already been told the playable demo at G-STAR would basically be the same one presented at Gamescom except with one additional boss.

Some questions about Crimson Desert were answered on the call. For example, the 22% increase in advertising expenditures up to ₩8.9 billion ($6.6 million) was mostly due to increased costs associated with attending game shows and other events to introduce the game to the public. Also, the studio is still considering multi-player modes as well as downloadable content to keep revenue up after the game's first year on the market. When Crimson Desert was first introduced a multi-player mode was included as a feature.

EVE Online: Revenant Patch Notes - SKINR Paragon Updates

EVE Online's Revenant expansion, set to launch on 12 November 2024, is the game's fifth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. The format of the official patch notes for Revenant is a little unusual as I don't see as many bullet points as in previous expansions. Still, I'll try to add something to the patch notes.

The tenth and final post in the Revenant patch notes series looks at the upcoming updates to the SKINR Paragon system. I'm not a big fan of SKINs, still having hundreds of unique, unapplied SKINs floating around my inventory. But with the continued focus on the feature, one would think the feature is possibly the most important in the game.

In a financial sense, player-created SKINs are the most important feature in the game. Not only does the process require PLEX, but presents the developers with additional opportunities to put items in the cash shop. Before the advent of the SKINR Paragon system, players, including those elected to the Council of Stellar Management, said they would gladly pay for corporation and alliance SKINs. The SKINR Paragon system was the result.

Since I don't know about the actual mechanics of the system, I'll list the updates coming in Revenant without further comment.

EVE Online: Revenant Patch Notes - Glorified Mutaplasmids and Mutaplasmid Residue

EVE Online's Revenant expansion, set to launch on 12 November 2024, is the game's fifth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. The format of the official patch notes for Revenant is a little unusual as I don't see as many bullet points as in previous expansions. Still, I'll try to add something to the patch notes.

This ninth post in the Revenant patch note series is the shortest in the series. Glorified Mutaplasmids and Mutaplasmid Residue is a niche subject but still one deserving of coverage. And due to how the features introduced in the expansion tend to relate to one of a few major themes, I couldn't just create a miscellaneous blog post. So below is what the patch notes had to say about the changes.

Glorified Mutaplasmids and Mutaplasmid Residue

All abyssal modules can now be reprocessed into mutaplasmid residue - this means that modules that you mutate that don’t have the results that you were hoping for or aren’t able to sell are still useful! Mutaplasmid residue can then be used in new blueprints found in regular abyssal content and from CONCORD Rogue Analysis Beacons to create 169 new, improved, glorified abyssal mutaplasmids, which are more powerful versions of the existing mutaplasmids found in the game. Just Keep Rolling!

EVE Online: Revenant Patch Notes - Other Null Sec Site Changes

EVE Online's Revenant expansion, set to launch on 12 November 2024, is the game's fifth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. The format of the official patch notes for Revenant is a little unusual as I don't see as many bullet points as in previous expansions. Still, I'll try to add something to the patch notes.

In this eighth post in the series, I'll finish up covering some of the loose ends. One of those loose ends are new or updated sites in null security space. Mercenary Dens are not the only content introduced in Revenant that can generate PvE play.

New Rogue Drone relic sites have been added.

• 4 new relic sites have been added in rogue drone nullsec, allowing intrepid explorers the opportunity to find and discover ancient salvage materials and other valuable rewards.

Like I've noted in the past, I don't play in null sec, so I don't know how well (or poorly) residents of that security band will greet the following UI and graphical changes.

Nullsec Combat Anomaly Graphics and Gameplay Overhaul

Several Combat Anomaly sites in nullsec have been renovated.

• All variations of the Forsaken Sanctums, Sanctums, Havens, Patrol and Horde sites have had full art and asset renovations
  
  
• Over 100 different nullsec anomaly sites now have an objectives panel. So you can now easily see what wave you are on and how many NPCs remain at a glance!
  
  
• Several NPC groups now warp in instead of spawning in place where appropriate.

Since volumetric clouds are part of the graphical updates, please note that they can potentially impact performance when multi-boxing. To mitigate this, we’ve added a setting that disables clouds when low shader quality is selected.

EVE Online: Revenant Patch Notes - Ship Information Window And Other UI Changes

EVE Online's Revenant expansion, set to launch on 12 November 2024, is the game's fifth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. The format of the official patch notes for Revenant is a little unusual as I don't see as many bullet points as in previous expansions. Still, I'll try to add something to the patch notes.

In this seventh post in the series I'll look at some of the changes to the UI in EVE Online. The biggest change is to the ship information window, but other areas received attention as well.

I didn't see a description of UI changes coming in previous articles, but I fully endorse this description of the new ship information window from the patch notes.

The information window for ships has been redesigned to both emphasize the hull's uniqueness while improving usability. With a more streamlined layout, players will be able to find the information they need in a more intuitive and immersive form.

The changes are spelled out and I didn't notice any current functionality taken away.

• Ship Display: The selected ship is always at the forefront of this design. A player can take in a 360° look at the hull in all its glory.
  
  
• Compact Mode: The window can now be re-sized to be smaller than the previous version. This allows a player to maximize information density without sacrificing usability.
  
  
• Immersive Additions: In-universe information on the ship's designer and attributed quotes related to the hull have been added to flesh out its place in New Eden.
  
  
• Overview Tab: The Traits and Description tabs have been combined along with the previous header information to create the Overview tab. This provides all the most basic information for the ship in one place. In addition, you can view accrued killmarks for your ship within this tab.
  
  
• Attribute Tab: The information within this tab has been reorganized to help players navigate it more easily. In addition, derived values such as EHP and align time are displayed here to help provide context to related attributes.
  
  
• Skills Tab: The Skill Requirements and Masteries tabs have been combined. Any skill a player might need to fly a ship effectively can be found here.
  
  
• Fittings Tab: A shortcut has been added which opens the Fitting window in simulation mode, showing the ship and its applied fitting.
  
  
• Variations Tab: Variants within this tab now have links that open that hull within the Ship Tree.
  
  
• SKINs Tab: Players are now able to preview and apply SKINs directly from this tab. In addition, a shortcut has been added to open that ship's SKINR Paragon Hub page.

In addition to improvements to the ship information window, the developers have created new icons for many modules.

Distinct Module Icons

The following module types have been given unique icons to help differentiate them:

• Heat Sinks, Gyrostabilizers, Entropic Radiation Sinks, and Magnetic Field Stabilizers
• Capacitor Rechargers, Capacitor Flux Coils, and Capacitor Power Relays
• Shield Rechargers, Shield Flux Coils, and Shield Power Relays

Biochemical Material Icons

All biochemical materials now have unique icons. The icons match the color and tier of the booster that they relate to.

EVE Online: Revenant Patch Notes - Corporation Projects Improvements

EVE Online's Revenant expansion, set to launch on 12 November 2024, is the game's fifth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. The format of the official patch notes for Revenant is a little unusual as I don't see as many bullet points as in previous expansions. Still, I'll try to add something to the patch notes.

This sixth post in the Revenant patch note series concerns improvements to the Corporation Projects system. In an expansion with a lot of content for null sec powers, building upon the Corporation Projects system helps out smaller groups who play in other security bands. I find the system useful just to keep track of what I want to do in the game between long periods of inactivity.

In the announcement news article for Revenant, CCP gave a short description of what the developers intended to deliver on Tuesday.

The Revenant expansion brings powerful new ways to strengthen and streamline corporation efforts, giving capsuleers even greater opportunities to contribute. Organization leaders of New Eden will gain more control and flexibility over their Corporation Projects, enabling them to tailor goals and tasks for maximum efficiency while also enhancing the experience for current or potential members.

Expanded project parameters add flexibility, allowing creators to set comprehensive, complex, and diverse goals. This enables leaders to create one project with multiple contribution options – such as mining in multiple locations or targeting various ship types and ship groups. Select project types will support expanded parameters on launch day, and more will be added later.

The patch notes went into greater detail on the expanded project parameters.

Expanded Project Parameter

• With the launch of Revenant, project creators can now author the Mine Materials, Damage Capsuleers, Destroy Capsuleer’s Ship and Earn Loyality Points Contribution Methods with Expanded Project Parameters functionality.
  
  
• Expanded Project Parameters functionality enables:
  
  
• Multi-value parameters: Project creators can select up to ten values per supported parameter.
  
  
• Locations (Mine Materials, Damage Capsuleers, Destroy Capsuleer’s Ship)
• Ship Types or Groups (Damage Capsuleers, Destroy Capsuleer’s Ship)
• Material Types or Groups (Mine Materials)
• Capsuleers or Organizations (Damage Capsuleers, Destroy Capsuleer’s Ship)
• Organizations (Earn Loyalty Points)
  
  
• Mixed-hierarchy parameters: Project creators can now also select parameter groups that span different hierarchies. Up to ten values supported.
  
  
• Locations parameter: Solar Systems, Constellations, and Regions.
• Ship Types or Groups parameter : Ship Types (e.g. Rifter, Raven) and Ship Groups (e.g. Frigates, Battleships, Logistic Cruisers)
• Material Types or Groups: Asteroid Types (e.g. Veldspar, Dense Veldspar, Kernite, Fiery Kernite, Clear Icicle) and Asteroid Groups (e.g. Veldspar, Kernite, Ice)

Revenant's announcement article also addressed a couple of features that corporation leadership can add to existing project types.

Project Deadline

• Project creators can now set deadlines for their projects. This improves communication of the project timeline to the corporation members and encourage timely participation.

Project Participation Limit

• Project creators can now set limits on contributions per contributor, preventing any single player from completing the majority of a project alone allowing everyone a chance to contribute.

One fact I found not in the patch notes was an upcoming addition to the system. That's right, giving smaller groups a way to implement ship replacement programs without a prohibitive amount of administrative overhead.

The new Ship Insurance project type will offer a streamlined way to automate ship replacement programs, providing a seamless and guaranteed compensation system based on the loss value. This project type will be added in an update shortly following the expansion launch and will support expanded project parameters.