Final Fantasy XIV DDoS Problem And Not Playing Christmas Eve

The DDoS problem in Final Fantasy XIV continues, though slightly differently. The reports are now that the North American data center is the sole one affected. Players trying to do important stuff like craft items with high value materials should use one of the Oceanic servers. Having lost materials due to a DDoS incident makes me wish I'd heard the advice before.

The word that players could do something on their own to mitigate the DDoS attacks is fairly new. I first heard of the advice on Christmas Eve. I had a little time because Square Enix performed an emergency maintenance Wednesday night. The maintenance finished an hour early but that just meant I could log in at 3am instead of 4am. I didn't wake up that early on Christmas Day.

Following the information from a Mr Happy video I wound up on X following an account.

Another update. ExitLag Los Angeles still going strong. Cloudflare WARP also doing well. I culled any nodes with less than 2 reports because thats essentially no data. Keep reporting after each DDoS please! https://t.co/OieTLSo9Lr pic.twitter.com/wwlSn4e0QQ

— iTrolledU (@RSiTrolledU) December 23, 2025

Square Enix did post on the Lodestone the attacks ended Christmas afternoon. But if I do experience a server-wide event kicking me out of the game again I may try logging in again via a VPN. Los Angeles seems like a workaround although I might try an option out of New Mexico. At least I might have an option now going into the future.

Which Mainline Final Fantasy Game Should I Play Next?

The Steam Winter Sale is here. I've resisted sales for the last few years, but I have to admit the writing in the last few patches of Dawntrail (patches 7.2, 7.3, 7.4) have peaked my desire to play one of the single player Final Fantasy games. I've only completed the first game in the series, although I tried playing FF2 last year. I think I want to finish another game in the series in 2026 but I'm not sure which one to play.

Do I play Final Fantasy IX, now on sale for only $8.39, and get some background on one of my favorite characters of Dawntrail? My understanding is that Sphene is based on Princess Garnet. And for those thinking or hoping Dawntrail is the downfall of FFXIV and Yoshi-P, Otis apparently is a reference to FFIX's Steiner. I wouldn't gain any insight into Wut Lamak, though. A little research told me the expansion's most hated character (at least according to social media) was influenced by the anime series One Piece.

Or do I look forward? I turned to Copilot for some help choosing. The first recommendation was Final Fantasy VIII, on sale for $4.79. I watched the trailer on Steam and thought, "Yeah, I could see this winding up in the next expansion."

The AI gave me reasons to play FF8 next.

• Yoshida (Yoshi-P) has previously expressed admiration for FFVIII’s themes of identity, fate, and its unique junction system.
• Fans speculate that FFVIII’s focus on mercenary groups (SeeD) and time-compression narrative could inspire new job systems or story arcs in FFXIV.
• The game’s mix of grounded military academy life with cosmic-scale conflict fits well with FFXIV’s pattern of blending personal and epic storytelling.

Now, I'm not sure that the first point isn't an AI hallucination. But the last two points sound interesting. But I also received these other games as suggestions:

• Final Fantasy IV: Its themes of duality (light vs. dark, Cecil’s transformation) have already influenced Shadowbringers, but could resurface in new forms.
  
  
• Final Fantasy XII: Political intrigue and sprawling world-building in Ivalice remain fertile ground, especially since FFXIV has already borrowed Ivalice elements for raids.
  
  
• Final Fantasy Tactics: Given its strong ties to Ivalice, tactical warfare and moral ambiguity could inspire future narrative beats.

I already own FF4, but maybe I should pick up Final Fantasy XII. It's only $19.99 during the Steam sale.

Or maybe I should do a little more research before picking out a game. After all, the sale runs through January 5th, so I have time.

Gaining The Will To Live (And Run Solo Dungeons) In FFXIV Dawntrail's Patch 7.4

Over the weekend I marched on playing the new content in Final Fantasy XIV's patch 7.4. After crafting the Courtly Lover's healing set and cooking some food I was ready to enjoy the new MSQ that will introduce the story for the next expansion. I stopped Saturday night at the new trial, Hell on Rails. But not for the usual reason. I spent some time on Sunday exploring the new mechanics introduced in the patch for those running through dungeons using the Duty Support and Trust systems.

I usually run the 4-character dungeons solo because I'm so bad. Usually I take an hour or so to complete a dungeon my first time through because I die so much and have to start boss fights over. Apparently I'm not a small minority because the developers added in a feature called "Will to Live".  The patch notes described the feature this way...

When undertaking duties via Duty Support or the Trust system, players will now receive the Willful status effect after being incapacitated by a boss and rechallenging the encounter. The Willful status effect is expended when a player would take lethal damage, allowing them to survive with 1 HP.

When the effect is triggered, the player will be temporarily immobilized and the Will to Live status effect will be granted, restoring HP to full.

Stacks of Willful are granted in accordance with the number of times a player is KO'd, up to a maximum of five. Each stack allows the player to survive lethal damage once. The Willful status effect and any remaining stacks are removed upon defeating the boss.

I surprised myself and did not trigger the Will to Live in my initial run-through the MSQ. I only died once to the second boss and the only new thing I noticed is that upon returning to the boss area I received all three lillies and a Blood Lily on my healing gauge. A nice benefit since I no longer needed to build up resources every time I died to a boss.

Sunday night I returned to run Mistwalker in order to farm gear and Allagan Tomestone of Mnemonics and Mathematics. While my Courtly Lover's gear gave me item level 770 gear, if I want to run any other job through the patch 7.5 content I'll need to upgrade their gear. The requirement to run Hell on Rails is item level 745 gear, which means my previously crafted gear no longer suffices. And honestly, I do like running around as a warrior.

On Sunday I reverted to form and died on the final boss. Then I triggered the Will to Live mechanic. Instead of dying on the spot, I was immobilized for a couple of seconds, then was able to continue fighting the boss. While not having control of my character was annoying, I felt a lot better than having to start the fight from the beginning. Turns out, I didn't die anymore.

I should also mention the Will to Live also works on the raids players can do solo as well.

When using Duty Support, the Will to Live status effect granted in the following duties will now also grant healing over time:

• The Mothercrystal
• Worqor Lar Dor
• Everkeep
• The Ageless Necropolis

Instead of spending an hour trying to complete the dungeon, I took less than 40 minutes. A big time savings, and food savings as well. I'm sure some will complain about making the game too easy. Others will complain about turning the game into a single player RPG. But I'm all for making combat content required to craft a bit less painful and, more important, less time consuming.

Choosing White Mage Food In FFXIV Patch 7.4

Final Fantasy XIV's Patch 7.4 was only released three days ago, but already I've crafted the Courtly Lover's healing set and melded all the open slots except those on the weapon. Next up is how to use the over 10,000 orange crafting scrips I collected before the latest patch dropped. Yes, I'm including the 45 collectable tacos I can't turn in yet to that title. As much as I would like to turn the tacos into Nachos, I need to make a food I find useful for a white mage. I think the developers tried to give me a clue based on which food would taste best in real life.

The first two foods are Prune Ponzecake and Prune-packed Fruitcake. Besides being high in fiber, prunes apparently are high in piety. Piety increases a healer’s magic point regeneration while in combat, so for white mages the stat reduces the chance of running out of MP but provides no direct healing or damage power. Beyond the amount needed for comfortable MP sustain, extra Piety is effectively wasted and is usually traded away for damage stats. Which means if someone needs more MP regeneration, a player is likely to look at food for the stat.

All high quality food introduced in patch 7.4 provided up to 297 Vitality, so when choosing a food the other two stats offered are really evaluated. Prune Ponzecake provides up to 151 Piety and 91 Determination while Prune-packed Fruitcake provides 151 Spell Speed and 91 Piety. So the choice is based on playstyle. 

Spell Speed shortens cast times and the global cool down (GCD) and raises HoT/DoT tick potency (so you cast more heals per minute but burn more MP), while Determination raises the baseline potency of every heal and damage instance (a steady, multiplicative increase). The Fruitcake is designed pretty well, with the increase in MP usage from the increased spell speed offset by the increased MP regeneration. But with the food made up of prunes, I get the feeling the developers aren't really sold on needing Piety.

Next up on the taste scale is Popoto Potage. A thick, creamy soup made with fresh rroneek milk and plenty of potatoes, I get the feeling I'd like the potato soup more than prunes. Because instead of piety, Popoto Potage contains a healthy amount of Critical Hit (up to 151 points).

Critical Hit makes White Mages heals hit harder and more often in big bursts, increasing average healing output and clutch save potential; it’s the go‑to stat for min‑maxing White Mage, balanced against MP needs and personal comfort. And the increased spell speed helps hit a little harder as well.

But the food I think most people will want is Caramel Popcorn and not just because most people have a sweet tooth and like to munch on popcorn when drama pops up.  In addition to adding up to 91 points to Critical Hit, the popcorn adds up to 151 points to Determination. 

Determinaton raises a White Mage’s healing potency and damage consistently, increases the amount healed by spells and the damage of attacks. But unlike Critical Hit that provides big spikes in healing and damage, Determination is a steady, multiplicative stat that is generally less impactful than Crit for peak throughput. But when the two are combined, the floor is raised so the spikes get spikier.

I think by now, the reader has guessed I've started making the Caramel Popcorn. I didn't get to make much last night but I should only have to make two or three more in order to have enough to go straight through the patch 7.4 MSQ. Armed with bowls of popcorn I'm ready to face the start of the next expansion's story.

Crafting The Courtly Lover's Healing Set In Final Fantasy XIV's Patch 7.4

For Final Fantasy XIV's newest patch, 7.4,  I decided to craft the latest healing gear before starting out on the MSQ journey. I figured that having gear at item level 770 would guarantee I wouldn't run into a gearing block for either the patch 7.4 or patch 7.5 MSQ. I had done my prep and thought I was set to easily craft everything provided nothing went wrong.

The Courtly Lover's Healing Set

The crafted set for patch 7.4 is the Courtly Lover's sets. As a white mage main I naturally chose the healing set along with the white mage weapon. As usual I could only prepare so much. Of the nine crafted components needed to make the set, I could only gather the materials for three before the patch hit the servers:

• Black Star (5)
• Ra'Kaznar Ingot (2)
• Thunderyards Silk (4)

Honesty, I had enough materials in my inventory just through normal gameplay. In addition, I also could gather up the needed Levinchrome Aethersand through doing the leveling grind of Cosmic Exploration. The materials needed to make the first set of items is:

• Levinsilk (20)
• Magnesia Powder (22)
• Ra'Kaznar Ore (10)
• Raw Black Star (15)

Now for the five new items. They are:

• Double Duraluminum Ingot (4)
• Fulgurpine Lumber (4)
• Grade 4 Gemsap of Mind (17)
• Mastodon Leather (9)
• Rose Garnet (7)
• Urqopacha Linen (10)

The new required component items are sourced from two different places. The first group are the new timed nodes. For reference I found them at the following times and locations.

Rose Garnet Ore - Hhusatahwi, Shaaloani - midnight-2am / noon-2pm

Windspath Water - Leynode Aero, Living Memory - 2am-4am / 2pm-4pm

Carnauba Leaf - Ok'hanu, Kozama'uka - 4am-6am / 4pm-6pm

Urqopacha Flax - Wachunpelo, Urqopacha - 6am-8am / 6pm-8pm

Fulgurpine Log - Leynode Aero, Living Memory - 8am-10am / 8pm-10pm

Dense Aluminum Ore - Electrope Strike, Heritage Found - 10am-noon, 10pm-midnight

Here were the amounts I needed. I just made my life simpler and hit each of the nodes twice. I'm pretty sure that will get enough materials for any of the Courtly Lover's sets.

• Rose Garnet Ore - 28
• Windspath Water - 51
• Carnauba Leaf - 36
• Urqopacha Flax - 40
• Fulgurpine Log - 16
• Dense Aluminum Ore - 16

There were also three items I could already gather required to make the new items. They are:

• Pearl Grass (17)
• Yak T'el Spring Water (17)
• Levinchrome Aethersand (30)

I also needed to visit Zircon in Solution Nine to get the last of the materials I needed. He wanted payment in Tomestones of Mathmatics. After visiting Auriana in Mor Dhona to turn in the now discontinued tomestones, I had 1379 Tomestones of Mathmatics. My shopping list cost 1360. Just enough tomestones as long as nothing went wrong. My shopping list was:

• Double Duracoat - 8
• Everkeep Resin - 14
• Insulating Varnish - 8
• Mastodon Pelt - 18
• Turali Pigment - 20

Other sets will have different numbers but I'm pretty sure the tomestone cost is the same amongst all the sets.

Notice I said I had enough if everything went right? Of course everything didn't. Oh, I made all the component items required with very little issues. But instead of waiting until Wednesday to make the finished items, I tried to craft them on Tuesday night. Yes, you guessed it. I was crafting the Courtly Lover's Pantaloons of Healing when I was kicked off the server due to one of the DDoS attacks FFXIV seems to get hit with on every patch day. I lost 3 Urqopacha Linen and 2 Mastodon Leathers, meaning I needed to get another 6 Turali Pigments and 4 Mastodon Pelts. I looked at the queue to log back in and called it a night.

Oh I finished on Wednesday after buying replacements for the lost materials off the marketboard. At that point I just wanted to finish crafting and try out the new gear. I ran The Meso Terminal and things felt a little easier. Now I just need to craft some food, meld some materia, and I'll be all set to tackle the next section of the MSQ.

I Actually Used EVE Online's In-Game Map

One of EVE Online's greatest weaknesses was the lack of a decent in-game map. I started playing EVE in 2009 and honestly, if I hadn't discovered Dotlan Maps, I still wouldn't have two paid accounts. As someone who not only used maps in the military but was a geography major who used early computer mapping programs, I always thought the main purpose of EVE's maps was to look cool rather than provide players with useful information.

CCP finally put in a 2D map option with the launch of the Catalyst expansion. I finally got a chance to use the feature because Dotlan was not showing the location of the Winter Nexus' ice storms. 

The stream began with the map update

I knew The Agency was supposed to help me find systems with Winter Nexus content instead of needing to blindly wander around. So after not finding much help in The Agency I turned to the in-game map. 

The location of ice storms in the map

The secret was to look at the filter options at the bottom of the map and look for Metaliminal Storms. Red represents the middle of the storm, orange is the middle ground where I believe the Youil Lads fly around, and yellow are the fringes. 

One thing I really like about the new 2D map is the ability to scroll. I found the ability to move the displayed area around useful in finding storms. More importantly, the scrolling was easier than trying to click on individual region maps on Dotlan.

Progress after the first weekend

I do want to note my observations about the map isn't just theoretical. I'm going around actually running sites. Okay, I've mainly done ice mining. I'm still practicing my probing skills to feel comfortable enough to head into low sec for some nice loot. And if I really want to I can run the combat sites. This weekend looked like no one wanted to run combat. I think the reason is the big prize is an ice mining destroyer and a lot of people are using their mining characters. I know I am. Although, to be honest, the ship tree shows my mining/blockade runner character has max skills to fly Cyclones and Claymores. Perhaps I'll have to pull out the Claymore and practice my combat skills. At least with the new map finding things to shoot will be a lot easier.

Prepping for FFXIV Patch 7.4

For me this weekend will be nuts. I want to jump into EVE Online to partake in the Winter Nexus, EVE's end of year holiday event. I want to jump into EVE Frontier because a lot of the new content is in the starter areas and I really want to look at how unlike Online Frontier has become. I also am close to completing Ball x Pit. But I do have to spend a lot of time in Final Fantasy XIV preparing for patch 7.4.

Over the last month or so I've spent a lot of time in Cosmic Exploration, specifically on Phaenna. All data centers have completed the content with a little more than a month to go before patch 7.4.1 in January. Right now I've just leveled class points working towards the big mount for earning 500,000 points in all crafting and gathering jobs. But for this weekend the big thing is earning cosmocredits.

Cosmocredits are big for two reasons. First, a lot of the materials I need to make the new combat gear in patch 7.4 is available on Phaenna. But perhaps the biggest reason are the glamour changes coming next week. With the ability to wear any piece no matter class, job, or level restriction lots of people will need dye. And where is the biggest source of the new Dawntrail dyes? Phaenna. If I have a couple of hours to spare I'll finish leveling Culinarian to 100,000 class points.

Of course, continuing with crafting I need to make a lot of tacos. Specifically Tacos de Carne Asada. These tacos are collectables and give out the most Orange crafting scrips. I figure if I take a few hours I'll have enough crafting scrips to buy all the new materials I'll need. One thing I've learned is that one can never have enough orange scrips.

A source of materials I'm behind on is the Allagan Tomestones of Mathematics and Allagan Tomestones of Heliometry. Since these currencies mainly require running dungeons I usually don't have a lot. But I can top off at 1300 Tomestones of Matematics and get near 850 of the Tomestones of Heliometry before the patch hits.

I'm not hopeless where combat is concerned. I'm only one or two FATEs away from reaching the cap on bicolor gemstones of 1500. Also, with my free company probably changing the buff schedule so our crafting group can make the new combat gear for members, I won't need to worry about getting a food buff. But I will need to use more of my aetheryte tickets than normal. Thankfully I still have 375 tickets in my inventory or I'd have to go out and start killing things again.

If I have the time I also need to make up a list of items to gather. I hear I'll need to make a bunch of level 98 intermediate items. Something that shouldn't take too long with fully pentamelded crafting gear. But I do need to make sure they are high quality items.

Other high quality items I need to make is crafting food. My stack of All i Pebre is getting low so I need to do a little fishing to make another 30 portions of the eel and potato stew. Unless, of course, the developers are introducing even better food, in which case I need to figure out what I need to do on day one of the patch.

Not a lot to do but I do need to hurry. Not only do I need to finish the patch 7.4 MSQ before patch 7.41 introduces the next section of Cosmic Exploration, but I need to make a new set of combat gear as well. Because I'll probably need the gear to get through the new duties and trusts.

EVE Frontier Cycle 4 - We're Not In New Eden Anymore

Cycle 4 for EVE Frontier is now live, which means patch notes. I'm going to take a higher level look than I usually do because I think Frontier is noticeably beyond what players find in EVE Online. Looking back to the beginning of the year Frontier has really changed and I think the patch notes will help demonstrate the differences. 

First off is the introduction of manual piloting using the WASD keys.

Design Intent

With this release our intent is to introduce an elegant and accessible foundation for Frontier’s evolving piloting fantasy. We want something accessible enough for anyone to pick up right now, yet robust enough to grow with the game as we continue to flesh out its other systems and content. This first iteration is deliberately focused on accessibility, but not so far that there is no mastery involved. There is a small price of admission with some skill required - this is a hardcore game, after all; get good/skill issue/etc. - but the controls should still feel intuitive, and Riders should feel like their skill as a pilot improves as they progress in the game.

And here are the differences in flying around the game in Cycle 4.

Flight Controls Changes and Adjustments

As part of the manual flight controls update (and thanks in large part to the deranged screaming feedback we received from players), we have both heavily modified and removed some previously used ways to navigate the space scene to support a more manual flight control scheme.

• We have made multiple changes to the physics engine that better support manual flight.
• All of the ships have been adjusted based on the aforementioned physics changes to better support manual flight.
• The autopilot system has been mostly removed, with some parts still remaining (such as the waypoint system for interstellar travel), but modified:
  
  
• Double-clicking in space to move in a direction has been removed.
• It is still possible to use both the contextual menu (right click) and double clicking on the brackets of static objects to command your ship to automatically go to that point (Approach). Objects in motion such as NPCs and other players can not be approached using this command.
• The selected object window has been removed, as have other movement commands such as Orbit and Keep at Range.
  
  
• The old speed widget has been removed, replaced by the new movement widget.
• Manual flight is enabled in Tactical Mode, but the navigation widget is not shown. As a result, control in Tactical Mode is difficult, but certainly possible. Part of our intention here is to eventually give players a mix of manual and automated movement systems that fulfill the ideal spaceship fantasy, and we’re taking this next step to try and uncouple the legacy HUD until we have higher fidelity automated control schemes which make sense for Tactical Mode.

Bumping into things also begins to matter now, with the introduction of collision mechanics.

Collisions

• We have made the first change of many to the way collisions work in EVE Frontier. We have added different surface material types which interact with the ship in different ways if collided with. Hitting a rock should feel different from hitting a structure, for example (note: both should feel like a not ideal thing to do, for the same reason bodyslamming a door is generally not the best way to open it).
• We have done away with fully elastic restitution which makes collisions feel much more realistic, and added a first pass of VFX and SFX to support the collision event.

Another big difference from EVE Online is the clone technology. EVE players are used to killing off their clones to travel faster. I think the developers of Frontier want to take the concept up to 11.

Character Progression

With this update, we are introducing the first step towards our ultimate transhumanist power fantasy. You will be able to gather a limited amount of memories that can be permanently transfer to the character; however, die and you must start over (Editor's Note: admittedly still better than the alternative of dying and just staying dead).

This initial progression rollout is only a prototype of our long-term plans for character progression - considering how fundamental this system is to the heart of the game, you can expect to see significant developments on this over the next several months (and years probably, who can say). We'll be taking specific feedback during Cycle 4 to further review how satisfying (or disatisfying) this version of the system feels, how easy (or painful) it is to use, and what players are expecting to see in the future.

In this iteration of the progression system, you will:

• Gain memories through gameplay and increase skill level of the shell.
• Die.
• ...and lose the collected memories when you do.
• Ascend (if you don't die), and store some of the memories as permanent character skill levels.
• Each skill level on both the character and shell will improve fitting attributes

From reading the above I get the feeling Hilmar didn't really like the decision to remove skill point loss from EVE Online.

Another difference between Online and Frontier in Cycle 4 is the intelligence of NPCs. Frontier's artificial intelligence promises to be an upgrade over the original game.

NPC Behavior

This update is our first step towards making the feral drones full denizens of the Frontier that Riders must learn to combat or co-exist with. The ferals now have some understanding of the inventories of containers and ships and will react accordingly with what they find. Items in your ship and in your assemblies may not be safe from their clutches.

Design Intent

The work in this release is focused on laying a foundation for the feral drones to be a much more interactive threat, both synchronously and asynchronously, in the Frontier. Our goal with this update is to both re-define what it means to interact with feral drones and to make it significantly easier for us to add depth to their interactions with the environment and players going forward. We want the feral drones to be a source of tension in the Frontier as well as reward those curious and observant Riders with ways to manage and even manipulate these adversaries to their advantage.

What type of changes to the AI? Here are the ones listed in today's patch notes.

Drones equipped with these new behaviors currently are only available in landscapes, all other drones are using older behaviors.

Some drones are now equipped with scanners and are capable of checking the inventories of wrecks, containers, ships, and certain assemblies.

Some drones desire specific items and will do what is necessary to acquire these objects of interest.

Some drones will leave traces of their interactions with objects.

The loot of some drones is now partially tied to their activities and experiences before their deaths.

Drones now have reasons for attacking beyond simply shooting on sight.

Drones are capable of halting aggression under the right circumstances.

Drones will hold grudges against specific ships which have wronged them.

This isn't all the changes the development team have made to change EVE Frontier into something more than a reskinned EVE Online. I'll go into more detail about some of the industry changes and the new massive belts that don't despawn. But the subjects deserve their own posts. I'm not going to say whether I like the changes -- I probably won't like all of them -- but I'm glad this cycle runs far past EVE's Winter Nexus event, because I still want that ice mining destroyer.

EVE Online's November 2025 Monthly Economic Report: What's Up With The Money Supply?

Today CCP published the monthly economic report (MER) for November 2025. Something didn't seem right so I started doing a little digging.

As seen on 8 December 2025

The New Eden money supply dropping 4% in a month with an expansion? Either Catalyst was a horrible expansion or something was off in the report. So I looked up Jester's latest graph to do a sanity check.

Jester's November ACU graph

Looks like the issue wasn't the popularity of Catalyst. Looks like the seven-day running average of accounts logged in at any one time was up around 20%. The issue then was the report. I then opened up the money_supply.csv file and discovered the end of month total wasn't 2,379.4 trillion ISK. The New Eden economy actually had 2,614.5 trillion ISK. The ISK Sinks and Faucets chart was off by 9%. The money supply didn't shrink by 4% in November. The money supply actually grew by 5.5%. Yikes!

The EOM amount didn't change for 3 months

After doing a little investigation I found the issue also affected the September and October MER as well. Looking at the money_supply.csv file I found the end-of-month figure came from 30 August 2025. I'm not sure if 31 August 2025 having no entry in the file was an issue, but the issue affected the Average ISK Delta as well. I've put what the reports should have contained below.

The corrected AID and EOM figures

And yes, the 112.2 trillion ISK that flowed into the New Eden economy due to the movement of players into the game in November was a record, at least in raw numbers. As a percentage increase in the money supply. last month's increase of 4.5% was beat by November 2023 (5.3%), November 2022 (4.9%) and May 2019 (4.7%).

Going back I had stopped doing monthly Active ISK Delta posts before the issue appeared, but I probably do need to correct this post on quarterly Active ISK Delta totals.

I want to do more with the money supply because I found some interesting information. For example, year-over-year the money supply increased in November by 7.5%, but the amount of ISK spent increased by 15% to 1,115.6 trillion ISK. That's right. Players spent over 1 QUADRILLION ISK last month. I can't even comprehend that.

I asked Copilot for some visualization help. If one stacked 1.115.6 trillion 1 Icelandic krona coins on top of each other the stack would run from Jita to Hek ... over 6 times. That's approximately 12,300 astronomical units. Of course, that's using the jump gate network and not a direct line. Stacking the coins would take much too long without the use of jump gates. Even if the calculation is an AI hallucination, the number put a smile on my face.

(For those who want a simpler visualization, New Eden is roughly 90 light years at its widest, or roughly half as long as a stack of 1.115.6 trillion 1 Icelandic krona coins.)

Okay, the idea of stacking coins was mine. But the sheer scale of the EVE Online economy is staggering if one actually thinks about it. But for now, I need to log off and think some more about large numbers.

I'm Finishing A Steam Game: Ball x Pit

Every year one of my New Year's gaming resolutions is to finish a single-player game I purchased through Steam. Back at the beginning of the year I thought that game would be Final Fantasy II. But for some reason I put the game down and never picked it back up. Instead I heard about a single-player game while writing a post about Amazon Game Studios. The game is published by Devolver Digital. The game? Ball x Pit which just surpassed 1 million copied sold. A promotional video was just published on Tuesday.

For those unfamiliar with the game, Devolver was nice enough to put a description of game play in the press release.

About BALL x PIT

This brick-breaking, ball-fusing, base-building survival roguelite is ready to chew you up and spit you into the pit. Build your home base, fuse ridiculous combinations of balls, and blast through hordes of enemies as you rebuild the legendary New Ballbylon.

Fuse Your Balls

The Ball Fusion system encourages explosive experimentation with over 60 randomized balls to equip and combine during your journey. Discover overpowered combinations and unexpected synergies from hundreds of possible outcomes. Load up, lean in and let the spit hit the fan.

Build New Ballbylon

Expand New Ballbylon with over 70 unique buildings that provide gameplay bonuses and unlock further power-ups, new characters and more. As your community grows, entrust homebound heroes with automated tasks to keep the resources coming while you dive deeper into the pit.

Discover New Realms

Face legions of diverse enemies within the pit, battling through barren deserts, frozen caverns, savage forests and more. Each region offers its own unique set of hazards on top of hordes of increasingly challenging foes and mighty, screen-filling bosses.

Recruit Fellow Hunters

As you explore the pit, you’ll encounter fellow treasure hunters eager to add their skills to your expedition. Each character has unique, upgradable mechanics that totally change the way you play the game. Experimentation and adaptation are crucial to the success of New Ballbylon.

I've set aside an hour every day to play the game, which is a type of game I probably haven't played since working my way through college working in a bowling alley with a rather large video arcade back in the late 1980s and early 1990s. And the pixel graphics match that era of video games as well. The music won't hit the charts like that of Expedition 33, but fits in well with the game play.

So far I've spent $16.60 including tax on the game. After playing for 35 hours, I think the 50 cents-an-hour I've paid is a good buy. I've unlocked 14 of the 16 playable characters and completed 5 of the 8 maps. I've only completed 23 of the 63 Steam achievements but most of remaining ones require completing the final map.

However, I do need to hurry up and at least complete the final map this year. Seems the developer promised free downloadable content if they sold 1 million copies. So I have expansions coming in January, April, and July. So technically I can keep my record of not completing single player games intact even if I complete the final map. But I have the feeling I might try to complete the DLC as well.

I'll try to work on my backlog of Steam games in 2026 instead of buying new ones. But I couldn't resist the videos I saw of Ball x Pit. The game lived up to my expectations.

Winter Nexus Is Coming To EVE Online On December 9

Today I woke up to the news that CCP announced the dates for this year's Winter Nexus event. Running from 9 December to 12 January, EVE Online's annual winter event will run for 5 weeks. Like Final Fantasy XIV, EVE's developers will change the yearly seasonal events. This year, I thought I'd bring up some background information.

The events occur in systems containing Volatile Ice Storms as is tradition. The content is a little bit different.

Hunt Yoiul LADs (Logistical Automated Deliveries) and get Cryo Tech that allows access to even more within the storms, and don’t miss the Perseverance ice mining destroyer, currently only available through the Winter Nexus seasonal reward track.

The Yoiul LADs is an allusion to the real world group known as the Yule Lads.

The real Yule Lads

When looking at the arrival and departure dates of the Yule Lads, the event running for 5 weeks seems culturally appropriate, doesn't it?

This year InterBus is aiding the Yule Lads in their troublemaking in New Eden.

This year, InterBus is launching a cautionary campaign for travelers by dispatching Logistical Automated Delivery vessels (LADs) named after the legendary Yoiul Clones.

However, a whistleblower within Verity Enhancements, known only by the codename Yoiul Kattar, claims to have proof that the Yoiul LADs are not what they seem.

I need to interrupt CCP's narrative here because of the reference to Yoiul Kattar, aka the Yule Cat. Known as Jólakötturinn in Icelandic, the Yule Cat goes around the snowy countryside during Christmas time and eats people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve. So the developers better provide us some new clothing as a login reward before then.

Hunting down these automated vessels will give you Verity Cryo Tech that will unlock new challenges and rewards. For enforcers, this means access to more dangerous parts of the storms with stronger forces to fight. In highsec, marauders will need this Cryo Tech (specifically the Cryostorm Clarifier) to access combat sites. No such restrictions apply in lowsec or nullsec, however, depositing Cryo Tech will give access to more challenging and rewarding experiences in all Winter Nexus combat sites.

But the event doesn't just benefit combat pilots explorers and miners get some love as well.

Explorers can use the tech to gain access to relays normally scrambled by storm interference, which can then be hacked.

The tech will give miners additional recipes for mined ice, which will award enhanced salvage packages. Cryo Tech can be deposited in certain structures in and around the sites to unlock these extras.

So as players fly around New Eden this year they should keep their eyes out for trouble in snowy systems. Especially if they see a grump old man in a red suit.

EVE Online: Catalyst Patch Notes - Control Access For Freelance Jobs

I went to log into EVE Online this morning and noticed a new patch download. Two weeks after the launch of Catalyst came the first patch, concerning controlling access to freelance jobs. The news article describing the patch was pretty short.

The first update to Catalyst is here, bringing Access Control List restrictions to Freelance Jobs.

This allows project creators to decide who can and cannot see the listed job.

Want to blacklist your rival alliance? Done.

Want to make sure only members of a certain corporation see your posting? You got it.

Want to put out a hit on a rival capsuleer or corporation and make sure the target remains unaware? Mum’s the word.

A new Freelancing skill has also been added, allowing capsuleers to accept more than three Freelance Jobs at a time. Explore available Freelance Jobs via the AIR Opportunities interface.

At the same time, the costs associated with Freelance Jobs have been reduced. The duration fee is down by 25%, and the Broadcasting Fee is being cut by a third.

Basically a TL,DR for the patch notes. I was interested in the new skill, Freelancing, so I took a couple of extra minutes to gather some information.

I tried to find out what the market price is with no luck. Of course, I didn't have much time to search. Players can click on the blue "+" button to purchase the book remotely for 1.3 million ISK. I have the feeling that's how the skill will become available as the developers will want to place as few barriers to obtaining Freelancing as possible.

Below I'll include the full patch notes covering the updates to accessing freelance jobs. I have the feeling players interested in the feature will want to dig into the details.

Freelance Job Access Lists (ACLs)

Freelance Jobs now support Access Lists (ACLs), giving corporations and job creators the ability to define exactly who can view and accept the job postings. This update provides better control and privacy and a more tailored collaboration for corporations.

• ACLs allow visibility restrictions at three identity levels:
• Character – specific characters.
• Corporation – all members of selected corporations.
• Alliance – all members of corporations within selected alliances.

• Creating Jobs with ACL:
• You can select which ACL to use during job creation, and once assigned, a job’s ACL cannot be swapped, but the contents of the ACL may be edited at any time.
• Changes to ACL affect job visibility and participation but will not remove existing participants.
• If an ACL that’s attached to a freelance job is deleted, only the active participants of the job are able to contribute. No other capsuleers can accept the job.
• Blocked characters can’t see or access relevant job listings, even with a direct link.
• The job creator and corporation project managers always retain full access regardless of restrictions.

New Skill: Freelancing

• A new Freelancing skill has been introduced.
• Each level increases the number of concurrent Freelance Jobs a character can accept, up to maximum of 11.

Freelance Job Cost Adjusted

To make the job creation more sustainable, two cost reductions have been applied:

• Duration fee reduced by 25%.
• Broadcasting Fee reduced by 33%.

Freelance Job : Alliance Column in Participant view

A new Alliance column has been added to the Participant view for Freelance Jobs. Project managers will now be able to view and sort participants by alliance membership.

• Clicking the Alliance column header sorts the participants alphabetically by alliance name and clicking again reverses the order.
• If a participant does not belong to an alliance, a “-” symbol will be shown.

Cloud Imperium Records $31.9 Million In Cash Shop Revenue In November 2025

In November 2025 Cloud Imperium Games smashed records for revenue generated by its online cash shop. According to the CCU Game dashboard cash shop sales reached a record $31.9 million, a year-over-year increase of 57.7% over the $20.3 million generated in November 2024. The total was also 33.6% greater than the three-year average of $23.9 million. With one month to go in 2025 the CIG online cash shop has generated $140.4 million.

The $914.5 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of October was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1.039 billion in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

• Sales/Pledges: $914.5 million (through 30 November 2025)
• Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
• Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
• All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.107 billion, or $1.1 billion when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

Setting records - The $31.9 million in cash shop sales topped the previous single month revenue mark set back in May. The two months, powered by the Invictus and Intergalactic Aerospace Expo, resulted in $60.8 million in sales, or 43.3% of the total so far in 2025.

During November CIG also set a single year high, surpassing the $117.6 million generated in 2023. With one month to go, cash shop sales will go well beyond the $140.4 million recorded in the first 11 months of 2025.

A third record concerning a single sales was surpassed in November. This year's IAE so far has generated sales of $28.5 million. The previous IAE high of $24.5 million was set in 2023. This year's Invictus event generated sales of $24.2 million. The current IAE event still has three days to run.

New accounts - In November CIG recorded the second highest amount of new accounts in a single month in the company's history. Last month's 127,366 new accounts only trailed the 175,556 new accounts created in May 2022. So far in 2025 the number of new accounts created is up 42.7% year-over-year to 625,526. The record occurred in 2022 with 871,922 accounts created.

What to watch for - CIG should publish its 2024 financial statement to the corporate site near the end of December. Also, with the final three days of the IAE falling in December plus the upcoming Luminalia event held every year in mid-December should ensure the year's cash shop total should reach $150 million.