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CCP’s next game is like DayZ with vampires, which sounds amazing

Up till now, CCP Games has been all about EVE Online. Their other projects have been spinoffs: an EVE FPS, an EVE boardgame, an FPS set in the world of EVE. That’s fine, really, as EVE is the preeminent work of sci-fi of this young century. But their interests go beyond null-secs and space frigates.  Their upcoming MMO World of Darkness is going in an entirely different direction: vampires. And also the current computer gaming trend of merciless survival games, apparently. CEO Hilmar Pétursson told Rock, Paper, Shotgun the following: “The core dynamics of being human or vampire haven’t changed, but…

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The glorious propaganda of Eve Online

Over at The Mittani, Alikchi has put together a fascinating article on the propaganda of Eve. It turns out intergalactic war among space fleets on MMO servers is not altogether different from the wars fought in real life on planet Earth. Both rely on vainglorious messages to recruit, rally the troops, and placate other nations. Both fudge the truth. these updates encapsulate a ‘worldview’ of New Eden that may or may not be at odds with reality. GoonSwarm might not be the Reavers of New Eden. Makalu might not be a terrible FC. SOLAR allies might not all be “pets”.…

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A socialist state emerges in China’s alternate EVE universe

It’s no secret that China has a constrictive grip on what it’s citizens are allowed to access over the internet. Google’s struggles to operate within the nation were prominent, and residents within the country can’t use social networks like Facebook or Twitter, instead relying on state-sponsored variants like Sina Weibo.  This isolationism spreads to online games. While the rest of the world’s EVE players play in one massive universe, players in China use their own server, an alternative universe called Serenity. – – – While reading about EVE’s living, breathing intergalactic ecosystem always prooves fascinating, an account of the evolution…