EVE Online Fanfest Report: Revelations I (Kali) and White Wolf (Page 2 of 3)
Richardsson clarified that the intent of their system is not to make tanking vessels indestructible. Mathematically, it's roughly the same thing, it just lasts a little longer. Thus, while a tank can absorb more damage in battle, it is proportionally identical to what they were doing before. Fundamentally, the game is the same, there is just more time to think.
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Jumping for Everyone!
"[We're] nerfing instant jump bookmarks," added Richardsson. This change gives everyone the ability to jump across space rapidly and undermines a strategy where experienced players could essentially set up a relay network through space to avoid attack. Now, everyone can do it, but it no longer takes a degree in advanced mathematics to figure out how to stop them. Players should be able to more readily patrol these areas and catch people as they try to sneak through space to the next jump gate.
Contracts
Another big system is contracts. This is the most basic and renewable source of content. Players and corporations can simply draw up agreements with each other to perform acts, trade objects, etc. The game enforces these and institutionalizes it all. Don't trust the guy you're hiring to haul some ore? Sign him to a contract and rest easy.
The possibilities of contracts are likely as numerous as players can devise, but CCP did provide examples. In one case, a player could sign a contract with another where the player provides them with a mining ship and equipment for one week in exchange for a certain amount of raw material. For a week, the player uses this equipment and at the end, they simply return it (as per the contract) and the agreed amount of ore to collect whatever reward they'd agreed upon. This will also formalize things simple transactions like selling ships and build in a completely new auction system for players to enjoy. EVE has a significant merchant market and contracts will likely be their new best friends.
The system does not, however, fold in the bounty system. Richardsson admitted that this is something they hope to do and told us he was not happy with the way it currently works. However, as is their custom, he didn't want to bite off more than they could chew with the initial iteration of the contract system. Eventually, once things are more settled, they'll fold it in.
Seamless Zooming Changes the World
Many of the other Revelations I features seemed rather simple, but should have a large impact on the way people experience EVE Online. Designer Noah Ward told us that with the new seamless zoom out (roll the mouse wheel back and you can go all the way from staring at the side of your ship's haul to a macro map of the entire universe) could fundamentally alter the game.
"The system view is so helpful that I'm going to live in that view," he told us.
The system view also enabled them to bring more exploration to EVE. When zoomed out, players will find points of interest through scanning. If the brave head to them, they can unlock what CCP are calling Escalating Quests. These are hundreds of hand written stories that grow in difficulty as players pursue them. At the risk of using a dirty word, they're epic in nature and can range from requiring a single ship to an entire fleet. However, they're also something that players can pick up and set down. Players are intended to enjoy them at their own pace.
Salvaging: More Phat Loot
Salvaging is also new to Revelations I. It used to be that when a ship exploded there would be dozens of pristine cans floating around for players to pick up. This annoyed Ward and others, so now they've added the burnt out husks of hauls. Smaller ships are represented by some generic wreckage, while larger ships have a customized carcass for players to loot.
| ESRB:T
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