Blog Banter 30: The Melting Pot

Once again the call has gone out to anyone with a penchant for scribbling about internet spaceships. Blog Banter 30 is embracing the wave of creativity driving the development of the upcoming winter expansion. Here is the question our intrepid bloggeratti will be tackling this month:

“With the Winter expansion possibly being named ‘Crucible’, it certainly is a melting pot of refinements and tweaks aimed at making the EVE experience smoother and more wholesome. If the developers suddenly found themselves some spare resources and approached you for an additional feature to include before release, what single concept would you pitch them and how would you implement it?

For bonus points, the one thing lacking from this “patchwork” of iterations is a cohesive storyline to package “The Crucible” together. How could this expansion be marketed to potential new customers?”

I’ll add links to the banters below as they materialise. Buckle up, this should be a crazy and inventive ride.

If you’re not sure what this Blog Banter lark is about, check this link for clarification. If you want to join in but don’t have a blog, there are number of community members who would be happy to guest host your writing. Please post in the comments if you are looking for or offering this service.

Addendum: In an incredible coincidence, lead designer CCP Soundwave has now actually asked the community for ideas for his small feature list in this forum post. I doubt any of the suggestions will make it into this expansion, but I’m sure Team BFF will continue with their iteration assault beyond the initial release so it’s well worth getting your thinking cap on.

I will be maintaining a a duplicate list of the links below in the above forum thread in this post.

Blog Banters/(Not)Dev Blogs

CCP Ninveah – Ship Transport, D-Scan Improvements, Exploration Ships
CCP Madhatter – Stalemate Unleashed (backstory)
CCP FakeDevBlogger – Faction Warfare Redesign
CCP Revenge – Joystick Control, Pirate Factions, Wormhole Changes
CCP Cozmik – Global Criminal Countdown Changes
CCP NinjaHoneyBee – EMP Blasts, New Rigs
CCP BadStudent – Navigation-Linked Market Tools
CCP Haberdasher – War Dec’ Changes, Hi-Sec PvP
CCP Ranter – Launcher and Turret Animation, PI Improvements, Motherships
CCP Anomaly – Incursion Iterations
CCP Veskin – Ammo Revolvers
CCP Margin – Product ‘Heat’ Map
CCP AngryLog – Deep Space Exploration
CCP NastyCop – Zero Tolerance Policing
CCP Mumbles – Good Samaritan Standings Boosts
CCP Cheapshoes – Advanced Camera Controls
CCP Epicentre – Temporary Jumpgate Jamming
CCP Myark – Pirate Faction Rebalancing
CCP YoYo – Standings-Linked Market Prices
CCP Crab – Stealth Ship Hunter/Decloaker
CCP Randy – Faction Warfare (backstory)
CCP LabRat – Sovereignty/Incursion System Effects in Faction Warfare
CCP Icly – A Cartel Conspiracy (backstory)
CCP InPrivate – GCC/UI/Dynamic System Security (+ backstory)
CCP ForumTrollslayer – Market UI Improvements
CCP Kenza – Bounty System/Social Media Integration
CCP MuppetNinja – Null-Sec Tollgates/Combat Areas

Final Crucible 1.0 Patch Notes 😉

[In case you were wondering, it should be noted that some (read: all) of the above “developers” may not actually be CCP employees.]