Over the past 2 decades, MMOs have revolutionized the game industry, allowing players to cooperate and compete with each other on a scale previously unheard of. MMOs come in various shapes and sizes; everything from the free small-scale indie project, to the money-hungry corporate mammoth. There are so many MMOs in existence now, it’s been said that “there’s an MMO out there for anyone willing to look hard (or spend) enough to find it,” but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

For awhile now, I’ve been on a quest to find the right MMO for me; WoW was too boring, MapleStory was too cute, and the dozens of indie MMOs I tried lacked depth. Understand that the aforementioned games are not bad games, but simply games that could not capture or keep my attention. Despite my greatest efforts, it seemed as if I might never find the game I was so desperately searching for. Recently, it seems my luck may have changed, thanks to a game called EVE Online.

EVE Online is an experience unlike any other MMO I’ve played to date; it’s diversity and flexibility make it difficult to compare to existing MMOs on the market. For example, EVE does not have classes - any player can train any skill as long as they have the prerequisite skill(s) trained to the appropriate level. What this means is players are not locked in to only being able to use specific weapons or fly specific ships throughout the entirety of the game. Another uncommon trait EVE has is it’s method of skill training. Rather than mimicking the infamous grind found in many other MMOs, EVE’s skill training is time-based, counting down real-world, including out-of-game, time.

Though differing itself from traditional MMOs is a plus, one of the things I love about EVE is its development team. EVE was developed by Icelandic company Crowd Control Productions in May 2003. EVE is CCP’s first, and currently only, game. They routinely patche and releases content updates for EVE, promising never to charge for these services. In June 2007, CPP hired Dr. Guðmundsson, an economist, to assist in the development of EVE’s economy & compile quarterly economic reports for the player community. Though CCP is very hands-on in its development of EVE, they are very hands-off when in comes to how players experience the game.

“We provide the rules and tools, but it is the players themselves who create the adventure.”

-CCP (From EVE Online Website)

EVE is a “thinking man’s” game. You could play it as a generic space game, but I doubt you would find it any more interesting such. In order to fully appreciate EVE, you should immerse yourself in it and understand that it’s not something you’ll figure out in a day, week, or even a number of months. It is very much a math-based game, as its the only game I’ve played with a calculator built-in to it. Whether you’re an ace combat pilot or a money-savvy day-trader, you’ll have plenty of stats to keep track of in-game.

For the small amount of time I’ve been playing EVE, I’ve loved it - though it’s not without its faults. I’ve had more than my fair share of lag while playing the game along with some other minor issues, but in the long run, its a small price to pay for being a part of the world’s largest in-game universe.

Note: EVE Online costs $14.95/month to play

For more information about EVE Online or the people behind it, please visit these pages:

• EVE Online Official Site
• Crowd Control Productions

Store In-depth Economic Information: When it comes to developing and maintaining a virtual economy, information is your best friend. Once you know you’re making an MMO, this should be your next step. When working on this, try to collect all the information you can to make identifying potential problems with the economy much easier.

Control Money Going Into the Economy: When developing your game’s economy, keep in mind that you have complete control over the “printing” of currency. It is much easier to control how currency is created as opposed to destroyed (see next bullet).

Remember, Money Going Out is Voluntary: Unlike money going in to the economy, you have very little control over if and when players will spend their money. Because of this factor, it makes little sense to manipulate your game’s economy solely by taking money out of circulation.

Create Incentives to Spend: Even though you can’t control if and when players will spend their money, you can make it REALLY tempting for them. Creating one time use items, like potions or bandages are a great way to take money out of the economy, because players who purchase these items are likely to come back for more.

Protect Your Economy: No matter how great your economy, if you don’t protect it, your players will exploit it. Defending your economy is of utmost importance, as drastic changes in the economy, such as steep inflation, could alter gameplay mechanics, driving a significant portion of your playerbase away.

Fez is an indie platformer developed by Kokoromi . What’s so special about Fez? Watch the video below and find out.

Kokoromi is a small group of game developers based in Montreal, Quebec who share the common goals of creating and promoting artistic and experimental gameplay. From the looks of the video above, they’re doing just that. Fortunately I’m not the only one person that thinks so, since Fez received the 2008 Independent Games Festival Award for Excellence in Visual Art. Congratulations to the people over at Kokoromi, I can’t wait to try out Fez!

Sony Japan’s Echochrome is an innovative puzzle game based on Jun Fujiki’s Object Location Environment Coordinate System. The interesting thing about the OLE Coordinate System is that movement constraints are not only defined by the 3D coordinates of objects but also by the position of the camera, as demonstrated in the Echochrome video.

Test the OLE Coordinate System

Download OLE Coordinate System

System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems: Windows XP, Vista
• Required Software: DirectX 9