The Mittani's apology

[Xiang Jiao]

I think what Jester was trying to say is that Mittens, the Goons, and the rest of the anti-social neckbeard griefers who love EvE and have made CCP what they are today now represent something CCP wants to move away from.

Think of CCP as a bunch of not particularly nice guys running a dogfighting ring in the shitty part of town (Iceland). Overtime they have attracted a bunch of people who love conflict and cruelty, as well as many people who don't quite understand what the "dog show" actually is about. CCP makes a wad and while turbulent at times the relationship has lasted for years.

But overtime CCP sets its sites higher - say to run a regional soccer team. They still need the money from the people who enjoy seeing poodles torn apart but increasingly this negative image is getting in the way of their future asperations. Now they want to attract and please sponsors (.i.e. Sony) and get positive press.

But they are still reliant on the dogfight enthusiasts. Then, in public, one of the top arseholes amongst the doggers gets drunk and reminds everyone that EvE is about dogs ripping each other apart.

CCP is now in a bind. Boot the arsehole to the crub and enough of the current crowd may decamp and take their money with them. Don't do anything and you reinforce the view that CCP is all about killing doggies. So they take the middle road and piss off the hardcore while not pleasing the PETA types.

I want to see a Guy Ritchie film made about this. +rep

I understand the argument that CCP would like more mainstream appeal in the gaming community. How they go about doing that is another matter. They've already tried Incarna to appeal to the WoW-types, and Dust514 is coming to attract the super console noob crowd to the Eve universe. The thought here is that PSN users will suddenly be interested in playing Eve on their laptop. Maybe they'll have to turn off Incarna, of course, but they can start to become subscribers. We hear that there's a push (and a team) within CCP to improve the new player experience. I do not think, however, that there is any credible evidence that they want to dumb down PvP mechanics to the point where suicide ganking will be impossible, i.e. split up Eve into PvP and non-PvP zones, so I think the Goons will be safe to do what ever they want as long as the aren't using existing exploits. If a null sec alliance invests 200B in ships to feed to CONCORD just to terrorize the locals around trade hubs, I don't see how that breaks the rule of the game in any way. As I said before, CCP can use whatever media attention this player incursion gets to sell their game to new customers. I'm all for CCP dumbing down their game to make it easier to play (well, I didn't agree with changing the module names) as far as the usability of the user interface is concerned. Spreadsheets Online gets a little boring after a while.

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

[Jester]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

[dpidcoe]

I do not think, however, that there is any credible evidence that they want to dumb down PvP mechanics to the point where suicide ganking will be impossible, i.e. split up Eve into PvP and non-PvP zones, so I think the Goons will be safe to do what ever they want as long as the aren't using existing exploits.

Since I started playing around 2007:
- Concord response time cut in half
- Concord changed to jam players
- Concord changed to have energy neuts
- Insurance removed from losses to concord
- Stealth removal of sec status gain when in fleet
- GCC mechanics changed to prevent warping after going GCC (exploits aside, this now means you can't use arty thrashers to alpha hulks across several belts before your 15 seconds is up)

And I think I'm still missing a few.

[indeterminacy]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

I almost wrote that actually. That's it was written as if spoken. Luckily it's not graded and has no impact on your employment and or promotion. It's just :spaceships:

[Xiang Jiao]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

Nah, the longer the sentence, the longer the nerd boner! Your blogs are very readable even if I don't always find the content to be agreeable. I'm not sure what the beef is here about your writing. I also don't see anything wrong with throwing a little poem into a blog. It's a Frost poem, flavor text. If the reader doesn't find it relevant, they can skip that paragraph. No big deal.

[Lallante]

Dogging to me is a Dogman securing a load with slings before it goes up on the crane to the rigger.

More or less this, but through a glory hole in a badly lit mens public toilets.

[Lallante]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

Nah, the longer the sentence, the longer the nerd boner! Your blogs are very readable even if I don't always find the content to be agreeable. I'm not sure what the beef is here about your writing. I also don't see anything wrong with throwing a little poem into a blog. It's a Frost poem, flavor text. If the reader doesn't find it relevant, they can skip that paragraph. No big deal.

The random military "analogies" got me. Reminded me of the Community - Britta - Apple - Ego skit (i.e. the analogy is more complicated/opaque than the situation it is intended to represent.)

[indeterminacy]

No big deal.

[Frug]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

That's something to work on, but to be totally honest the writing isn't bad. I skimmed it and didn't see many flagrant violations of comma use, nor did I have any trouble understanding it. If you meander a bit while making your way to the point of your post, you certainly don't do it nearly as badly as barth who should serve as an example of how not to write.

[Stoffl]

I do not think, however, that there is any credible evidence that they want to dumb down PvP mechanics to the point where suicide ganking will be impossible, i.e. split up Eve into PvP and non-PvP zones, so I think the Goons will be safe to do what ever they want as long as the aren't using existing exploits.

Since I started playing around 2007:
- Concord response time cut in half
- Concord changed to jam players
- Concord changed to have energy neuts
- Insurance removed from losses to concord
- Stealth removal of sec status gain when in fleet
- GCC mechanics changed to prevent warping after going GCC (exploits aside, this now means you can't use arty thrashers to alpha hulks across several belts before your 15 seconds is up)

And I think I'm still missing a few.

Concord disabling your drones.

[Xiang Jiao]

Since I started playing around 2007:
- Concord response time cut in half
- Concord changed to jam players
- Concord changed to have energy neuts
- Insurance removed from losses to concord
- Stealth removal of sec status gain when in fleet
- GCC mechanics changed to prevent warping after going GCC (exploits aside, this now means you can't use arty thrashers to alpha hulks across several belts before your 15 seconds is up)

And I think I'm still missing a few.

Yes, I've been playing since 2007 as well. The fact is that you can still shoot players in high sec by a number of legal means. Legal meaning the mechanics allow it, and it hasn't been flagged as an exploit by devs. All the balance changes listed are a far cry from CCP stepping in and saying "No Mittens, you cannot command your entire alliance to terrorize high sec, that's not allowed!" If they do that, they may as well designate .5 and up as a PvP free area. Slippery slope and all that nonsense.

[Daneel Trevize]

- Stealth removal of sec status gain when in fleet

Didn't they deem that a bug and fix it very recently?

[two step]

- Stealth removal of sec status gain when in fleet

Didn't they deem that a bug and fix it very recently?

Not sure if it is fixed yet, but yes, it is a bug.

[Frug]

Yes, I've been playing since 2007 as well. The fact is that you can still shoot players in high sec by a number of legal means. Legal meaning the mechanics allow it, and it hasn't been flagged as an exploit by devs. All the balance changes listed are a far cry from CCP stepping in and saying "No Mittens, you cannot command your entire alliance to terrorize high sec, that's not allowed!" If they do that, they may as well designate .5 and up as a PvP free area. Slippery slope and all that nonsense.

They have threatened people not to take actions such as invading jita in the past on the basis that it's considered 'lag inducing' on purpose. It was one of the most disappointing positions I've ever heard CCP take on matters of eula/rules enforcement and, had they ever acted like that, I'd have quit playing because it ruins the sandbox for me. But they didn't, and I unsubbed anyway... heh.

[bobgainsfield]

Thought most folks used commas to add natural pauses in the sentence structure (a la how it would sound when spoken)... Jester's verbosity never bothered me personally and I do look forward to his posts.

[Steph]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

Write long sentences with too many commas crew checking in.

[Xiang Jiao]

Thought most folks used commas to add natural pauses in the sentence structure (a la how it would sound when spoken)... Jester's verbosity never bothered me personally and I do look forward to his posts.

That's what the period or ellipsis (...) does. Commas just separate the parts or clauses of a sentence. They don't have to indicate any pause. Neither does the ellipsis, but it often inspires a pause as the sentence trails off to... When you read a sentence where someone uses a comma to indicate a parenthetical phrase, you usually pause slightly before and after the phrase when speaking it aloud.

I don't think any of us here are grammar Nazis, which is awesome. I don't care if you use any punctuation, but if it's more than a couple lines long rest assured I'm not going to read it. I recall once being chewed out by a boss for using double spaces after sentences in an email.

[Mike deVoid]

I don't think CCP are trying to move on to a different type of player - they've specifically said that the new PR guy will look to sell eve on the basis that it is a hard a cruel universe, along with an end to 'jesus features' designed to bring in a large influx of new players.

The only possible difficulty with the Goon Jita invasion is all the carebear rage that will be induced - people who really don't fully understand the game and want to play in a safe bubble call highsec.

However I think the drama will be glorious and nothing bad will happen, just loud voices and dead spaceships.

[joe_rockhead]

He over uses commas in an attempt to add emphasis and it doesn't work. Instead, it just breaks up, you know, the meaning, and makes it hard to read.

Everyone knows that more punctuation indicates a higher IQ.

Yeah, that's a definite weakness of my writing style that I have been working on. It comes from the fact that I often write how I speak. A lot of my editing passes come down to making sentences shorter and removing punctuation.

Nah, the longer the sentence, the longer the nerd boner! Your blogs are very readable even if I don't always find the content to be agreeable. I'm not sure what the beef is here about your writing. I also don't see anything wrong with throwing a little poem into a blog. It's a Frost poem, flavor text. If the reader doesn't find it relevant, they can skip that paragraph. No big deal.

Any writing guide - technical, journalism, fiction, whatever - will tell you: Don't waste the reader's time. The reader will respect you more for it.

[lubica]

This thread needs to be taken out back and put out of its misery.