There are some uses of multiple accounts allowed in the game of EVE Online, and CCP have recently come out to clarify just what those allowed uses are and what will not be tolerated.

You’re allowed to have multiple accounts/subscriptions and even play them at the same time with the use of multiboxing software. There are many legitimate uses of this play style, including sending accounts ahead as scout parties and gang boosting. It’s also the cornerstone tactic of the ‘noble’ art of spying in the game of EVE, using smaller accounts to join the ranks of enemy corporations to keep an eye on their activities while your main account is active in the one you support.

However, other uses are not allowed. One, input automation which was banned way back in March 2013, is still very much illegal. This is when you use a bot to control an account and do actions for you, such as mining or looking after the time-consuming ore refining tasks. Now Input Broadcasting and Input Multiplexing have also been banned from list of allowed actions to take with multiple accounts – although only if they are performing actions that have an impact on the game’s built-in universe. Anything like altering EVE Online client settings and the positioning and arrangements of the client within your system’s desktop environment are fine.

The first bans for IB and IM will happen from January 1st 2015, with the first occurrence resulting in a ban of 30 days and the second ban being a permanent one. If you aren’t sure about something you are currently doing with your accounts, CCP recommend you ask them before you continue to do it lest you get hit by these penalties.

Bohemia have set themselves a goal for DayZ. Though the game is still a ways off from being complete, they realise that there’s still a few things getting in the way of what made the game so popular back when it was nothing but an Arma 2 mod and continues to make it unique today – the fact that no two encounters with another player on a server will be the same.

In the remaining weeks of 2014, they will be working on fixing as many of the issues keeping those meetings from happening as possible. This includes server issues, connection problems and all sorts of other bugs that stop people connecting or staying connected.

Lead producer Brian Hicks says that as well as these issues, security and server performance fixes rank “just as high” on the to-do list for the next month.

“Be it friendly or hostile, direct or at a distance – the interactions between players within Chernarus is what makes the world come alive without a structured narrative or reason to be… As we move towards our Christmas break, making those experiences be as fluid and enjoyable as possible on a development build is a personal goal for the team.”

He is also excited for the year ahead and thanks the community around the game for giving Bohemia the chance to develop the game in ways that wouldn’t be possible through a traditional design method.

Loot is a big thing for MMOs. Having the right loot can mean the difference between a decently equipped character and the perfect setup. Having enough relevant loot for raid parties is also a big deal, which is why its always been a hot topic within World of Warcraft over its ten years of running.

Mists of Pandaria brought with it a new loot system called “Personal Loot”, a system which gave each player an individual chance of receiving items appropriate for their class and spec. It was successful enough to be continued on to the latest expansion of Warlords of Draenor for their five-man dungeons.

Recently though it was reverted back to an older system – the “Need Before Greed” one, with Blizzard citing that it was down to ‘community’ and ‘team’ feedback. The community responded with outcries and petitions, asking Blizzard to change their mind and less than 24 hours later the “Personal Loot” system is back for instance queue found groups. Both systems have also had an increase in the reward total.

Community manager Rygarius stated “We heard from sources both within our team and the community that the experience of defeating a boss and no ceremony beyond three gold on its corpse, or the possibility of finishing an entire dungeon without seeing any items, felt flat and even a bit broken. Based on those concerns, we decided to roll back a system that had been in place for a week to a system that had been in use for years, while we continued to polish and refine the personal loot system to deliver an optimal experience to players.”

The drop rates have been changed now so that Personal loot will now always drop an item for every player when killing the final boss of an instance, and Need Before Greed will drop three items instead of just two for final bosses as well.

Are you happy with these changes? Glad that Personal Loot is back in place? Tell us below!

Did you know that Civilization has an MMO form? Civilization Online has been a thing for about a year now, currently in closed beta in Korea. It’s a collaboration between 2K and XLGAMES and at this year’s G-Star event they showed off a new trailer.

In this trailer it demonstrates both sides of the play-styles in the game. The creative part and the destructive. For in other words, watch as players build something beautiful then bomb the living daylights out of it.

There’s been no word yet on a western release for the title, or any sort of pricing model or launch date. Sounds interesting though.

It was a few months ago that CCP put out the call. They asked the players of EVE Online if they wouldn’t mind submitting a bunch of voice comms for a secret project they were working on.

Although it was revealed at EVE down Under what the project was, it’s only now that we can see the result – a trailer called simply “This is EVE” to explain the game’s complicated and ever-changing environment to new players and those who are just curious.

It’s a good decision. EVE is a rare thing, a game that is shaped in a lot of ways by the players themselves and their actions. Groups form, alliances are forged and broken, players are attacked and attack others; and it’s just grown so much that for someone on the outside it must be terrifying to attempt to fathom. Using the voices of players to tell their stories gets the very people responsible for forging such a virtual universe involved in explaining just what EVE is to them and to others they fly with every day.

You can check it out below, but be warned – this is the uncensored version. There is also a censored version available though if you’d rather watch that one.

If you can’t see the embed above here’s a link to the video: [x]