Alliance Tournament coverage... and beyond

It's been a long time since I penned a Dev Blog, and certainly a long time since I've had the chance to compose anything of substance. Happily today I can report in my dual capacity as E-ON magazine editor and EVE TV tea-boy. With that in mind, let's start with news on moving pictures and we'll move on to the papery stuff at the end:

EVE TV leaving on a jet plane

Veteran EVE TV host spiralJunkie has waxed his nipples and packed his famous bumble-bee shirt, Xyliana has ensured that the tinkling bell she uses to summon fairies is safely stowed away and LoxyRider is being the dutiful sherpa; having been saddled with enough camera equipment to film a global insurgency. What does this mean, dear EVE player? It means, of course, that EVE TV is Iceland bound.

Why is EVE TV heading to CCP's motherland, you ask? Why, to bring you all the action from the Alliance Tournament, of course. In just over a week - August 31, at 1300 EVE time - over 36 hours of live broadcasting will commence from a newly-constructed set. Before then final preparations need to be made, equipment checked and double checked, and the 'talent' (experts, commentators, hosts) needs to be drilled on best broadcasting practices.

With the rule changes to podding, module use and rosters, it promises to be an interesting couple of weeks. No doubt there will moments of great drama, some expensive ships and clones will be lost and we hope to see some amazing displays of strategy and tactics. Some questions are foremost in my own mind? How many expensive ships will IAC field? How many expensive ships will IAC lose? And will Band of Brothers continue their winning streak? Personally, I don't really care too much, so long as people to play fair and viewers to have fun. On both counts I suspect I won't be disappointed.

This will be the fourth Tournament of course and EVE TV's third. So successful were previous ones that EVE TV has evolved in recent months to be the vessel of a number of weekly pay-per-view shows. Those shows will continue throughout the period of the Alliance Tournament, whilst the live Tournament itself will be free to view...

... Yes, free!

A link to view the live stream will be posted on the EVE TV website when it becomes available, after which - if we have the resources - each match will be uploaded to the EVE TV site for repeat viewing pleasure (also for free). In between bouts, you are more than welcome to check out episodes of the weekly show. With your support we can keep improving and continue to provide coverage for more events and tournaments.

Regarding the weekly shows, on Saturday 25th August Episode 9 will be available, with the show on 1st Sep (Ep 10) being a special 'Behind The Scenes' edition. Episodes on the 8th and 15th of September (Ep 11 & 12) will be filmed from Iceland. With regards to the present and near future of the weekly show, it's now possible to sign up using PayPal. It's also possible to embed HTML/JavaScript codes in your blogs, MySpace pages etc. We're also in the process of updating the EVE TV site to move away from EVE TV being a single show, to having more of a channel structure, with shorter features released on a more regular basis ('EVE News', 'The 0.0 Show', 'Zapatero's Retro Gaming Hour' to name just a few ideas) and we'll also be fragmenting past shows so that it is easier to watch and digest.

Finally, during the Tournament, if anyone would like to advertise their corp or alliance (or website, blog, themselves, or the services of a well-endowed life-partner) via the medium of the moving image, you are welcome to put together a short .avi or .wmv file that we can show in between fights. It goes without saying that you should refrain from using copyright material - unless it's EVE music or logos. If you have any questions about ads (or anything to do with EVE TV), please email info@eve-online.tv.

E-ON magazine

Sticking with the subject of ads, we have about 3 or 4 weeks to go until we need to start stitching all the pages together for the next issue of EVE's magazine, so if you are planning to submit an advert, it's maybe a good time to putting ideas to paper. Check out this old dev blog for info, which pretty much has the basics on the page specs.

The other day E-ON celebrated being on sale for two years. Given that there are many of you who've yet to experience E-ON, we've put together a pdf sampler that brings together pages from the last eight issues. There is a high res version you can print out if you wish, and a lower res one that is more download friendly. I hope you enjoy reading it.

Finally, finally... good luck to all the Alliance teams taking part in the Tournament. To them I must pass on the wisdom of a great warrior, who when asked what was best in life, replied: "To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to hear the lamentation of their women." Wise words indeed.

Zapatero | Sapateiro