Change it is a comin'

April is looking to be a slow month for me in Eve, but it's clear that Eve itself isn't slowing down.  There's a feeling of a lot of things coming as we head on to FanFest and the election of the new CSM.  Dev Blogs and Feature/Idea threads a plenty to keep your brain moving.  Industry Changes, Pirate Battleships and Cruisers, NOS changes.  Whew.

Industry Changes

This looks like a huge wave of change.  If you haven't already read the Building Better Worlds Dev Blog, go do that right now.  I hope that anyone who hasn't already voted will consider moving industry knowledgeable people such as Steve Ronuken to the top of their ballot.

I have to say that this graphic was very exciting, though perhaps largely for what I might be projecting on it:

Is that a working queue there in the middle?  It sure looks like it, including a very log duration timer and a big "Start" button.

But more than that: This is a beautiful interface.  Crowed, sure.  Would UX designers I know have all sorts of complaints, sure.  But it is such a departure from the spreadsheets in space of Eve.  Carry this kind of philosophy across Eve and you could really revitalize it in a way that will help impress new players.

I won't try to comment too much about the details of the Dev Blog.  Other people have done better jobs (Eve-Prosper, Neville Smit), plus we have a lot that we don't know coming in the promised next 3-4 blogs.  The change coming is big enough that I see several industrial blog writers mentioning that they're putting their production on hold because they don't know how much it will turn upside down.  I suppose when you're doing long-chain things like capitals and supercapitals then a change a few months down the road is a too soon.

I do see profit margins dropping on my industrial alt's T2 products.  It could be localized, it could be temporary, but I haven't had time to dig into it yet.

Pirate Cruiser and Battleship changes

I don't expect I'll be flying a pirate battleship anytime soon, since I'm pretty much focusing on cruiser and down right now.  However it is interesting to see the threads on the pirate cruisers and battleships.  I would like to try out some of the cruisers, though I'm trying to keep more control over my ISK losses after I knocked it down pretty heavy with some special events a while back.  From hearing people talk I should fit up my Cynabal and get out there and lose it before it gets nerfed though.

NOS changes

April Fools for NOS Changes?  Apparently not.  My big question here is whether those of us who tend to fly cap intensive ships are going to find ourselves facing an increased disadvantage by this effects of this in the meta.  Now you could say that this means you should fit more Nosferatu on your Amarr and Gallente ships, but I'll point out that most ships in those factions don't have utility high slots.  Yes, there are exceptions - will those become the new meta?  Will cap-transfer become a bigger need for fleet logistics?  Maybe I need to buy a Augoror or two and start getting used to them.

I've used a capacitor battery once, on one of my most expensive losses at that, and it did do a very nice job of keeping me up and firing under cap pressure.  But I also admit it was only there because I had to refit the ship quickly from self-rep to buffer and run to join the fleet.  Will we see more cap batteries out there?