And the Crowd Went Wild
It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in the world of EVE: Valkyrie. First there was the annual madness that is EVE Fanfest, a massive event held in
Community Developer CCP Redcape.
You’ve helped us fix bugs and balance ships. You’ve hung out on the forums, asking all the right questions, pushing us to make the game better. Our alpha pilots have been instrumental in helping shape the future of the game. However all good things must end, and in preparation for launch, the alpha for EVE: Valkyrie will be closing on 12 March at 18:00 UTC (1PM ET).
The EVE: Valkyrie Development Team would like to extend a massive thank you to all our testers who have participated in the alpha. Your commitment and feedback have made a massive contribution during this crucial phase of development! Launch is just around the corner, on 28 March, and we can't wait to fly with you guys in the game.
We'll see you in the next life
The EVE: Valkyrie Development TeamThe main issue with submarines is their speed. Most subs couldn't make 18 knots (*South Carolina*) on the surface, and few could go above 21 knots (most USN BBs). It would take a very long time to get to the fighting, and during that time you'd probably be spotted and forced to dive and/or be killed in the process. Once you dive you'd be lucky to make 7-8 knots, half the speed of the slowest ships in game. You'll never hunt carriers, so subs won't be a CV counter. Given the stand-off range on most battleships, you'd probably never make it to them either unless they push to you. Schnorchels were only on German subs (unless you want to add postwar refits of US and British subs) and would make this speed even worse in most cases:

&gt;There were several problems with the Schnorchels; first it turned the attacking/patrolling U-boat into a slow (6 knots was the max speed for the VII and IX types, otherwise the air mast would break off) and almost deaf weapon. [[other issues](https://uboat.net/technical/schnorchel.htm) wouldn't be present in game]

Very few subs had high submerged speeds, and the only large one I can recall is the Type XXI. The toehrs had far fewer torpedo tubes and would only exist at lower tiers, if they come in at all. 

Adding spawns closer to the middle of the map only creates more issues, especially if one team has more subs than another. The subs would get to the objective first, but they'd probably arrive at the same time. Subs of this era were fairly bad at fighting other subs unless the hunted had no idea the hunter was around, which would be a bad assumption here, and every sub-on-sub engagement I know of was one sub firing a torpedo at an unsuspecting victim (or mines). This only gets worse if you add cruiser submarines. On top of all of that, the DDs are right behind the subs, making going near a cap a probable death sentence as you cannot kill a maneuvering DD with any degree of reliability and they will probably spot you. 

On top of all of that, subs would be incredibly difficult to fight in a battleship or most cruisers. Every ship in game is vulnerable to every other almost every point in the battle. If you are in smoke, someone can guess where you are and shoot guns or torpedoes in your direction. The only exceptions to this rule are when you are not spotted or behind an island (in which case your vulnerable to someone else). If you are a battleship in a cap at the tail end of a game (where the oxygen timer wouldn't matter) and you are directly atop an enemy submarine denying you the cap, there is nothing you can do. If the enemy team has a cap advantage, you lose, end of story. You won't always have a DD nearby (just look at the complaints about why DDs haven't smoked a particular BB, most of them distance related), most cruisers never had depth charges, and if a carrier doesn't have ASW assets or isn't in game at all there is nothing you can do. Adding Schnorchels only makes this worse, as rather than this being an occasional issue it becomes one throughout the game.

The only way subs can work is:

1. AI subs in a modified Bastion mode or similar

2. An attack/defense mode, where one team tries to attack, for example, [Manila](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Manila_Bay_Landsat_2000.jpg)

3. AI subs in scenarios

It's not a practical idea for a game where matches are at most 20 minutes. Games with longer matches can make subs work, but here they have a ton of problems.We are very grateful to have supportive donors and partners. SPECIAL THANKS TO: 1. Ron Davis and his church, Rebuilders Ministries - donated holiday food for our serve 2. Forwood Manor - sponsored our Christmas meal on Sunday, December 1, 2013 and provided volunteers 3. JNN Foundation - helping with serves 4. Isaacs & Associates, CPA - our auditors 5. Catalyst Visuals - for our website design and hosting 6. Women's Network at 3 Beaver Valley Rd in Wilmington - assist with volunteers and donations for serves in February and March 7. Capital One (Asian Network Team) - for sponsoring the serve on August 3, 2014, contributions of their volunteers, and their assistance in applying for a grant 8. Capital One has sponsored and participated in their 2nd Annual Serve with us on Sunday, April 26, 2015. They paid for everything and provided approximately 30 Volunteers. They are also planning to work with us on this year's 5K fundraiser and the matching 9K grant for the van purchase. 9. Capital One has sponsored the matching 9K grant for the van purchase in 2016.Many people would have you believe that advanced age and rock ‘n’ roll are simply not in sync. That’s understandable really, given the fact that Rock, especially in its earliest incarnations, was always a young person’s game.
For its first couple of decades, it was a sound synonymous with rebellion and defiance of society.
And for as long as I can remember at least, those causes have always been the realm of youth, whose innate intention was to reject parental values and strike out in directions of their own choosing.
Yet, those musicians who started out so young and fresh-faced early on are now increasingly reaching the age of Social Security and the realms of Senior Citizenry. It’s a strange transition to be sure, especially when viewing photos of eternal icons like the Rolling Stones, Robert Plant, Stevie Nicks or Paul McCartney, and the craggy, crease-lined visages that stare back are scarcely recognizable as the faces of those who were once so familiar.
These senior moments make a statement. So it’s not so surprising to hear that Mick Jagger allegedly refused to have a close-up taken when he was out clubbing in New York recently. And it’s not all that odd that when I met McCartney a few years ago, he consulted with his handlers on how he looked prior to taking a photo.
A couple of scenarios brought this reality of rock and age home to me recently. For starters, there was last year’s Beach Boys concerts, a 50th anniversary reunion that gathered all the surviving members of a veritable American institution.
The fact that the tour celebrated a half-century seems imposing enough, but there’s also the irony of a band calling itself the Beach Boys when it’s clear that they’re anything but. It seems weird to identify anyone as a boy when they’re on the precipice of 70 and old enough to be their original fans’ grandparents.
And what’s stranger still, is to heari them still singing songs like “When I Grow Up To Be a Man” or recite lyrics like “We’ll have fun, fun, fun ‘til daddy takes the T-Bird away.” Let’s face it – the words to those two songs might be more appropriate if they were combined.
It seemed sad initially – indeed, more than one person told me they had seen the band interviewed on television and the guys looked so lined and wrinkled – so damn old in fact – that they couldn’t bring themselves to see the show. But as I told them, and as I stated in my subsequent review, the accumulated years appeared incidental. Ultimately, it was just plain fun, fun, fun with no strings attached.
See, that’s the thing. Young people don’t have a monopoly on zest, enjoyment, adventure or any of those other emotions nurtured early on and seized upon in adolescence. Sure, energy and enthusiasm may wane as we get older, but the primal urges that stir our psyche – especially when it comes to the music that moves us – continues to create a bond.
At a certain age, it transitions from a rallying cry into nostalgia, allowing the music of our memories to exert a powerful grasp… perhaps more than ever. I know that for me personally, the things I listened to and loved back in the day continue to stir me as much as ever.
I can put on an old tune and instantly flash back to the time and place where I first heard it, and then sing – make that shout – along as