Even if they’re only doing it for the rewards, they’re still helping further our knowledge of the human body. But Project Discovery is an example of capsuleers working together for a worthy cause. Players may even be able to use Drifter tech themselves.”ĮVE Online players have a certain reputation, largely based on the stories of piracy and espionage that make the headlines. “Through Project Discovery our players are, as well as helping science, helping discover the mystery of who the Drifters are, why they’re so powerful, and where their technology comes from. “The Sisters of Eve are researching Drifter DNA,” says Campbell. She was killed by a powerful new NPC force called the Drifters, whose origins and motives are shrouded in mystery. There’s an in-universe reason for the work being done, and people in New Eden are collaborating to help both a real-world and a fictional cause.Ī major event in the game’s fiction last year was the murder of Amarr Empress Jamyl Sarum. If every gamer devotes just a few minutes of their time, that’s a huge help to science.” But, cleverly, Project Discovery’s inclusion in EVE isn’t completely arbitrary. “Massively Multiplayer Online Science is definitely onto something unique here. “This is the only example of a player base this size being used for a citizen science project,” says Campbell. “We released at about midday, and by 2am someone who had been playing solidly had unlocked everything, which is amazing.” But whether you’re someone as dedicated as this, or only play Project Discovery for a few minutes, every contribution helps. When Campbell was determining the Analysis Credits required to buy some of the more exotic items in the LP store, including armour sets, she thought it would take weeks. This is a new currency we’ve introduced, and players can use them in the Sisters of Eve loyalty points store.” “EVE players are helping science,” says Campbell. This is a way of encouraging people to take their time and submit accurate data. And if your rating gets too low, you won’t receive anything. Every player has an accuracy rating, which dictates the rewards they get. “Every ten or fifteen samples you get a training one, and depending on how you do, your level going forward is determined.”Īs well as the noble pursuit of helping science, there’s also an in-game reward for taking part in Project Discovery. “And cytoplasm was the most popular, because that was what they were most easily able to recognise.” In response they changed the way points were awarded, implementing a grading system. “Citizen science works by player consensus,” she says. I had Twitch chat running on my laptop as I watched the talk, just to see what people thought of each segment, and when Discovery was mentioned the chat was flooded with people shouting ‘CYTOPLASM!’ Confused, I ask Campbell about this. Project Discovery was talked about at the EVE Fanfest keynote, which was also being streamed live on Twitch. I was stunned by the level of participation.” In fact, the HPA has since told us that EVE players have been through their entire image database once already. “And we needed that, because our players quickly go through things. “They have a database of hundreds of thousands of images,” says Campbell. CCP looked at several projects and chose the HPA.