The MMORPG EVE Online is humorously referred to by some as “Excel spreadsheets in space.” A feature was introduced in 2020 that allows you to hide the graphics and work directly in spreadsheets. Now an export function is coming to integrate this into Excel. Players love this announcement.
What has EVE announced? During the ongoing EVE Fanfest, innovations for the space MMORPG have been announced. This includes an official partnership with Microsoft, which allows data from EVE Online to be exported and integrated into Excel.
What sounds totally boring at first glance is being celebrated frenetically by fans of the MMORPG. The topic of data plays an essential role in EVE.
Creative Director Bergur Finnbogason said on stage:
This is not an April Fool’s joke, this is real. I’m not lying. We actually reached out to [Microsoft] and they said: ‘Oh my God, we love Eve’.
The Excel integration is primarily aimed at making it easier for small groups of players and beginners to keep track of their own data.
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Why is data so important? According to Finnbogason, many players are already using external tools to monitor their data. This includes checking things like resource production or prices during trading.
Even in large wars like World War Bee 2, data played a significant role. After all, ships worth 800,000 euros were destroyed.
The collaboration with Microsoft and the spreadsheet program Excel is therefore not out of the question.
Already in 2020, a feature was introduced that allows you to turn off the 3D graphics. Instead of showing a battle, the background simply goes black and you can only access the UI and the texts. This is sufficient because the graphics only visualize what is already communicated through the texts.
How do fans react to the Excel spreadsheets? Overall positively. Especially hardcore players appreciate that they can export their data more easily and directly to Excel.
However, some criticize that the Excel spreadsheet was pretty much the only good announcement at the Fanfest for EVE. There is criticism, among other things, for:
- Missing new content. Primarily revisions were announced, but no real innovations.
- The direction of EVE is increasingly moving towards scripted events, which many hardcore players dislike. On reddit it is mentioned: “EVE, the harsh PvP sandbox is dying, EVE, the living universe is being born. But they are obviously not the same game.”
- Adjustments to the “New Player Experience” that, while important for the game, completely bypassed the hardcore viewers attending such a Fanfest.
- Many long presentations that contained hardly any useful information.
In addition, the EVE Online community is currently a bit tense because subscription prices are being increased:
