Video: Rebuilding Crimewatch, EVE Online 's player policing system

"Trying to fix a complex system by adding more complexity is going to kick your ass.

"Trying to fix a complex system by adding more complexity is going to kick your ass. It's a bad approach." - Game designer Matthew Woodward explains what he learned from mistakes made while designing player policing systems in
EVE Online .

In this GDC 2014 talk, CCP Games' Matt Woodward explores how "Crimewatch," EVE Online 's policing and aggression management system, got into such a bad state that an unofficial moratorium was placed on further development -- and how his team went about redesigning it.

His talk covers the history of the system and walks you through its development process, covering initial research, core design, adjustments necessitated by legacy features and player feedback, and how the redesign fared post-release.

System designers, take note: Woodward digs deep into the design process of Crimewatch, using practical examples to illustrate the underlying design flaws of the original system, isolate the mistakes that led to them, and explain the reasoning that underpins the replacement system -- as well as how that reasoning can be practically applied to the design of other games.

It's a good talk, so we've gone ahead and embedded the free video of "Crimewatch 2.0: Redesigning EVE Online 's Policing System" above. You can also watch it hereon the GDC Vault.
About the GDC VaultIn addition to this presentation, the GDC Vaultoffers numerous other free videos, audio recordings, and slides from many of the recent Game Developers Conference events, and the service offers even more members-only content for GDC Vault subscribers.

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