CCP is giving away more free Skill Points (amongst other things) with their Black Friday Log on boosts.
https://www.eveonline.com/article/q1mqjb/get-the-black-friday-boost
Log in daily between November 27th and December 3rd to collect.
I don’t recall a previous period where CCP has so regularly given away free stuff before.
CCP’s latest patch this week incorporates changes to how Bookmarks are managed and shared. It also seems to have stopped my ESC key from bringing up the EVE client settings window. That is the way I have always logged off the game. Now I seem to have to use the Neocom menu.
In what I assume is part of their Chaos Era, CCP has also announced its version of player run SOMER Blink / Raffles / Gambling / Microlotteries. It should be in game on December 10th.
https://www.eveonline.com/article/q1muog/introducing-the-hypernet-relay
One of my pet theories is that the more spin and hype in a CCP article, the more contentious the change. This article has statements like “today there is great excitement”, “will stimulate the economy of New Eden by increasing the trade velocity of items”, and “the potential increase in access to coveted items for players through asset redistribution is also a very exciting prospect!”.
This new feature is called the HyperNet Relay. It allows you to run your own Raffle by paying CCP (directly via the New Eden Store or indirectly via the market) a fee based on the value of your Raffle, in a new item (currency?) called Hypercores.
I wonder what the scam to valid lottery ratio will be?
The feedback thread is here, and promises much:
https://forums.eveonline.com/t/introducing-the-hypernet-relay/203064
Having said that – remember this?
The Starter Pack that comes with 1M Skill points that there was such a huge player furore over? The one CCP suggested they would reconsider? It still gets advertised on occasion on the game launcher, including just the other day, and players no longer seem to notice or care.
In all honesty I am not fussed by this “feature”. I might use it a handful of times for my own amusement, but otherwise I will ignore it. My mind boggles however at the can of worms CCP is opening for themselves. Even ignoring the initial player aggravation, there are all the complexities such how legal it is in each individual country, problems related to gambling additions, and so on. Why would CCP go down such a path (aside the obvious hoped for profit)?
Evehermit 
Controversy is a valid attention strategy I suppose.
They Hypernet focus seems to be that some lucky players might get modules and such they could not otherwise afford. Always omitted is the fact that between 7 and 511 (the range of “tickets” you can have for your lottery is 8 to 512) will pay their ISK and get nothing at all. Like any casino, you focus attention on the winners and let the losers slink off in silence.
I set out to make a post every month about that starter pack still being around. I think I made two posts about it and got bored. Nobody cares.
My 10-year-old daughter demands constant attention. She doesn’t care if it is good or bad, it is all the same to her. (We care though..)
It will be interesting to see what cut CCP will be taking. It will also be interesting to see if you can be scammed by a lottery even if you take reasonable care. I think I saw a Titan in the example image – but how will that work if you can only use NPC stations? Lots of little details still to be provided.
Funny enough I’ve thought to bring up the Starter Pack numerous times as well, but not had quite the right situation until now. I suspect CCP feels this will all wash over as well.
I come back from a real life hiatus to find Hypernet and must say I am disturbed…