Old EVE portraits to be backed up -- log in today for high-res captures
EVE Online's Incursion expansion's final phase is upon us, bringing with it the cataclysmic destruction of several hundred thousand disembodied heads. Those passport-photo-style mugshots next to characters' names on the forum and in-game chat channels will all be removed in tomorrow's patch. In their place, we'll create new photos using an advanced new full-body avatar generator. We've seen this new character generator in action, and it can produce some really impressive results that far outshine the old avatars we currently use. More importantly, the new avatars will be full-bodied characters for use with the upcoming Incarna expansion, rather than just small passport photos.
Players have expressed concerns about losing those EVE character portraits they've have had since as far back as 2003. In response, CCP has announced that all of the current portraits used on the forum are being backed up to an alternative web-server which will be kept open to public access. However, these portraits are limited to a width and height of 256 pixels. If you'd like to capture your current character in full high-resolution glory, you'll need to log in tonight to capture it. In a new last-minute devblog, the hilariously-named CCP Purple Tentacle has just posted details of the portrait backup service and instructions on exactly how to capture your character in high definition.
If you're caught away from your PC tonight and unable to capture your portrait, we'd like to help out. Please leave a comment with your character name and I'll be available for the next few hours to log in to capture the image for you. I'll then email the image to the email address you use on Massively. If you'd like it sent to a different email address, please include it in your comment or mail your request to brendan@massively.com and I'll send it to that address. When I'm no longer available to process requests, I will update this post.
UPDATE: The deadline has now passed and old portraits an no longer be catured in high resolution. Lower resolution portraits of up to 256 width and height can be downloaded using CCP's portrait backup service, which is now live.
