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EVE Fanfest 2014: EVE's Kronos expansion is an industrial revolution
The EVE Online keynote presentation finished just a few hours ago at EVE Fanfest 2014, and it looks as if there are big plans for the year ahead. This summer will bring us the Kronos expansion, which is scheduled for June 3rd and aims to revolutionise every aspect of industrial activity in EVE Online in terms of both gameplay and accessibility. The economy has become quite stagnant over the past year as players have long since worked out all the most efficient ways to manufacture and trade, so CCP has planned its very own industrial revolution with a complete overhaul of industrial gameplay. Kronos also marks another important milestone for CCP, as the company will be switching from releasing two major expansions per year to a more agile strategy of releasing 10 smaller updates each year. The Kronos release was originally planned as a full expansion before the changeover to a 10-release schedule, so it's as packed as a full expansion. In addition to a deluge of industry overhauls, we'll be getting a shiny new mining ship, major pirate faction ship revamps, an enhanced new player experience, and a cool new effect when players warp into or out of an area. Read on for a breakdown of the EVE keynote presentation and to find out why CCP is moving away from its usual two expansions per year.
EVE Evolved: Alliance Tournament XI Grudge Match
The largest alliance war in EVE Online's history is currently underway, with the latest battle to hit the news reaching over 4,000 players and shattering the world record for players involved in a single PvP battle. While massive battles like are becoming a regular occurrence in EVE and have dominated the news lately, the strategy of just throwing thousands of ships at the enemy and seeing if it works doesn't work in every corner of New Eden. Wormholes, for example, limit the mass of ships entering a hidden Sleeper star system at once, promoting smaller-scale conflicts that are more about deep strategy and execution than scale. So it is for EVE Online's annual alliance tournament, a fairly matched drawing that attempts to simulate what would happen if small squads of ships from opposing alliances met on equal terms. Teams are drawn randomly against each other and put together squads of ships within the bounds of an imposed point limit. This year's tournament involved only 64 teams and had no elimination stage but still managed to pump out 128 action-packed matches with full commentary and studio coverage. The grand final even played host to the biggest grudge match in Alliance Tournament history as Pandemic Legion faced off against Hydra Reloaded. In this week's EVE Evolved, I round up all the matches in this year's massive Alliance Tournament and discuss the explosive final that saw old tournament rivals face off for glory and huge in-game prizes.
EVE Spotlight: An interview with Kyoko Sakoda
EVE Spotlight is a biweekly feature in which we interview prominent members of EVE Online's player community or development team. Twice each month, we'll be shining the spotlight on a player or developer who has a significant impact on EVE to highlight the efforts of EVE's most influential people. Whether you love EVE Online or hate it, there's no doubting that the game's community has produced some great works of art. From wallpapers and papercraft ships to music parodies and incredible cinematic videos, EVE has seen more than its fair share of creative efforts over the years. In EVE's colossal social sandbox, players often use their real-life talents to make a name for themselves in the community, and this spotlight's interviewee is no exception. Film-maker Kyoko Sakoda has popped up on our radar several times, impressing players with his awesome contributions to EVE's cinematic film scene. Kyoko debuted with the well-composed 2008 video Push Eject (The Angel Cartel). Hoping to showcase the pirate way of life, he produced this video to celebrate the future release of faction warfare and the role piracy would play in it. Kyoko went on to produce War Has Come and worked with Kale Ryoko on the incredible cinematic work Future Proof. The holographic UI components Kyoko produced in Future Proof mirror those used in CCP's own Butterfly Effect trailer, and the success of those videos may even be pushing CCP to develop similar 3-D user interface elements for EVE. In this edition of EVE Spotlight, we interview film-maker Kyoko Sakoda to ask about his previous videos and get the low-down on his next big project.
EVE Evolved: Ratting, part 2: Flying safe!
Last week I discussed the basics of the "ratting" profession in EVE Online, from picking a good system to three popular ratting strategies. If you're planning to hunt NPCs in nullsec, of course, you'll need to get there first. Pilots who aren't in an alliance with secure access to nullsec will have to run the gauntlet from empire space to their chosen ratting system. The entry points into EVE's nullsec regions are often camped during peak hours and you can expect to run into roaming gangs. Things get a little easier once you're at your destination, but you can still expect to see the occasional pilot or gang passing through the system. Your ability to get into nullsec safely and your efficiency at ratting will be determined largely by the ship you're using and how it's set up. For someone who's never been to nullsec before, setting up a ship for the task and heading into the void can be a daunting task. In this article, I look at selecting the appropriate ship for ratting, some popular ship setups and important safety tips that will help keep your ship safe in hostile territory.
CCP Games drops more details on EVE's new mission arcs for pirate factions
We recently wrote a bit about the new PvE content coming to EVE Online in the Dominion expansion -- Epic Mission Arcs for the Angel Cartel and Guristas pirate factions where your speed will help you survive. Now CCP Games has dropped more info on these branching pirate missions; the Guristas arc is called "Smash and Grab" while the Angel Cartel arc is "Angel Sound". A dev blog written by CCP Jasonitas walks readers through the standings requirements -- if your Angel Cartel standings are horrible but you have decent standings with either the Minmatar or Amarr, you can still run the Angel arc. Likewise with the Guristas, your Caldari or Gallente faction standings will let you embark on the Guristas pirate arc. In some respects, these arcs will open up pirate faction mission running for many players, given that completion of an arc will impart a 30% standings gain towards that faction. Players have long wanted a way to repair their negative standings towards New Eden's pirate factions and this seems to be the first step towards that. Still, that standings gain won't benefit players who are particularly loathed by a given pirate faction unless the arcs can be repeated some months down the line as with standard Epic Mission Arcs.
EVE Online Lead Content Creator explains epic mission arcs for pirate factions
One of the new content additions coming to EVE Online this December are Epic Mission Arcs for two of New Eden's pirate factions -- the Guristas and the Angel Cartel. Scott Holden (aka CCP Molock) is the Lead Content Creator at CCP Games who has overseen the inclusion of the new pirate missions into EVE. Holden recently discussed some of the specifics of pirate mission running with Mondes Persistants. The epic arcs for the Guristas and Angel Cartel will offer up roughly 10-12 branching missions, says Holden. The Guristas arc will largely be based in nullsec space in Venal, but players will be able to begin in Orvolle (high security) or low security starting points like Taisy. The Angel Cartel epic mission arcs will mostly be based in the Curse region, the stomping grounds of the Cartel. Would-be devotees to the Angel cause (of sabotage, extortion, and general mayhem) will be able to embark on the faction's mission arc from solar systems like Sendaya or Konora in low sec. Surprisingly, it seems that a player doesn't need high pirate faction standings to access either the Guristas or Angel Cartel epic mission arcs. Players with good standings with empire factions will be able to jump into the pirate mission arcs via mission agents found in low security space.
EVE Evolved: The top ten EVE videos of all time
Whether you like EVE Online or hate it, I think everyone can agree that it's a visually stunning game. Combined with the enthralling PvP experiences to be had in the game, it's not surprising that the game lends itself well to making some excellent videos. Films of EVE gameplay have been around since EVE began and large fleets now routinely bring a camera specialist pilot in a cloaked covert ops frigate to film their action. With the release of the premium client and the proliferation of good video editing software, the quality of EVE videos has improved significantly over the past few years.In this article, I run down my list of the top ten EVE videos of all time.
One Shots: Another favorite first ship
We recently ran a screenshot from our very own EVE Online fiend, James Egan, of his favorite first faction ship. Since then, other EVE Online players have written in to send us some of their favorite ships as well! Today's cool first ship comes to us from Jonathan C. (sorry, no character name given) who sent in the above image of his Angel Cartel frigate. Jonathan writes: I still fly my Dramiel around from time to time. Not really much of a ship, but it can be fun, and I still love how it looks. For a frigate class, we have to agree; the Dramiel is pretty wicked looking. If you've got a favorite method of transport in your game (be it a ship, a horse, flight form, or what have you) we'd love to see it. After all, the achievement is more fun when you can show it off -- and what better place than One Shots? Just send those screenshots in along with your name, game and a quick description of what we're seeing in the image. Mail them to us at oneshots AT massively DOT com and relax. We'll post them for everyone to enjoy and give you the credit.%Gallery-9798%
One Shots: A favorite first faction ship
There's nothing quite as thrilling as seeing a cool piece of gear, then targeting in on it and achieving it. It's those kinds of rewards that keep many playing games; from fancy mounts and vanity pets to gear and titles. Today's EVE Online One Shots is of just such an item, and comes from our staff writer James Egan. James included the following story about this image for us: This is a Daredevil, a pirate faction ship from the Angel Cartel in EVE Online. In my first days in EVE, I caught sight of one of these aggressive-looking frigates and just had to have it. As a 3-day-old noob, it was a lofty goal at the time. I suppose it was anticlimactic when I obtained one shortly thereafter, that goal being nowhere near as lofty as I'd envisioned, but it's still a valued part of my collection. It also represents the first major bit of gear I lusted after in an MMO. Those trinkets, titles, pets, mounts, ships and awesome gear are cool, but it's always more fun if you share your accomplishments with others. So if you've had that one thing you lusted over and achieved, why not grab a screenshot of it and send it in to us here at oneshots AT massively DOT com. It only takes a few minutes, and you'll get to tell the world about how exciting it was to finally attain! We look forward to hearing (and seeing) your stories. %Gallery-9798%
