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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.
Pandemic Legion dominate EVE Alliance Tournament VIII
Battling their way through a series of impressive matches, HYDRA RELOADED and Pandemic Legion made it to the final match of this year's EVE Online Alliance Tournament. Twenty-two thousand people tuned in to watch this weekend's tournament coverage live, complete with expert commentary and guest developers chatting about what goes on behind the scenes at CCP Games. The question on everyone's mind was whether reigning champions Pandemic Legion would lose their title or win the tournament for a third year in a row. In a fast-paced fight that will have EVE players talking for weeks to come, PL wiped the floor with HYDRA to secure their place once again as the absolute best team in the tournament. PL took home the first place prize of 50 billion ISK, a gold medal for each participant and 50 limited edition "Adrestia" Heavy Assault Cruisers. HYDRA secured the second place prize of 25 billion ISK, a silver medal for each participant and 50 limited edition "Utu" Assault Frigates. With last year's "Freki" assault frigate prizes selling for upwards of 15 billion ISK, it's safe to say both the Adrestia and the Utu will sell for billions each on the black market. Third and fourth places went to Darkside and WE FORM VOLTRON respectively for their impressive efforts in this incredibly difficult tourament. Skip past the cut for a rundown of what happened in this final match. Alternatively, you could wait for CCP to upload the match video and see for yourself.
EVE alliance tournament finals start today
For those of you who have been following EVE Online's eighth annual alliance tournament, this weekend marks the spectacular conclusion of the past two weeks of fierce competition. The 64 initial entrants have been whittled down to 32 final teams, to be matched against each other to find which alliance has what it takes to crush all opposition. You can tune into the event's live coverage, beginning today at around 15:00 GMT (11AM EDT), via CCP's high-definition tournament feed. To encourage people to watch the feed live rather than just waiting for the YouTube videos, CCP will be giving away some huge prizes to a few lucky viewers at random. They have two NVIDIA GTX 280 graphics cards and a full set of E-ON magazine issue 1 to 20 to give away. In addition to the usual commentary on matches in progress, coverage of this final weekend of fighting will feature a live studio. Between matches, guest PvP experts and CCP developers will be discussing the state of play live on camera. As usual, CCP have prepared a few interesting videos for the interludes that offer a glimpse into the development of EVE. This year, they'll be giving us a look at their impressive "Video Production Team," and both CCP Hammer and CCP t0rfifrans will be on the show to talk about their latest projects. Videos of the finals will be put on the CCP Games YouTube channel in a few days, but there's nothing quite like watching coverage live. If you missed any of the matches in the first or second qualifying rounds, those videos are now also on YouTube. Skip past the cut to watch CCP's hilarious teaser video for Alliance Tournament 8's live coverage weekend.
EVE's 8th official Alliance Tournament to include a new "flagship" rule
The first details on this year's annual EVE Online Alliance Tournament emerged in a short devblog last month, with promises of further information to come. The Alliance Tournament is one the year's biggest highlights for EVE's PvP alliances. It provides a much-needed way to see which alliance can come up with the best strategies and execute them well. While massive fleets clash in the vastness of nullsec warfare, the tournament puts all alliances on an equal footing with restricted team sizes and ship allowances. In a new devblog, CCP have announced the finished format for this year's event along with an updated set of rules.
EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VII details and changes announced
One of the biggest events for players in EVE Online is the Alliance PvP Tournament which is held annually. CCP Games' new Alliance Tournament page explains what the event is all about: "The EVE Online Alliance Tournament is the ultimate battlefield in which the top pilots in EVE Online fight for the glory and honour of their alliance. 64 Alliances compete over 3 weekends of intense, explosive action, with the final weekend broadcast live via EVE TV." Last year's was tournament was a big success, with some excellent commentary on the matches from members of the EVE playerbase and no small amount of drama. Given how well things worked out last year, the 2009 Alliance Tournament will follow the same format, but there are a few changes that EVE developer CCP Claw discusses in his dev blog "How do you stop a man with seven alliance tournaments?"
CCP Games seeking players to commentate EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament VII
One thing many EVE Online players look forward to each year is the Alliance PvP Tournament, where New Eden's pilots battle it out to see which alliance is crowned champion... until the next year when rivals fight to take that title away. Last year's tournament was very entertaining, both in terms of the matches themselves and the commentary from PvP experts selected from the playerbase, namely Crovan and Verone. This year's EVE Alliance Tournament VII will kick off in September. We don't have any further details on it yet, except that it will follow the same format that CCP used last year -- two weekends of qualifiers and a third weekend for the finals. Last year's finals were broadcast in live video, which is something that CCP Games wants to do again this in Alliance Tournament VII. In fact, they're now seeking PvP experts from among the EVE playerbase since it's worked out so well in the past. The requirements? EVE video producer CCP Charlie writes, "As an Expert you'll be on the set discussing the tournament, tactics, teams and talking with developers about EVE live on air. You'll also take shifts in the commentary booth providing live commentary on the matches themselves. You need to know your PvP and you need to know how to keep on talking!" The first two weeks' commentary will be done from those players' homes (via EVE Voice and internet radio stations), but CCP Games will fly the Experts out to Reykjavik, Iceland for the final rounds, covering both the airfare and accommodation. %Gallery-43561%
EVE Online PvP Tournament champ on tactics and player-politics
EVE Online is a game where there are essentially two tiers to guilds, corporations and groups of corporations that join together to form larger and more powerful alliances. Given how integral alliance warfare is to gameplay, EVE Online's annual Alliance PvP Tournament is a major event each year, watched by thousands of New Eden's pilots. The sixth annual Alliance PvP Tournament for EVE Online was one of the most exciting to date. Combatants employed clever ship setups and tactics, the commentary was excellent, and there was even a bit of drama thrown into the mix in the form of a player assassination during the tournament. In the end it was the Pandemic Legion alliance that reigned supreme and a permanent monument to their victory has been set up in the Amamake solar system, where the Pandemic Legion corporation Sniggerdly started out as pirates. EVE Tribune writer Miyamoto Isoruku recently had a chance to interview the leader of Pandemic Legion, Shamis Orzoz. They discuss a wide range of topics, ranging from the tactics used in Alliance PvP Tournament VI to Orzoz's views on player-politics and the state of alliance warfare in New Eden. For more on how Pandemic Legion took the crown as EVE's top alliance in the tournament, have a look at "The Champions: An Interview with Shamis Orzoz" at EVE Tribune.
CCP Games reveals new expansion details during EVE PvP Tournament
It's been quite a week in EVE Online with player-driven events. We've reported on espionage breaking apart New Eden's most powerful alliance, creating a power vacuum that thousands of players seek to fill. Meanwhile the old guard fights tooth and nail to hold onto the regional control of the game's world that they've built up over the years. Then there was also the PvP tournament assassination which has raised a few eyebrows. These stories have now been reported widely by the gaming press, and while they hold some interest for players and non-players alike, EVE really isn't all about betrayal and retribution. That's why it was refreshing to simply sit back and watch the first half of the PvP tournament finals today without any drama bombs. But this didn't stop CCP from dropping a few bombs of their own during the live Alliance PvP Tournament broadcast today-- hints about some major changes to the game that may be coming in the Apocrypha expansion. Three of the game's developers were on hand today to let the viewers know a bit more about the expansion than has been addressed in the dev blogs thus far, and a few surprises were revealed.
EVE Online Alliance PvP Tournament VI begins today
The sixth Alliance PvP Tournament in EVE Online kicked off today, with some of the game's most formidable player alliances going head to head in team-based combat. The first qualifying round takes place on January 24th and 25th, from 1500 - 2100 GMT. EVE Online dev CCP Mindstar explained earlier this week how players can tune in to the tournament. The two stages of qualifying rounds, this weekend and next, can be listened to in audio in a few different ways. Players can either listen in-game in the "Alliance Tournament" channel using EVE Voice, or tune in to what's happening via the web at EVE Radio, Split Infinity Radio, or New Eden Radio -- all of which are broadcasting tournament coverage. This Alliance Tournament is the first where the qualifying rounds have been made available in audio, with commentators selected from among the game's top PvP'ers, notably Crovan and Verone -- both of whom have a well-deserved reputation for being knowledgeable about the combat side of the game. A match schedule is also available for those who want to tune in to a particular battle. While the qualifying rounds of Alliance Tournament VI are audio-only, the finals of the tournament will be broadcast live in video, on February 7th and 8th. As an added bonus, that live video broadcast will feature some of the first footage shown from the upcoming Apocrypha expansion.Update: While only the final rounds of the tournament will be streamed live, CCP Games is already making the qualifying rounds footage available on their YouTube page. The player-run EVE Network News is also following the matches, announcing the winners as they're declared, accompanied by audio commentary, and embedding video of the combat as it becomes available.
EVE's Alliance PVP Tournament returns
EVE Online players have been noting the conspicuous absence of the Alliance PvP Tournament, which was brought up at a dev panel at EVE Fanfest 2008. The news imparted at that time did not bode well for the future of the alliance tournaments, given the expense and level of involvement on the part of the CCP Games staff to run it. But EVE developer CCP Mindstar has given word that the alliance tournament is on for 2009, and listed the relevant dates as they presently stand: Tournament Signups -- Dec 19th - Jan 9thQualifying Round 1 -- Jan 24th, Jan 25thQualifying Round 2 -- Jan 31st, Feb 1stFinals -- Feb 7th, Feb 8thThe tournament rules will remain largely the same as in previous years, but some changes are to be expected. The EVE Alliance PvP Tournament VI will take place over six days -- specifically, over three weekends so weekday conflicts won't be an issue.
EVE Fanfest 2008 live dev blog Thursday, October 30
The 2008 Fanfest for EVE Online is almost here, and it seems that some things will be different this year, not limited to the new PvP Tournament scenario. CCP Wrangler writes: "With EVE Fanfest 2008 approaching we decided to let you ask the Fanfest organizers some questions. Murinae and Krisnitori will join us... and Whisper will be asking them your Fanfest related questions." The live dev blog will take place on Thursday, October 30th, at 20:00 GMT. To hear it, you'll need to enter the in-game channel 'Live Dev Blog' and enable EVE Voice via your right-click menu. As with the previous live dev blogs, the way to get your questions answered is to post in the announcement thread, from which the devs will select questions to field.
EVE Fanfest 2008 PvP Tournament details announced in video
We've mentioned that EVE Online's next PvP tournament will be unusual, featuring a mix of ship combat (as expected) and mining (completely unexpected). The end result promises to be wonderfully chaotic and offers something interesting for players of all types, whether hardcore PvP-er or carebear. In fact, this also creates the new possibility of having industry-focused players giving tournament commentary alongside the PvP veterans, but there's been no word on this to date. While EVE's PvP tournament viewers at Fanfest 2008 can look forward to the pandemonium of coordinating mining lasers with missile fire, it's a safe assumption that the tournament participants themselves would like to know how this is expected to go down. CCP Games now has a video explaining how the tournament will work, and has posted two charts showing the brackets of the EVE Fanfest 2008 PvP Tournament schedule. In fact, devs CCP Mindstar and CCP Claw were filmed randomly drawing teams from a 'hat' and matching them up, which was later solidified into the schedule.
