EVE Evolved: Everything there is to know about Crucible
This summer's lackluster Incarna expansion and the ensuing microtransaction drama took a massive toll on EVE Online's player community and development staff. Players were quitting in droves, and CCP eventually had to lay off 20% of its staff worldwide. Two years of half-implemented expansions, broken features, and "first steps" that were never iterated on left players begging for a content-heavy expansion like Apocrypha or those released in EVE's early years. EVE is known for being practically a new game every six months, but since the blockbuster Apocrypha expansion, daily life in New Eden hasn't changed much at all.
To pull things back from the brink, CCP refocused development on EVE Online and gave developers a free pass to work on hundreds of small features and improvements. The company began flooding us with details on new ships, graphical updates, new gameplay mechanics, and desperately needed balance tweaks, and we loved every bit of it. Although it's mostly small features and gameplay tweaks, the Crucible expansion feels like a genuine rebirth for EVE Online. The types of changes made show that CCP knows exactly what players want from EVE and that the company is now willing to deliver it. With CCP's renewed focus on internet spaceships, the Crucible expansion feels like the start of a new era in the sandbox.
In this week's EVE Evolved, I pull together everything there is to know about the Crucible expansion that went live this week, from its turbulent origins to the awesome features and PvP updates it contains.
What really jumped out at me about the Crucible trailer is that it's the first proper game trailer EVE Online has had in years. Previous trailers have showcased EVE's art style and story as if it were a movie, but the Crucible trailer is a short, snappy video that rapidly delivers a list of everything the expansion contains. Lining up dubstep beats with footage of real PvP action captured in-game makes for an awesome trailer, and I think it's another example of how most of the developers at CCP really do have the same mindset as the players, as dubstep first started appearing in player-made videos. CCP has so often lagged behind the EVE playerbase in creating epic videos, but this time the team is 10 steps ahead.
It takes a lot of courage to lead a company with hundreds of employees into unexplored territory as CCP does, but it takes even more courage to admit when the wrong path has been taken and it's time to turn things around. At the height of the summer drama, for the first time I genuinely did not know whether CCP was going to pull back from the brink or crash and burn. The company has made mistakes in the past but always managed to recognise them and learn from the process. This time it seemed to have adopted a bull-headed approach, ignoring players and pursuing its own plans in spite of complaints.
Thankfully, CCP eventually did turn things around, and not just with a simple apology. What started with a well-constructed open letter from the CEO continued with a commitment to getting back to the business of making awesome internet spaceships. The crucible expansion is proof that CCP has followed through on that promise, and we can only hope that the trend continues for years to come.
 | CCP to EVE players: We've heard you, unprecedented development refocusing in the works |
 | CCP Games CEO issues letter of apology to EVE Online players |
 | Returning EVE players receive discount as part of CCP apology |
 | EVE CEO: 'We are back in the spaceship business' |
The summer drama took its toll on not only the player community but also the internal community of developers at CCP. The company was forced to lay off 20% of its staff in October, with the potential threat of further layoffs if EVE's subscriptions didn't pick up. Among those laid off was EVE's much-loved community manager Valerie "CCP Pann" Massey, whose essential expertise in crisis management was made clear during a talk at GDC 2011. As a result of the layoffs, CCP has had to restructure its customer relations department and bring back the volunteer forum moderator program. A monument was even erected inside EVE Online to serve as a reminder that players can and will talk with their wallets.
 | GDC Online 2011: CCP talks community management |
 | CCP layoffs affect 20% of worldwide staff, company focusing on EVE |
 | EVE Evolved: The human casualties |
 | CCP announces new Customer Relations details |
 | CCP bringing back EVE's volunteer moderator program |
 | EVE Online monument commemorates the summer riots |
It would be impossible to delve fully into each of the hundreds of new features that hit when Crucible went live earlier this week, but suffice it to say we were treated to a lot of new shiny things. Ship spinning made its return before Crucible launched, giving players the option to opt out of using Incarna's captain's quarters. Time dilation is now on the live server but has been temporarily disabled to give developers time to test it thoroughly. The new game launcher isn't yet live, but the much-loved engine trails and incredible new nebulae are online and look amazing.
 | EVE Evolved: Ship spinning and Incarna |
 | EVE Evolved: Time dilation and the war on lag |
 | New EVE Online launcher will simplify patching |
 | CCP expands EVE's asset search functionality |
 | EVE Online adding implants to killmails |
 | EVE Online shows off new Crucible engine trails |
 | EVE Online introducing new nebulae |
Over the past few years, the proliferation of capital and supercapital fleets in nullsec has transformed the landscape of EVE's lawless outer regions. The wealthiest alliances with access to the largest number of supercapitals have dominated the game without any real counter. Sovereignty warfare and starbase mechanics are due for a complete revamp soon, but Crucible delivers the first round of balance changes aimed at ending supercapital domination.
Blasters and the Gallente ships that use them have recieved a huge buff, making them competitive with Minmatar autocannon ships and turning them into absolute monsters up close. The biggest changes are to customs offices and starbases, both of which are being transitioned over to new systems. Customs offices are now player-owned, allowing players to finally fight over planets and get something for the effort of holding onto one. Starbases will soon use a new fuel block system, but their anchoring and onlining times have been radically decreased to allow rapid deployment as part of a PvP operation.
 | EVE Evolved: Looking forward to the winter expansion |
 | EVE capital ship balancing coming this winter |
 | EVE Evolved: Gallente and hybrid balance |
 | EVE dev blog outlines starbase-related tweaks |
 | EVE dev blog teases new player customs offices |
 | EVE Evolved: Player-owned structures |
It's been far too long since we've seen any new combat ships in EVE, and this week we were spoiled with the incredible new tier 3 battlecruisers. These goliaths are able to fit a full rack of battleship-sized weapons, sniping at competition from ridiculous distances or dealing incredible damage up close. They fill the gap between existing battlecruisers and tier 1 battleships, and all four racial designs were actually taken from player submissions to a starship design contest last year. If you don't have one of the new battlecruisers yet, go and get one right now! I mean it, get out of this post until you've got your hands on one!
 | EVE dev blog talks new Minmatar battlecruiser |
 | EVE dev blog unveils new Gallente battlecruiser |
 | EVE Online reveals Amarr tier 3 battlecruiser, the Oracle |
 | Meet the Caldari Naga, EVE's latest battlecruiser |
One of the problems CCP has always had with development is that much of what the devs are doing internally is never communicated with players. New nebulae and custom ship skins have been under development for some time, for example, but there wasn't a devblog on it to let us know. CCP Guard has made it his mission to right that wrong by delivering developer videos on the various departments within EVE. He explores the art, gameplay, core technology, content, customer relations, virtual worlds, and engineering departments in the video series below, all of which are definitely worth watching.
 | New EVE video devblog series shows off revamped nebulae |
 | EVE dev video shows work on engine trails, custom ship skins and more |
 | Latest EVE dev video talks ship balance and features coming this winter |
 | New EVE video takes you behind the core technology curtain |
 | New EVE dev diary talks PvE content |
 | EVE dev video talks customer relations and server nodes |
 | EVE development video features engineering team interviews |
Brendan "Nyphur" Drain is an early veteran of EVE Online and writer of the weekly EVE Evolved column here at Massively. The column covers anything and everything relating to EVE Online, from in-depth guides to speculative opinion pieces. If you have an idea for a column or guide, or you just want to message him, send an email to brendan@massively.com.
