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EVE Evolved: Everything we know about Rubicon
Back in April, EVE Online Senior Producer Andie Nordgren delivered an incredible long-term vision for the game's future that included deep space colonisation, player-built stargates, and players controlling practically everything that's currently run by NPC empires. This vision sets the tone and direction for development over the next ten expansions, each of which will introduce a small component of the overall goal. In a live interview session earlier this week, CCP revealed the first steps it will take toward space colonisation in its upcoming winter expansion. Named Rubicon, the expansion will be in players' hands on November 19th and promises to give individuals and small groups unprecedented control over the sandbox. It will let players fight over planetary customs offices in high security space, significantly buff the ability of small ships to participate in hit-and-run style warfare, and even introduce a new set of personal deployable structures that can be hidden anywhere in space. All this comes alongside two new Sisters of EVE ships, twitch livestream integration, and significant balance changes to Marauders, Interceptors, Interdictors, and Electronic Attack Frigates. In this week's EVE Evolved, I run down all of the new features and changes announced so far for EVE Online's Rubicon expansion.
EVE podcast The Drone Bay returns
We mentioned the EVE Online podcast The Drone Bay last week, which broke radio silence after some months with an exclusive on the upcoming Fanfest PvP tournament. We thought it might have been a one-off release in connection with the player gathering, but it seems The Drone Bay has returned now, with all three hosts back on the podcast. For those who haven't listened to The Drone Bay, it's hosted by players from different walks of life in EVE. Crovan is known to many players for his PvP-centric mercenary gameplay, plus he's really good at this whole 'public speaking thing', good enough to commentate during last year's live broadcast of the EVE Alliance PvP Tournament. Then there's CrazyKinux, who's into more industry-related pursuits in EVE and has a broad knowledge of the game. The trio is rounded out by Alsedrech, who's not quite a noob anymore, but whose focus will still be helping newer players with learning the ropes of the game. The show has a good mix of commentary on happenings in New Eden and tips for new players looking to get into EVE Online.A few of us at Massively are huge fans of the podcast and we're hoping there'll be plenty more of The Drone Bay in the future. Like our own podcast Massively Speaking,The Drone Bay is part of the VirginWorlds collective. If you're curious about checking this one out, head on over to The Drone Bay site.
EVE Community Spotlight: Winterblink
Some players in EVE Online are known for a particular contribution to the community. Others for their presence on the forums or for their reputation as a pilot. EVE's players know Winterblink for all of these reasons, and more. While there are a number of celebrated players in EVE Online, few names are as recognizable in the game as Winterblink. Whether you're a fan of the Warp Drive Active comic, you listen to his podcast, or perhaps you just want to podkill him... most players agree that he's one of the friendliest people you're likely to meet in EVE, except for when he's got you in his sights. Massively recently caught up with Winterblink and spoke with him about how Warp Drive Active came to be, finding humor in a game that's taken so seriously by its players, and what it means to him to be a part of the EVE community.
Massively takes on EVE Online's learning curve
EVE Online is a complex game. There's no doubt about that. That complexity is a large part of the draw, but that doesn't mean learning about the game has to be a daunting experience. With that in mind, Massively has EVE Online in its sights. We've brought solid writers on staff who are quite knowledgeable about the game and are here to give some in-depth info on how EVE is played. CrazyKinux and Crovan of The Drone Bay podcast joined us in April, and since then have provided Massively's readers with some helpful columns. CrazyKinux, aka David Perry, writes the Have Clone, Will Travel column. David's most recent piece, 3 Essential Tools for Capsuleers, provides a great overview of some of the third-party programs and resources available to help you plan your skill progression and your ship fittings. But we're also running two more EVE-centric columns at Massively. Read on after the jump to see what else we're bringing to the EVE community, and how we're easing that learning curve.
Post your interstellar rsum at EVE Careers
The second episode of the Drone Bay podcast directed listeners to check out a website called EVE Careers, a sort of Monster.com or Career Builder for players of EVE Online. There are sections where both pilots and corporations (EVE's equivalent to player guilds) can post ads to connect with one another.As the hosts of the Drone Bay noted, one of the big challenges for new players in EVE (and even experienced players, in certain circumstances) is finding a good corp to join. While it's possible to get by on your own to some extent in EVE, you'll be missing out on ... well, pretty much everything interesting about the game if you aren't part of one. EVE Careers presently has an almost 70-page list of corporations for you to check out, making it one of your best bets if you've been going it alone.CCP CEO Hilmar Petursson told the New York Times a while back that EVE is different from other games like World of Warcraft because it's not just a game, it's a society -- at least, to a greater extent than WoW-types are. With its quarterly economic reports from the CCP Fed, its Council for Stellar Management, and now this player-run job board website, that's tough to argue with, even though there are forums for guild-finding in other games as well.[Via Drone Bay]
Drone Bay podcast starts
Our friend CrazyKinux took our advice and named the podcast he's doing with Crovan (of Bitter Old Noob) and Aldresech "The Drone Bay," and episode #1 is up and available for listening right now. On the show, the three guys discuss what they've been up to in the EVE Online universe lately, as well as the Alliance Tournament, and a big rundown of EVE's economic setup (CK's notes can all be found on his site as well). Oh and they also talk about a non-EVE game, which rhymes with Rabula Tasa.All in all, good show, and definitely seems like it will be a great place to get a weekly podcast fix for EVE Online news. The guys definitely know their stuff, and while audience participation could probably get a little busier (we'll give them a break -- it's their first show), it definitely stays interesting and is perfect for keeping busy during those long mining sessions. Congrats to the guys on starting off running, can't wait to hear more.
Crazykinux, Bitter Old Noob plan new EVE podcast
Our good friend Crazykinux reveals that along with Bitter Old Noob and fellow EVE player Aldresech, they're plotting a brand new EVE podcast. Normally, this isn't really news (podcasts are a dime a dozen, and in fact, we'll put a Massively podcast together eventually, I guarantee), but considering that Crazy and BON are such experts on the game, and that they really seem to be putting the brain to the pedal on this one (they're talking "segments" and "content"), we can already tell it'll be a good listen.They are also looking for a name, however, so if you've got a suggestion, roll on over to BON's post and suggest your own. Without having heard it, it's hard to come up with a name, and though "Transversal Velocity" seems to be winning, I'll nudge them that "TV" is already taken. "The Drone Bay" is a good one, too, but I admire "PODcast," if only for its simplicity. Can't wait to hear it.
