By Jim Rossignol on November 30th, 2009 at 12:45 pm.
The new Eve expansion, Dominion, is out this week, and it threatens to shake up the game’s territorial system to a degree that has not been seen since territory was formalised back in 2004. The new system will require more active maintenance for players wanting to benefit from holding sovereignty, and should reduce some of the “AFK Empires” we’ve seen in recent years. I doubt it will do anything to fragment or reduce the power of the existing power-blocs, however, since their player-owned structures will remain in places, and their immense capital fleets will still be able to project power across enormous reaches of space. I expect that it will simply produce more vassal entities, rather than genuinely allowing more access to 0.0 for smaller groups of players. Anyway, a glorious new trailer featuring a huge (and fairly true-to-game) capital-ship battle is out, and you can see it below. Delicious.
Also, I’ve been meaning to point this out: the new “bubble” jump in effect is far less impressive than the original “cyno-cone” effect. (Apologies for the terrible music, it’s just the only random clip I could find that immediately showed it off.)
30/11/2009 at 12:58 Psychopomp says:
Must. Not. Resub.
30/11/2009 at 13:08 Mavvvy says:
It’s siren’s call usher’s in another dent in my pocket.
30/11/2009 at 13:10 duel says:
watching the trailer made me strangely excited even though I have no idea whats going on. I suppose this trailer is ment to make more sense to subscribers? I get the general idea, different factions launching attacks, and it does make me want to play the game. So I guess good job?
30/11/2009 at 13:13 Thesper says:
The Russian commander at the end is so Evil Thug.
30/11/2009 at 13:15 Count Valar says:
I agree with Jim that Dominion probably won’t change much at all. In fact in some respects it makes it easier to maintain huge empires because you can do away with the logistics of POS refueling. Interestingly, in the its first iterations on the test server, the ramifications of the new expansion were much bigger, but here a few weeks before deployment they chickened out and dumbed it down. I fear I will be disappointed.
30/11/2009 at 13:22 Mordarke says:
This is what I hate about Eve, the trailers show it to be all flashy and awesome, people talking about it say it is awesome but when you play as a new player ..
.. I don’t count mining to be fun! I want big ships, damnit.
30/11/2009 at 13:27 Tei says:
You have enough with big ships? I want bigger ships!
30/11/2009 at 13:43 darkripper says:
Mordarke how about you get a trial, join RPSH and see if we can get you into very small ships? No mining, I swear.
30/11/2009 at 14:10 Mordarke says:
I could be tempted with such an offer.
30/11/2009 at 14:55 darkripper says:
well, just get a trial (or resub), join the channel RPS Community and we’ll give you instructions on how to join us (or if you already know something about the game, just autopilot to Vaajita and send an application to our corp – headquarter is still in vaaj right?).
30/11/2009 at 17:39 medwards says:
RPSH has relocated to just outside of NPC 0.0, but you’re going to need to train up certain skills before its worth coming out on roams with us anyways. Look up what you need to use Micro Warp Drives and Warp Scramblers, train those up, then roll on up.
30/11/2009 at 13:29 Sparvy says:
Those damn sneaky space russians!
30/11/2009 at 13:32 Nallen says:
New trailer is best trailer
30/11/2009 at 13:40 Deerhoof says:
Yesyes! It IS EvilThug.
-A- are scary chaps.
Also, Jim, I agree wholeheartedly. It’s the single effect I wish they’d never changed.
I remember when I first saw the cyno-cone, out in 68ft. That deafening noise and burst of light, I had no clue what was happening, and suddenly a moros, towering 15km away from my puny little Rifter.
The jump-bubble is underwhelming to say the least.
30/11/2009 at 13:42 kyrieee says:
There’s a reeeeaaally long cyno whine thread
CCP have said that they’re working on a new effect for it
30/11/2009 at 13:44 Deerhoof says:
Really really?
Good news!
I don’t read the forums much anymore. Too much aggro and trolling on there for my liking.
30/11/2009 at 13:48 TheLordHimself says:
How does the expansion system work in EVE? If everyone is on one giant server, does it mean your forced to buy the expansion if you want to continue playing?
30/11/2009 at 13:49 Deerhoof says:
All EVE expansions are free.
30/11/2009 at 19:18 oddshrub says:
In fact it’s possible to play eve-online without ever paying anything beyond the first 20€ since it’s legal to buy and sell game time cards ingame for iname currency. Of course it’s not something a new player is going to benefit from as they are 200-500mil ISK a piece – but still.
One server so your friends will never be spread out, free expansions, legal trade of gametime for ingame currency, legal trade of characters and various fan stuff for ingame currency. Heh. Every other MMO company out there should stop robbing their customers and start taking lessons from CCP on how you’re supposed to run a MMO.
Too bad the critical consumer is dead.
30/11/2009 at 13:49 ShineDog says:
Trolling Space Russians is the best reason to play this game.
Also.
Camping a system for 6 hours with 300 people, reading from great expectations over teamspeak to pass the time.
I’ll resub eventually.
30/11/2009 at 13:53 Deerhoof says:
Great Expectations!?
What sophisticated alliance were you a member of?
The best my old alliance ever manged was spamming the Awesome Cougars image in local, and accusing eachother of violating baryard animals.
30/11/2009 at 13:59 Psychopomp says:
Most I ever managed was reading QUARTER-LIFE:HALFWAY TO DESTRUCTION over Vent.
30/11/2009 at 15:11 ShineDog says:
Goons, actually.
Its a very odd group.
30/11/2009 at 15:18 Psychopomp says:
When I was new, I instinctively blew up a Goon cyno ship, because it was red.
Corp had a shitstorn, and I’ve had never been chewed out so much in my life. Looking back, we’re lucky we didn’t lose that system.
30/11/2009 at 13:50 ShineDog says:
Free expansion! They basically release an enormous patch every year or so.
The game inevitably breaks, but its still great customer service. CCP are a great company for supporting the game, even if they have had some terrible coding in the past.
30/11/2009 at 14:15 Mordarke says:
They overwrote my BOOT.INI once with their “Graphical Update” patch.
I was not amused.
30/11/2009 at 14:18 Deerhoof says:
Haha.
that was the greatest patch ever!
30/11/2009 at 14:14 mpk says:
Not enough bitching on vent tbh.
30/11/2009 at 14:23 arqueturus says:
It’s a lovely trailer but it fails in that if you don’t play, you have no fucking clue what is going on.
‘Ships… more ships!…. HUGE SHIPS!.. SPACE, PLANETS, GATE THINGY. MOARE SHIPS!!’
etc.
The Butterfly Effect was much better.
30/11/2009 at 14:27 Deerhoof says:
Who needs to know what’s going on when what’s going on looks totally awesome.
Pewpewpepewpewwwwwww!!!
zzaazazazazazazazazaa….
Baddabaaddabaddabaddaabadda
WSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHBOOOOWHHH!!!
That’s Blasters/Lasers/Autocannons/Torps respectively.
30/11/2009 at 14:37 Bobsy says:
That has got to be the single finest game trailer I’ve ever seen. It absolutely nails the atmosphere of Eve, tells a story, and just. Looks. Amazing. The use of different accents (and languages) is a good touch too, as is the use of in-game-world jargon. Any game that can produce media like this, saying “Yes, you can do pretty much exactly this” is a worthwhile game, I’d say.
Boring to play though. Ho well.
30/11/2009 at 14:43 Deerhoof says:
It’s a game that rewards patience and enthusiasm.
If you don’t have the patience, you wont last a week. If you don’t love it, you’ll never understand it.
30/11/2009 at 14:38 Fazer says:
Why so terrible voice acting?
30/11/2009 at 15:02 Batolemaeus says:
I heard that employees are rarely hired for their voice acting qualities.
As a player in 0.0 who has seen battles unfold more or less exactly like in the trailer, i found the voices to be fitting. It is pretty close to how our command channel sounds like at times.
Also, Red Alliance hotdropping out of nowhere and utterly annihilating everyone is something that i have fond memories of.
30/11/2009 at 14:42 Maxheadroom says:
Ack
Every time there’s an Eve story on here I think “I really must subscribe and see what all the fuss is about”. Much as i hate myself for it I keep getting sucked back into WoW and I dont have the time to 2 MMO’s
I ‘really’ must subscribe and see what all the fuss is about though, and when I do I’ll be looking up the RPS alliance to field all my noob questions. Hows that going by the way?
30/11/2009 at 14:47 Deerhoof says:
Correct me if i’m wrong, but isn’t the game like £3.79 today only on Steam? A Month subscription for that price is a great place to start. Plus owning it on steam is a great idea.
It’s in their special-offers list, unless that offer has ended now… I can’t check, I’m in work.
30/11/2009 at 15:06 Levictus says:
I doubt you’ll get sucked in to it. It’s a cool idea, but it’s not that fun to play. I highly doubt it’s anything like WOW. It has a ridiculous learning curve and a really entrenched hardcore player base. From what I understand WOW is mostly point and click PvE. Eve is all PvP, the PvE is there as a joke.
30/11/2009 at 14:50 The Great Wayne says:
Problems with EvE teasers is that, well, the game isn’t like that at all, except if you have a huge capability to play the game without noticing a lot of boring gameplay mechanics. Been playing the game for 4 years, will not come back to it until they make the game more Xwing vs Tie fighter and less spreadsheet fighting.
The game’s interest lie in the sensation of high stakes that your actions involves, but these high stakes are only created by the boredom you feel on 90% of what you do ingame, and do not want someone forcing you to do again. Few examples: POS anchoring. System blobbing. Day long camping. You gotta be kidding.
The day they make the road as fun and engaging as the goal is the day they’ll dominate the mmorpg market.
30/11/2009 at 14:52 Deerhoof says:
If you’re really a player of 4 years, you know they’ll never make it more x vs t :)
30/11/2009 at 15:01 The Great Wayne says:
Yeah, but one can hope can’t he ? Stop busting my dreams you bully ! :)
30/11/2009 at 15:02 Psychopomp says:
Aren’t there persistant universe X and Freelancer servers?
30/11/2009 at 15:10 The Great Wayne says:
Probably, but although i’m not playing it anymore I’m attached to EvE background and population. You do not play for several years and get heavily involved as a director in a 0.0 corp without a reason :)
Some kind of freelancer gameplay in EvE, even if very unlikely to ever happen, would make me drool and resub instantly, but the same gameplay outside EvE bunch wouldn’t I think.
30/11/2009 at 15:37 Baris says:
Aren’t CCP making pretty much exactly what you’re asking for with Dust 343 (or something, can never remember that name)?
30/11/2009 at 16:10 Army of None says:
“Aren’t there persistant universe X and Freelancer servers?”
This. Persistent Freelancer servers have been some of the most fun I’ve ever had… flying escort runs, frantically trying to gun down the pirate before he wrecks the cargoship your friend is flying, lurking through dense asteroid clouds to find said pirate after he escaped from his failed ambush… Massive pew pew laser fights. So much fun.
30/11/2009 at 16:36 The Great Wayne says:
@Baris: Dust 514 is atm a console only (Xbox 360 / PS3) online FPS, which is supposed to be tied to the EvE persistant universe that PC players share.
In the actual state of the project, we know that it’s gonna be played on the footgrunt field, something like a Planetside but with consequences on the larger picture of EvE Online.
So in fact it will not be inspace, nor will it propose as much different activities as EvE, but maybe I will give t a try, although i’m still doubtful about console players associating with PC ones, seeing the already high level of suspicions going amongst the EvE community itself when it comes to interdependance and collaboration.
30/11/2009 at 17:36 Baris says:
Ah, it’s obvious you know far more about it than I do. I had no idea it was a console-FPS.
30/11/2009 at 14:52 patch says:
I’ve been playing for nearly 5 years, and I only have very little idea what was happening in that video. One of these days I must try getting involved in a big battle.
30/11/2009 at 15:40 espy says:
That trailer was brilliant. I’d love an Eve movie, since I’m far to scared of the addictive qualities of the actual game to go anywhere near it.
30/11/2009 at 17:06 Arturo says:
Anyone notice the Damnation was being flown by Hammer? I’m guessing those were all staff voices too :)
I ran an all-Khanid ship alliance a few years back and it used to be quite a blast.
Also finally nice to see a video where Amarr ships are actually winning, even if piloted by crazy Russian space thugs.
30/11/2009 at 17:06 Tei says:
The last time I visited EVE, I got killed with extreme prejudice (later it was explained to me that my account is “old”, as a old account is delicious to some). The system was 0.4 or something… I was already in backrupcy AND gallente (that is already like moral bankrupcy)
30/11/2009 at 17:08 Tei says:
The trailer score 5/10 over trailer quality. Is too busy withouth a clear core to me. Is kind of hard to see the sides (read: is not iconic enough for casuals)… other than the amarr float
01/12/2009 at 00:36 Psychopomp says:
I think you confused Gallente with the Caldari and Amarr, man.
30/11/2009 at 17:33 Anthony Damiani says:
Great trailer. Nice FX (I agree the cyno-cone is superior, though the bubbles have distortion– mmmm, distortion)
Pity the game itself is such a boring PvP-fest.
30/11/2009 at 17:46 Haywire says:
Picked up EvE on the steam deal and despite getting kicked around by the slightly buggy tutorial system (I think i was just unfortunate really) it looks like it could be fun. At some point I’m gonna make the transition to the player run areas (a corp is 100% required i’m noticing) and see how it goes.
30/11/2009 at 18:10 Maxheadroom says:
Oh I totally understand it’s nothing like WoW.
Part of the appeal is that it ‘is’ so different (and if half of what I hear is true, not populated primarily by 14 year old kids shouting “FFS NOOB!” at each other)
30/11/2009 at 18:11 Maxheadroom says:
Oh I totally understand it’s nothing like WoW. Part of the appeal is that it ‘is’ so different (and if half of what I hear is true, not populated primarily by 14 year old kids shouting “FFS NOOB!” at each other)
30/11/2009 at 18:21 The Great Wayne says:
True, it’s mostly populated by *grown ups* shouting “FFS NOOB” at each other :)
The main perk being that you can then pod them and loot whatever is left of their ship.
30/11/2009 at 18:12 Davee says:
@ Haywire: A corp isn’t required – you can solo – but corps make everything so much sweeter and easier, escpecially when you’re new. And you will probably go bored whitout one after a while.
In any case, while not as cinematic and awe-inspiring as some of the other trailers (I’m not saying this one isnt!) it does catch the gameplay and spirit much better. And it’s pretty much the first one that depicts the player alliance wars (eccept for The Butterfly Effect trailer then).
The expansion sounds like fun, I will have to join one of the alliances again for some real warfare to try the new features out now that I have finally gotten some experience and good ships (small Assault Ships FTW).
Must… not… resub… (yet)…
P.S: The old Cyno effect was better Hope they do something like it for the new one.
30/11/2009 at 18:20 Haywire says:
Thats good to know Davee. Me and a friend both joined and we’re pretty keen to get a taste of the faction interactions. Even if it’s mostly sitting on your bum staring across the border stuff it looks unique and absolutely fascinating.
Either way we’ll spend a week or two mucking around and reading up on the do’s and don’ts, maybe eating a kill or two from randoms for some pvp… I love getting a new game
30/11/2009 at 18:28 The Great Wayne says:
I do wonder what you hear by “faction”. If you mean empire factions as in “factional warfare”, when I left it was mostly a sub par way to get “soft” pvp and rewards, in which it wasn’t mandatory to get a real or active corp to participate, but as usual it made things more fun and brought more objectives than your own.
If by factions you mean 0.0 alliances then yep, a corp is needed, but it’s far more interesting imho and Dominion will mostly affect this aspect of the game. You do need a bit more knowledge of what you’re doing to exist in these spaces however, at least not to feel completely lost at first.
30/11/2009 at 21:15 Davee says:
What Wayne said.
And yeah Haywire, that’s one of the downsides of large-scale PvP – waiting for something to happen. The gatecamps, the gatecamps! *shurgs*
Luckily CCP are always trying to improve, listening to the players closely, making the game more welcoming and I remember them talking about trying to reduce the boring wait times and encourage skirmish-type fights.
But It’s so worth it (most of the time). The adrenaline kick you get on your first 200-ship battle leaves you trembling. Well, it did to me ;)
And fation warfare (between the four races that is) wich is done by joining a militia is a quick and easy way to get some PvP action. Beware though; nobody eccept the insurance company will refund your losses. Wich dosn’t include anything but your ship itself. So for now, i recommend you stick to your corp.
Fly safe :D
30/11/2009 at 20:05 EthZee says:
This looks awesome. Buuuut, I tried the trial a couple of years back and it didn’t really click. Luckily, there’s stuff like Freelancer or Freespace 2 if I want to scratch that “SPACE FIGHTY” itch.
(There’s also things like Oolite or X2/3 if I want to do the space-trading thing, but that can get old, fast)
30/11/2009 at 21:21 Davee says:
Gosh, all this talk about EVE makes me want to resub even more… But I’m already subbed to PlanetSide at the moment, and with Mortal Online coming up soon (you should really write a few lines on that one, looks pretty damn good) dosn’t make it any easier when my wallet won’t cope with more than one sub at a time!
DAMN YOU MONTHLY SUBSCRIBTION PAYMENTS
On a side note – I guess they are what keeps bringing us the expansions for EVE. Why must this world be so complex?
30/11/2009 at 21:21 Scandalon says:
Dear Lord that looks amazing. I, like many others, tried it and died somewhere on the difficulty cliff.
30/11/2009 at 21:22 Scandalon says:
(Note that Difficulty Cliff is a link, but it’s not showing up in a different color or w/ underlines…)
30/11/2009 at 22:01 Frankie The Patrician[PF] says:
*gets a hard on*
30/11/2009 at 22:49 We Fly Spitfires says:
Damn, EVE is so well marketed. Reading about it and watching the trailers really makes me want to resub. Urg! Must resist urge…
01/12/2009 at 00:34 kyrieee says:
Doomsday, last call
01/12/2009 at 02:06 panik says:
Still the best graphical chat room on the internet.
Shame most talkers don’t have the patience for it.
01/12/2009 at 02:24 Skylance says:
You’re absolutely right, mining just flat out sucks in EVE. I’ve played the game on and off for years, and it’s always been absolutely miserable to me.
So, my recommendation to you is this: Don’t mine. Seriously, the game is open enough for that. If you don’t like doing something, just don’t do it. Do things that actually entertain you :)
01/12/2009 at 02:59 Laps3d says:
<blockquote cite=MPK.Not enough bitching on vent tbh.
I will make sure I bitch enough for everyone!
01/12/2009 at 03:01 Laps3d says:
MPK> Not enough bitching on vent tbh.
I’ll make sure I bitch enough for everyone in future!
01/12/2009 at 05:57 TinyPirate says:
I miss EVE….
01/12/2009 at 06:06 Billzor says:
Jim – How should the 0.0 and the big power blocs be shaken up? Should they be shaken up at all?
05/12/2009 at 01:22 Psychopomp says:
They should *always* be shaken up. Static EVE is boring EVE.
01/12/2009 at 12:04 Kommissar Nicko says:
With regards to power-bubbles, they remind me of the anime Crest of the Stars, when the ships switched from Normal Space to Plane Space.
For anyone that likes anime, but also likes somewhat srsbsnss sci-fi, Crest of the Stars et. al. is a must-see. I always wanted to build a missile-dump-ship in EvE. Is that possible now?
02/12/2009 at 02:08 Serondal says:
wow, got to watch this now that I’m home and I Have say that trailer is AWESOME, makes me want to play
05/12/2009 at 01:08 Simes says:
I fired up a free trial account to see if I fancied resubbing, but the Mac client just crashes over and over and over again. I understand that the “fix” is to disable audio; that to me is not an acceptable use of the word “fix”.
Oh well. Maybe I’ll try again next year some time.
05/12/2009 at 03:20 Joseph says:
So you can’t first person pilot / shoot? You just see that stuff what’s in that video? Do those annoying, poorly acted voice-overs happen in game? Looks unimpressive, but like it’s trying hard to be impressive. Just seems like a huge pile of turn-off to me. In my mind, people in space shouldn’t be as ridiculously stupid (just poorly voiced maybe?) as they are now. It’s just depressing to see a reality in which they are.
05/12/2009 at 03:22 Joseph says:
That said, I gather it’s more about the politics and war that happen between organisations of in game players rather than an interesting depiction of future times and good voice acting. Sorry, reply didn’t work.
15/12/2009 at 19:22 BAReFOOt says:
Terrible music? More like you got a terrible taste. ;)
23/03/2010 at 01:04 Yuji says:
wow! that anime is amazing. All strategy. Great characters. it really does remind me of eve now that you mention it.