Shining Star - EVE Online: Rubicon Launching in Nov
Winter (expansion) is coming
The universe - languid, lazy thing that it is - will never stop expanding, and EVE Online looks to keep in line with its most direct inspiration. So now it's time for the much-whispered-about winter expansion, which finally has a name: Rubicon. It'll be out quite soon, and it promises a new narrative about players/capsuleers' rise to power, new guerrilla-style warfare options, mobile player-owned structures, new ships, and of course, plenty of re-balancing. Details nestled within the great, unknowable nebulae past the break.
Rubicon pits players against EVE's four main factions, with a focus on tools that accentuate capsuleers' "unmatched autonomy" in the game's universe. For example:
"In EVE Online: Rubicon, empowered players wage guerrilla-style warfare against their opponents, raid their space and erode industrial power from deep behind enemy lines. Focused on individual and small fleet activity, new quick-strike options offer a powerful war tactic and a fresh style of victory in EVE’s sandbox universe."
"This November will also see a new set of mobile, player-owned structures created to support action outside of the safety of the hangar. Meant for both solo and group use, they accentuate and diversify gameplay for pilots seeking to find their homes amongst the stars."
There'll also be heaps of new exploration content, and a new line of faction ships. Marauder, Electronic Attack Frigate, Interceptor, and Interdictor class hulls, meanwhile, are getting hammered and laser-torched into new, better balanced forms. Oh, and to top it all off, there'll be a couple new systems in place to keep new players from belly-flopping when they take their first dive into EVE's horrifyingly complex, gargantuan world.
Rubicon will be entirely free to subscribers. November 19th is the big day. EVE devotees, are these the sorts of changes and additions you were hoping for? Is there anything CCP's majorly dropping the ball on, or is it smooth sailing/bounty hunting/obsessively tinkering/corporate sabotaging so far?