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In anticipation of this summer’s sovereignty changes, which we announced before EVE Fanfest 2015, things are in a state of upheaval amongst EVE’s player alliances and coalitions, each representing up to tens of thousands of people from around the globe. Sovereignty is the system that allows players to control territory in the areas outside of the NPC-controlled core of the EVE universe. Many consider it the “end-game” of EVE to live in this nullsec wild west/outer rim, where you war directly against other players, make diplomatic deals, and rally pilots to your cause with propaganda and military might.
One of the first major groups to make a move based off of the proposed plans was Pandemic Legion, a perennial powerhouse who gave up their sovereign space entirely, exchanging their lives as space land lords renting out solar systems to return to mercenary work and join in several conflicts as hired guns.
Less than 48 hours ago: The Mittani, infamous leader of the CFC (Clusterfuck Coalition), announced a new identity for his coalition, resetting itself as the Imperium in a bold move that involves cleaning house, changing focus, and the fate of tens of thousands of EVE players in the coalition as well as the ripple effects across all of nullsec space. It’s an interesting declaration full of spicy space rhetoric: http://www.themittani.com/news/gsf-ceo-update-imperial-march
Coalition and corporation addresses are a great tradition in New Eden, lending credence to the reputation of EVE’s unparalleled level of gamer politics, sociology, psychology, and participation.
The declaration follows on a series of events that may have been foreshadowed at EVE Fanfest, the 1100+ player event in Iceland, where The Mittani was seen kissing the ring of EVE’s most famous cosplayer, Max Singularity. A propaganda photo op? Sincere allegiance? Part of the Imperium’s newly announced plans involve installing “Lord Maximilian Singularity VI” atop the throne and purging so-called non-believers. Some think could be positioning for a test run of the new sovereignty system. It’s roleplaying meets cosplay meets politics meets military might with the type of intrigue and immersion and agency over the game the EVE universe offers to those willing to take it. The gaming equivalent of House of Cards meeting Game of Thrones.
However these player-created machinations, as alliances and coalitions jockey for position and space ahead of the sovereignty changes of summer, aren’t the only thing afoot in New Eden.
There is war all over the place. Big time spaceship war with hundreds and thousands of participants in each battle as seen in this recent video reporting on real player activity.
There’s also been a fresh batch of recruitment efforts following recent intrigue and betrayal within the Brave Collective of the HERO Coalition, which saw its leader (CEO of Brave Newbies) ousted from power by a pre-dawn vote of its member corporations. Brave Newbies is EVE’s largest player corporation at 10,378 members and one of the main Reddit-based corporations. Their great successes and recent stumbles during the past few weeks have given rise to several new recruitment for new players to get right in the thick of things, with organizations like Pandemic Horde and Karmafleet taking a similar approach, Phoebe Freeport Republic offering an experiment of a different kind, more “open fleet” groups like RvB Ganked rising in popularity, and dozens more efforts around the galaxy all taking on new players.
EVE is a game of constant flux, with the players determining their own fate with actual agency over the universe around them. With a new Opportunities system coming to the new player experience in the next release, novice players will find an easier path to discover the wealth of possibilities that EVE has to offer.
The stars are aligning to create a great time for players to jump right into EVE, with corporations, alliances and coalitions energized ahead of the summer’s sovereignty changes, interesting organizations rising up in the vacuums created around the universe, and a whole lot of space battles going on that mean spaceship pew pew pew for all those interested.
More infos in the coming days about the next feature release at http://updates.eveonline.com
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