EVE Online at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

EVE Online Crucible: Starbase Changes

As discussed in a recent Ten Ton Hammer guide, running a starbase is about to become a heck of a lot more convenient. The chief changes include a huge reduction in the wait to anchor or unanchor modes, the consolidation of fuel requirements into fuel blocks, and an increase in the size of faction tower fuel bays. For advanced industrialists that are into starbases, this is a godsend.

EVE Online Crucible: Polish And Fixes

As far as this expansion goes, CCP has really outdone themselves with general balancing and reducing the general hassle involved with playing. Incredible changes include:

• A new font that will allow us to better differentiate between Os and zeroes.
  
• A panoply of capital and supercapital balance tweaks, including titan doomsdays that can't really harm sub-capital ships, rebalanced carriers and, most importantly of all, a fantastic set of nerfs to that penultimately annoying ship class: supercarriers.
• Exploration will earn more ISK, and now includes small and medium rig blueprints as possible drops.
  
• New T2 modules. While it's not set in stone which modules will make it into the next expansion, there will likely be new tech II versions of siege and triage modules, bomb launchers, warp disruption field generators, some drone modules, and possibly even gang links.
  
• A buff to hybrid turrets, including reduced fitting requirements, less capacitor use, and more tracking. In this author's opinion they are still a pale shadow of autocannons, but it's a start.
  
• Some of the less-used tech two ammunition is getting buffed, including javelin, gleam, quake, and hail. I am definitely going to be using these.
• The much-loved Cosmic Anomalies will be worth more ISK to the pilots that run them. This will hopefully see a lot of players moving back into null-sec.
  
• Tons of other improvements and fixes to the way windows work, the way ship orbit ranges are stored, and an easier way to loot wrecks. They added a way for CEOs to remotely un-rent offices. Perhaps most impressively, alliance jump bridges show up on the in-game EVE map. Oh, and you don't need passwords to use them, anymore. Missile ranges now show on the tactical overlay in a similar way to turrets, and bomb launchers show where they will detonate (!). This really is the best damn expansion in a long time.

General Thoughts

I expect Crucible to be the best expansion since Revelations, the expansion that (amongst many other changes) introduced the Drake, invention, salvaging, and rigs. CCP pulled much of the Crucible expansion together in less than two months, after laying off 20% of their staff and completely re-orienting their business strategy. It's really impressive when viewed in that context, and auspicious regarding future expansions where they may actually have time and resources to develop EVE Online. Here's to you, CCP, and also to flying in spaceships!