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A
virtual storm is brewing in New Eden.

Glancing at the overview readout in href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/" target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">EVE Online
will show you all sorts of interesting details about your surroundings
at any given time as you warp your way through New Eden. Whether
you’re searching for specific asteroid types or want to be
alerted of approaching danger, just about anything you’d want
to know about your environment is a simple click away thanks to the
information-rich tool. In fact, one of the few things the overview
won’t tell you is the weather. For that, you have to rely on
your own, cybernetically enhanced senses.



The past few weeks have been anything but tranquil for style="font-style: italic;">EVE Online.
Any pilot worth their weight in Omber could tell you that. With the
launch of the Apocrypha expansion quickly approaching, a virtual storm
of excitement is sweeping its way through New Eden – can you
feel it? Now is definitely the time to be a part of style="font-style: italic;">EVE Online,
and I’m here to tell you why.



Autopilot
engaged, warp drive active.



Last month, I href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/62045" target="_blank">discussed
the potential impact of the upcoming retail release for EVE, also
taking a look at how the Atari brand will help the reigning king of
sci-fi MMOs branch out to new audiences. Normally, in the weeks leading
up to this type of release we’d be experiencing a massive
marketing push as a means of grabbing the attention of the gaming
public while the development teams consume nutty quantities of caffeine
behind the scenes to make sure everything is running smoothly for the
big day.



EVE certainly doesn’t need the kind of canned marketing hype
typically associated with major MMO releases though, as the game has
been making headlines over the past few weeks based solely on the
merits of what the game has to offer, which is why the title has
secured such a solid community that continues to expand. In fact, it
was href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/63117" target="_blank">recently
announced that EVE snapped the
previous barrier for concurrent users online by passing the 50,000
mark. When you consider that New Eden exists as a single shard, that
number is nothing to sneeze at, no matter how much cosmic dust sneaks
past your shipboard filtration systems.

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No-sec
space just got a lot more interesting.

If there was ever a perception to outsiders that EVE is perhaps too
established, with control over large sectors of space already divided
between massive, hardcore alliances, it was certainly shattered the
moment news that the Band of Brothers alliance had been disbanded. Not
only did the news give gamers some insight into just href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/63260" target="_blank">how
intriguing the politics in EVE can be,
but it also reinforces the notion that even the actions of a single
individual out of hundreds of thousands can have massive implications.
No-sec space just got a style="font-style: italic;">lot
more interesting folks. If you’ve had your eye on EVE PvP but
had any reservations about jumping in, this is an awesome new period
that you may very well want to be a part of.



Autopilot
disabled, waypoint reached.



Numerous jokes have been made of EVE’s notoriously steep
learning cliff, which has no doubt also played a role in holding off
would-be pilots. The truth of the matter is that EVE is simply unlike
any MMO you may have played before, with a galactic ton of potential
paths you can eventually pursue depending on what kind of experience
you want to have with the game. Unlike most tutorials that you can
easily skip so long as you’re familiar with WASD movement and
UI standards like “B is for Bag”, the tutorial in
EVE extends far beyond the basics. Sure, there’s a lot to
learn which might be intimidating for some, but it’s really href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/63336" target="_blank">not
as scary as you might have heard.



The Apocrypha expansion due to go live on March 10th will also feature
a complete revamp to this portion of the game. CCP is well aware of the
reputation EVE’s learning curve has acquired over the years,
and understand the value of doing this kind of revamp to the new player
experience and the positive impact it will have moving forward. Between
a shiny new retail box and potentially less cliff-like tutorial, I
fully expect that another concurrent user milestone announcement is
just around the corner.



While I’m on the subject of the upcoming expansion,
it’s also important to note that should you choose to take
the EVE challenge before Apocrypha arrives, it will be available to
subscribers free of charge. In fact, all of EVE’s previous
expansions have been free to subscribers, which is pretty amazing
considering how much work has gone into them over the years.

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Now
is the perfect time to dive into EVE's virtual beehive.

Captain’s
Log: Stardate 2170.9



A href="http://forums.tentonhammer.com/showthread.php?t=40500"
target="_blank">recent discussion
in our EVE forums really got me thinking about certain aspects of the
game, perhaps the most important one being the players themselves and
how their actions can shape whatever kind of experience they want to
have during their time in New Eden. Unlike the industry standard of
separate servers that break up the community into smaller chunks, EVE
truly is one giant galaxy that continues to expand, with room for
plenty of new pilots.



For those of you looking for an awesome sci-fi MMO experience, I
certainly encourage you to href="https://secure.eve-online.com/ft/FreeTrialLanding.aspx?aid=104134&bid=8"
target="_blank">download the EVE client
and try it on for size. You might find it fits even better than that
new ocular implant you recently had installed! If you have any
questions, comments, or even want to share your amusing anecdotes about
your time as a pilot in EVE, by all means share them here in our
forums, or you can always feel free to send a virtual carrier pigeon to
my
inbox!



Until next time dear readers, this is Sardu, Captain of href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/features/final-frontier"
target="_blank">The Final Frontier
signing off!