STARBURST wants to take you to another world; a place of infinite possibilities and adventure. But what is EVE Online? Come with us as we find out…
EVE Online (available for PC/Mac) is a compelling, community-driven spaceship massively multiplayer online (MMO) game where players can build and pilot a wide variety of starships, traversing vast solar systems for free and choosing their own path from countless options. It is a huge game with a rich history and universe behind it. It also has an intelligent, diverse and committed player base that is core to its success and achievements. A player base that has written its history in a universe of unrivaled beauty, depth, and opportunity and continue to write it into the future. Everything they do has consequences for them and every other player in the game. They experience space exploration, immense PvP (Player versus Player) and PvE (Player versus Environment) battles, mining, industry, piracy, politics and a sophisticated player economy in an ever-expanding sandbox. EVE is a captivating game in which hundreds of thousands of players compete for riches, power, glory, and adventure, forging their own destinies in a single thriving universe.
EVE Online takes place in the dangerous, dystopian universe of New Eden, where Earth has long been forgotten and mankind has colonised the heavens. It’s a place controlled by mega corporations and the ruthless, sprawling factions they serve and often corrupt. Players take their place among the most powerful class of humans that has ever lived – the capsuleers – empowered by the gift of immortality.
Players can participate in a number of in-game professions and activities, including mining, piracy, manufacturing, trading, exploration, and combat (both player versus environment and player versus player), finding the play style that suits them the best.
EVE Online is over 7,000 star systems filled with hundreds of thousands of players from around the world. The game can provide players with a sense of belonging with companions, bands, corporations (and alliances), giving them the feeling that they are not alone; they are part of something much bigger than themselves and promoting an out of game community.
When you start playing EVE, you will create your character and be given the choice of pledging your initial allegiance to one of the four great Empires of New Eden – the Amarr Empire, the Caldari State, the Gallente Federation, and the Minmatar Republic.
The Amarr society is driven by devout religion and based on the qualities of their strong faith. They believe their faith gives them an edge, a unified vision of reclaiming the universe for God, a manifest destiny. They believe in science and progress, but they see it as just part of experiencing God’s universe. Believing themselves to be God’s chosen, they will subjugate anyone who stands in their way and aim to spread their faith throughout the universe. The Amarr have wiped tribes and entire genetic lines out of existence.
The Caldari are a meritocratic society, where proving one’s worth to the State and to one’s role is paramount. An industrious and hard-working people, the Caldari are loyal to the corporate state overall, but specifically to corporations and mega-corporations. They project a unity between the people, and the Caldari State is where one would go to prosper financially and in terms of power and influence. Their loyalty is less about their supreme leader and more about duty and honour to the State (and Caldari heritage). A significant number of the population are grown, corporation funded and will be in the service of corporations their whole lives.
The Gallente see themselves as capable of solving others’ issues and delivering democracy, liberty, and enlightenment to the universe. They are high on diversity and are probably the least uniform of all the Empires. They are about the good life; fun and positivity are core to their pursuits. Seen as pompous and meddling by most of the galaxy, politically, the Gallente may not focus on one issue for too long; solving it and then forgetting about it, before rapidly moving on. The same occurs if they can’t make any progress on a political issue. There is no mandatory service in the Federation. The military is heavily automated with a lot of unmanned drones (police patrols etc.), AI and remote usage.
The Minmatar people treasure life and the bonds between people. They were enslaved by the Amarr until they fought back and reclaimed their freedom. The tribes do come into conflict with each other, with infighting and political power play proving a regular occurrence. When push comes to shove, they will always band together against a common enemy and will fight to the last person. Death in combat is seen as a glorious thing. The Minmatar are very adept at making do with what they have, which is reflected in their art style and architecture, ships, etc. Increasing their stake in the universe, fighting oppression and remembering that they are the smallest of the Empires by several trillion is central to their identity. Only a third of all Minmatar live in their own republic. The Minmatar tribes have vowed to never again be oppressed, especially by Amarr forces.
EVE Online offers players the opportunity to decide their own fate and path within the game. From mining asteroid belts for desirable resources to sell on the player market, to leading fleets into record-breaking space battles reported in the world’s gaming media, there’s a lot to life in New Eden.
The single shard universe that all EVE Online players exist in is a vast sandbox within which players regularly run into each other, either in high security space that is well policed by the non-player CONCORD organisation, or low security space where pretty much anything goes! Stunning starscapes and nebulae, life-rich space ports that are bustling with player activity, as well as mysterious and unstable wormholes are all part of New Eden.
There are over 340 ships in EVE, ranging from the starter Corvette to the gargantuan Titans that lead the line in thousands-strong player engagements. The spacecraft found in New Eden have distinctive attributes, so it’s not unusual to find pilots specialising in the art of front-line warfare in attack ships or exploring the far-flung reaches of New Eden in specially-adapted Frigates and Cruisers. There are also role-specific vessels such as mining ships for gathering ore, haulers for ferrying goods and fleets across the cosmos and disruptors for interfering with enemy ship operations.
Combat in EVE can involve solo missions against non-player adversaries, while for others it can be the thrill of fleeting up with hundreds of fellow player corporation members and battling over disputed territory, engaging in a spot of stellar piracy or taking down a formidable, sprawling player-built space station. There are missions and campaigns to undertake on behalf of a chosen Empire, as well as thousands of player-owned corporations and alliances to join and fight on behalf of. Alternatively, pilots can go it alone and look after themselves and their own interests, learning the ways of the solo trader, explorer, or industrialist, all the while having to fend for themselves as soon as they undock.
EVE’s community of devoted players are well known throughout gaming. Banding together against common foes and causes; player corporations and alliances wage wars against each other that last months. Certain player engagements can boast single battles with over six thousand individuals involved at any one time on the single EVE server, a world record in gaming that is continually being broken by EVE players.
EVE Fanfest has been an annual player and developer gathering held in Reykjavik, Iceland. EVE Online players from around the world make the pilgrimage to Iceland in order to party, talk EVE and find out the latest developments directly from CCP staff. The infamous Reykjavik Pub Crawl and Party at the Top of the World always pulls the crowds in and players let loose long into the night. The demand for these events is such that CCP have held EVE Vegas annually for the last few years and it grows in stature with every hosting. Players themselves host gatherings and events around the world that CCP staff often attend.
Another fascinating aspect of the EVE community comes in the form of the annually-elected Council of Stellar Management (CSM), which has brought a unique player-driven diplomacy to EVE. The CSM is an advocacy and advisory group made up of New Eden citizens, voted for by players of EVE Online. This elected group is vital for ensuring regular and quality communication to improve the experience of all who play the game.
The EVE player community have another impressive accolade to their name in the form of Project Discovery, a successful citizen science initiative. The real life stars of New Eden have contributed directly to science through playing EVE not once, but twice. The efforts and achievements of the players in helping scientists identify potential candidates for new exoplanets in our own galaxy, as well as helping to identify proteins within human cells, have been widely lauded.
In the spirit of exploration and mystery, EVE Online is constantly introducing new content and experiences into the universe. The recent introduction of Abyssal Deadspace opened up a new region of space to players where they can experience hazardous environmental effects, rapidly closing pockets of isolated space and an ancient adversary in the form of the Triglavian race. Feeding the intrepid, technologically curious and pioneering nature of EVE Capsuleers, the temptation to dive into the abyss and face alien threats for the promise of great reward often proves too great!
In addition to the impressive expansions, EVE Online also hosts regular in-game events where players can often obtain exclusive rewards and experience specific types of gameplay for a short time. This can include taking up arms against specific groups of non-player factions or accomplishing a certain set of milestones. Players will often band together to achieve these goals during events, and that kind of co-operative play is often highly rewarding and encouraged.
It is true that some of the greatest achievements and exploits of EVE Online players have involved record-breaking spaceship battles with unprecedented numbers of pilots involved, significant triumphs chronicled by well-represented alliances against their rivals and other such feats performed as a potent community. However, at its core, EVE is also very much about each individual player’s unique space adventure and story. Every one of those personal stories, in the context of the greater tapestry woven by 15 years of EVE Online player history, stands as its own remarkable achievement, and one that every EVE player is proud of.
Now you’ve learnt something about what goes on in the world of EVE Online, you can dive into the fully-immersive world and start playing for free – just head over to eveonline.com
