Being profitable in one's field of choice is one thing that is understandable. But CCP Games is one of those companies that will sacrifice anyone or anything in order to ride the latest wave just to make a buck.
Add that to CCP Game staff's amoral cacophony of customer service that actively encourages games to harass or threaten players OUTSIDE of the game and that leaves me choosing to not support a company like that with my money any longer.
Eve Online was not always as it is, the Retribution expansion changed that. That is coming from someone who was in EVE's beta and has played it for the past 10 years.
The writing is on the wall for CCP Games in that there are already gaming parent sites advising other parents against allowing their kids or anyone with a sense of ethics not to bother with EVE Online. That combined with specific Iceland groups such as SAFT, working to make people more aware of the growing problems surrounding Internet Harassment means CCP Games needs to wake up and get with the program.
The shiny veneer of a new IP only goes so deep before one can smell the stench of a rotten core that is the amoral staff of CCP Games.
EVE Online Winter Expansion: Rubicon
All the latest details about the newest expansion of EVE Online.
Ship Classes Balanced
There are four ship classes that have received balance changes:
Marauders – They can now transform between two modes: Bastion and Normal. Bastion mode has "fast cycling, can tank a ton, but can't move". Normal mode has a reduced Micro Jump Drive (MJD) time, down to 1 minute (from the usual 3 minutes). The devs summarized it as having a choice between "being locked down as a brawler ship or jumping every minute all over the field".
Interceptors – They will now have Bubble Immunity. This is an incredible change, to give them more mobility, at the cost of a slight HP drop and smaller cargo bays.
EAFs – Electronic Attack Frigates will receive range improvements. (eg 35km neut Sentinels)
Interdictors – Their core role will stay same, but they will be "big beneficiaries of the warp changes". The only other mention for Interdictors was that the art for their bubbles is being reworked, meaning "fleet fights should look nicer."
"Sisters of EVE" Faction Ships
The Sisters of EVE (Gallente / Amarr) have started building ships which emphasize exploration and versatility. It was also mentioned that they're designed to allow you to be away for long periods of time. Although they're not specifically suited for combat, their combat capability was described as "self-defense with a vengeance." These faction ships will receive an armor bonus, a drone bonus, and exploration-themed bonuses (e.g., "hacking, probing and covert ops cloaks").
Certificate System Overhaul
The Certificate System will be redone as the Mastery system. The Mastery system will provide much better organization, and better convey what skills you possess. For more information on this particular change, the devs encouraged players to check their development blog at a later date.
Streamlined Progression Tree
Closely tied into the Mastery system, there will be an easy-to-understand progression tree. It will show you all available ships and some basic info on how proficient you are with each. As described during the announcement, this visual layout will be especially helpful for newcomers.
Improved Character Selection Screen
The character selection screen will become notably more useful. Redeeming items will be much easier, as well as simply identifying which of your characters is where. No more specific details were mentioned, but it was summarized as "just a much better way to start up the game."
Integrated Twitch.tv Streaming
To cap off an already-excellent announcement, CCP mentioned they will be integrating tools directly into EVE Online for easy Twitch.tv streaming.
On a final note, CCP is offering a huge bundle of gear called EVE: The Second Decade - Collector's Edition. This set contains an illustrated history book, a model frigate that functions as a USB hub, an orchestral EVE soundtrack, an EVE board game and more than a dozen digital benefits. You can pre-order it now for approximately $200 USD, and it will ship on October 24th.
Overall, what an incredible announcement! This was much more significant than I was expecting. Once again, CCP continues to impress with its 20th free content-filled expansion.
Colt "ShdwFlm" Casey, Deputy Editor
Special thanks to Matt "Kojinus" Hogan