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CCP Games has launched EVE Online: Havoc, the newest expansion for the space MMO. This expansion adds new content and improvements that give players a lot more choice when making enemies. For the first time in the game, players can now join forces with pirate factions, completely changing the dynamic of how battles were fought before. Along with that, the addition of EVE Vanguard will add a whole new layer of gameplay with a new FPS mode.
EVE Online Havoc: Joining Forces With Pirates
Before the Havoc update, all the fighting took place between factions, but now factions aren’t the only thing players will have to worry about. Usually, players would join factions and then fight amongst themselves, but now the pirates are adding a new dimension to that.
We’re [CCP Games] allowing players to sign up to work alongside pirate factions, which is something that you’ve never been able to do in the past. Where we improved our factional warfare system and are just adding an extra conflict to the faction warfare war zones. Instead of just the empires versus each other. It’s those empires versus new pirate insurgencies.
CCP Games in an interview with The Nerd Stash
The newly discovered Zarzakh system is now explorable, and the factions in the area are the Angel Cartel and the Guristas pirates. Players can choose to ally with either the cartel or the pirates, just like they could with the different factions previously.
Adding official space piracy fulfills a long-held player ambition and brings EVE Online ever closer to our vision of the ultimate sci-fi experience. It expands the captivating life paths we can offer new pilots and allows veteran EVE players to come back to the fight and protect the empires they once loved… or help bring down those they hated.
Bergur Finnbogason, EVE Online’s Creative Director
With Havoc, once players side with one of the pirate factions, they will then gain access to special faction-aligned storefronts. While those who don’t join the pirate factions will be trying their best to retake those pirate-held sectors.
New Features, Abilities & Ships To Pilot
Corporation leaders now have access to improved tools to manage their organizations. Not only have seven new project types been added, but the functionality for each has also been increased. A new project manager role has also been added which will allow players to cover a wider range of in-game activity.
Fresh pilots can immediately find their purpose and better access what appeals to them as they take their first steps.
Emily Akland, EVE Online’s Senior Brand Manager
Speaking of piloting ships, the Angel Titan and pirate battlecruisers can now be piloted by capsuleers. But to be able to access these ships, players will have to gain the trust of either the Angels or Guristas to unlock the ships’ blueprints and then construct them.
It’s going to be a ship that, when compared to the Minmatar Ragnarok Titan, will have about 50% more hit points. It’ll do about 20% more damage. It’ll cost 4 or 5 times as much.
CCP Games in an interview with The Nerd Stash
EVE Online Vanguard – A New Way To Fight
Havoc also brings EVE Vanguard, an FPS experience in early development, which will be connected to EVE Online from day one. When it goes online in December, those who sign up will be able to experience it at launch. Talking to The Nerd Stash about Vanguard, the developers said:
We’re hearing from the players that that’s what they want. We very routinely get player requests to bring back something like dusk to have a shooter that interacts with the game, because that was very unique at the time. And there’s still a lot of people that remember it very fondly and want something back.
CCP Games in an interview with The Nerd Stash
Finally, the developers were quick to note that they do not intend to control every aspect of the game, and would like to see which directions players take the game in. Calling this “emergent gameplay” and only getting involved when things start to break the game:
There are tons of stories of things happening that we didn’t predict. We call that emergent gameplay. And that’s something that is the bread and butter of sandbox games. Of course, when disastrously wrong, that’s pretty rare, mainly because we try to hold very loosely our idea of what is good and allow the players to a large degree decide that for themselves. So the only times we’ll crack down on something happening in the game, systems-wide, like players using a system in a way that we didn’t expect, is if it’s causing a really bad experience for other players.
CCP Games in an interview with The Nerd Stash
