Tranquility Coming to Tranquility

Okay, it sounds confusing, but It will most likely be something many are waiting for – especially those who thought that Incarna was a big let down. The next expansion will be called Tranquility. And if they’re able to fulfill their promises, that should proof people that they’ll keep EVE a game about spaceships and that they didn’t forget that during Incarna.

So far I’ve heard numerous times that Incarna and the following expansion will evolve around Walking in Stations (most just referring to it as WiS). In a game concentrating on spaceship warfare this might sound odd and it caused quite some stir throughout the community. I can’t understand all the rage I’ve seen over the last few months (I remember back in 2003 I didn’t want to stick to EVE due to missing characters after all), but at least some people offered valid concerns and arguments. But outside this small minority, most whining is just too exaggerated. At least this will hopefully end soon as CCP released the first information regarding this year’s winter expansion: Tranquility.

Just some minutes ago I read an interesting tweet by Rick, containing information many EVE fans were waiting for (which haven’t been released so far for whatever reason):

@EveOnline If this article was on your main site bit.ly/ntIlyr I would think it would retain people on the fence #tweetfleet FiS !!

I wasn’t that interested in low sec action and stuff so far, but these reveals sound really interesting to be honest. Judging by the screenshots Tranquility the expansion might as well feature the new nebulae backgrounds they showed off at Fanfest 2011. If you want, feel free to follow the link above and read the full story at MMORPG.com. This announcement in the form of an interview sounds really interesting. If a short rundown is enough, here it is:

• First Tranquility deployment to Tranquility will happen before the end of the year.
• Continuation of the work started in Dominion.
• Changes to 0.0.
• Changes to Sovereignty stuff.
• Changes to super capitals (buffs to Dreadnaughts, nerf to Super Carriers).
• Changes to resource distribution (whatever this means).
• Enhancement of small skirmishes as one of the main goals.
• Improvements to “frigates, cruisers and other small ships to give them a more effective role”.
• Making the game a bit more noob friendly as well as trying to get people into flying smaller ships too.
• Rebalancing of all ships.
• Creating a place for smaller alliances.
• Incarna additions over the next few months:
• Missing three racial Captain’s Quarters.
• New Establishments (players are able to rent/open their own bars or gambling halls with booster dealing; but not all at once)
• No plans to ever go the ground mission/fps route (reserved for DUST).
• “The Incarna process is really just a side-game.”
• New EVE Online website with more tools.
• Updates to all ship arts (“Version 3.0”) to allow customization.
• New turret effects and new space scenery.
• Time dilation to counter lag issues during fleet fights.

Can’t wait! This sounds really interesting, as some of the changes will most likely affect all parts of EVE – high sec, low sec, null sec and wormholes. I also prefer smaller craft instead of battleships. Sounds like I’ll win this expansion, no matter what I’ll be doing. I just hope this new knowledge will finally end all that rage and whining regarding WiS, NeX, etc. ‘cause it’s getting really old now.

Update: Obviously the author made some mistake confusing “Tranquility” (as the server name) with the still unnamed expansion name. So it most likely won’t be called Tranquility – it will just be deployed to Tranquility (as usual).

New Engine Trails Incoming?

So next Monday EVE Online is finally getting its new forums. Well, assuming there isn’t yet another last minute retreat due to some security flaws or whatever. Anyway, one of the new features includes several background styles users can select. There’s one for each of the last three expansions (Incarna, Incursion and Trinity) as well as one for each of the four factions. I picked the Minmatar one almost instantly and noticed something interesting. On the left side there’s a small squad consisting of a Loki, two Stabbers and two Rifters:

Besides the nice (new?) Nebulae effect in the background there are some rather huge engine trails/fireballs visible. Now the question I’m asking is more or less obvious: Is this just some artistic impression or are we really getting these engine trails? The background image is clearly rendered and not taken directly from the game but everything looks as ingame – except the nebula in the background (new nebulae were annoucned during fanfest 2011) and the yet to be announced engine trails. They don’t match the style of some of the new engines (discussed here), but these are Caldari or Amarr after all. And to be honest, they don’t look that spectacular either. Anyway, I’m looking into the future a bit more curious…