Rumors surface of extras included with EVE Online retail release
by James Egan 
Feb 4th 2009 at 9:00AM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, Expansions, MMO industry, Rumors
Some of the biggest news to come out of EVE Fanfest 2008 was the publishing deal struck between CCP Games and Atari. The March retail release will mark the first time the game can be seen on store shelves since EVE Online's launch over five years ago. Players have wondered what benefits there might be in purchasing the game at a store, versus the game most of us have always known, which has been a purely digital distribution. While this is still relegated to the category of "rumor", images of the box and descriptions of its content have begun to turn up on the sites of retailers. One UK game retailer lists the details what's included with the box: 60 days of game time, instant access to factional warfare (i.e. automatic standings via an in-game certificate), a guide to the game's careers, a VIP Pass (essentially the Buddy Program), and a special edition ship -- which, in this case, is listed to be a shuttle with increased cargo space. Fair enough, but is it real? Well if your German isn't too rusty, you can also see details of the retail release as they're listed at Amazon in Germany.
EVE dev CCP Sputnik commented on the game's forums that players may be reading too far into this. Sputnik stated, "... I have to tell you that this is outdated box art which was done before the features for the box were even defined. Sorry but you spend your conspiracy power on a fake. About the game time, I asked around a few weeks back and nothing was decided at this time but I was told there will be a Dev-Blog about this before the box gets released which will explain everything."
So there you go. It may be that the retailers jumped the gun, or it may just be that CCP Games is still in the process of finalizing these details. But we wonder, for you current subscribers, would these extras tempt you to pick up a retail copy of EVE Online? What do you think about the extras as they're listed on the sites of these particular retailers?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Disteeler said on 9:22AM 2-04-2009
It's also up in the Game uk website:
http://www.game.co.uk/PC/RolePlaying/MassivelyMultiplayer/~r339497/Eve-Online/?s=eve%20online
Notice the wording about "players" and "retail box buyers". I suspect both the shuttle and the VIP pass will also be granted to current players, regardless they buy or not the box. Also the new guide probably will be up in the Evelopedia, not just in the box as a paper-guide.
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nevin said on 9:27AM 2-04-2009
I am on a trial right now but will probably let it expire while I wait for the 60 days free in the retail which is a great offer imo. I've only been playing 2 days so not sure how valuable the rest of the items are.
I may start a new trial timed to start with the retail release so if anyone wants 30 free days...send me a buddy key :)
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Disteeler said on 9:34AM 2-04-2009
First! send me your email via ingame at "Disteeler" and I'll send you a buddy trial ^^
moo said on 9:44AM 2-04-2009
Are they really gonna go down this dumb SOE path of giving out special items you can't get through actually playing the game?
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Pirate Penguin said on 10:02AM 2-04-2009
I know SOE has a bad rep, but this has also been done by nearly every other MMO company in some manner or other (usually with collector's editions).
Disteeler said on 10:09AM 2-04-2009
CCP already have done it in the past. They gave everyone a jovian shuttle (they didn't just "give" it, it was a bit of roleplay stuff included, I mean, it was a gift from the jovian race to all other races).
And I think this "gift" shuttle will also be given to anyone, not just to those that buy the box. There is nothing included into EvE without roleplaying stuff.
Also, ships in EvE can be blown out (no "respawn" for ships) so more pew pew!! XDD
Brendan Drain said on 5:17AM 2-09-2009
Remember that EVE doesn't have any of that rubbish where items are bound to a certain characters or items are untradeable. Apart from implants that are irretrievable once plugged in, anything you have in EVE can be traded. These new shuttles are something anyone will be able to get their hands on because people will sell them. Where there's a demand, it'll be filled. We'll probably see them changing hands for about 5mil after about a week after the box is released and probably only as a curious collectable.
Additionally, they aren't combat ships and so are mostly cosmetic. I already have a bunch of much more effective cargo ships than this shuttle will be, my blockade runner is faster than a shuttle and can warp while cloaked. And since it's aimed at newbies, I doubt this shuttle will have over 500-1000m3 of cargo space.