CCP Games reveals next major Apocrypha update for EVE Online
by James Egan 
Jun 30th 2009 at 6:00PM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Patches, PvP, News items
EVE Online senior producer CCP t0rfifrans just published a dev blog about the next major update to the game, Apocrypha 1.5. This is not a completely new expansion, just a significant update they will release in August before EVE's (as-yet-unnamed) winter expansion. While CCP hasn't released the complete rundown of Apocrypha 1.5's features and changes, they have announced a few highlights:
- Perhaps the biggest changes in 1.5 will be factional warfare improvements. Beyond responding to the lag issues many players have been reporting with factional warfare, CCP is going to introduce Loyalty Points (LP) for kills and captures, and each militia will have its own LP store where militia players can cash in for items unique to that faction.
- Several Level 4 epic mission arcs will be introduced, tied to specific races in New Eden. CCP t0rfifrans writes: "These captivating stories deal with moral ambiguity, intrigue, honor, and some people's lack of it. This should come as no surprise to those who know EVE and what we are about. As before with the epic arc that was released with Apocrypha, they provide a deep, interesting story, where your choices influence the outcome."
- One of the long awaited buffs for Black Ops battleships will arrive: specialized cargo holds. The first use of this system will be to give Black Ops ships fuel bays, but this feature paves the way for similar additions to other ship classes in the future. For instance, some ships may one day be given ammo bays, freeing up valuable cargo space.
- Rigs will be offered in different sizes, with frigate and cruiser sized rigs introduced to the game. These new small and medium rigs will be cheaper to buy or manufacture, and thus provide a lower cost way for players to trick out their ships.
We'll keep our eyes open for more about Apocrypha 1.5 as information becomes available.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Brietje said on 6:56PM 6-30-2009
no new ship :\ kinda dissapointing. I like the fast rigs are going to be ship sized. Lvl 4 epic arc missions won't make a difference I think, the epic mission arc stays boring :(
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ttvp said on 8:09PM 6-30-2009
I really like what I've seen so far in EVE, but that "walking in stations" expansion is seriously going to make me consider being a full time subscriber. Here's hoping 1.5 brings us a few steps closer to realizing that.
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Venekor said on 1:00AM 7-01-2009
Not really the buff I wanted when I played for Black ops. The problem with them is they're too expensive when you can get other ships to jam just aswel and they always get targetted first and have no tank. So in a battle it's like pop in 5 seconds and you think well that was a waste of 2 billion to setup.
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Ghstmarauder said on 2:10AM 7-01-2009
You don't fight with black ops like that, you hot drop your victims with more then one BO and can also bridge in SBs and Recons; after the deed is done you get out.
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lamthara said on 2:40AM 7-01-2009
I like the idea of the small rigs... actually the frigates and the cruisers can't "afford" to get rigs considering that the cost of them will be 100 times higher than the cost of the ship itself...
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double9s said on 10:11AM 7-01-2009
Seriously? Are we going to round out another year without walking in stations? Looks like I won't be subscribing to game.
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Ryan said on 12:51PM 7-01-2009
You absolutely need an avatar walking around to enjoy this great game?
double9s said on 1:01PM 7-01-2009
I'm in a situation where I only really want to play an MMO that my close group of friends also play, and when I hype EVE to them, the fact that you're "just a ship" always comes up and ends up being a dealbreaker. Sorry, we just like that extra level of immersion.
Also, and this is just a personal opinion, it says a lot about the developer that they've been working on this addition for so long and they can't get it out the door. I have to way in factors for CCP, like the fact that they don't charge for expansions, but I can't help the fact that every time I check on the status of this addition, it's never anywhere close to being finished and that annoys me a lot.
They shouldn't have hyped it so early without any clear launch window in site.
emoat said on 1:39PM 7-01-2009
I still really don't understand everyone's eager anticipation/excitement for "walking-in-stations". Perhaps I lack imagination... but what would you *do* walking around. I play EVE to fly a spaceship... if I want to walk down a hallway or around a room there are ample opportunities in real-life. Don't get me wrong... I love EVE, but unless there is some kind of fps aspect added (which is really not in keeping with the theme of this mmo) I don't quite see the point. Again... maybe it's just my lack of vision.
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double9s said on 6:46PM 7-01-2009
I don't really want to be mean, but to use your own words I'd say yes, it's a lack of vision.
Referring to an "fps aspect" it seems like you can only envision this sort of thing being used for combat, and that's just not it. I mean I play MMOs for the combat and the comradery and all, but other times I play for the immersion, to get completely sucked into the world. When think about all the great scifi that's fun to imagine, you don't land at a space port and then stare at your ship. You get out, you walk around the bay and look at other ships. You go to the bar and interact with other people, conversing and making shady deals. You go to the ship dealer and look at the fresh new ships towering above you. There's a whole mess of stuff you do that isn't just looking at menus and graphs.
If current EVE players like you guys don't get excited for that sort of thing, then maybe that's why CCP is taking their sweet ass time, and that's cool. I, a nonplayer, don't expect them to ignore development in areas that their players actually want in hopes of roping in people like me. I'm just explaining the great amount of value I see in the potential of Ambulation.
Aetrix said on 6:14PM 7-01-2009
I don't understand the desire for walking in stations either. There are PLENTY of other games out there which break down into a glorified chatroom. I'm perfectly happy with EvE staying different.
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Brickbat said on 4:54PM 7-02-2009
Walking in stations isn't a MAJOR thing but it would be nice, because really, there's very little atmosphere in Eve beyond floating in space in your ship.
You spend all that time customizing an avatar for a static picture. You never see any other part of the stations except the hangar. I know a lot of people don't want CCP to waste time on WIS, but something like that would add a nice clump of subscribers who just want to RP or interact with their friends.
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