EVE Online announces Dominion expansion, 'Walking in Stations' renamed Incarna
by James Egan 
Aug 31st 2009 at 4:45PM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Expansions, Guilds, MMO industry, News items
CCP Games has announced their 11th free expansion for EVE Online, called "Dominion." As the name suggests, the winter expansion focuses on territories and player control over them. We're told that the Dominion expansion focuses on conquering and holding space, and will feature a reworking of the sovereignty system of territorial control for player alliances. We don't have any further details on the sovereignty revamp yet, but according to CCP the changes have been made with subscriber feedback in mind, particularly through the player-elected Council of Stellar Management.
Given that CCP Games is tying more of EVE Online's gameplay into the planets of the New Eden galaxy, the next step they're taking with the Trinity graphics engine is to add more detail to these planets (and presumably moons).
Beyond this focus on planets, Dominion will also bring the first iteration of COSMOS, a social network for EVE Online that ties in game features with web functionality -- character, corporation, and alliance profiles; a new mail system; and contacts.
Perhaps tying in with the release of EVE Online's next novel, The Burning Life, is the introduction of Pirate Epic Mission Arcs, giving some much needed attention to the game's various pirate factions.
CCP has just put up an announcement for Dominion on the game's official site and they've also launched a new EVE Online: Dominion feature page which should be where further expansion info will be announced.
Lastly, for those of you interested in the Walking in Stations feature where EVE's capsuleers will be given avatars -- it will not be part of the Winter expansion. More info should be forthcoming about the feature at Fanfest, but it's no longer known by its "Walking in Stations" or "Ambulation" codenames. The "Walking in Stations" feature has been named "Incarna".
This is what we know so far, but more details will emerge as EVE Fanfest 2009 approaches. Keep an eye on Massively's EVE Online coverage for more on the Dominion expansion in the coming weeks.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Darkdust said on 4:42PM 8-31-2009
Great stuff. Is your source on the "Incarna" name public?
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James Egan said on 4:51PM 8-31-2009
Hilmar Pétursson mentioned it to the press in Germany during GamesCom, but I treated it as a rumor then. I've since gotten confirmation from CCP Games that this is what the project is being called.
My understanding is that this is the actual name the feature will be released with, but I suppose things could change between now and when Incarna makes it into the game. I don't have confirmation on when Incarna will be ready (it won't be part of Dominion) beyond "Soon ™."
Aetrix said on 5:00PM 8-31-2009
Given its uselessness, I am glad this Incarna baloney keeps getting shoved to the back burner. One thing I've always liked about CCP is they really do seem to keep their priorities straight.
Darkdust said on 5:18PM 8-31-2009
Aetrix, given the tremendous amount of interest in Incarna, I think you've mistaken your personal priorities with what many others will enjoy. I hear from current and would-be players all the time that they look forward to this feature.
Sure, it won't really be for everyone. But then, neither is FW or a sovereignty revamp. Different strokes, and that.
Dude said on 5:24PM 8-31-2009
Gief Incarna... gief... gief... no more mining... gief
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redrinn said on 9:23PM 8-31-2009
Give yourself another chance at education please. Failing out of kindergarten has hurt your chances at a real life. And you will be missing out on the fun that is college, which also requires an intellect past 6th grade. Good luck.
Dude said on 8:07AM 9-01-2009
Do they do mining there?
Mewmew said on 5:27PM 8-31-2009
Personally I hope we have the option to make our avatars look like the picture we designed when we first went into the game. I love the way I made my character look and don't want that to change so I hope it saved the 3D data of my character somewhere and not just the screenshot of her face.
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Brendan Drain said on 9:06PM 8-31-2009
Personally, I hope they let us keep our current avatars as a kind of passport photo. We'll probably have to make new 3D avatars that are similar but I like the idea of holding on to that little picture for the stuff it's currently used for. I didn't realise how much we rely on it for recognising people until one day the forum's avatar database stopped working for a while and a dev pointed it out.
Venekor said on 6:47PM 8-31-2009
What I want is new Planets, new character creation cause the current one looks dated and ugly. I also want new backgrounds because again it's look old and it feels 2D and theres not enough stars and I'm fedup of seeing a Nebula everywhere. I also don't like how the backgrounds are static int he background it just makes everything feel flat.
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GaaaaaH said on 11:33PM 8-31-2009
Also noe that races and bloodlines are irrelevant something needs to be done
Chris said on 1:15AM 9-01-2009
Your sense of scale needs adjustment.
I assume by static backgrounds you're referring to the various nebulae? They're tens of light years away from you, or more, and they're not fluffy clouds. Nebulae don't move they way I think you'd like them to.
The planets though do need some polishing.
8bitgeorge said on 2:04AM 9-01-2009
Nice, new info for the upcoming expansion! I don't why I didn't see this coming, specially this close to CCP's fanfest.
Looking forward to more coverage from Massively!
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SgtBaker said on 7:27AM 9-01-2009
Sov changes have been long time coming - this is excellent news!
Last couple of patches have been so tuned to carebears I've been wondering if the promised Sov changes were just soft talk to keep us PvP:ers happy and waiting for the bone to drop - seems CCP has once again proven me wrong and once again delivered - thank you!
I'm hoping these are the last days of POS-spamming systems - and that can only be a good thing. The way Sov gets contested now is just plain stupid.
While at it also, hoping they nerf Doomsday, Titans are way too common and double(/triple) DD's are just so goddamn boring.
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ian.75 said on 9:52AM 9-01-2009
"it's no longer known by its "Walking in Stations" or "Ambulation" codenames. The "Walking in Stations" feature has been named "Incarna"."
Why? Because "Walking in Stations" which allows you to walk in stations made too much sense?
I hope Walking...sorry Incarna allows the development of hand to hand combat skills (eg with light sabers) so you can attack neuts and reds (same rules as in ships - extreme penalities for agression in Empire stations, slap on the wrists in low sec stations, and anything goes in 0.0 stations, eg massive chaotic bar fights where you can use your level 3 in 'throwing chairs' to beat up opponents).
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venarleceridious said on 9:15PM 9-03-2009
I fear that too much Incarna will take away from the exciting world outside. People living in stations, seeing alot less out in space.
Not to say I don't want Incarna, I think it'd be great. Maybe for business, maybe for just pleasure. Sight seeing.. I dunno. But... "throwing Chairs III" Really? lol. I really don't want to see hand-to-hand combat put into Eve Online. Maybe mini-games.. chess, cards.. idk. maybe somethign actually useful. I really have no ideas as to what usefullness it can provide, other than stuff you can do already docked.
What'd be cool is the option to paint your ship. From inside the station, I guess. I dunno. then theres the issue of coloring like faction. but they could disable that color configuration, and have special configurations for said faction. dunno,
Now, what I wouldn't oppose it that rts gameplay integration on planets. Then again, back to top^, taking away from players in space.
psycros said on 2:53AM 9-04-2009
I'm so glad EVE exists: it keeps some of the riff-raff out of *good* MMOs.
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Kris said on 7:21AM 9-29-2009
I think the main point to Incarna is that it lays foundation for the upcoming cross-over with the console-based Dust 514. I'm assuming tactical stations can be walked to in which strategic elements can be manipulated for the ground troops ... there they will have their own world of FPS so I think "bar fights" is a bit far fetched but the connection between Incarna and Dust is most likely going to be profound and involved.
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Paulman said on 4:53PM 10-07-2009
I have a hunch that Incarna will be released as a separate game, kind of like with Dust 514. I'm listening to the CTO & other guy (I can't remember who is who) talk right now, and they're talking about linking the code so that inventory improvements in EVE will automatically carry over to Incarna, and that Incarna will benefit from stable code that's been well tested on Tranquility. Sounds to me like they're separate products?
I think that would be smart, too, since "Walking in stations" has sounded like a HUGE project, work-load wise. It would be smart to base a standalone product around it. And I think they should license their ambulation engine :P
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Paulman said on 4:55PM 10-07-2009
Never mind. I'm pretty sure I'm wrong. But I'm pretty sure CCP will want to make heavy use out of Incarna in their future games.
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