EVE Online giving players free holiday gift: the Zephyr
by James Egan 
Dec 15th 2009 at 3:30PM
Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, News items
EVE Online players received some good news today, when CCP Games announced a free holiday gift for all active subscribers: the Zephyr, a pure exploration vessel that's unique among all ships of New Eden in both form and function. Beyond the pimp factor of this Intaki Syndicate ship, the Zephyr's primary use will be in the uncharted expanses of wormhole space. It's the only ship in EVE Online that has a probe launcher built in. This "Prototype Iris Probe Launcher"-equipped ship pairs minimal mass (and less likelihood of collapsing a wormhole) with a small sensor footprint, which makes it hard to scan down by hostiles. While the integrated exploration gear is nice, even better is that Sleeper NPCs -- the awakened and powerful guardians of wormhole space -- will not fire upon a Zephyr (EVE filmmakers take note!). What's even cooler is that it actually has sails; it's designed to soar through space on solar winds when not in warp.
The Zephyr exploration ship will be free to all players and available to be claimed between December 18th and January 6th, 2009. Redeeming the ship is easy, simply log in to the EVE client on or after December 18th and click "Redeem Items!" on the lower right of the client window. Remember it's one ship per active (non-trial) account, not per character, and this may very well be a one time offer. Have a look at CCP Wrangler's full description of the Zephyr for more on this rather unique addition to New Eden's array of ships.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Khai Mann said on 3:46PM 12-15-2009
Very cool :) Can't wait for my free ship.
Reply
Dab said on 4:04PM 12-15-2009
Nice one, and thanks! It's little things like this that make me love CCP more and more.
Reply
max said on 4:08PM 12-15-2009
I don't even play Eve and that sounds awesome.
Reply
foofad said on 4:14PM 12-15-2009
If I resub before the 18th, can I grab this?
Reply
Joshua Przygocki said on 4:39PM 12-15-2009
Wow I was planning on subbing this weekend anyway... thanks CCP I think I love you...
Reply
Karl said on 4:59PM 12-15-2009
Well that's cool... my question is, what happens if you DO get shot flying your Zephyr (say, unfriendly player DOES get you) and it is destoyed. If this is a one-time offer ship, it's gone forever?
Reply
Fuzzy said on 5:20PM 12-15-2009
I searched through the EVE forums, and it can't be targeted by NPCs while in a wormhole system.
http://www.eveonline.com/iNgameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1233514&page=3#82
But I assumed you were talking about PvP... that would make me very sad if it went away, but that's probably what will happen.
LaughingTarget said on 6:01PM 12-15-2009
There have been tournament unique ships that have blown up without replacement. It'll definitely be the same with this one. New Eden is too brutal a world to guarantee you not lose this ship.
Rambie said on 6:23PM 12-15-2009
An NPC won't attack that ship but there is no restriction on another player from destroying it PVP. You'd loose the ship and maybe, just maybe, be able to find one on contract to purchase another.
Fuzzy said on 6:28PM 12-15-2009
Yes, I remember hearing something about special event ships and people trying to track down what happened to them. If only there were Zephyr blueprints...
Fuzzy said on 5:05PM 12-15-2009
I always wanted to try out Exploration :D
This is why CCP is love. In a world where games MIGHT offer some sort of consolation prize only after a massive screwup, CCP throws out a free goodie for the holidays... and not just a piece of equipment either!
Reply
mbp said on 5:48PM 12-15-2009
That does sound like a very useful free gift. The only problem is that although it may be immune to sleepers it won't be immune to other players. I would be afraid to use it because once you lose it you can never replace it.
Reply
Karl said on 6:23PM 12-15-2009
Yeah... I'll pick up my free ship, but I doubt I'll fly it anywhere due to the risk of loss since I basically suck at PvP. ;)
Kalex said on 6:46PM 12-15-2009
I want to read the ships details, to understand the lore reason why sleepers don't kill em!
I live in a wormhole, and think this is awesome... Though if theirs no covert op cloak integration option for this vessel, i would be hard pressed to use it very often. Theirs worse things that can kill you in wormholes than sleepers these days (i'm talking to you, heavy interdictor + tech 3 cruiser + battleship roving gang)!
a regular prototype one could probably give it some use though.
Reply
MrGutts said on 6:50PM 12-15-2009
So you exploration freaks. Just skip to 1:15 to see what is going to happen when you go into low sec.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCtrj_x1wcQ
Reply
jamenta said on 8:54PM 12-15-2009
This is a brilliant move by CCP - and i bet one of the coolest holiday ideas of most any MMO out there.
Reply
Dblade said on 9:37PM 12-15-2009
Not as good of a move as people think it is. "Don't fly what you can't afford to lose"-and this may be irreplaceable. It reminds me of the yellow interbus shuttle given with the EVE boxed set. Seems like a cool idea, but the threat of loss makes using it stupid versus a t1 frigate with exploration gear on anyways.
Reply
Dirame said on 11:10PM 12-15-2009
The only time I actually lost my cov ops was when I warped to a POS, I think if ppl are smart this will be relatively safe, but i'll definitely lock mine up somewhere live i've done to the 10s upon 10s of faction stuff i've aquired ha.
Ryan said on 5:28AM 12-16-2009
These ships are not irreplaceable -- just limited in supply.
You'll be able to buy these via contracts for years. However, as the supply thins out, their price will go up (just as with any other RL vehicle).
So you'll always be able to buy one if you really want it at least
Reply
Chris said on 7:09AM 12-16-2009
like the apotheous or whatever shuttle now its like i thinkg 10-30m each cause their so limited after they used to be free, cause so many have died and so few are left.