“The headline feature of EVE Online: Ascension, Clone States, brings free access to EVE Online in the form of Alpha Clones, using a pre-determined skillset, giving access to a whole host of playstyles and in-game content without the need for a subscription. In addition to this, the first phase of a completely re-worked new player experience, Inception, will offer new pilots more assistance and guidance than ever before as they take their first steps into the vast expanse of New Eden. Engineering Complexes, a new set of colossal industrial structures, are set to fundamentally change the economy and industry game play, alongside a full rework of command boosts, mining foreman revamps, new effects generators for Titans, a rebalance of the Rorqual, new visual feedback and brand-new explosion effects, as well as more activity in the asteroid belts of New Eden in the forum of non-capsuleer resource gathering operations.”
We’ve rounded up all of our Ascension coverage starting with the F2P announcement itself. If you’re a new or returning player, we’d like to point out Brendan’s guides in particular as being potentially helpful to you, especially his tips for new F2P players, his F2P cruiser fitting guide, his look at the new tutorial, and his overview of what’s in the patch other than F2P. And don’t forget to weigh in on this morning’s Daily Grind, which asks whether you’ll be among those in New Eden this week. Happy patch day, capsuleers, and fly safe!
EVE Ascension launch roundup
The Daily Grind: Are you going back to EVE Online today? - [AL:EVE]EVE Online's Ascension expansion launches today, dropping the subscription paywall that's barricaded the game for well over a decade and further reducing the small pool of subscription-only MMORPGs left in…
EVE Online preps for tomorrow’s F2P transition, requests patience and feedback - [AL:EVE]"We are ready to bring you clone states and Ascension tomorrow," CCP's Andie Nordgren tells EVE Online players in a dev update today on the -- wait for it --…
EVE Evolved: Three essential tips for new alpha clone players - [AL:EVE]EVE Online's Ascension expansion goes live in just two days on Tuesday November 15th, introducing the new free-to-play alpha clone state and completely overhauling the game's new player experience. The…
EVE Online moves toward email verification - [AL:EVE]Heads up, space jockeys: An additional layer of account security is heading to EVE Online with this month's Ascension expansion. CCP announced that it is instituting email verification, which requires…
EVE Online demos Ascension features, rolls out EVE Portal mobile app - [AL:EVE]A week from today, one of the last bastions of the MMORPG subscription model goes free-to-play. I'm talking about EVE Online, of course, and its long-awaited Ascension expansion, which will…
EVE Online GMs removed at least 25 trillion ISK worth $400,000 from the game - [AL:EVE]If you've been reading the gaming news this week, you may have heard about the enormous amount of wealth that was recently removed from EVE Online's economy when the players behind…
EVE Vegas 2016: EVE Online is finally getting a real tutorial - [AL:EVE]One of EVE Online's developers once described the new player experience with the line "Welcome to EVE, here's a Rubik's cube, go f**k yourself," and he wasn't wrong. EVE has a well-earned…
EVE Evolved: Alpha Clone economics, bragging rights, and restrictions - [AL:EVE]Yesterday at EVE Vegas 2016, developer CCP Rise held us spellbound with tales of his recent misadventures in EVE Online recently when pretending to be a newbie. With free alpha…
EVE Vegas 2016: Bridging the gap between PvE and PvP - [AL:EVE]While EVE Online is typically thought of as a cutthroat PvP game, players spend a substantial amount of time engaged in PvE activities such as missions, exploration, and farming nullsec…
EVE Vegas 2016: Ascension expansion detailed, new trailer released - [AL:EVE]While the main event of the EVE Online social calendar is unmistakably the annual EVE Fanfest convention in Iceland, smaller gatherings are held throughout the year all over the world. Hundreds of…
Player fakes a suicide attempt in EVE Online as part of an extortion scheme - [AL:EVE]One of the most universal facts about most MMO communities is that we band together when one of our own is hurting or in danger. That's why EVE Online players…
EVE Online previews its revamped new player experience - [AL:EVE]If you've tried to get into EVE Online in the past, maybe it's time to give it another shot. Not just because the game's business model is changing, but because…
EVE Evolved: Controversy over gambling bans and charities - [AL:EVE]It's been a crazy, drama-filled week in EVE Online, starting with a controversial change to the EULA that will ban all gambling sites using in-game currency or assets when the Ascension expansion arrives on November…
CCP outlaws gambling in EVE Online, bans RMT organizations - [AL:EVE]Changes to EVE Online's EULA coming in November with the launch of Ascension and the free-to-play conversion will effectively outlaw gambling, which has been a popular and lucrative in-game pastime in…
EVE Online’s free-to-play switch, engineering complexes arrive with Ascension on November 8 - [AL:EVE]EVE Online's world-changing Ascension update has been formally dated: November 8th. That just a week after the company will close out the EVE Vegas convention in Nevada, and of course, that day…
EVE Online details the major changes coming to being a mining foreman - [AL:EVE]For larger mining operations in EVE Online, you need a foreman. Not just because you need someone to complain about to your fellow mining buddies, but to provide benefits to…
EVE Evolved: What else is coming to EVE Online in November? - [AL:EVE]Recently I've been looking at how EVE Online will be affected by the introduction of free-to-play "alpha clone" accounts in its upcoming November expansion, but there's a lot more coming in the update than just…
Here’s how EVE Online’s new player experience is going to flow - [AL:EVE]Andie "CCP Seagull" Nordgren has a new development video out for EVE Online players this afternoon. She explains that as part of the free-to-play conversion for the game, CCP has…
EVE Evolved: Free-to-play PvP cruiser fitting guide - [AL:EVE]EVE Online's new free-to-play account option will be going live as part of an upcoming expansion this November, allowing new players to delve into the game and its community for free without the time…
CCP plans subscriber rewards ahead of EVE Online’s F2P conversion - [AL:EVE]If you are an EVE Online subber who's been feeling a bit "what's in it for me" about the free-to-play switchover happening this autumn, well, here's what's in it for you:…
EVE Evolved: The consequences of a free-to-play EVE - [AL:EVE]This week we heard the unexpected news that EVE Online will be going partially free-to-play when the next expansion lands in November. Like many games that have added free-to-play options over…
EVE Online devs address the potential for ganking and abuse under its F2P model - [AL:EVE]Earlier this week, CCP announced a hybrid free-to-play business model revamp for EVE Online that has capsuleers across the galaxy buzzing. The system hinges on what the studio calls "clone…
EVE Online’s next patch is all about mechanical and visual redesigns - The next EVE Online patch is all about redesigns that cross several levels. Mining barges, for example, are due for a visual patch to make them... well, not prettier, exactly,…
EVE Online is getting an optional free-to-play mode - [AL:EVE]EVE Online is going free-to-play -- kinda. CCP is being careful not to call it that, saying that its plan is "for a new feature that will let both old…