Things are getting more active in the world of EVE Online on a couple of different fronts. Specifically, the next phase of the Aether Wars tech demo has been detailed and the upcoming September update to the sandbox game will add some chaos to cynosural fields.
First, Aether Wars phase two: In case you missed it before, Sunday, August 18th, at 1:00 p.m. EDT is the date and time for this next phase of testing. This time around, players are being tasked with collecting as many resources as possible “by any means necessary.” Which means things will probably dissolve into a bloodbath.
It also seeks to be another milestone in terms of ships involved, as feedback from phase one has seen improvements to performance and player numbers; readers will recall that the phase one test had some outstanding engagement, with over 3,000 players joining with AI ships for a battlefield of over 10,000 ships at once that saw 88,988 ships destroyed, and this next round of testing is on track to break records. If all of that sounds like a good time, you can sign yourself up and await emailed instructions.
As for news pertaining directly to the EVE Online sandbox itself, September’s update is bringing that chaos as the game’s continued move to shake up the meta now focuses on cynosural fields. Specifically, the update will change Cynosural Field Generator I’s to only be fit onto Force Recon Ships and Black Ops Battleships, and allow Jump Freighters to use Covert Cyno Fields. The ultimate goal: make it logistically more challenging to bring capital ships into the field of battle.
“Historically, cynos have been extremely flexible. They can be used on flocks of alts at nearly no risk or used by the largest and strongest ships in the game. With few options for cyno disruption, capital response time and power has grown to the point that it’s oppressing activity. This change will make it more complex and demanding to get capitals to the field quickly and give more strategic options for those wishing to disrupt capital response.”
While this change may indeed make battlefield tactics more complex, a blog post from Wilhelm of The Ancient Gaming Noob sees it differently, citing that this change will only truly benefit those who can afford to lose an expensive ship fitted with a cyno field generator, while corps with less cash flow are being hamstrung. “I know that CCP wants to shake up the meta, but this feels like it will have the same result that so many past changes have, where an effort to make the larger groups hurt only ends up locking out the small time operator,” he writes.
