EVE Online has lots going on this week, from patches to policies to drama. Let’s dig in: First, this week’s patch, Depths of the Abyss, is fully live now, with perks for people on both ends of the PvE spectrum. The new tier 0 abyssal deadspace should help newer players ease into the mechanics, but tier 6 is meant to offer “extreme challenge” for endgame pilots. The update also drops a two-man “destroyer” mode, new mobs in abyssal deadspace, and a new tachyon cloud area to make your ships go vroom, and yes that’s a technical term.
CCP Games has also just updated its real-life harassment and threats policy, effectively eliminating the “zero-tolerance” policy it implemented back in 2018. While there are still some infractions that will merit instabans, like RMT and exploit abuse, others now won’t.
“Effective immediately, we will be subjecting future alleged violations of these policies to a case-by-case review and reducing the absolute policy of permabanning on a first offense. We recognize that EVE Online is a game that, more than most, generates strong feelings and strong attachments, moreover that these reactions can lead to people making poor decisions and saying things in the heat of the moment. There should always be a place in EVE for those who are willing to acknowledge they have made a mistake and demonstrate a genuine willingness to change. Our goal is to provide those pilots with a shot at redemption and an opportunity to return to New Eden.”
Finally, some people with a long history of such infractions are still happily running around EVE Online causing chaos, as profiled by Polygon. Well, maybe some are not so happy these days; World War Bee 2 continues as the PAPI coalition continues to press its “war of extermination” against no less than The Imperium and Goonswarm, which have apparently blown their own virtual “Horn of Goondor” to coax in defenders as a last resort. Getcha popcorn.
