GDN: EVE Online: Dominion Expansion Released

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today launched EVE Online: Dominion, the 12th free expansion for the highly successful sci-fi MMO, EVE Online. The battlefields of the universe will be gorged with wrecks as the player alliances of EVE, some over five thousand pilots strong, adapt to the new way in which territory is conquered and held. EVE Online: Dominion is designed to catalyze player relationships, whether brief and antagonistic, protracted and mutually beneficial or anywhere along the spectrum—bringing the greatest opponents ever created, other players, into closer conflict.

EVE’s Lead Game Designer, Noah Ward, explains the driving force behind Dominion. “Our goal for EVE is to maximize human interaction and then leverage it to make a more meaningful, interesting game. Dominion was designed to give players more tools to mold their experience with better means of communication and extra rounds of ammunition. Undoubtedly, the compelling intrigue we’ve seen in EVE will never end as pilots fight to bend the universe to their will.”

Sovereignty changes require fresh strategies for those interested in controlling space, doing away with the entrenched siege battles of the past in favor of more active conflict. Alliances will now have unprecedented control over their territory, the power to change them to suit their own goals and playstyles. Their actions in controlled space will affect the valuable resources which become available to them through system upgrades, allowing them to increase the number of wormholes, valuable asteroid belts and even pirate forces within their borders.

Doomsday Devices, the ultimate weapons of the Titan class ships, have been re-engineered to deliver a massive, decisive blow against a single target. This change is the tip of the spear. Many ship classes have re-emerged from the shipyards to carry the pilots that fly them to victory.

Two of New Eden’s most infamous pirate factions have opened up their coffers to those willing to dip into the underworld through two of new Epic Mission Arcs. The Guristas and the Angel Cartel favor speed over might and riches over morality. For those pilots willing to turn their backs on the safety of the Empires of New Eden, the pirate factions represent an expanded opportunity to engage in the cat and mouse games of more dangerous space.

CCP is also deploying a Fleet Finder tool with Dominion, empowering pilots to mobilize quicker when a threat lurks on the other side of the gate or when an extra ship is all you need to finish a mission.

Improving existing technology is always a part of every expansion. For EVE Online: Dominion, a new in-game browser based on modern, secure and robust technology, as well as a revamped mail system with standard tagging tools to help keep the mail organized are the foundation of a larger community development initiative that will be deployed early in 2010.

And last, but certainly not least, the planets of EVE are getting a major graphic overhaul as CCP continues its planned graphic upgrades to the game. Varied planets, from desert to ice, glow with unique beauty, orbited by harsh moons that show the scars and craters of their ancient formation. In the distance massive gas giants swirl with chaotic storms, and in the depths of space the stars are revealed in even more glory than before.