CCP’s Darwinist sandbox area sim Eve Online is at struggle. Well, barely extra struggle than typical, and for as soon as it’s not simply between player-run energy blocs. As reported by Steven Messner over on RPS fan-site PC Gamer, player-made stations out in lawless ‘nullsec’ area are coming underneath siege. The culprits? The Drifters, a cyborg NPC faction launched within the Ascension enlargement. Until not too long ago, gamers had been farming them for loot by luring them into vary of station defences. Now, a whole bunch of Drifters are pounding on the gates of the stations that when threatened them, and there’s no finish in sight.
This NPC rebellion is nearly completely unprecedented, and certain a part of the story arc kicked off by the latest expansion, Invasion. Messner poked builders CCP for an official assertion on the fracas, and a spokesperson responded that they’d “reached out to the Drifters for comment, but they rejected our hailing frequencies”. I’d think about CCP are watching in glee as their NPC minions shake the foundations of the game. Player opinions on this invasion are combined. As “Dran”, consultant of the TEST participant alliance says, “The game needs more snowglobe shaking”.
Footage of the Drifters pummelling a Keepstar, via Eve news-site Imperium News Network.
Others are much less happy. The enigmatic chief of participant alliance The Imperium – “The Mittani” – feels that the invasion runs opposite to the spirit of Eve. He says that having to “grind through what amounts to World Of Warcraft-style raid content” isn’t what he signed up for. The Imperium declare to have sussed the Drifter AI and repelled all assaults to date, as have TEST. As spectacular as this invasion is, the injury completed is comparatively minimal. Few if any stations have been destroyed, because of their multi-layered siege defences giving gamers time to rally.
That’s to not say that some gamers haven’t felt the sting of this invasion on their wallets. As PC Gamer reports, smaller roaming bands of Drifters are attacking lone gamers with uncommon ferocity, even sinking some high-end capital ships value billions of ISK (the in-game forex). Worse nonetheless, they’re aggressively attacking participant escape pods, inflicting much more monetary injury (if you die, any cybernetic perks you will have go along with you) and forcing a prolonged flight again from wherever the lifeless participant final frequented a clone bay.
As for myself, I’m rooting for the Drifters. While I’ve dabbled in Eve, I don’t have the time, persistence or social nature for it. As an outsider trying in, although, this invasion is enjoyable stuff. Pass the space-popcorn.
Eve Online is free to play and has the potential to demolish your entire free time. You can get it direct from CCP or via Steam, however I’d suggest simply watching from the sidelines.
