EVE Online | Newsletter | February 2004 Vol. I
Since the release of EVE Online CCP and the EVE event team, Aurora have conducted various world
events that have shaped the story line of EVE Online, Most notable have been the Amarr championship
where players decided through skill in combat who the next Amarr emperor would be.
The tournament
spawned a new style in fighting, frigate matches, which is considered somewhat of a sport today and
frigate matches are held every now and then to test the resolve and skill of pilots fighting with limited
resources on equal ground.
Doriam Kor-Azor's Champion Ecliptical won the competition and got a planet and moon in the Kor-Azor system
named after him and his wingmen, plus a fleet of custom made battleships and frigates. Despite Ecliptical's
victory placing Kor-Azor as Emperor of Amarr, some still worry that the chaotic and unclear circumstances that
throne contender Jamyl Sarum killed herself under were intentionally ambiguous, as she failed to name her successor
before committing Shathol'Syn, the ritual suicide demanded of contending heirs who fail to secure the throne.
Doriam's diplomatic approach to the Minmatar conflict upsets many Amarr hard-liners that secretly wish that a more
militaristic leader had conquered the throne in the Championship. However, should such a leader emerge, peace with
the Minmatar, as well as other races, would surely be in danger in the ever volatile political climate that EVE is.
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Another major event spanning since the release of EVE is the Crielere situation. Since players helped out
with the construction of the site in July, to the technological achievements that poured out of it in December,
and the consequent siege and destruction of it at the start of February.
This plot is far from over, as the founding
scientists are now hostages in the hands of Guristas pirate and co-founder Korako "The Rabbit" Kosakami. Jirai "Fatal"
Laitanen, Korako's partner in crime, was slain by Second Wave's security chief Doc Brown, who along with more then a hundred
other players gave the Guristas hell, heroically defending the Crielere research lab against an armada of missile
spewing pirates.
Korako's narrow escape from Crielere using cloaking technology has the population worried that Guristas
pirates may soon claim the upper hand in ambush tactics, making the universe a more dangerous and deadly place than it
already is. Intelligence experts claim that he is trying to sell the scientist to weapons manufacturers as slave labour.
Should their expertise and engineering know-how fall in the wrong hands, their masters could develop weapons whose
destructive force would be previously unknown to mankind. Millions of lives could be lost and civilization as we
know it could be at risk.
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Once again the world of EVE is introduced to this feature in the form of player conquerable stations.
Sixty-nine stations have been discovered in the outer regions, all for the region alliances to fight over.
This puts the alliances in direct conflict both within and with each other, creating news and excitement
for the rest of us.
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The outer regions have become too placid over the last few weeks, stemming from being good mining
territories and easily blockaded by the player alliances. The Smuggler highway adds alternative routes
within the outer regions, allowing for both easier access to the new stations residing there and more
pathways for alliance warfare. This should prove particularly tempting for new corporations to join or
usurp the existing alliances.
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The next major release of EVE Online, codenamed
Shiva, will bring even more improvements and
content than
Castor did. With the introduction of player owned
structures, EVE will be come a game of true territorial conquest, even more so with the introduction of player conquerable
stations.
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With the recent acquisition of the
publishing rights for EVE Online,
CCP is now in full control of all marketing and PR activities for EVE Online. The marketing department has
been staffed and is working hard at preparing promotions of EVE Online to the rest of the world.
You might have noticed some of the recent efforts, most notably the PC Game UK cover mount CD and
the new
Buddy program, which both have brought many new players
to the world of EVE. Just around the corner are the
EVE Online Store,
news releases, event promotions and more cover mount CD's, so there should be more fresh meat on the way!
Introduce your friends to the fun and excitement of EVE through our new Buddy Program. Registered subscribers
can invite their mates to test drive a frigate today through our exclusive and hassle free trial accounts.
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Last Sunday evening (2004.02.15) at 20:45 GMT, 7250 played EVE Online at the same time! We
here at CCP are confident in declaring this a world record for the highest number of players
together, at the same time, in the same world.
This record belongs to you, the players, and
we wholeheartedly congratulate you on this achievement and at the same time we thank you for
the support you have shown us and EVE!
Subscription revenues keep EVE going and make it possible to constantly improve and
evolve the game. These revenues of course mainly depend on the number of active subscribers, but are also subject to
other influences outside our control. Due to changes in currency rates and value added tax legislation in Europe
we must adjust our subscription price plans.
Our European players will be affected by the European Union E-commerce Directive 2002/38/EC, Regulation 792/2002.
This stipulates that all EU residents must pay a Value Added Tax (VAT) on electronically supplied services
including online games. We are thus obligated to add a VAT on all payment transactions for customers
living within the EU.
In view of this, the pricing structure for Europe will be:
| Cost/month* | Total cost* |
| 1-month-plan | 14.95 | 14.95 |
| 3-month-plan | 11.95 | 35.85 |
| 6-month-plan | 10.95 | 65.70 |
* VAT included
For our players in the rest of the world, what affects us is that our revenues are denominated in US dollars, while our expenses
are in Icelandic kronas. As you are probably aware of the US dollar has fallen in value quite dramatically in the last couple of years,
and that trend doesn't seem to be changing. We can absorb usual currency fluctuations for limited periods
but this has been going on for too long a time now.
In view of this, the pricing structure outside Europe will be:
| Cost/month | Total cost |
| 1-month-plan | $ 14.95 | $ 14.95 |
| 3-month-plan | $ 11.95 | $ 35.85 |
| 6-month-plan | $ 10.95 | $ 65.70 |
As can be seen we have done our very best to mitigate the effects of this by keeping 3-month and
6-month plans at the same price as before and only increase the 1-month subscription rate by 2 US dollars.
The effective date of this price change is the 25th of February 2004
Kind Regards,
The EVE Online Team
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