EVE Online News

Competitive Capsuleers!

A lot has happened since our last Alliance Tournament check-in, so let us get you up to date with what's already taken place, and what's coming up!

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[h2]Trials and Main Tournament entry[/h2]

All the teams that didn't get direct entry into the Alliance Tournament this year submitted silent bids to buy into the tournament. This has given us a list of teams that will be battling it out in the arena over the next few weekends in the Trials Tournament!



The seven Minmatar tribes will be sponsoring the entry of one of the teams listed above, earning their way in through combat and a little bit of flag flying.

Each team is part of a group of six (and one group of five) where they will be playing at least twice and – if they win a sponsorship through the redemption arc of the Nefantar – up to 10 games!

As there are likely to be a few games in each group where two teams could win, a tiebreaker mechanism has been set up. In the case of a tie, if a team brings a Minmatar Hull, they are given bonus points for their team. Then, should a second tie-breaker be needed, the score achieved across their games will also be considered.

As dictated by tournament tradition, to decide the brackets for the Trials Tournament and the Alliance Tournament, CCP Convict and CCP Zelus did a short broadcast to share the information simultaneously with all the teams. But, rather than using a bingo ball machine like last year, the team's fate was decided by a marble run! You can catch the Twitch VOD if you want to see it yourself here.

The Trials will be broadcasted for us by EVE_NT on the CCP Twitch channel over the next two weekends. The first match each day will be starting at 15:00 UTC for the first 3 days and 16:40 UTC on the final day of the Trials on 9 October. The Trials will feature up to 65 matches of competitive combat and explosions for your enjoyment!

Given the unique format of the Trials Tournament, you can find a link to the schedule as a Google sheet here.

Image created and provided by Jeronyx

[h2]Alliance Tournament Match Weekends[/h2]

The winning entries from the silent bids and the direct entry teams give us the list of our 25 teams below:



The seeds and subsequent brackets for the Main Tournament were also decided in a marble run, the results of which can be found on Challonge here.

The teams which win through to the Main Tournament from the Trials will be added to those brackets once the Trials have concluded. The format for the Main Tournament is the traditional format we've all come to know and love, so on the weekends of 12-13 November and 19-20 November be ready to tune in for even more explosions!

[h2]What comes after the Trials?[/h2]

Once the Trials Tournament is over we'll have another update for you all, declaring the winners along with the updated brackets for the Main Tournament, the match schedule, as well as the Flagship Declarations (Team captains can register their Flagships here) from each of the teams.

Information about prizes for this year's Alliance Tournament will be coming at a later date.

We'll see you all for some explosive action this weekend and next starting at 15:00 UTC on CCP TV!

Decisive capsuleers,

Tensions continue to mount as the empires fight over the legacy of the Triglavian Collective’s invasion of New Eden. The race is on to gain understanding and advantages with the potential to shift the balance of power and catapult New Eden toward new & unprecedented frontiers. Not only those involved in Factional Warfare, but all capsuleers are called upon to take part – from combat pilots to explorers, industrialists, and more. This is your moment to make a difference!

In recent months, each of the empires have sounded a clear call to action, exhorting their respective militias’ capsuleers to assist in capturing and holding territory key to their ongoing efforts. The Amarr and Minmatar are currently pursuing Triglavian Stellar Transmuter technology, with the Caldari and Gallente focusing their attention on separate unidentified tech initially recovered by EDENCOM from a hidden Triglavian installation on the surface of Athounon V. Both represent vital research targets for the respective empires.

The foundations have been laid, the stage is set, and the curtains have risen on EVE's next chapter. Two research races that will determine the future of the cluster have commenced in the empires’ turbulent warzones, with outcomes decided solely by you – the capsuleers of New Eden.

[h2]RIGHTFUL REWARDS[/h2]

In order to inspire capsuleers with reasons to assist them beyond loyalty alone, and the resulting need to make it worthwhile to side with them over their enemies, the victorious empire in each race will be distributing special blueprint copies of newly developed navy exploration frigates and battlecruisers to their projects’ most valuable contributors!

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[h2]ATHOUNON STARGATE CONSTRUCTION RACE[/h2]

In recent weeks, both the Caldari State and the Gallente Federation have initiated construction of new stargates – intended to directly link the Athounon system to secure locations in their own well-defended borders and enable the secure extraction of technology from the storm-cloaked surface of Athounon V.

This is happening right now, with both sides attracting capsuleers to aid in their efforts by engaging in direct action and contributing material resources to their construction sites in Athounon – making it imperative that all available capsuleers act immediately to support their favored empire!

Capsuleers can get involved by fighting for Factional Warfare control of Athounon, which requires membership in an empire militia. Alternatively – or additionally – you can gather resources at key mining sites prospected throughout the Serthoulde constellation which are open to militia and non-militia capsuleers alike.

The two stargates thus far have only made progress toward completion while Athounon has been under the full control of their respective factions, assembling at a constant rate while the system is secure. Consequently, faction militia engagement in and around the system is essential to securing victory.

You have the power to decide whether the Caldari or the Gallente complete their stargate first, so take up arms and harvest and deliver resources to your faction’s stargate in Athounon to hasten their completion!



[h2]STELLAR TRANSMUTER RESEARCH RACE[/h2]

If your loyalties lie with the Amarr Empire or Minmatar Republic, you can get involved to further their causes in understanding and benefitting from the Triglavians’ stellar harvesting and engineering methods! Since the Amarr Empire's construction of prototype Stellar Transmuters in the Amarr-Minmatar warzone, the Republic Militia has continually rallied to retake territory and interfere with Amarr operations.

Starting today, however, the situation has evolved. Sequential activation of the prototypes has begun, and all capsuleers loyal to either empire are urgently called to aid their faction’s efforts now!

You can help either the Amarr or Minmatar by engaging in Factional Warfare activities in Turnur and surrounding systems in the same constellation, with additional hotspots emerging in Egmar and Vard in the coming days.

You can also engage in hacking at special exploration sites in the same systems in order to loot and deliver encrypted research data to your chosen empire, which will aid them in gaining the advantage before the opposition!

If you are a member of either side’s faction militia and enter the corresponding exploration site, there will be friendly NPCs that allow you through and may well defend you against opposition or non-militia interlopers! Be warned, those not in a corresponding faction militia will be attacked by these guards.

Every moment that your empire is in control of the system gets them to their goal faster – their fate is in your hands! By gathering and delivering research data and being victorious in the warzones, you will help your empire gain access to the coveted technology first!



If you’d like to learn about these kinds of events and what goes into them, check out the recent stream on CCP TV that goes into depth on capsuleer driven events as part of the new narrative arcs in EVE.

As the empires align once again down an uncertain path, none can say what the future may hold – but through your actions, the fates of empires and the hopes of worlds will be decided; aid your favored faction as they pursue new understandings, and fight for a future of your own making!

Welcome back pilots to the Community Beat!

Can you believe this is already the 25th issue of the Community Beat?! Fifty weeks ago we started on a journey to help introduce players to the myriad of EVE’s community resources, in-game events, out-of-game gatherings, developer chats – anything and everything!

Let’s get to it!

[h2]If You Build It…[/h2]



We’ve featured YouCaldarian before, but he’s at it again making amazing – and incredibly detailed - ship models. Check out his latest Tengu, complete with the Exoplanets Hunter SKIN. We’re not quite sure how YouCaldairan managed to level Caldari Starship Engineering to VI – but we love the results!

[h2]Alliance Tournament Getting Closer![/h2]



New Eden’s premier competitive PvP tournament: The Alliance Tournament, is just around the corner. This week CCP Zelus and CCP Convict took to CCPTV for the live seeding of the Tournament bracket. Each year a different groups sponsors the Alliance Tournament, and this year the Minmatar Republic have taken that mantle.

For teams that didn’t bid directly into the competition, the Minmatar have setup a very unique play-in tournament called the Trials Tournament. Teams are broken down into different groups, representing each of the seven Tribes, and the winners of each group stage proceed to the main Tournament in November. Second place teams from each Tribe go into a redemption pool for one final shot at glory.

Mark your calendars because the action kicks off next weekend, October 1st & 2nd!

[h2]Strategic Looks[/h2]

The Loki, Proteus, Tengu and Legion belong to a special class of ships called Strategic Cruisers. Unlike most ships, these ships change their bonuses based on which Subsystem is equipped. Different Subsystems also change the ships appearance. If you come across one of these ships in space and you need to decide whether to run or fight, it’s incredibly helpful to know what you’re up against. Thankfully for us, Mazzic Karde put together a Visual Strategic Cruiser Identification Guide!



For those wanting to go even more advanced, he’s got a follow-up guide for identifying turrets and launchers. Commit these to memory and you can know exactly the type of ship you’re up against – potentially before the fight even starts. Use your superior EVE knowledge to eek out a victory, or perform a dashing escape.

[h2]Burnin’ for you![/h2]

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While working for mission agents, occasionally pilots will run across “Burner Missions” - incredibly high-value missions with no penalty for declining. , occasionally pilots will run across “Burner Missions” - incredibly high-value missions with no penalty for declining. Players familiar with these sites often run missions exclusively for these, while others choose to skip them entirely. If you fall into that latter category, Erstschlag has made a compelling case as to why you should overheat out of your comfort zone and tackle these head on!

[h2]In Space Nobody Can Hear You…Add[/h2]

There’s so much great content this week! As we learned in the Uprising Announcement, updates to Factional Warfare are coming in November. While not exclusively PvP oriented, there is quite a lot of PvP content for all levels of play. Many pilots have said it’s a great way to dip your toes into PvP, and we tend to agree.

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Some of the most rewarding fights come down to perfect execution, and in the above video capsuleer Hookk perfectly diagrams a well-crafted engagement. From the killmail alone the fight would seem completely mundane, but these inside looks show just how much EVE knowledge & understanding your fleets capabilities can do. He also includes some fleet lexicon, so in your first fleet you can sound like a seasoned vet!



That’s it for this week, space friends! Head on over to the EVE Online Forums to let us know what you thought of the Beat this week, or if there’s anything you’re interested in hearing about moving forward.

Greetings Capsuleers,

On Tuesday 27th September at 17:00 UTC we will be conducting a Mass Test on the Singularity server to test several technical improvements aimed at improving your audio and visual experience, while drastically improving performance:

• EVE now fully supports variable refresh rates, which allows the use of Freesync and G-sync. If you have a system, it will be automatically used and ensure a smooth visual experience.
• Sound prioritization has undergone several improvements since the last mass test. Audio in EVE now sounds much clearer and will use drastically less CPU, resulting in more immersive and clearer sound experience, especially during heavy scenes.
• There has been major refactoring in how we handle controllers for ships, which improves performance. This is most noticeable when many ships are rendered at the same time, like in fleet fights. The memory usage of the client is also significantly improved in these cases. We’ve also improved how long it takes for the client to load and unload ships, which gives a smoother gameplay experience.

You can read more about these improvements in our latest EVE Evolved Devblog

During the test, we will be examining performance in the following situations:

• Docking, undocking, warping, and jumping of fleets
• Shooting an Upwell Structure
• A Fleet fight at a gate

How to connect to Singularity for this test:

• Change the server from Tranquility to Singularity in the bottom right corner of the launcher and log in as normal.
• More detailed instructions on connecting to Singularity are available here

Please refer to this forum post for more information on the testing procedure.

When logged in on Singularity use the command /moveme in any chat window and select the system FD-MLJ from the pop up to be relocated to the testing system.

Your attendance would be most welcome! All participants will receive be rewarded with two million skill points on Singularity.

Tenacious Capsuleers,

As EVE edges ever closer to the Uprising expansion’s full release, various teams around CCP are working on continual investment into the underlying tech of New Eden. This commitment, known as EVE Evolved, ensures that EVE Online remains at the forefront of visual and sensory fidelity for now and into the future.

Furthering that story, another EVE Evolved release is now available on the Singularity test server. This time, there is a focus on audio and tech improvements, alongside even more upgrades to Photon UI.

[h2]Hearing is Believing[/h2]

The headline feature in this EVE Evolved release are the improvements to sound prioritization on grid in EVE, marking the beginning of several coming audio updates. This means that sounds happening closer to you will be given priority over distant sounds.

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This sound priority system will improve your gameplay twofold. For one, you can expect a more immersive, convincing soundscape as the thud of weapon fire pounds your enemies’ hull (or perhaps even your own!). This system will also serve to reduce CPU usage by about 75% during busy scenes, such as large battles, helping improve your overall performance during fights. That means it's time to turn the sound on, turn the volume up, and enjoy battles that are more immersive and dramatic, without sacrificing performance.