EVE Online News

Commercial capsuleers,

We'd like to invite you to submit advertisements for use during CCP TV livestreams on Twitch, Facebook and Steam. Your advertisement can be about your corporation, alliance, community, in-game service, public event, CSM campaign, blog, third party tool, Youtube or Twitch channel, player gathering - pretty much anything you like as long as it conforms to the guidelines set out at the bottom of this news item.

CCP TV features several regular gameplay and slow TV streams as well as special broadcasts such as our Foundation Day quizzes, in-game live event coverage and conversations with development teams, so head there now and smash that follow button™ to get notified whenever we go live! And watching CCP TV streams is the only way to pick up some of the awesome GalNet StreamCast Unit SKINs which are given away as raffles on certain streams:



There are plenty of eyeballs on CCP TV so it's a great way to promote your EVE related endeavor. (And while you're here check out the schedule of upcoming streams!)

Be aware that unlike previous calls for submissions where player advertisements were used to fill frequent and lengthy breaks in the broadcast (eg. between alliance tournament matches), for this purpose approved advertisements will be added to a pool which streamers on CCP TV may choose to pull from and incorporate into their streams. They might be used during the countdown prior to the stream starting, or during a break or not at all depending on what the needs of the person streaming are. To that end we make no assurances about the frequency your ad might be displayed, however the intent is to build up a stockpile of ads to use over the long term so all ads will get some airtime and the effort you put into making them will not go to waste.

Note that there will be a separate call for Alliance Tournament specific ads at a later date - this request is not for AT purposes.

[h3]Content Rules[/h3]

• All video material must be EVE related.
  
• The item/service being advertised must be EVE related.
  
• Any service being advertised must be free to players or accessed using in-game currency.
  
• Videos cannot include copyrighted audio or visuals.
  
• The video must be suitable for all ages.
  
• The video must contain sound.
  
• Content must be respectable (no attack ads) and suitable for broadcast to a dystopian space family audience.
  
• Adverts with non-English voiceover must be accompanied by hardcoded English subtitles.
  
• The quality of the advert must reflect positively on EVE itself.
  
• There is no deadline for submissions, we will be accepting submissions on an ongoing basis as we grow our library of player-created videos.

[h3]Technical Rules[/h3]

• Videos should have a resolution of 1920x1080 with a 1:1-pixel aspect ratio; adverts will not be accepted in any other resolutions. Videos should not contain vertical black bars.
  
• Videos should be between 15 to 30 seconds in duration.
  
• If you are using royalty free / Creative Commons audio, then credit the author somewhere in the end plate of your video. An end plate is where you typically put your logo, URL and such.
  
• Video should be MP4 or MKV file format using the H.264 codec.
  
• Label your video file appropriately. Example: AllianceName_AdTitle.mp4
  
• You must include the source of your audio with your submission, even if you are not required to credit the author.
  
• We don't want to take any chances of getting into trouble for using copyrighted material, so we suggest you consider using royalty free. There is a vast amount of royalty free audio online so it should be easy finding a suitable track to back up those pretty visuals.

Upload your video to a shared Google Drive, Dropbox or similar service and submit it using this form.

Please be aware that CCP reserves the right to reject videos that don’t follow guidelines or at its discretion. We try not to, but if your video is super weird, obscene or otherwise inappropriate for teen audiences, then we'll have to decline to air it. Should you later decide that your ad is no longer relevant or you no longer wish it to be played the submitter may also request to have it removed from the pool.

Skilled Capsuleers,

A new bundle is now available in the EVE Store, bringing shockingly good value directly into your skill queue! The Starter Training Boost Bundle is available for just 14.99 USD / 14.99 EUR, granting aspirational Capsuleers half a million Skill Points and a Prototype Cerebral Accelerator.

The 500,000 Skill Points can be injected into whichever skills you need right now, saving over two weeks of training time! You’ll also be getting a Prototype Cerebral Accelerator which provides a massive +9 bonus to all attributes, making your training time much faster even after you’ve injected the Skill Points. Note that Prototype Cerebral Accelerators will only provide benefits to characters under 14 days old.

What are you waiting for? Check out the Starter Training Boost Bundle today and make your impression on the cluster!


BUY NOW

Wily Capsuleers,

The Grand Heist is now live in EVE Online! Assemble your crew, get the band back together, fire up your friends and your fleets – now’s the time to take full advantage of a rare set of circumstances to liberate riches from massive reserve bank stashes of over 20 trillion ISK!

In addition, thanks to the actions of the notorious Guristas Pirates, millions in ISK are floating around New Eden and being gifted daily to Capsuleers at a time when the empires have agreed to an overall broker’s fee and market tax reduction for three months. What better time to organize, mobilize, and capitalize?

[h2]ESS Keys [/h2]
The Guristas Pirates have been hitting Secure Commerce Commission (SCC) sites all over Lowsec, grabbing ESS keys and raiding reserve banks, causing chaos across New Eden. It’s time for you and your crew to grab your cut! Whenever a pirate bounty is paid out within a Nullsec system, a small part of it is placed in the reserve bank, where it remains until claimed by the player who has the ESS key to unlock it. ESS-authorized keys are now available from the SCC key storage sites in Lowsec via cosmic signatures that must be scanned down.



There are eight types of reserve keys to be found, and each has a corresponding quadrant of the map where it can be used and a duration that it will hold the reserve bank open. Be warned, though, trespassing into a reserve bank will alert the entire region, so make sure that you and your crew have planned an airtight heist which lets you hold the grid for the duration of the unlock!

There are certain ship class restrictions that apply to the reserve bank sites, but that challenge will ensure that only Capsuleers who show patience and skill will be able to pull off the heist.

You can read more details on the ESS keys and reserve bank heists here.

[h2]Daily Login Gifts[/h2]
As part of the Grand Heist, and thanks to the cash-liberating adventures of the Guristas Pirates, you will get free daily login gifts until 11:00 UTC on 3 August. Make sure you log in on at least six days during the event to grab all the gifts which include thousands of Skill Points, a variety of boosters – and if you’re an Omega – 235 million ISK! Make sure you take full advantage of the Guristas’ involvement in CONCORD affairs and be there for that ISK windfall!

Remember, you can upgrade to Omega [link to Omega page on EVE Store] during the event and claim all the Omega gifts – millions of ISK in this case – retroactively before 3 August!

Market Fee and Tax Reduction
Adding to this extremely rare and advantageous set of circumstances for Capsuleers looking to add to their fortune, all four of New Eden’s major empires had previously agreed to a 50% market-wide broker’s fee reduction, and a 50% sales tax reduction, too! Those reductions are live now, but only for the next three months.

So if it wasn’t already a profitable enough moment to be active, you now have the perfect opportunity to save 50% on any buy or sell order you place on the market with the broker’s fee reduction. This means that Capsuleers with Broker Relations level 5 trained can pay as little as 1.0% broker’s fee on a market order, that is a 71.43% reduction from the previous minimum at level 5! This can go even lower with good standings.

Making that deal even sweeter is the sales tax reduction of 50%, meaning that once you’ve saved ISK on placing a sell order, you’ll keep even more of that cash once the sale goes through! You can sell some of the PLEX you have in your PLEX Vault, or any other item on the regional market, and enjoy 50% less sales tax. Check out the list below for the exact sales tax that will be applied based on your Accounting skill level:
- 2.5% if Accounting skill not trained
- 2.225% at Accounting level 1
- 1.95% at Accounting level 2
- 1.675% at Accounting level 3
- 1.4% at Accounting level 4
- 1.125% at Accounting level 5

In addition, the Advanced Broker Relations skill will now provide a 6% relist fee reduction per level instead of 5% (max reduction at level 5 will now be 80%), so you can save even more ISK every time you modify a buy or sell order. This change will persist after the three month reductions above have ended.

There’s money to be made, adventures to be had, and every successful Capsuleer in New Eden knows not to miss an opportunity when it comes along! It’s time to suit up, fleet up, and turn up. The rewards are significant…so, are you in?

PLAY EVE

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been listening to you, our community, discuss EVE Online’s ecosystem, game changes, direction, and overall health. For many, EVE is more than just a game – it’s a hobby - and one you want to make sure is worthy of your considerable time and dedication.

Very often these questions are answered at events like Fanfest and the World Tour, where the view and vision for EVE Online is shared with you, the players, through presentations and casual conversations alike. Unfortunately, this year didn’t allow for such conversations and to that end, here’s a deeper look into what has been going on for EVE and what is upcoming.

Firstly, here’s a quick recap. Throughout the EVE World Tour in 2019, the emphasis on embracing new players and the importance for EVE going forward was discussed. “EVE Forever” may sound like a pithy marketing slogan, but it’s something that is very much believed in. To have New Eden stand the test of time, and to set EVE up for a thriving third decade, it is vital that EVE Online can:

1. Help new people trying the game turn into experienced EVE pilots
   
2. Have an ecosystem that provides a fair and vibrant playground full of diverse and rewarding opportunities
   
3. Be built on a strong technical foundation for future sustainability and maneuverability
   

As always, community sentiment and discussion are taken very earnestly, and the commitment to nurture, grow, and expand EVE Online remains as strong as ever.

[h2]A Healthy Ecosystem [/h2]

For EVE to transition successfully into a third decade and beyond, it was clear that work was needed on the foundations of its crucial Ecosystem. When the plans were first revealed, the journey for major resource redistribution across the entire game through three phases was explained: Shortage, Redistribution, and Dynamic Distribution.

The Shortage Phase (or Scarcity) has been a challenging road. It has meant tighter belts, and a complete shake up of the institutional knowledge that EVE players have utilized when it comes to earning ISK and resources.



[h2]Economy and Industry [/h2]

Late last year, the first steps of the Redistribution Phase were taken with several changes aimed at the goal of creating ‘Primary Supply Zones’ to give value to all space in EVE. The leanest days are now behind us, as active stockpiles across the universe have dropped to desired levels and income faucets are under control. In addition, capital industry is now decoupled from the rest of T1 construction, and proliferation will now be easier to control while having a minimal impact on T1 industry. All of this clears the way for new, healthy growth. The current state of T2 ship industry is good and there are no plans on making any immediate changes on that front.

Scarcity firmly ends in Q4 2021 with additional resources as well as player choice for what resources to distribute in your sovereign space. While the full details will not be shared here today, here's a small glimpse into what you can expect to see in this update:

• Increased quantity of all resources across New Eden
  
• Introduction of moon goo and gas compression
  
• A balance pass for all mining ships
  
• Additional specialized holds for gas and ice
  
• Rework of the industrial index including greater choice over the distribution of resources
  

More exciting detail will be revealed as we get closer to release – for now you will have to speculate on what this will entail and what impact it will have on New Eden.



In addition to the resource and industry updates of EVE, the next major update to the Encounter Surveillance System is being delivered, allowing the reserve banks to be opened by those daring enough to break in with the correct key. It will also bring about an overhaul to the ESS – both in terms of gameplay and graphics and new Lowsec content that will distribute the coveted ESS reserve bank keys. With over 20 trillion ISK sitting in these reserves, there is a lot at stake.

Later this year will see planned updates for existing Nullsec anomalies, including the addition of capital anomalies. A new high reward Nullsec PvE feature to get capitals back into space to trigger exciting player escalations is also being worked on. As mentioned before, you will get more detail and discussion on these topics as their release draws closer.

[h2]Balance and Progression [/h2]

An unprecedented pace of balance changes being introduced to the game is currently being maintained. This strategy began back in October 2019 with Warp Drive Active. Since then, 36 more of these updates that are referred to as 'rapid releases’ have been delivered. These updates have touched everything from underperforming ships and classes in updates like Rapid Fire, to major meta issues like AFK cloaking in the recent Mobile Observatory Update, and even introduced completely new gameplay such as fleet formations, to name but a few. It’s also been great to see the discussions in the wormhole community on the recent update of skill loss removal for T3 cruisers and the follow-up change to wormhole jump mass.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

That said, the beauty of EVE is that there is always more to do!

While big leaps have been made in the balance around capital escalations with changes to cynos and super umbrellas, the current risk vs reward for putting valuable assets in space is off and needs work. New types of objectives are being looked at to get big ships back on grid, so that there will be something to hunt and fight over.



The continued improvement of the experience around foundational systems like structures and sovereignty is also a priority. The recent structure manifesto put together by EVE’s dedicated content creators is a clear sign that although structures have been focused on for several releases last year, there still remains a lot of potential there, starting with structure module balance.

A large change was also made to the dynamics in Pochven by unlocking the conduit loop for everyone. This had a huge effect on the activity in Pochven, more than doubling the number of characters visiting the region daily ever since. That’s great news but it also helped highlight the need for continued iteration. ‘Seagulling’ is being cleaned up and benefits to loyalty are beginning to be added back towards Pochven residents by shifting NPC behaviour, but work on changes to structure mechanics in Pochven and other adjustments to make it a unique and rewarding place to call home are also underway.

Player discourse is something that is cherished when it comes to these rapid releases. The conversations, discussions, and brainstorming help deepen the understanding of the complexities that make up New Eden. Often, they result in new updates to the game, such as with Hunter's Boon.



[h2]EVE Academy [/h2]

At 18 years old, EVE remains more capable than ever of attracting thousands of new humans (not alts!) every day. In 2020 alone, 1.3 million humans (again, not alts!) tried EVE out for the first time in their lives. With the recent territory expansions (South Korea in 2019 and Japan in 2020), it has become even more evident that EVE is exciting to new players, with people all around the world jumping into the game to be a part of the stories that all of you create every single day. Whilst great progress has been made thus far, which has been discussed and shared with you before, more is needed.

Starting EVE is challenging (as all of you no doubt already know). Many players survive the early stages of EVE Online because they found one of the many amazing player organizations that show people the ins and outs of New Eden, stumbled onto some of our top-notch community resources, or because they were too stubborn to give up. However, way too few of these millions of people trying EVE out can find their footing in New Eden. Dedication to this matter remains the same, and it is of paramount importance to the long-term future of EVE Online to better embrace these new players whose wish is to become tenured citizens of the game.



A large part of the EVE Team has been hard at work revamping the game's first impressions. Changes to the new player experience will ensure an exciting start to New Eden, featuring an epic adventure befitting that of a Capsuleer. As part of this revamped new player experience, a significant project is underway on updates to the skill system of EVE (which will entail updating the UI, enabling the creation and sharing of skill plans, and other things to help new players progress through the early stages of their EVE career). Finally, the new Opportunities update released earlier this summer will be developed to further help new players find things to do in the early stages of their EVE careers!

This year saw the first step of many with the release of EVE Academy, a rich and detailed beginner’s guide to EVE that has been met with open arms from new, current, and returning players. It will continue to expand, and all the support and feedback the community has given to improve it further is greatly appreciated. The fact that EVE Online has such a welcoming community is very fortunate, and the desire is to help pave the way for new players to join the amazing player organizations that guide pilots through countless activities in the EVE universe.

Concept Art from the ongoing EVE Academy work

The more of you there are, the grander the stories, interactions - and yes - even explosions. The things mentioned above will become player-facing in August and beyond as it hits our Singularity test server, and there is much excitement for introducing these new changes and discussing them with you. As always, your feedback is valuable on this journey so that its success can be further guaranteed.



[h2]Alliance Tournament [/h2]

As announced on 14 July, the Alliance Tournament (AT) is coming back this November! The newly invigorated Community team did a lot of heavy lifting over the last several months to get this fan-favorite tournament back on the roadmap. With revised rules, new ship prizes, and legendary EVE_NT crew, there is much excitement around seeing the lively recruitment, theory-crafting, and practising for the most prestigious tournament in New Eden. We appreciate the enthusiasm from many players following the announcement and invite everyone to join the official Alliance Tournament Discord server.

[h2]Next steps [/h2]

We look forward to giving you further insight into what is to come for EVE in the next few months. In the meantime, you are invited to share your thoughts and join the discussion with other players about the contents of this development update on the EVE Online forums. Finally, we can't wait to meet with you in person in 2022 to talk more about EVE and what is upcoming for the game – but more on that later!

Boundary-scarred capsuleers,

Signups for Alliance Tournament XVII are now open! Below is the full list of rules and signup instructions. All hopeful competitors, please take your time and review everything carefully.

[h2]Contents[/h2]

• Alliance Tournament XVII Rules & Format
  
• Introduction: Format & Registration
  
  • Format
    
  • Mercenary Rule
    
  • Participation & Registration
    
  • Silent Auction
    
  • Feeder Tournament
    
• Rules
  
  • Summary of Key Changes from previous ATs
    
  • Match Rules
    
  • Penalties
    
  • Ship Rules
    
  • Ship Point Values
    
  • Place & Tactics
    
    • Fitting Restrictions
      
    • Flagships
      
  • Victory Conditions
    
  • Ship Bans
    
  • Additional Rule Variation for the Final Day
    
  • Collusion Rules
    

[h2]Alliance Tournament XVII Rules & Format[/h2]

Greetings Alliance Tournament competitors and fans. The format and rules for this year’s Alliance Tournament are similar to that of previous years. However, there have been some alterations to the overall ruleset so please peruse these rules carefully. For any questions or clarifications, you may post in the EVE Online Tournament Forum or the Alliance Tournament Discord server.

Do note that both the format and match rules are subject to change at CCP’s discretion. It is strongly advised that participants regularly check the Tournament forums and Discord for the most up-to-date information.

[h2]INTRODUCTION: FORMAT & REGISTRATION[/h2]
[h3]FORMAT[/h3]

Alliance Tournament XVII is a 32 team, double-elimination tournament hosted on Tranquility. The Tournament will culminate in a best-of-five finale, with the semi-final matches being a best-of-three series. The 32 entry slots will be decided in the following fashion:
- Maximum of 8 slots reserved for the winning captains from both the EVE NT Alliance Open and the Anger Games (4 slots per tournament)
- Maximum of 8 slots from the Feeder Tournament (see “Feeder Tournament” below)
- Remaining slots awarded to winners of the silent auction (see “Silent Auction” below)

For AT XVII, the Captains directly invited are:
- TheLastSparton
- dexter xio
- Azure and Argent
- Mira Chieve
- Damassys Kadesh
- StarFleetCommander

Each team will consist of a maximum of 10 pilots fielded at any given time. All alliance members are eligible to compete in any match in which their alliance is taking part; team lineups do not have to remain the same between games. Further, each ship is given a point value (listed below), and the sum of the point values for the ships must not exceed 100 points.

Players may only compete for a single alliance, regardless of how many player-accounts they have. Likewise, there shall be no sharing of in-game assets, information, or services with the intent to participate in, or assist, multiple teams. More on this in the “Collusion Rules” section.

The seeding for AT XVII will be completely random, though in future tournaments the placing in AT XVII may be relevant. Players may not change their allegiance during AT XVII, and Tournament rosters should be considered ‘locked’ before 23 August 2021.

[h3]MERCENARY RULE[/h3]

The Mordu’s Legion, sponsors of Alliance Tournament XVII and one of New Eden’s most notorious mercenary outfits, have persuaded the Interstellar Gaming Commission to allow each alliance the option of employing the services of ‘Mercenaries’: otherwise unaffiliated pilots who exhibit a keen propensity for competitive play. The IGC has offered the following guidelines as it pertains to the use of Mercenaries.

Guidelines & Practices
- Mercenaries must not be Team Captains
- Mercenaries may only compete with the team who has employed their services.
- Teams may not leverage the "Mercenary" rule to create b-teams. The Collusion Rules (see below) still apply.
- Teams may not employ the services of more than ten (10) mercenaries on their roster.
- The Mercenary must submit their name to the IGC via this form to formally offer their services. The Team Captain of that team must also confirm their list of Mercenaries. If both steps are not completed, the Mercenary may not compete.
- Mercenaries may not intentionally sabotage their teams as this may result in a permanent ban from all future tournaments. CCP has final adjudication in such matters.
- A Mercenary may not offer their services if they are a member of an alliance that is competing in Alliance Tournament XVII

In certain circumstances, Alliance Tournament Captains may petition the IGC to alter their team name to more aptly reflect the new identity their mercenaries may have imparted. The IGC are very strict arbiters and request that all names be identifiable and representative of the group; not all names may be accepted. Consider the following example scenarios:
- NPSI community wishes to have their team name reflect their long-standing community: Spectre Fleet. IGC is amenable to this.
- A low-sec PvP alliance expands their ranks with some wormhole pilots, requesting a name change to: xXx 420 Whole Destroyers xXx. The IGC would not consider this a valid name.

The Mercenaries and Team Captains must register before the “roster lock” period on 23 August. At that time, the list of Mercenaries and their affiliated teams will be made public on the EVE Online Tournament Forums and the AT Discord so that teams can better analyze their prospective competition.


[h3]PARTICIPATION & REGISTRATION[/h3]

The cost of registration for Alliance Tournament XVII is 2,500 PLEX, contracted to “C C P” corporation with the ticker [-CCP-]. Entries contracted to any other variations, Engineering Corp or otherwise, will NOT be accepted.

To register a team, the Alliance Executor must fill out the following form and nominate a Team Captain for the team. The Team Captain may also be the Alliance Executor.

Importantly, teams who have already been awarded an entry slot must still register for Alliance Tournament XVII. Unused slots, or duplicate slots, will be ceded and distributed to the Silent Auction.

[h3]SILENT AUCTION[/h3]

Teams interested in getting a direct invitation to Alliance Tournament XVII can opt to bid for a slot in a silent auction. The highest bidders in the silent auction will be awarded a slot in Alliance Tournament XVII. The minimum bid for the auction is 2,500 PLEX, and bids are only accepted in increments of 250 PLEX. In the event of tied bids, the bid with the earliest submission time will be considered the tiebreaker. Auction results will be announced on 16 August.

Teams who enter the Silent Auction but do not win a slot will have their entry fees refunded and given a chance to earn their way in through combat in the Feeder Tournament.

[h3]FEEDER TOURNAMENT[/h3]

Teams who fail to qualify via the Silent Auction will be automatically entered into the Feeder Tournament. While the exact format of the Feeder Tournament may vary on the number of entrants, the general format will be a single-elimination tournament using the same point distribution and victory conditions as Alliance Tournament XVII. The Feeder Tournament will be held on September 4th and 5th, a full two months before the main event.

The remaining rules for the Feeder Tournament will mirror those of ATXVII with the following exceptions:
- The Feeder Tournament will take place on the Thunderdome event server instead of the Tranquility live server
- Flagships are not allowed in the Feeder Tournament
- Each team in the Feeder Tournament will have two bans per match instead of three

[h2]RULES[/h2]
[h3]SUMMARY OF KEY CHANGES FROM PREVIOUS ATs[/h3]

- This tournament is sponsored by the Mordu’s Legion, and as such Mordu ships will have a reduced point cost.
- A new Mercenary Rule allowing pilots to offer their services to alliances that they are not in.
- Instead of a limit to the maximum number of copies of a given ship that a team may field, teams are restricted to a maximum of three (3) of any hull size, with exceptions where noted.
- Point costs have been adjusted, as well as the introduction of granular point values for certain individual ships.
- Reintroducing the cascading blind ban rule as seen in last year’s EVE NT Alliance Open
- Each team is given three blind bans (See "Ship Bans" below)
- In the event of duplicate bans, teams will be awarded an additional number of bans equal to the number of duplicate bans
- Reintroduction of Flagships
- Reintroduction of faction drones
- ECM modules may only be fit to ships which give an ECM bonus.
- Removal of Alliance Tournament prize ships from competition
- For the best-of-three semi-finals, winning teams will not be able to use any of the ships fielded in their winning matches. These additional bans will reset after each series. Further, this rule also applies to the best-of-five grand finals, however the list of banned ships will be reset after the fourth match in that series.

Note on changes to ship and module balance
- Changes to ship and module balance for EVE will always follow their own schedule independent of the tournament schedule and will never be delayed to avoid the tournament. This means that major changes can occur in the period between the release of tournament rules and the tournament itself, or even during the tournament period. All teams are impacted equally by such changes and the ability to quickly adjust to such changes is part of what separates the best tournament teams from the rest.
- Teams should keep this in mind when making their plans and keep a close eye on CCP communications for the earliest look at potential changes.

[h3]MATCH RULES[/h3]

- Teams may field up to ten pilots in the arena
- Fights are limited to ten minutes. If a fight reaches time, the team that has earned the highest total points will be declared winner. See “Victory Conditions” below.
- Intentional pod-killing is NOT allowed. All podkills will be reimbursed.
- The match simulation is taken as-is. Teams are advised to spend their preparation time to verify that ships and modules are completely operational. There will be no re-plays.

[h3]PENALTIES[/h3]

Any player found to be in violation of the Alliance Tournament rules may be penalized to various degrees, depending on the severity of the offense. All penalties are incurred at the tournament referee’s discretion, and all decisions are final. Penalties may include, but are not limited to:
- Points deduction
- Reducing of ship HP and Capacitor
- Moving the ship to a different warp-in
- Complete removal from the fight
- Ban from competing for one or more matches
- Referees and tournament administrations may void a match and/or vacate wins if they believe that a team is not competing or attempting to alter the outcome of a match.

[h3]SHIP RULES[/h3]

Each team may have up to 10 ships on the battlefield, up to a total of 100 points. The following calculator should come in handy when planning your team composition.

Teams may field no more than 3 of a given hull size, e.g., No more than 3 Battlecruisers (2 Navy Brutix and 1 Astarte would be legal, 2 Navy Brutix and 2 Astarte would not). All logistics ships (T1 and T2 variants of both cruiser and frigate size) are exempt from this rule, so 3 Orthrus and 1 Scimitar would be legal, as would 3 Vengeance and 2 Inquisitors.

Teams may field no more than 1 Logistics Cruiser, or 1 Tech one Support Cruiser, or 2 T1/T2 Logistics/Support Frigates in each match.

With the exception of the Praxis, Gnosis & Sunesis, special edition ships are banned - the current list is as follows: *Apocalypse Imperial Issue, Armageddon Imperial Issue, Megathron Federate Issue, Raven State Issue, Tempest Tribal Issue, Guardian-Vexor, Mimir, Adrestia, Vangel, Etana, Moracha, Chameleon, Fiend, Rabisu, Stratios Emergency Responder, Gold Magnate, Silver Magnate, Freki, Utu, Malice, Cambion, Chremoas, Whiptail, Imp, Caedes, Victor, Virtuosso, Hydra, Tiamat.*

Use of the *Nestor, Marshal, Enforcer, Pacifier*, and *Monitor* is NOT allowed.
Currently, the use of the frigate escape bay on battleships is NOT allowed as we are still exploring certain balance and practical implications. We will make an announcement if this changes.

[h3]SHIP POINT VALUES[/h3]

• Widow (Battleship): 25
  
• Leshak (Battleship): 25
  
• Rattlesnake (Battleship): 25
  
• Marauder: 24
  
• Black Ops Battleship: 23
  
• Battleship, Pirate Faction: 23
  
• Battleship, Navy Faction: 21
  
• Barghest (Battleship): 20
  
• Thunderchild (Battleship): 19
  
• Battleship: 19
  
• Command Ship: 18
  
• Zarmazd (Logistics Cruiser): 18
  
• Drekavak (Combat Battlecruiser): 17
  
• Ikitursa (Heavy Assault Cruiser): 17
  
• Logistics Cruiser: 16
  
• Strategic Cruiser: 16
  
• Battlecruiser, Navy Faction: 15
  
• Combat Battlecruiser: 13
  
• Recon Ship: 13
  
• Heavy Assault Cruiser: 12
  
• Heavy Interdictor: 12
  
• Rodiva (Tech 1 Support Cruiser): 11
  
• Draugur (Command Destroyer): 11
  
• Gila (Pirate Cruiser): 11
  
• Attack Battlecruiser: 10
  
• Vedmak (Cruiser): 10
  
• Tech 1 Support Cruiser: 9
  
• Cruiser, Pirate Faction: 9
  
• Kikimora (Destroyer): 8
  
• Orthrus (Cruiser): 8
  
• Nergal (Assault Frigate): 7
  
• Cruiser, Navy Faction: 7
  
• Stormbringer (Cruiser): 6
  
• Command Destroyer: 6
  
• Tech 1 Disruption Cruiser: 6
  
• Electronic Attack Frigate: 5
  
• Damavik (Frigate): 5
  
• Logistics Frigate: 5
  
• Worm (Pirate Frigate): 5
  
• Cruiser: 4
  
• Tactical Destroyer: 4
  
• Frigate, Pirate Faction: 4
  
• Covert Ops Ship: 4
  
• Interdictor: 4
  
• Assault Frigate: 4
  
• Interceptor: 3
  
• Frigate, Navy Faction: 3
  
• Tech 1 Disruption Frigate: 3
  
• Stealth Bomber: 3
  
• Destroyer: 3
  
• Punisher (Frigate): 3
  
• Garmur (Pirate Frigate): 2
  
• Tech 1 Industrial Ships: 2
  
• Frigate: 2
  
• Rookie Ship, Pirate Faction: 2
  
• Skybreaker (Frigate): 1
  
• Tech 1 Support Frigate: 1
  
• Rookie Ship: 1
  

[h3]PLACE & TACTICS[/h3]

- Captains must be online and available 45 minutes prior to the match to make their ban choices. Further details on bans can be found in the subsection Ships and bans.
- Participants should be prepared, in their chosen ships, and in a fleet 20 minutes before their scheduled fight time. Prior to being teleported to the match system, all pilots must be docked in a station, not in an Upwell structure or undocked in space. Teams will be brought by a GM to a solar system in uncharted space and designated as Team 1 and Team 2. If you are not ready within this time allocation, you will be disqualified from this match and the opposing team will be given an automatic win.
- There are eight entry locations in the system which serve as start-off points. Four entry locations are marked for Team 1, and four marked for Team 2. Teams will be moved to the entry location of their captain's choosing. Once the teams are in system, all instructions will be given by the referee in local chat. You must keep an eye on that channel at all times once in system.
- Once word is given, teams warp in to the arena beacon specified, at a range of their choosing, up to a maximum of 50 km. Team members are allowed to warp in at different ranges.
- Once instructed to warp by CCP staff all team members must warp promptly to the arena. Soon after allowing teams to warp the referee will once again lock warp functions and any team members that have not yet initiated warp will be subject to penalties at the referee’s discretion. This rule is enforced to prevent teams from scouting out the opposing team with some of their pilots before deciding on the warpin distance for other team members.
- The arena will measure a 125 km radius around the central beacon.
- The arena contains nine Mobile Micro Jump Unit structures, one placed in the center and eight placed 87km away from the center in the direction of each of the eight team beacons. These outer structures form a cube around the center of the arena with sides approximately 100km in length. These Mobile Micro Jump Units are indestructible and usable by all.
- The host will begin a countdown. When the countdown ends, the host will break target locks of all ships in the arena.
- If a player warps out/leaves the arena, their ship will be destroyed. This includes disconnection emergency warps. This rule is in effect before and during the match.
- Warping within the arena is NOT allowed.
- Boarding a ship during the match is NOT allowed.
- Deploying cargo containers, anchorable items, upwell structures or mobile structures into space is NOT allowed. Dropping regular jettison containers is allowed.

The following restrictions are in place after teams have warped to the arena beacon, until the match begins:
- Locking players before the match starts is NOT allowed.
- Activating aggressive or targeted modules before the match starts is NOT allowed.
- Launching drones before the match starts is NOT allowed.
- Moving before the match starts is NOT allowed.
- Beginning the activation cycle of a Micro Jump Drive or Mobile Micro Jump Unit before the match starts is NOT allowed.
- Activating Command Bursts before the match starts is allowed

[h3]FITTING RESTRICTIONS[/h3]

All T1 and T2 modules are allowed, with the following exceptions:
- All Remote Armor Repair modules and Remote Shield Transfer modules are NOT allowed, EXCEPT on ONE of: A Logistics Ship, a Tech 1 Support Cruiser; or on up to TWO Tech 2 Logistics Frigates or Tech 1 Support Frigates.
- A combination of T1 and T2 repair frigates is allowed if desired (so ONE T2 logistics frigate alongside ONE T1 support frigate is allowed)
- Note that Strategic Cruisers are NOT allowed to fit remote repair modules in this tournament.
- Only ONE Remote Capacitor Transmitter module is allowed per ship.
- The Ancillary Shield Boost module will be restricted to a maximum of one per ship.
- Warp Disruption Field Generators are restricted to a maximum of one per ship.
- Activating a Warp Disruption Field Generator module without a script loaded is NOT allowed.
- Micro-jump field generators are NOT allowed.
- The Bastion Module is NOT allowed.
- Cloaking devices are NOT allowed.
- Faction, COSMOS, deadspace and officer modules are NOT allowed (except within specified groups on a flagship).
- Abyssal (Mutated) modules are NOT allowed (except within specified groups on a flagship).
- T1 Rigs are allowed. T2 Rigs are NOT allowed
- Stasis Webification Probes are allowed
- Navy Cap Boosters are allowed.
- Micro-jump drives are allowed.
- Polarized weapons are allowed.
- Stasis Grapplers are allowed.
- Command Bursts are allowed.

All T1 and T2 ammunition, missiles and charges are allowed, with the following exceptions:
- Remote Sensor Dampener and Weapon Disruptor Scripts are NOT allowed
- Pirate Faction ammunition is NOT allowed.
- Navy Faction ammunition, missiles and capacitor boosters are allowed.
- T1 (Tech One) and Navy Faction combat and sentry drones are allowed.
- T2, augmented and integrated combat and sentry drones are NOT allowed. The Gecko is NOT allowed.
- Only T1 logistics drones are allowed. T2 logistics drones are NOT allowed.
- All electronic warfare drones are allowed.
- Attribute Enhancers that give bonuses to anything other than perception, intelligence, willpower, memory, and charisma are NOT allowed.
- Genolution "CA-" implants are NOT allowed.
- With the exception of Leadership Mindlinks, ONLY Hardwirings that have a name ending in "1", "2" or "3" are allowed.
- All Leadership Mindlinks (including navy mindlinks) are allowed.
- Boosters (drugs) are NOT allowed.

[h3]FLAGSHIPS[/h3]

NOTE: The Flagship has returned this year, with some different variations

- The following ships may not be designated as Flagships
- Leshak
- Bhaalgorn
- Rattlesnake
- Widow
- Any remaining T1 battleship, T2 battleship, or faction battleship may be designated as a flagship.
- Team captains must indicate to the host managing their match if they intend to use their flagship in any given match, and which pilot is flying the flagship.
- Flagships may ignore meta level restrictions for the following module types (this means they may fit faction, officer, cosmos, deadspace, and abyssal (mutated) versions):
- Turrets and Missile Launchers
- Smartbombs
- Afterburners and Microwarpdrives
- Warp Scramblers, Warp Disruptors, and Stasis Grapplers
- Target Painters
- Sensor Boosters and Signal Amplifiers
- Overdrives, Nanofiber Internal Structures, and Inertial Stabilizers
- Weapon and Drone Upgrade Modules
- Armor Plates and Shield Extenders
- Damage Controls
- ONE Shield Booster or up to TWO Armor Repairers
- Flagship ship types must be decided in advance and Team Captains must submit their selection via EVEMail to the character named “IGC Alliance Tournament” no later than 11:00 UTC on 15 October. The fittings for a flagship do not have to be disclosed. The names of flagships do not have to be disclosed or remain constant. Fittings may also be changed from match to match.
- All flagship hull types will be published in the flagships section of the EVE Online Alliance Tournament site following the deadline date.
- A flagship may be fielded in any match, even if its ship type has been banned, and counts as a normal ship in every way other than the ones defined above.
- Flagships must still follow all non-metalevel based fitting restrictions, including any restrictions that ban module types or limit the number of a certain module that can be fitted.
- A flagship costs the same points value as a normal ship of its type.
- You are under no obligation to field your flagship in any given match.
- If your flagship is destroyed, it may not be fielded again during the tournament.

[h3]VICTORY CONDITIONS[/h3]

- During a match, a team scores points for each enemy ship it kills, equal to the tournament points value of that ship. The team that has scored the most points at the conclusion of the match, or that destroys the entire opposing team, is the winner.
- If a team chooses to field less than 100 points, non-fielded points count towards the opponent's score.
- If a fight is tied after 10 minutes, time dilation will be used to progressively speed up the tournament solar system and encourage a prompt end to the match.
- In the very unlikely case that a fight is tied after 15 minutes, the victory will be awarded to the team that had more collective potential team DPS at the beginning of the match, as measured by the tournament automated “attack bar”.

[h3]SHIPS BANS[/h3]

- Each Captain will have three (3) blind bans.
- A Tournament referee will contact the competing Team Captains in-game between 15 and 45 minutes before their scheduled match time.
- Team Captains have 2 minutes to submit their decisions after being contacted by the Tournament referee. Bans not submitted in this time period will be considered forfeit.
- The referee will exchange Bans to the opposing Captain once both sets have been received.
- Teams are then allowed an additional 2 minutes to declare an additional number of bans equal to the number of duplicate bans originally submitted. E.g., If both teams ban Leshak and Guardian they both get an additional two (2) bans.
- Further duplicate bans are discarded, so if both teams ban the same ships in the second round, no extra bans occur.
- Each ban targets a specific ship type and not a ship class or other hull. For example, banning the Harpy would not exclude the Hawk or Frigates in general.
- All bans apply to both teams equally.
- Teams should endeavor to have multiple ship setups available as bans may impact your primary team composition. No additional time will be given if eligible ships are not available.
- During the final day of the competition, some matches will require teams to be ready within 15 minutes of the completion of banning.

[h3]ADDITIONAL RULE VARIATION FOR THE FINAL DAY[/h3]

- This year there will be an additional adjustment to the rules for the first three matches of each of the two series that take place on the final day of the tournament: the best of three elimination bracket final series and the best of five grand final.
- For these two series, any time a team wins a match they will not be allowed to bring any of the ship types they fielded in that match for the rest of the first three matches of that series. The losing team in each match will be free to bring the ship types they lost with again if they wish.
- Flagships are immune to this additional restriction and may continue to be flown in each match until destroyed.
- These additional restrictions reset at the end of each series and if the grand final series reaches the fourth match the additional restrictions will also reset before that fourth match.

[h3]COLLUSION RULES[/h3]

- Each team must be working towards its own victory in each match and in the tournament overall, not the victory of any other team.
- “B Teams” and two teams acting as one team are NOT allowed.
- Since collusion rules are inherently susceptible to being gamed, the final authority on all issues of potential collusion is the CCP tournament staff. We strongly advise teams not to try to push to the edges of what may be considered appropriate. Tournament impropriety will result in swift and severe disciplinary action.
- Teams are allowed to scrimmage against each other in order to practice for the tournament if they wish.
- Setting up “house rules” for matches in the Alliance Tournament will be considered collusion and is NOT allowed.
- Shared leadership, shared theorycrafting, shared planning, shared logistics, and free sharing of resources between teams are all NOT allowed.
- Making deals with other teams to split prizes if either team wins is NOT allowed.
- Using a Mercenary to sabotage a team to throw a match is NOT allowed.