"Oh look, another expansion. Do they come free with cereal nowadays?"
When I started to write this post, that was the first thought to enter my head. But while we don't get cereal, expansions for EVE Online are always free, and the twentieth one, Rubicon, is no exception. I managed to get home from the orthodontist yesterday in time to watch the expansion reveal show live on Twitch. When I saw the graphic first appear, I thought we were about to see another misnamed expansion. Odyssey, presented as an exploration theme, really wasn't. If someone wanted to argue that the expansion was a step back for exploration, I probably wouldn't disagree.
But what about Rubicon? Crossing the Rubicon has become associated with crossing a point of no return, but Julius Caesar's act of rebellion in 49 B.C. also started a civil war within the Roman Republic. So is there anything in the expansion that fits into the theme? Absolutely! First, player-owned custom offices are coming to high sec, which means players will have the ability to attack structures in high sec without CONCORD interference, at least when destroying the existing NPC-owned offices.
Next comes the new player deployed structures, which are part of a different system than the old starbase or POS systems. Unlike the existing POS system, players have the ability to deploy the structures away from moons. That's right, players can pick dead space spots and deploy structures. And, fitting in with the theme of rebellion, at first glance players will no longer have to grind up standings with a faction so their corporation can deploy a structure. In fact, sounds like these are personal structures. So not only are capsuleers breaking away from the control of the Empire governments, they are also slipping the bonds of their corporations.
The last item for now are the actions of the Sisters of EVE. Apparently they are going rogue, or at least pirate. Up until now, outside of the Empire states and ORE, only the pirate factions made their ship designs available to capsuleers. But with the coming of Rubicon SOE will also release a frigate and cruiser design for capsuleer use. Unlike the pirate factions, however, the Sisters have offices in high sec. Are we about to see a source for non-Empire ship designs available within the Empire? I really hope that gets explained in the lore.
So for now I'm happy that the name of the expansion at least has some logical explanation behind it. But now I need to wait for all the dev blogs and releases on Singularity before I can think about getting excited. But that should come soon because 19 November is not far away.
