EVE: Viridian Patch Notes - Corporation Loyalty Points And SKINR

EVE Online's Viridian expansion, set to launch today, is the game's second full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive. Instead of just composing a surface-level single post giving my thoughts, I thought I'd do a little experiment. Are people interested in perhaps a little deeper coverage? I'm about to find out, as this post covers corporate loyalty points and the SKINR.

Corporate Loyalty Points - No, corporations do not have the ability to generate and distribute their own loyalty points. 

• Corporation Taxes which previously were only contributed by members via NPC bounties will now also automatically levy Loyalty Point payouts at the same rates as set by the corporation. Loyalty Points are contributed for all Loyalty Point payouts such as those granted through Factional Warfare, Incursions or mission rewards. 
  
  
• EverMarks are excluded from this as they are granted to corporations at a 1 to 1 ratio when a corporation’s member receives EverMarks by any means.
  
  
• Corporations now have their own Loyalty Point wallet to account for their Loyalty Points. Loyalty Points can be spent in Loyalty Point stores by either the CEO or Directors and works in the same way as normal Loyalty Point Store purchases except the Loyalty Points and any required ISK are deducted from the Corporation Loyalty Point wallet or Corporation ISK Wallet respectively. Where an LP store purchase being made by a corporation requires the provision of an item in addition to an LP payment, that item must be located in the personal Item Hangar of the character making the transaction.
  
  
• Loyalty Points in corporation Loyalty Point wallets can be donated to any other corporation. 
  
  
• EverMarks are excluded from being traded between corporations.

As CCP explained last week:

To further enhance corporations and the experience of members, the Viridian expansion will allow corporations to receive income from Loyalty Points (LP). The rate set by the corp for the percentage of ISK it receives from members’ earnings will now also be applicable to all activities generating LP. This will be another source of revenue for corporations, as the LP can be exchanged for items in LP stores and then traded for ISK. As a result, corps will have more resources and better infrastructure, leading to more opportunities for members to do more activities. Corporations of all sizes can also now take advantage of LP income and incentivize members to carry out activities in New Eden that reward LP and directly benefit the organization.

SKINR - Super-Kerr Induced Nanocoating Resequencer - The SKINR is the next step in the evolution of the Heraldry feature in EVE Online. Instead of ships, player may now customize the look of Upwell structures.

• A new in game customization tool, the Super-Kerr Induced Nanocoating Resequencer allows CEO’s, Directors, and the newly created role of Brand Managers to create Nanocoating designs by applying Nanocoating's of their choosing to different areas of Upwell Structures. Nanocoating designs can then be applied to any of the Upwell Structure that the corporation owns in exchange for EverMarks for a limited duration. 
  
  
• Once the purchase is complete, Nanocoating Designs are then applied to all selected structures for all capsuleers to enjoy, or not. 
  
  
• The Brand Manager role has access to all corporation customization options, for now that is SKINR and the ability to spend EverMarks through those options. 
  
  
• Starting in the week of the expansion there will be a new way to acquire EverMarks through the Daily Challenges which use a similar cyclical fashion of various activities you are used where those previously only rewarded Skill Points. This adds a more passive but less direct yielding way than Paragon Missions to acquire them.

The news article linked to above went into more detail on the use of the SKINR.

In SKINR, brand managers will start their customization journey by choosing which structure to base their design on from any of the 11 standard Upwell structures, then create and apply custom nanocoating designs to their corporation Upwell structures in exchange for EverMarks that corps have been acquiring through player contributions since the release of Uprising last year. 

Nanocoating designs will be created by choosing a combination of nanocoatings to apply to different areas of the structure. There will be over 90 nanocoatings to choose from at launch, so corporations should all be able to find a combination that fits their branding. At any point during the design creation, it will be possible to preview a design of any of the other Upwell structure types, as these nanocoating designs will not be specific to a given Upwell structure, but applicable to all. 

Once the brand manager is satisfied with their design, they may proceed to the straightforward application process. They will simply choose which of their corporation-owned structures they want to purchase a nanocoating induction license for and for how long (there will be a choice of 30, 90, and 180 days), and then pay using their corporation EverMarks. Once the purchase is complete, nanocoating designs are then automatically applied to all selected structures for all corp members to enjoy!

Hopefully this post has helped explained what CCP hopes are very important changes to the way players manage player groups in EVE. Corporations and alliances often provide services to their members and struggle with ways to collect enough resources. The taxation of loyalty points provides a new income source. In addition, the Heraldry system is designed to show corporate and alliance pride. The SKINR feature is designed to reinforce that feeling of togetherness and unity. Social interactions can keep people playing a video game long after they tire of the game itself. With the launch of Viridian hopefully we will see the player counts rise as people want to remain playing with their friends.