An Unexpected Visitor To My Island Sanctuary

On Monday I managed to finally complete the main story questline (MSQ) for Endwalker patches 6.5 and 6.55. With the completion of the MSQ I thought all I had to do is some housekeeping tasks and wait for the early release date of 28 June to begin a new adventure. But I had a surprise awaiting me on my island sanctuary the next day.

I had a message waiting for me from Tataru about another group of visitors she was bringing to visit me on my island, so I walked down to the beach to meet them

Having Jullus and his friends show up was a bit of a surprise because I had not checked the Wiki lately. But the visit made sense. The last time I'd seen Jullus was in the Tertium rail station in Garlemald urging  Alphinaud and Alisaie to take a vacation, preferably somewhere warm. So who shows up to take a break someplace warm? Have to love the writers.

Of course, much like the twins, Jullus and friends don't really take a break and wind up helping around the island. Doing all the farm tasks around the island makes the group remember the days before the war when they lived on farms.

Of course, being Final Fantasy XIV, we needed a campfire scene at the end of the day. The writers always manage to pull out the campfire at an opportune time. For me, the timing was especially good as I waited so long to finish the MSQ. A visit from a character who started Endwalker as an enemy but ended the expansion as a friend seems the true fitting end to the expansion.

At the end, Tataru informed me that this was her last visit to the island as she had no more visitors to escort. And in a way that was fitting. Next week begins a new chapter in Final Fantasy XIV's story and I'll put my island into maintenance mode. 

I'll probably only have one or two more posts about my island sanctuary, but I'll really have a problem letting go of the place. I've grown attached to my island over the past year and really don't want to see it fade away. Hopefully I can turn the island into enough passive income to justify the effort in my gamer brain. I don't have to worry about my heart. My island sanctuary had me at hello.

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Launch Notes

After experiencing the near painless process of EVE Online's Equinox launch, I now get to go through a Final Fantasy XIV launch. While the full launch of Dawntrail is on 2 July, the process begins next Wednesday. So far this week Creative Studio 3 has published not one but two articles on The Lodestone concerning the launch and the probable congestion afterwards. I thought some people might get their eyes opened by what the FFXIV developers and players go through when a new expansion launches.

The time scheduled for the launch of Dawntrail is a little longer than the almost 30 minutes CCP took to launch Equinox. Square Enix plans on taking down all worlds at 2am PDT/9am UTC on Wednesday, 26 June and bring them back online at 2am PDT/9am UTC on Friday, 28 June. The maintenance may go longer, but the world servers will not come online before the scheduled time on Friday.

One thing I really like about the way Square Enix rolls out an expansion is the developers allow players to download the new client during the downtime. PS4, PS5, and XBox users can begin downloading the client around 4am PDT/11am UTC on Wednesday and PC and Mac users can begin their downloads around 8am PDT/3pm UTC on Friday. Square Enix will announce when downloads are ready on The Lodestone in the news under "Special Event".

Besides the world servers, the following services will be affected by the downtime.

• Data Center Travel will be suspended 30 minutes before maintenance begins, and will be unavailable until maintenance has ended.
  
  
• The Home World Transfer Service will be suspended 30 minutes before maintenance begins. In consideration of the high server load expected immediately after the start of early access and the release of Patch 7.0, the Home World Transfer Service is scheduled to open on June 29, 2024 1:00 a.m. (PDT)
  
  
• We will also be performing maintenance on the following Mog Station services. Please see "Online Store / Mog Station Maintenance (Jun. 26-28)" for details.
  
  
• - Character Renaming Service
  
  
• - Item code/Gift code entry
  
  
• We will also be performing maintenance on the FINAL FANTASY XIV COMPANION App. For details, please see "COMPANION App Maintenance (Jun. 26 - 28)".
  
  
• Any duty recorder data recorded prior to this maintenance can no longer be replayed after this maintenance.

The developers also wrote a long article based on player experiences during the launch of Endwalker. I'll try to summarize.

Login Queues - If a player encounters a login queue, don't leave the queue, even if the numbers do not decline. Those who leave the queue will be placed at the end when trying to log in again. When a queue exists, playing players will receive priority in the queue over those on a trial account. 

Restrictions on Data Center Travel & World Visit Systems - While Final Fantasy XIV is divided into individual world servers, players have the ability to travel between those worlds. Unfortuntely, Square Enix will need to shut down or severely curtail the ability to travel to other worlds.

The first concerns the ability to travel between worlds within the same physical data center. Physical data centers refer to the actual server infrastructure located in a specific geographical region. These physical data centers are located in four regions: Japan, North America, Europe, and Oceania. The limitations are as follows.

Japanese Data Center

The number of non-Home World characters that can log in will be limited.

• When a World has reached the maximum number of visiting characters, non-Home World characters that are logged out on that World will be unable to log in, and the World will be unavailable for visitation via Data Center Travel.

North American Data Center

• Aether/Primal/Crystal: Will be unavailable for travel.
• Dynamis: Will remain available for travel, and the maximum number of traveling characters will be increased compared to usual. The newly added Worlds in the Dynamis Data Center are still relatively unpopulated and may be helpful login destinations when other Worlds are experiencing high congestion.

European Data Center

• Chaos/Light: Will be unavailable for travel.
• Shadow: Will be open to travel, with probationary Worlds which may be helpful login destinations when other Worlds are experiencing high congestion.
  
  

Visiting the Oceanian Data Center via Cross-Region Data Center Travel - The Oceanian Data Center is the newest data center with the least amount of players. As such, travel will face the same restrictions as during the testing phase of cross-region travel. This part of the article is actually good news for the future.

The cross-region Data Center Travel functionality, which has been in public testing for some time and appears to be stable, will be usable in Patch 7.0 onward.

The traveling limitations on cross-region will remain as follows:

• Japanese Data Center → Oceanian Data Center
• North American Data Center → Oceanian Data Center
• European Data Center → Oceanian Data Center

World Visit System - The World Visit System allows players to travel freely between game worlds within their logical data center. Each logical data center contains five to eight worlds, the individual servers that players choose to play on. 

Japanese Data Center

The number of non-Home World characters that can log in will be limited.

• When a World has reached the maximum number of visiting characters, non-Home World characters that are logged out on that World will be unable to log in, and the World will be unavailable for visitation via the World Visit system.

North American Data Center

Aether/Primal/Crystal: The World Visit System will be unavailable.

Dynamis: The World Visit System will remain available, and the maximum number of characters that can visit via the system will be increased.

European Data Center

Chaos/Light: The World Visit System will be unavailable.

The World Visit System will remain available on the Shadow Data Center. Furthermore, the maximum number of characters that can visit via the system will be increased.

Oceanian Data Center

The World Visit System will remain available as usual.

Square Enix recommends making sure your characters are on their homeworlds before the maintenance begins. While the system will allow the characters to return, congestion may force delays.

Playing on Other Worlds During Congestion

High congestion is expected on all Worlds, especially those on the Japanese/North American/European Data Centers.

Although Data Center Travel and World Visit will be limited as mentioned above,

during periods of high congestion, you may want to consider playing on Worlds with relatively lower populations, new Worlds (NA/EU/OC), probationary Worlds (EU), and those on the Oceanian Data Center...

While there will be restrictions based on the World Visit System or Data Center Travel, you will still be able to progress in main scenario quests, as well as find parties and participate in duties through the Duty Finder, so we recommend considering this method depending on your situation.

Character Creation - Players cannot create characters on worlds experiencing congestion. Square Enix recommends either trying to create characters during off-hours or on the new worlds in the North American and Oceanian Data Centers.

Error Messages - The following error messages were the most common during the Endwalker launch period and likely will appear frequently.

Error 2002 When Logging In

This error is displayed when the login server is experiencing high amounts of traffic or when the number of characters waiting in a login queue for a logical Data Center exceeds its maximum capacity.

This is a measure to prevent the server from crashing due to extreme traffic loads.

Should you encounter Error 2002 when attempting to log in, we apologize for the inconvenience, but ask that you wait a while before trying again. Furthermore, the aforementioned maximum capacity has been increased by roughly 50% compared to the launch of Endwalker.

In another note, the lobby server will hold your place in the queue for roughly a minute. If your connection returns and you manage to re-enter the lobby server relatively quickly, you will be able to return to your place in the login queue.

Error 90002/90006 During Gameplay

These errors are general network connection errors caused by network disconnections. While Square Enix states players should check their home network if they receive these messages, I really have the feeling any such errors are caused closer to the game servers.

Automatic Logout - If a player remains inactive for 30 minutes, the game will kick the character out. I believe that also affects characters dancing in Limsa Lominsa.

Peak Congestion Times - These are the times Square Enix expects congestion to occur during the week. The launch weekend may see longer periods of time.

• Japanese Data Center: From 2:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. (PDT)
• North American Data Center: From 1:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (PDT)
• European Data Center: From 4:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. (PDT)
• Oceanian Data Center: From 12:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. (PDT)

Preventative Measures Against Server Crashes

To prevent World servers from crashing, the number of characters that can move between in-game areas within a certain timeframe will be limited. As such, the game may display "Unable to move areas due to congestion" when attempting to enter a different area. If this error is displayed, we ask that you try to change areas again or wait a while before attempting again. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your cooperation as we strive to provide a stable gameplay experience.

Wait Times for Instanced Content

There is a possibility that certain instanced content, such as duties required to progress through quests, may experience congestion. For instanced duties required to progress a quest, we have devised methods to stagger player traffic during main scenario progression, and have also implemented a queue system in case of congestion. Should congestion occur, your number in the queue will be displayed upon attempting to enter the instance. We ask that you patiently remain in the queue as players are admitted into the instance in the order that they joined the queue.

Instances of the New Areas - Once again, Square Enix will spawn multiple instances for the first couple of weeks of the expansion. Below are the instructions and mechanics for how the instances will work.

Selecting and Confirming the Instanced Area

You may choose to enter a specific instance of an area either by traveling to your destination through an entrance from a neighboring area or by interacting with an aetheryte in the area.

When moving to these areas via teleport or Return, an instance will be automatically selected. Players can confirm which instance they are currently in through a log message in the chat or by using the “/instance” text command.

Restrictions in Instanced Areas

Players in different instances of the same area can communicate with Tell messages as normal. However, there are some restrictions such as being unable to see each other's character in the overworld.

Entering the Same Instanced Area As Your Party

Party members will generally be moved to the same instanced area when using teleport or Return. However, party members may be split between different instances if the destination instance has reached the player cap. As such, players may not always end up in the same instance, and may need to select their desired instance either by traveling through an entrance from a neighboring area or by interacting with an aetheryte in their desired area.

Support Services During Early Access and Immediately After Launch - Finally the article points out how to access support information. World and server statuses, as well as any issues that may arise, will be announced through our Lodestone announcements or on the Final Fantasy XIV official X channels (@FF_XIV_EN and @FFXIV_NEWS_EN).

Final Fantasy XIV Launch Trailers: A Realm Reborn to Dawntrail

We are now two weeks away from the official launch of Dawntrail, Final Fantasy XIV's first expansion after the end of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark arc. I finished the final quest last night, meaning I can join the rush when early access opens on 28 June. On Friday FFXIV Producer and Director Naoki Yoshida debuted the expansion's launch trailer during his Producer's Live Letter #82.

I don't do trailer analysis posts, but I did find the question at the end of the trailer intriguing. 

With your strength, could you have held fast to which is dear without sacrifice?

But enough analysis. When I saw the launch trailer I wanted to compare the previous launch trailers and look back at the road I travelled to get to Dawntrail. 

The first, A Realm Reborn, is more a relaunch of a game than a true expansion. Released in late August 2013 for PC and Playstation 3, the game had to suspend digital sales due to the interest in the game.

The next expansion was Heavensward. Launched for PC, Mac, PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4, Heavensward launched on 23 June 2015. While not perhaps beloved at the time for other reasons, the story in the expansion was much better than in A Realm Reborn. Also, a Mac client was introduced for the first time.

The next chapter of the Hydaelyn-Zodiark arc, Stormblood, launched on 20 June 2017. The video quality of the trailer went up as PS3 support expired. While criticized for a perhaps overly ambitious storyline, many of the dungeon and raid mechanics were solidified during the expansion.

The penultimate expansion, Shadowbringers, launched on PC, Mac, and Playstation 4 on 2 July 2019, or 5 years to the day before Dawntrail. The expansion expanded the game world into multi-star travel and adventure while ending the Ascians, or at least the members of the Convocation, as major factors in the world.

Finally, we get to the last expansion, Endwalker. Released on PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, its 7 December 2021 date was partially delayed due to complications associated with COVID-19 restrictions worldwide. The expansion wrapped up the story told from A Realm Reborn through Shadowbringers. 

These are the launch trailers and not the final cinematic trailers for each of the expansions. Those trailers, while also bringing back memories, also have a lot of misdirection injected into them. I also want to note the hardware journey the game has taken over the last 11 years as well. In 2013, players had a choice of either PC or PlayStation 3. Today, players can't even play on the PS3 as the game supports the PS4 and PS5. And while players can still play on PC and Mac, a new option opens up with Dawntrail: the XBox One. I also believe the trailers display the technological trail as well.

Finishing Up Endwalker And Time Played

With 11 days to go before early access begins for Final Fantasy XIV's next expansion Dawntrail, I'm busy trying to finish up Endwalker content. I even took today and tomorrow off to try to get through to the end. Right now I need to complete two trials and a dungeon to finish or get to stories I want to do before everyone's interest turns to the new expansion. I need to complete The Abyssal Fracture to finish the main story questline and access Dawntrail content,  The Gilded Araya to complete the Manderville questline and obtain the Mandervillous Cane, and The Stigma Dreamscape to access the Omnicron tribal quests.

Looking at Steam this morning, I've spent a little over 6,300 hours in Final Fantasy XIV since 20 July 2019. And I realize next week begins a new journey as Creative Studio III launches the first expansion after the conclusion of the Hydaelyn–Zodiark arc. A scene from Endwalker came to mind.

Was the journey worth it? I think so. I did a lot more than just the main story questline to rack up those 6,300 hours. But I think a lot of players look at a game with 10 years of relevant content to go through to get to the current expansion and wonder if the effort is worth it. Is it too late to begin playing FFXIV without spending a lot of money to skip to Dawntrail?

I can understand the concern given some of the times players give out when asked how long completing the MSQ takes through the end of Endwalker. I began playing the game two weeks after the launch of Shadowbringers and caught up to Shadowbringers' last patch (5.5) in April 2021. I went to HowLongToBeat.com and looked up how long people the median player on that site took to complete the MSQ for each expansion.

• A Realm Reborn - 95 hours
• Heavensward - 63 hours
• Stormblood - 59 hours
• Shadowbringers - 58 hours
• Endwalker - 50 hours

I'm not going to lie. If one wants to play the current expansion, 325 hours is a lot of time to get to what one wants to play. Even rushing through the MSQ skipping everything takes 220 hours.

But I'm not one who sees 325 hours of story as a blocker. I see that as the content of a game and reaching the end game is a reason to quit. As such I can never see myself playing World of Warcraft again. But Final Fantasy XIV provides 325 hours if one only wants to play the story. I would guess I've spent 400-500 hours alone in the Gold Saucer, the game's combination casino/amusement park. And I've probably spend a couple thousand hours crafting and gathering. There's a reason my character has over 140 million gil now.

I do have to admit I'm a bit jealous of those beginning to play today. New players get to play the entire story without having to wait for Creative Studio III to drop a patch or launch an expansion. For those who want to play for the story, now is a great time to start.

I have to start watching walkthrough videos now to get everything done. I'll go ahead and compose a bunch of posts looking back at the Hydaelyn-Zodiark arc over the next couple of months. I've held off until now because spoilers. But with the end of a 10-year saga I figure the time to look back and write about the story is now.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - The Early Patches (6.12, 6.13, 6.14)

No expansion survives contact with players and EVE Online's Equinox expansion is no different. Not including the launch day patch, CCP has deployed patches each of the first three days. I'm a little burned out from blogging after making 16 posts covering the initial patch notes so I'm going to just merge the three days of changes and fixes into one post. Hopefully people find the post helpful.

Feature Changes

Login Rewards:

• Until June 20th a special set of Expansion login rewards will be available for players who log on. Rewards include Sequence Binder Welcome package and components for SKINR Ship Personalization, up to 200K skill points, and boosters. (2024-06-12.1)
  
  
• Equinox DLI Day 6 Alpha reward has been updated to Basic Cerebral Accelerator. (2024-06-14.1)

I was a bit caught off-guard by this change. I believe people logging in everyday starting today (14 June) can receive all the rewards.

Ships:

The Upwell Haulers were a little too strong if they were fit for max tank (ignoring the missile bonus completely), so we’re rebalancing them by bringing their powergrid and CPU requirements closer to existing ships in their class, and giving them a huge fitting reduction bonus to medium missile launchers. (2024-06-12.1 & 2024-06-13.1)

• Added a new role bonus to the Squall, Deluge and Torrent: 90% reduction in heavy missile launcher, heavy assault missile launcher and rapid light missile launcher powergrid and CPU fitting requirements.
  
  
• Squall
• Powergrid Reduced from 400 to 250
• CPU Increased from 380 to 395
• Base price adjusted so it no longer insures for more than the build cost.
  
  
• Deluge
• Powergrid Reduced from 430 to 190
• CPU Reduced from 400 to 300
• Agility increased from 0.51x to 0.59x
  
  
• Torrent
• Powergrid Reduced from 460 to 265
• CPU Reduced from 420 to 305
  
  
• It is now possible to put Standup Fighters, Upwell Structure ammo and bombs inside the infrastructure hold of the Upwell Hauling ships (Squall, Deluge, Torrent and Avalanche)
  
  
• It is now possible to scoop deployables and structures directly to the infrastructure hold of the Upwell Hauling ships.

Further tweaks based on player feedback. (2024-06-13.1)

• Carriers:
• Conduit jump fuel cost per LY reduced from 21,000 to 3,000.
  

On the 13th, the developers rolled back a change which keeps players from putting Standup Fighters into infrastructure holds. The intention is to restore the functionality. Also, some powergrid was restored on the 13th. The numbers listed above contain both changes.

Missions & NPCs:

• Adjusted the Infested/Shielded starbase escalation’s Forcefield and Control Tower Signature Radius from 1000m to 32000m so that all capital weapons (Such as T2 XL Torpedo’s and close-range heavy fighters will now be able to apply full damage). (2024-06-13.1)
  
  
• Adjusted the Force field in the Infested/Shielded Starbase escalation to have less regeneration so Dreadnoughts with less optimal fittings can kill it. (2024-06-14.1)
• Shield Hitpoints: 300,000 → 400,000.
• Shield Regeneration Time: 60s → 120s.
• Peak Shield Regeneration: 12,500 HP per second → 8,333 HP per second.

Air Daily Goals & Reward Track:

• When clicking on a milestone in the Air Opportunities window the players will be sent to AIR Daily Goals page. (2024-06-12.1)

Insurgencies:

• Counter-Insurgency Sentry Guns have had a 30 day decay timer added to them, so they will now disappear after 30 days from being deployed. Existing ones will also disappear after 30 days from now if they aren’t destroyed by players. (2024-06-12.1)

Market:

• The new navy fighters will now appear in the faction and storyline drop down section for the market. (2024-06-12.1)

Science & Industry:

• Reduced the amount of Serpentis Modified Capital Microprocessors from 1,500 to 75 for the Vendetta. (2024-06-12.1)
• Magmatic Gas has had it’s volume adjusted from 1.5m3 to 0.1m3. (2024-06-12.1)
• Blueprints for the Metenox Moon Drill are now available in all Upwell Consortium Member Corporations for 6 billion ISK. (2024-06-13.1)
• Metenox Moon Drills can now be bought and sold on the market. (2024-06-13.1)
• Skyhook Blueprints now get benefits for manufacturing from engineering complex structure rigs that provide bonuses to structures, such as the Standup XL Set Structure and Component Manufacturing Efficiency I rig. (2024-06-13.1)

Structures & Deployables:

• The Maximum deployment range for upwell structures around Sovereignty Hubs has been increased from 1,000km to 10,000km. (2024-06-12.1)

User Interface:

• Added a ‘Create Skill Plan’ button to the Confirm Skill Purchase window that pops up after clicking the new ‘Buy and train’ button for required skills. (2024-06-12.1)

Defect Fixes

Air Daily Goals & Reward Track:

• The glow around Omega rewards is now in sync after hovering the icons in the Daily Goals tab for Alpha players. (2024-06-12.1)
• The Reward Track and / or Daily Goals are now showing up when first opening the Air Opportunities Homepage. (2024-06-12.1)
• Claim All button is now visible in the Daily Goals Reward Track page after completing one Daily Goal.(2024-06-12.1)
• Claim All button no longer reappears after being used.(2024-06-12.1)
• The Reward Track’s milestone for SP is now showing correct information. (2024-06-12.1)

Audio:

• SFX for the Metenox Moon Drill now triggers and loops properly. (2024-06-12.1)

Corporation Projects:

• Corporation Window no longer displays duplicated Offices in “My Corporation”. (2024-06-12.1)

Corporation Window:

• Bulletins now show in the Corporation Window for all members of the corporation.

Gameplay:

• Long-Range Heavy Fighters can now use their Micro Jump Drive ability again. (2024-06-12.1)
• Mobile Micro Jump Units are functional again. (2024-06-12.1)
  
• Standup Fighters will now function again. (2024-06-13.1)
• As a side effect of rolling back a change, Standup Fighters can no longer be included in the Infrastructure Hold, we’re working on getting a fix for this in the coming week. (2024-06-13.1)

Graphics:

• Molok material maps have been intentionally adjusted (less metallic veins on the ship). (2024-06-12.1)
• Some ships now have 3 customization slots in the SKINR instead of 4: (2024-06-12.1)
  
  
• Triglavian ships
• Bane
• Rhea
• Charon
  
  
• Pattern settings are now carried over when selecting a new hull within the SKINR (mirroring, pattern display toggle). (2024-06-12.1)
• Structure SKIN is now displayed correctly in the fitting window. (2024-06-12.1)
• Alphabetical filtering in the SKINR is no longer case sensitive. (2024-06-12.1)
• Quantity of activated and unactivated SKINs is now updated after activating a SKIN from the SKINR Collection. (2024-06-12.1)
• Temporary SKIN license is no longer active on boarded ship after expiring. (2024-06-12.1)
• Sequencing in Progress count now updates correctly after starting a sequencing job in the SKINR Studio. (2024-06-12.1)
• Sequencing max jobs count now updates immediately in regards to skill levels. (2024-06-12.1)
• 3D ship preview in SKINR resets to active ship after using “Complete Now” on sequence job. (2024-06-12.1)
• Pattern display toggle updates correctly for 3 slot ship configurations in the SKINR Studio. (2024-06-12.1)
• Create New Design resets to active ship after viewing a design for another hull. (2024-06-12.1)
• SKIN icon cards no longer appear with black background as it did for some. (2024-06-12.1)
• Activating a SKIN license from the Collection no longer reloads the entire Collection. (2024-06-12.1)
• Fitting Window Personalization tab optimized to load quicker when loading custom SKINs. (2024-06-12.1)
• Correct description added for the Batch Sequencing skill in the Show Info window. (2024-06-12.1)
• Correct highlighting appears on stack of unactivated SKIN licenses when a copy was previously activated from the stack. (2024-06-12.1)
• Limited Metallic Nanocoatings are referred to correctly in Show Info window. (2024-06-12.1)
• SKINR instantly updates with account clone state changes. (2024-06-12.1)
• There is now indication in the SKINR Collection when one SKIN license is activated from a stack of multiple licenses. (2024-06-12.1)
• Expandable panels no longer overlap Customization Slot and Back button in SKINR Studio on smaller window sizes. (2024-06-12.1)
• Studio page optimizations to handle situations after many Sequencing in Progress jobs are running and interacting with UI. (2024-06-12.1)
• Ambient traffic no longer appears outside of an unanchored Skyhook. (2024-06-12.1)
• Fixed an imbalance in the beam brightness on the Skyhook's lower platform. (2024-06-12.1)
• Cleaned up floating lights and z-fighting on the Skyhook wreck. (2024-06-12.1)
• Restored missing decals on the Cyno Beacon. (2024-06-12.1)
• Metenox Moon Drill now has collision. (2024-06-12.1)
• Mining beam no longer disappears when warping away from Metenox Moon Drill and returning. (2024-06-12.1)
• Fixed clipping issues and floating lights on Metenox Moon Drill. (2024-06-12.1)
• Fixed icons for Metenox Moon Drill and Avalanche wrecks. (2024-06-13.1)

Homefront Operations:

• Homefront Operation sites will now periodically check if the current owner is within the combat area and reassign ownership if not. (2024-06-13.1)

New Player Experience:

• Added missing highlights and blinks. (2024-06-13.1)

Ship Tree:

• The Ship Tree’s ship group icon tooltips will now work correctly when the required skill(s) is only trained with Expert Systems. (2024-06-12.1)
• The Neocom Ship Tree icon will no longer start to blink again after viewing a ship unlock in the Ship Tree’s ‘New Unlocks’ section. (2024-06-12.1)

User Interface:

• The Agency page for Colony Resources will now show results when opening for the first time and after pressing the ‘Reset All’ button. Also, the sorting of the results is now correct when using the filters. (2024-06-12.1)
• Fixed an issue that prevented the Show Info window for stars to show correctly. (2024-06-12.1)
• Faction names are no longer bleeding out of their Ship Tree info box on some UI Scaling settings. (2024-06-12.1)
• The ‘Add all skills to Skill queue’ button now correctly does not appear after completing the ‘Buy and train’ flow in the Mastery tab of a ship’s Information window. (2024-06-12.1)
• Packaged items now display their correct volume per unit in the on-hover tooltip and elsewhere. (2024-06-12.1)
• Fixed an issue where the filters for Power and Workforce in the Colony Resources section of the Agency did not work. (2024-06-13.1)
• The input fields for Power and Workforce filters in the Colony Resources section of the Agency have been made larger so that four digit numbers can now be easily read. (2024-06-13.1)
• The SKINR Collection will now load all design components correctly in languages that use non-ASCII characters (ie. Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Russian). (2024-06-13.1)
• The PLEX icon in the SKINR Studio is no longer overlapped by the price text. (2024-06-13.1)
• The SKIN Name text in the SKINR Studio is no longer cut off at various UI scaling settings. (2024-06-13.1)
• Opening the Design Components page in the Market will no longer cause an FPS drop. (2024-06-13.1)
• Fixed an issue preventing inventories from loading in stations/structures with Asset Safety containers. (2024-06-13.1)
• Fixed incorrect padding between items in inventory windows. (2024-06-13.1)
• Fixed an issue causing the search panel in the ‘Find New Corporation’ tab to become unusable after searching once. (2024-06-14.1)
• Fixed an issue that blocked players in structures from boarding Omega ships unlocked by Expert Systems. (2024-06-14.1)

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - SKINR Ship Personalization

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This sixteenth and final post in the series for Equinox will cover SKINR ship personalization.

In Equinox the Super-Kerr Induced Nanocoating Resequencer, or SKINR, is expanding from allowing corporations to decorate their citadels to also include ships. The developers have separated SKINs into two types, sequenced (player-made) and prime (CCP created). The SKINR is associated with the Paragon corporation, which has offices throughout New Eden. 

The process of creating a SKIN is called sequencing. Whether the design portion of the process is included in the term sequencing is unclear. I offer the explanation because at one point I thought sequencing was the process of applying the SKIN, not creating one.

With the new SKINR Paragon introduces a robust palette of Design Elements, consisting of Basic and Metallic Nanocoatings as well as Patterns to Pilots across the Universe. Each SKIN design includes five customization slots: four for Nanocoatings and one for Patterns. Patterns also have a slot nested in them to add a Nanocoating onto the Pattern. Each Design Element comes in 2 flavors: Unlimited or Limited usage. The Unlimited Design Elements will require new Sequencing Binder items to be in your current Inventory. New Design Elements can be bought and sold on the Local Market, acquired in Events, Daily Goals, and through Loot Drops in various locations in game.

Naming Custom SKINs and SKIN Lines

Players name their custom skins during the design process, including the option to add them to a SKIN line. Use your creations to express your unique identity and share them with other capsuleers. Players can also save up to 5 designs for future manufacturing.

Sequencing

Gathering design elements and sequence binders allows capsuleers to sequence ship SKINs for themselves or to sell to other pilots. Sequencing costs are based on a tier system and calculated in PLEX based on the rarity of design elements and complexity of the SKIN. Sequence Binders can be bought and sold on the Local Market, acquired in Events, Daily Goals, and through Loot Drops in various locations in game just like their Design Element counterparts.

I think at least half the new skills introduced in Equinox involve sequencing.

New Skills

There is a new set of Skills that will elevate your SKIN Sequencing playstyle. These are all found under the new Category called “SEQUENCING”.

• Sequencing Time Modifier Skills:
  
  
• Basic Induction: Reduces sequencing time. First-tier skill with a 1x training multiplier and costs 5m.
• Induction Efficiency: Reduces sequencing time. Second-tier skill with a 3x training multiplier of and costs 15m.
• Advanced Induction Efficiency: Reduces sequencing time. Third-tier skill with a 5x training multiplier and costs 25m.
• Peak Induction Acceleration: Reduces sequencing time. Fourth-tier skill with an 8x training multiplier of and costs 45m.
  
  
• Mass Sequencing Skills:
  
  
• Batch Sequencing: Allows sequencing of multiple copies of a design. First-tier skill with a 3x training multiplier and costs 1m.
• Mass Sequencing: Allows sequencing of multiple copies of a design. Second-tier skill with a 6x training multiplier and costs 20m.
• Industrial Sequencing: Allows sequencing of multiple copies of a design. Third-tier skill with a 9x training multiplier and costs 250m.
  
  
• Multi-SKIN Sequencing Skills:
  
  
• Parallel Sequencing: Allows the sequencing of multiple different designs at once. First-tier skill with a 2x training multiplier and costs 40m.
• Multi-thread Sequencing: Allows the sequencing of multiple different designs at once. Second-tier skill with a 6x training multiplier and costs 200m.
  
  
• SKIN Selling Skills:
  
  
• Hub Promotion: Allows the listing of more SKINs on the Hub. First-tier skill with a 1x training multiplier and costs 30m.
• Hub Algorithm Optimization: Allows the listing of more SKINs on the Hub. Second-tier skill with a 5x training multiplier and costs 75m.

Each of these skills can be purchased straight from the Skill Window and needs to be trained to level 4 before being able to train the next tier.

Sequencing Binders

These are new items that are required when using Unlimited use Design Elements.

• Kerr Sequencer: Consumed by basic Nanocoatings when sequencing a SKIN.
• Fermionic Sequencer: Consumed by Metallic Nanocoatings when sequencing a SKIN.
• Alignment Sequencer: Consumed by Patterns when sequencing a SKIN.
  

Collection

A new cosmetics collection makes it simple to keep track of SKINR Made SKINs, Nanocoating's, and Patterns where you can apply SKINR made SKINs and filter through your collection.

Paragon Hub

Players can buy Basic Nanocoatings, Metallic Nanocoatings, and Patterns at the Paragon Hub. Soon after the expansion, players can choose to sell their created SKINs in the Paragon Hub. Listing options include duration (day, 3 days, week, etc.). HUB Listing Costs are charged in ISK, and the SKINR Service Fee apply to sales and are charged in the currency chosen for the sale of the SKIN.

Omega Perks

Alpha accounts can sequence SKINs for all hulls that an Alpha account can pilot. Omega accounts however can sequence skins for any hull that is currently supported by the SKINR tool.

The Ship SKINR is located in the Utilities section in the NEOCOM. But we are sure you will want to put a shortcut to it in the main NEOCOM Bar!

Ship Info and Preview Windows

• Show Info now displays Ship Preview with your applied skin.
• Clicking the Ship Preview in Show Info will open the Ship Preview Window with your applied skin.
• Until June 17th a special set of expansion login rewards will be available for players who log on. Rewards include Sequence Binder Welcome package and components for SKINR Ship Personalization, up to 200K skill points, and boosters.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - Graphics (Other Than SKINR)

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This fifteenth post in the series for Equinox will cover graphics changes not related to player designed ship SKINs. 

Most of the work from the art department players want to experience involves player designed SKINs. Even so, Equinox will see additional graphics updates in EVE.

GRAPHICS

• Graphical renovation to bomb impact VFX, increasing graphical fidelity to the different types to better present game play effects and readability.

• Upwell Citadels, namely Athanor, Tatara, Raitaru, Azbel, Sotiyo, Ansiblex Jump Gate, Pharalux Cyno Beacon and Tenerex Cyno Jammer, have undergone an FX and lighting pass. Lights and effects have been added to enhance the visual appeal of these structures.
  
  
• Structure explosions have also been made more visually enjoyable in Tidi!
  
  
• All planets have received a considerable graphics overhaul. Included in this pass, is a resolution increase and rework of all planetary textures. Planet shader parameters have received updates, adding more vibrancy, variation and detail to planet surfaces. Furthermore different new effects and details, have been added to specific planet types. Planets with workforce capacity, will start to visually reflect this, with orbiting traffic visuals.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - General Manufacturing

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This fourteenth post in the series for Equinox will cover additional changes to player vs environment content. 

While not the final subject in my series of articles on the Equinox patch notes, the manufacturing section is the last section of the actual patch notes. As such, the information are the loose ends not belonging to any other subject. Still, the news about removing ship hulls from loyalty point stores is significant.

MANUFACTURING

Concord Rogue Analysis Beacon

• Reduced amount of Megacyte required for manufacturing by 50%

A CONCORD Rogue Analysis Beacon is a deployable beacon that can be used in Low and Null security space to research local Rogue Drone activity. Once a beacon is deployed and linked to, it will spawn waves of rogue drones that attack capsuleers around the beacon or the beacon itself. Effectively, this is a deployable PvE site in space.

LP Stores

• Removed all Ship Hulls from LP Stores.
• Added new manufacturing component, NET Resonator, for each Pirate Faction for the manufacture of sub-capital hulls.
• Changed LP Offers for pirate hull BPCs.
• Sub-capital Pirate Hulls
• Removed Neurolink Conduits from sub-capital pirate ship manufacturing.
• Added new component, NET Resonators, to sub-capital pirate ship manufacturing.

On a live stream CCP stated the removal of the ships from the LP stores in order to encourage more manufacturing.

The final two items are:

T2 Capital Guns

• Reduced amount of Morphite or Robotics required for manufacturing T2 Capital Guns by 50%.

Genetic Mutation Inhibitors

• A new skill, Mutagenic Stabilization, has been added as a requirement to build Genetic Mutation Inhibitors. The skill gives a 2% reduction in manufacturing time for all items requiring it per level. The skillbook has a training multiplier of 2x and can be found in the standard empire schools for the price of 15m.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - PVE

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This thirteenth post in the series for Equinox will cover additional changes to player vs environment content. 

For this post, I'll list the changes in the patch notes first and then give a brief explanation of the content involved.

Paragon Missions

• Added new Paragon Missions to request additional Frigates, Navy Frigates, additional Destroyers, Navy Destroyers, T1 Cruisers and Faction Ammo.

Paragon missions in EVE Online are a unique set of missions offered by the Paragon corporation, which reward players with EverMarks, the corporation’s loyalty points. The expansion of the types of missions affects players ability to access the new SKINR ship personalization system introduced in Equinox.

Incursions

• Mothership sites within High and Low Security space now have a minimum amount of time before they can appear. Null Security space is unaffected by this change.
  
  
• High-Security space: the Mothership will not appear until at least 3 days have passed.
• Low-Security space: the Mothership will not appear until at least 1 day has passed.

Apparently high sec incursion runners did not like outside groups completing the mothership site within the first day of the focus, which was seen as a form of griefing. High sec incursion runners preferred farming incursions as long as possible. The developers wound up agreeing with the incursion runners. 

Observatory Flashpoints in Pochven

• Activation range for the gate to the observatory has been increased to 25KM.
• Players present in the first pocket of the site when the site pays out will not receive a share of the rewards.
• NPCs will now take into account the presence of drones and prioritize them as targets.

Observatory Flashpoints are combat anomalies found in the Pochven region of EVE Online. They are designed to be tackled by fleets of up to 15 ships and are a continuation of the Observatory Flashpoints from Chapters 2 and 3 of the Triglavian Invasion.

C5 & C6 Cosmic Anomalies and Signatures

• A capital ship must be present in sites prior to the appearance of the Decloaked Transmission Relay to trigger the Arithmos Tyrannos spawn in C5/6 Cosmic Anomalies.
• Any escalation waves, including the Arithmos Tyrannos, will despawn if capital ships leave the site, or strays further than 100KM of a site’s warp-in point.
• Lancer Dreadnoughts will now trigger escalation waves in Cosmic Anomalies and Cosmic Signatures.

C5 and C6 cosmic anomalies and signatures are among some of the most profitable content in EVE Online.

Triglavian Minor Victory Systems

• Entropic Disintegrator Werposts and their deployment fleets will no longer consider players with 0 standing with The Triglavian Collective as hostile.
• Weapon damage ramp-up time for Entropic Disintegrator Werposts has been lengthened.
• Entropic Disintegrator Werposts now feature a bounty upon destruction
• Reinforcement fleets for Entropic Disintegrator Werposts have been scaled back in difficulty.
• The interval at which new Werposts will be deployed has been increased.
• The Triglavian Collective will no longer deploy Entropic Disintegrator Werposts at Stargates, Stations and Upwell structures in Minor Victory systems.

Triglavian minor victory systems are systems where the Triglavian Collective forces have established a permanent presence in empire space. These systems were won by the Triglavians during the third chapter of the Triglavian invasion but did not meet the criteria to become a Final Liminality system and be integrated into Pochven. A list of the systems can be found here.

EVE: Equinox - Homefront Operations

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This twelfth post in the series for Equinox will cover changes to Homefront Operations. 

Homefront Operations were introduced in the Viridian expansion in the summer of 2023. In a dev blog in June 2023 the developers laid out their vision of the new high-sec based feature.

Flying with other capsuleers, trying out different professions, and honing your skills out of the gate are key to being a success in New Eden. To that end, the AIR Opportunities portal will also be populated with brand-new activities called Homefront Operations, and these will be immediately discoverable on that platform. These sites will bring new and experienced capsuleers together to do new activities together, helping to establish social connections and introduce fleet gameplay. Homefront Operations offer a perfect opportunity for novice pilots to practice their combat, logistics, and hacking skills in a relatively safe PvE environment while cooperating with others. The highsec nature of the Homefront Operations makes the activities it offers a logical next step after completion of the AIR Career Program, especially if some players are apprehensive about venturing into lowsec or nullsec due to a lack of experience.

Equinox sees another set of changes to Homefront Operations. The patch notes indicate the changes were made "to make some of the less popular sites more attractive while addressing common pain points." The first set involves ownership of a site.

Acceleration Gates within these sites will now become partially restricted when activated:

• The character that first activates the gate will be considered the “owner” of that site.
• Anyone outside the owner’s current fleet will receive a suspect timer when activating the gate.
• If the current owner leaves the combat area of a site, another character within their fleet and the combat area will be selected as the new owner.
• If no fleet member is present within the combat area, another character within the combat area will be selected as the owner instead.
• If no owner is found, the gate will be reset and become unrestricted until it is next activated.

The next set of changes involved site payouts.

• Emergency Aid payouts have been reworked.
• The additional payouts received at 5 and 10 minutes have been removed.
• The sites will now complete and grant their main payout after 10 minutes, reduced from 15 minutes.
  
  
• All sites, excluding Abyssal Artifact Recovery, have had their payouts reduced.
• All payout values based on the number of contributors have been adjusted.
• For example, with a group of 5, the payout will now be 15.49 million ISK each, reduced from 17.14 million.
  
  
• The overall bounty values of NPCs within these sites have been greatly increased.
  
• Only characters within the combat area of a site will be eligible for payouts.

In the middle of the list of changes a ship restriction was listed.

• Empire Faction Cruisers are no longer permitted to enter the combat area of these sites.

Apparently the NPCs in the sites needed some adjustment.

• NPC combat fleet compositions, excluding those in Abyssal Artifact Recovery sites, have been adjusted.
• Less EWAR NPCs now appear on average, instead replaced with DPS NPCs.
• Some extreme cases at both ends of the difficulty curve are no longer possible.
  
  
• Combat fleet NPCs within all sites will now take longer to respawn when destroyed.
• Dedicated ECM using NPCs within Dread Assault sites will now take significantly longer to respawn when destroyed.
• Site failure timers in all applicable sites have been reduced to 20 minutes.
• The average DPS of NPCs using missiles has been decreased.
• The repair amounts of logistics NPCs have been decreased.
• Drifter NPCs within Abyssal Artifact Recovery sites will now show their piloting characters.

The final group of changes concern pop-up screens providing information to players.

• When a site ends unsuccessfully, the relevant conversation will appear even if it has been viewed before.
• When arriving at a site that has been completed, the relevant conversation will appear even if it has been viewed before.
• An Info Panel objective will now appear when the character is in warp.
• Improved consistency for when conversations and Info Panel objectives are displayed.

EVE: Equinox - Ship Emphasis

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This eleventh post in the series for Equinox will cover a topic the developers call ship emphasis.

What is ship emphasis? In a dev blog two weeks ago, the subject was labeled "Next level hangar management." The expansion website perhaps had the best description.

Ship progression and UX improvements: Experience the thrill of unlocking a new ship with immediate notifications and get clear understanding on ship roles and prerequisites with the redesigned skill requirement panel. Elevate your initial interaction with new vessels with informative new ship cards and enhanced UX for boarding and naming ships.

Overall, the topic includes a lot of quality-of-life changes.

SHIP EMPHASIS

We want to make interacting with and progressing through ships in New Eden more digestible and inspiring. To that end we have implemented a variety of improvements for Equinox:

• Assemble and Board action: The new default action when double-clicking on a packaged ship, which makes taking your new ship out for a spin just a bit easier.
  
  
• Ship Unlock notifications: A new section in the Ship Tree shows off the ships you’ve recently managed to unlock, with badges indicating new entries until they are viewed.
  
  
• Default Ship Naming: The rename ship popup now appears when assembling a ship, and default names are restructured to show the ship type name first.
  
  
• Ship Card view: A new inventory view that displays the ship group, characteristics, and type name of your ships more clearly.
  
  
• Skill Requirement Panel: Allows players to add skills to the queue, create skill plans, allocate skill points, and buy missing skillbooks. The component appears in the Fitting Window, Show Info, Ship Tree and Hangar views.

Seeing the ship tree updated to include The Society of Conscious Thought and CONCORD is welcome. SoCT ships are only handed out by CCP for celebrations and acquiring CONCORD is done through participating in Project Discovery. Including all ships in the game are probably more important for new players than veterans.

Ship Tree

• Added pages for the Society of Conscious Thought and CONCORD ship lines to the Ship Tree.
  
• Faction logos shown within the Ship Tree have been updated.

Finally, the developers put in changes to a subject I have had trouble with over the years.

Overhauled Ship Restrictions Windows

We want to make it more digestible for players before they head out to space what type of restrictions are on dungeons.

• Ships are now sorted into collapsable sections by their group.
• Ship icons are now shown alongside ships' names.
• Ship entries can now be interacted with (e.g. right-click to open the Information window or Market details).
• Only ships within the Ship Tree will be listed.
• Added an option to search for a specific ship from those listed.
• Added a filter option to show only ships that the current character can fly.
• Added an option to show restricted ships but highlight them as unusable.
• A Ship Restrictions warning will now appear in the Info Panel objectives of relevant sites or missions tracked via AIR Opportunities:
• Double-clicking this warning will open the Ship Restrictions window.
• The warning will appear when en-route to a site or when within a site’s lobby area.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - Improved AIR Daily Goals

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This tenth post in the series for Equinox will cover the changes to AIR daily goals.

In a dev blog published in May, the developers explained the effects of the changes to the daily goals EVE provided pre-Equinox.

This new system replaces the current daily login rewards, significantly increasing the potential monthly Skill Point gains per account. The daily bonus SP reward goes from 10,000 to 5,000 per character, but a new final SP reward track milestone has been added with up to 225,000 SP per character. Previously, simply logging in daily could net up to 150,000 SP per account per month, whereas the new system will reward more meaningful activities with up to 375,000 SP per character per month, meaning up to 1,125,000 SP per account. The daily goals are easily achievable for players of all levels and are the same for all capsuleers every day. This means more skills, more action, and more people in space!

New AIR Daily Goals:

• Earn 50 LP (Enforcer/Industrialist/Soldier of Fortune lines)
• Salvage 15 Wrecks (Industrialist/Enforcer lines)

Monthly Progress Rewards: Progress by earning daily SP bonuses. There are four milestones in your monthly progress, and new rewards are unlocked at each one. Rewards include extra SP, PLEX, SKINR design elements and sequence binders, and EverMarks. Collect twelve daily SP bonuses and earn all your monthly rewards. Omega players earn an additional superior award at every milestone.

Daily SP Bonus Reward Changes: Completing two distinct goals daily will now grant 5000 SP, with additional SP rewards available through your Monthly Progress.

Evergreen DLI

The standard DLI campaign at Character Selection has been replaced by the new AIR Daily Goals.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - Corporation Projects

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This ninth post in the series for Equinox will cover the changes to corporation projects.

Corporation projects were first introduced to EVE in last summer's Viridian expansion. The expansion website described the addition of new projects to the system.

New Corp Project Engagement Methods: Expand the ways members can lend their hand to corporation projects through new avenues such as ship loss (enabling the automation of ship replacement programs), salvaging wrecks, and earning Loyalty Points. Each new corporation project type has several options allowing leaders nuanced control over the incentives provided to members, making them more accessible and rewarding.

With Equinox, we will continue to build out the library of player activities that Corporations can author Corporation Projects for.

Introduced three new contribution methods to the Corporation Projects:

• Ship Loss
• Earn LP
• Salvage Wreck

This update increases the total number of contribution methods available to 15.

The dev blog on the subject described the methods in further detail.

Ship Loss Projects: These projects give corporations the support they need to automate ship replacement programs by monitoring ship losses under predefined conditions and awarding ISK payouts accordingly. Conditions can be tailored to specify ship type, loss location, and the organization responsible, ensuring targeted support for corporation members and helping maintain fleet strength.

Earn Loyalty Points Projects: These automate LP buyback programs by setting a corp LP tax and offering ISK rewards for earning LP, applicable to any type of loyalty points. This flexibility provides valuable incentives for members to engage in loyalty point activities and contribute to the corporation’s growth.

Salvaging Projects: These projects monitor and reward the salvaging of wrecks, incentivizing members to keep their space clean or identify salvage operations during fleet combat. This adds another layer of engagement and responsibility within the corporation and further recognizes the contribution of the explorers and scavengers out there.

The patch notes went into explanation mode at this point. In the past, CCP was criticized for not telling the player base what the developers intended with changes.

These new contribution methods empower Corporations to:

• Create Automated Ship Replacement programs:
• Corporations can now automate SRPs using the Ship Loss contribution method in their projects, streamlining a previously manual process that often had to be handled outside of the game.
  
  
• Incentivize Loyalty Point activities:
• Corporations can incentivize activities that earn LP, particularly valuable for Factional Warfare (FW) corporations and their pilots.
  
  
• LP Buyback Programs:
• Corporations can set up LP buyback programs with ISK payouts by creating Earn LP projects and setting the LP tax to 100%.
  
  
• Incentive Salvaging:
• Corporations can now incentivize salvaging activities, offering a valuable income source for new players and promoting cooperation.

And finally, the user interface for the corporation interface received upgrades.

Overhauled Corp Window UI Navigation

• The UI navigation pattern has been updated to follow the navigational pattern established by the AIR Opportunities Window.
  
  
• Tooltips have been added to each section describing its purpose and listing the roles required to access it

The expansion website went into a little more detail.

Corporation window overhaul: A streamlined and intuitive UI makes navigating and utilizing the corporation window easier than ever for corp leaders and members alike. Enhanced with icons, tooltips and a consistent navigation structure, managing roles and understanding the hierarchy of content is more straightforward than ever, paving the way for future enhancements.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - Factional Warfare and Insurgency Balance

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This eighth post in the series for Equinox will cover the balance changes for factional warfare and insurgencies.

I've documented since the Uprising expansion in November 2022 the increase in player ships dying in low sec to levels not seen in years. But apparently when insurgencies were introduced in in Havoc expansion, the level of destruction did not increase as planned.

Player-owned ship losses in low sec since 2010

• The FOB Spawning rules have been adjusted so that the FOBs are far more likely to be placed in Command Operation Systems, Adjacent to Frontlines, rather than in the rearguard solar systems of winning factions.
  
  
• The Aim of this change is to try and promote more fighting and less farming in the backlines by having the chosen location of the FOB be in a location where current factional warfare militias are duking it out, it’ll also make the FOB solar system more relevant to current militia group campaigns and concentrate the PVP opportunities in factional warfare lowsec.

The developers also added two changes to try to improve combat between the factional warfare contestants.

• Small NVY-1 complexes are no longer “Static” guaranteed respawns in Rearguard, Command Operations and Frontline solar systems and will now roam instead. In their place Medium ADV-1 complexes will now be static and there will always be 1 guaranteed assuming it hasn’t been completed recently.
  
  
• The aim here is to promote a little more diversity and help make bigger ship types be more relevant to factional warfare system control over time. It also makes it a bit easier to de-contest rearguard solarsystems.
  
  
• FW Battlefield NPCs will now spawn more slowly between waves and will now orbit the capture points much closer than before.
  
  
• Our intention here is to make killing the NPCs the optimal path for progress on the capture points, rather than keeping a single battlecruiser NPC alive outside of the capture point.

In addition to the gameplay changes, the developers are adding addition items to those participating in insurgencies.

• Added a new faction command mindlink which gives a bonus to Information and Skirmish command bursts - Guri Malakim Command Mindlink. It is available in the Commando Guri and Malakim Zealot LP stores, which are located in Zarzakh or the insurgency FOBs. Cost is identical to other faction command mindlinks : 100,000 LP, 100,000,000 ISK and 1x Skirmish Command Mindlink, 1x Information Command Mindlink.
  
  
• Added new faction and officer variants for the Signature Radius Suppression modules. Blueprints for these modules are exclusively obtained as rare drops from the pirate laundering center reward crates.
  
  
• Domination Signature Radius Suppressor
• Dread Guristas Signature Radius Suppressor
• Zohar’s Modified Signature Radius Suppressor
• Hakuzosu’s Modified Signature Radius Suppressor

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes - Other Ship And Weapons Balance Changes

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This seventh post in the series for Equinox will cover the balance changes for all non-carrier class ships and their equipment.

One of the issues developers of MMORPGs face is power creep. EVE Online is no different. Apparently ships are not blowing up at the desired rate.

Targeted Doomsday Weapons

• Damage increased from 1 million to 2 million.
  
  
• This means that a max skilled Titan Doomsday goes from 1.5m to 3m damage.

As capital ship EHP values have increased in recent years, particularly with the addition of navy faction dreadnoughts, we want to bring the doomsday damage back up to a state where it can remain respected and feared.

For the next issue, the developers concentrated on the hull instead of the Higgs Anchor Rig. I like the decision to use a scalpel instead of a sledgehammer to the issue.

Victorious Luxury Yacht

The Yacht has seen some abuse as a nigh uncatchable Wormhole rolling ship. We aim to remove it as a viable roller with the following changes.

• PG reduced from 300 to 100.
• Mass reduced from 10,000,000 to 1,000,000.
• Agility adjusted from 0.4 to 4.0 to keep align time the same after these changes.

The next change makes sense according to the lore as Mordu's Legion provides security for the Upwell Consortium.

Auto-Targeting Missiles

With the Avalanche having a heavy focus on Auto-Targeting Missiles, faction variations of existing Auto-Targeting Missiles have been renamed to ‘Legion’ Auto-Targeting Missiles and are now obtainable in the Mordu’s Legion LP Store for LP and ISK costs of existing missiles of the same size.

And last but not least, Serpentis capital ships received a rebalance of the material requirements for building their Vehement dreadnought and Vendetta supercarrier-class ships.

Vendetta and Vehement

• Blueprints for the Vehement and Vendetta have been updated to reduce their build material requirements and be closer to other pirate faction capitals.

Updated build costs will be:

Vehement

• 5 x Capital Propulsion Engine
• 10 x Capital Turret Hardpoint
• 4 x Capital Sensor Cluster
• 5 x Capital Armor Plates
• 2 x Capital Capacitor Battery
• 5 x Capital Power Generator
• 5 x Capital Shield Emitter
• 5 x Capital Jump Drive
• 4 x Capital Computer System
• 5 x Capital Construction Parts
• 10 x Capital Siege Array
• 5 x Capital Ship Maintenance Bay
• 5 x Capital Corporate Hangar Bay
• 8 x S-R Trigger Neurolink Conduit
• 8 x G-O Trigger Neurolink Conduit
• 2 x Magnetometric-FTL Interlink Communicator
• 2 x Ladar-FTL Interlink Communicator
• 400 x Auto-Integrity Preservation Seal
• 200 x Life Support Backup Unit
• 1 x Capital Core Temperature Regulator
• 1 x Neurolink Protection Cell
• 50 x Serpentis Modified Capital Microprocessor

Vendetta

• 50 x Capital Propulsion Engine
• 115 x Capital Sensor Cluster
• 60 x Capital Armor Plates
• 60 x Capital Capacitor Battery
• 60 x Capital Power Generator
• 100 x Capital Shield Emitter
• 100 x Capital Jump Drive
• 250 x Capital Drone Bay
• 95 x Capital Computer System
• 125 x Capital Construction Parts
• 150 x Capital Ship Maintenance Bay
• 100 x Capital Corporate Hangar Bay
• 32 x S-R Trigger Neurolink Conduit
• 32 x G-O Trigger Neurolink Conduit
• 125 x Magnetometric-FTL Interlink Communicator
• 125 x Ladar-FTL Interlink Communicator
• 800 x Auto-Integrity Preservation Seal
• 400 x Life Support Backup Unit
• 10 x Capital Core Temperature Regulator
• 1 x Enhanced Neurolink Protection Cell
• 1,500 x Serpentis Modified Capital Microprocessor

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes: Sov Upgrades

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This third post in the series for Equinox will cover sov upgrades.

As with the orbital skyhook, the developers created a nice graphic designed to swiftly impart the basics of the new system.

• Sovereignty Upgrades provide the primary use for the new Colony Resources: Power, Workforce, and Reagents, as Colony Resources are required to online these upgrades.
  
  
• All of the Sov Upgrades BPOs for the Sov Hub in the new Sovereignty mode will be available for purchase on the market on expansion day and can be built ahead of time.
• They will not, however, be able to be installed or functional until the Sov Transition is enabled on 20 June 2024.

As the graphic shows, the sovereignty upgrades fall into one of three types: infrastructure upgrades, PvE upgrades, and mining upgrades.

INFRASTRUCTURE UPGRADES

• Supercapital Construction Facilities - Allows construction of super-capital ships.
  
• Advanced Logistics Network - Allows Ansiblex Jump Gate service module to be put online.
  
• Cynosural Suppression - Allows Tenebrex Cyno Jammer service module to be put online.
  
• Cynosural Navigation - Allows Pharolux Cyno Beacon service module to be put online.

After looking at the requirements for the FLEX structures affected by infrastructure upgrades, I don't believe any new blueprint copies are necessary as they were already requirements for operating the structures.

PVE UPGRADES

• Minor Threat Detection Array 1 - Detects combat anomalies containing hostiles of modest strength.
• Minor Threat Detection Array 2 - Detects combat anomalies containing hostiles of modest strength. This variant has a faster detection capability for new anomalies compared to its base version.
• Minor Threat Detection Array 3 - Detects combat anomalies containing hostiles of modest strength. This variant has a faster detection capability for new anomalies compared to the base and upgraded version.
• Major Threat Detection Array 1 - Detects combat anomalies containing tough hostiles.
• Major Threat Detection Array 2 - Detects combat anomalies containing tough hostiles. This variant has a faster detection capability for new anomalies compared to its base version.
• Major Threat Detection Array 3 - Detects combat anomalies containing tough hostiles. This variant has a faster detection capability for new anomalies compared to the base and upgraded version.

A new type of PvE site was added in Equinox, the Forsaken Sanctum.

A set of new more challenging and rewarding combat anomalies have been added and are exclusively available through the new Major Threat Detection Array upgrades at the Sovereignty Hub. These sites are known as Forsaken Sanctums for the main pirate factions, and Teeming Drone Hordes for the Rogue Drones.

These new sites include larger numbers of higher difficulty NPCs than the existing Sanctum and Drone Horde anomalies, and some of the new NPCs will shoot at drones and fighters more readily than the NPCs in existing nullsec combat anomalies. These sites are especially well suited to be defeated by capsuleers flying battleships and marauders.

New escalation sites can also spawn from combat anomalies. They fall into four categories:

• Pirate-shielded starbase (has the word "starbase" in the site name)
• Pirate capital ship fleet (has the word "capital" in the site name)
• Guaranteed faction spawn (has the phrase "Occupied mine" or "Infested mine" in the name)
• Guaranteed officer spawn (has the phrase "Attack Site" or "Drone Enclave" in the name)

MINING UPGRADES

• Tritanium Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing tritanium-rich asteroids belts.
  
• Isogen Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing isogen-rich asteroids belts.
• Nocxium Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing nocxium-rich asteroids belts.
• Zydrine Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing zydrine-rich asteroids belts.
• Megacyte Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing megacyte-rich asteroids belts.
• Pyerite Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing pyerite-rich asteroids belts.
• Mexallon Prospecting Array 1 - This array locates additional ore resources in a system, prioritizing mexallon-rich asteroids belts.

Back in the New Dawn patch in December 2021 the developers consolidated all of the individual reprocessing skills from 19 down to six. The change was designed to allow the developers to more easily add different types of ore to the game without requiring players to learn new skills or purchase new blueprints for mining crystals. The ability was fully used in Equinox. Here are the new mining anomalies and the minerals found within them.

• Veldspar Deposit - Contains an abundance of Veldspar.
• Mordunium Deposit - Contains a new ore Mordunium that is abundant in Pyerite.
• Kylixium Deposit - Contains a new ore Kylixium that is abundant in Mexallon and contains amounts of Tritanium and Pyerite.
• Griemeer Deposit - Contains a new ore Griemeer that is abundant in Isogen and Tritanium.
• Nocxite Deposit - Contains a new ore Nocxite that is abundant in Nocxium and contains amounts of Tritanium and Pyerite.
• Hezorime Deposit - Contains a new ore Hezorime that is abundant in Zydrine and contains amounts of Tritanium and Isogen.
• Ueganite Deposit - Contains a new ore Ueganite that is abundant in Megacyte and Tritanium.

Finally mining escalations were introduced into the sov upgrade mining sites.

Undiscovered Asteroid Belt Escalation

• Additionally, players completing any of the above asteroid belts have a small chance to get the first ever mining escalation! This site contains a massive amount of all types of Ore.

EVE: Equinox Patch Notes: Sovereignty Hubs And The Transition Period

EVE Online's Equinox expansion, set to launch on 11 June 2024, is the game's fourth full expansion since the return of the content format in November 2022. The patch notes are fairly extensive and dense. I find reading lengthy patch notes rather boring, so I also like to go to other sources for information. For both the Viridian and Havoc expansions I wrote a series of posts based on the patch notes with other information added to hopefully make absorbing all the information less painful. This second post in the series for Equinox will cover sovereignty hubs, what happens to territorial control units (TCU) and sov upgrades..

The introduction of the sovereignty hub combines two structures, the territorial control unit (TCU) and the infrastructure hub (iHub). The sovereignty hub provides several advantages over the previous system.

1. Simplified Management: The Sovereignty Hub is a modular structure that centralizes the operations for controlling a star system, making it easier for alliances to manage their space.
   
   
2. Reduced Complexity: By replacing the IHub and TCU with a single structure, the game reduces the complexity and redundancy in the sovereignty system.
   
   
3. No ISK Maintenance: Sovereignty hubs and upgrades do not require any ISK maintenance, which can be a significant cost saving for alliances.
   
   
4. Resource Allocation: The Sovereignty Hub allows authorized capsuleers to interact with and allocate colony resources to installed upgrades, providing a more direct and efficient way to manage system improvements.
   
   
5. Strategic Upgrades: The new system retains familiar strategic upgrades and introduces new ones, enhancing the strategic depth of sovereignty.

But I am not a part of the Upwell Consortium's marketing department. What happens on launch day with the existing structures?

• The Sovereignty Hub is placed around the star in a system and is the central location for installing and managing sovereignty upgrades. Authorized capsuleers can interact with the Sovereignty Hub to allocate colony resources to installed upgrades.
  
  
• On expansion day, all existing Infrastructure Hubs will be replaced with the new SovHubs graphics, name and description, and their location will automatically be moved 2,000,000km from the sun.

The late, perhaps unlamented TCU has the final resolution.

TERRITORIAL CLAIM UNIT

• TCUs will continue to represent the legacy claim in a system that hasn't yet had a Sovereignty Hub deployed, or where the IHub hasn't yet transitioned.
  
  
• New TCUs can no longer be deployed or captured if they were previously deployed but not captured.
  
  
• Any ongoing TCU campaigns will be cancelled.
  
  
• TCUs can no longer be targeted by entosis and so cannot be used to remove a claim.
  
  
• Instead, an attacker must usurp the claim by capturing the Sovereignty Hub in the system.

While the date the transition period for sovereignty hubs is listed as 20 June, an earlier dev blog explained what the developers intend to happen in the first nine days of the expansion.

On Equinox release day, 11 June, all existing infrastructure hubs will automatically convert to sovereignty hubs in legacy IHub mode. Note that if a system has asynchronous TCU and IHub ownership, it will be the IHub that converts to the sovereignty hub, moves to a new location in orbit of the star and will be represented by the new sovereignty hub visual model. The location is chosen so that it is not near any existing Upwell structures, nor will new Upwell structures be allowed to be anchored near sovereignty hubs.  

While in legacy IHub mode, the sovereignty hub will continue to provide all the benefits from its old IHub upgrades and will continue to generate ISK bills for maintenance. When the sovereignty hub is transitioned to the new Sov Hub mode, it will enable the new upgrades and begin consuming power, workforce, and reagents.

Beginning on 20 June, alliances can begin switching to the new Upwell system. The patch notes go into more descriptive detail.

The Sovereignty Hub’s capabilities grow as upgrades are added for coordinating defense, industry, resources, and logistics. Each dedicated upgrade requires a mix of colony resources in the form of workforce, power, and reagents, and apart from the base power generated from the stellar flux, these must be provided by planetary exploitation through the new Orbital Skyhooks.

Alliances must follow the following steps for the conversion to take place.

• The Sovereignty Hub will generate some amount of energy for the system. The amount of energy generated by this structure is determined by an attribute on the star.
  
  
• When a SovHub registers the claim (either a new one, or due to transition) any TCU in the system will be destroyed.
  
  
• Once an alliance has deployed a new Sov Hub in Sov Hub mode or chosen to transition their Sov Hub from IHub Mode to Sov Hub Mode, they are then able to install the new upgrades listed in the Sov Upgrades section.
  
  
• Upgrades cannot be installed if the energy cost of installed upgrades (regardless of state) would exceed the potential energy which the system could produce (assuming all planets had skyhooks installed).
  
  
• Upgrades cannot be uninstalled once installed, they can be turned offline, but the only way to remove them is to have them self-destruct which capsuleers with the appropriate roles are able to do.
  
  
• Upgrades can be prioritized, capsuleers with the appropriate roles can do this. Higher priority upgrades are served first for available colony resources (energy, population and consumables). This gives the player control over which upgrades go offline first in case of resource shortfall where all installed upgrades do not have the necessary resources to run. An example of where a shortfall could happen would be a skyhook being destroyed.