Flying Solo In EVE: PLEX For Good Has Changed

The way that PLEX has changed over the last two years has helped drive my latest stint of playing EVE on a regular, almost daily basis. From adding PLEX to the AIR Daily Goals track in the Equinox expansion to the creation of the global PLEX market, the developers changed the way PLEX had worked for years. But before moving on to today's news let's review some of the basic information about New Eden from last week.

Last week activity decreased as expected, with the average number of concurrent users falling to 24,000, plus/minus 500 accounts. We probably will see activity increase again tomorrow with the beginning of the five week Capsuleer Day celebration. Meanwhile, the effects of the big null sec war continue to show up on the EVE-Offline.net user chart. Normally the weekly PCU mark is set on Sundays around 1900 UTC. But once again, the weekly high of 37,069 was hit on Saturday morning as The Imperium shifted its activity to attack WinterCo structures.

Last weekend the price of PLEX came back down to earth with the end of the latest New Eden Store sale. The average price of ISK peaked at just over 5.1 million ISK on the 21st before falling back to below 4.6 million ISK. In the wake of the sale the amount of ISK traded for PLEX fell by 39% last week to 34.6 trillion ISK.

The news today is that a popular recurring feature, PLEX for Good, would become a permanent fixture for the EVE community. The PLEX for Good campaigns would allow players with more ISK than real world money to buy PLEX off the market and then contract the PLEX to CCP. CCP would then convert the PLEX to its real world value and donate the amount to charities to help affected people around the world in need.

Let me use the PLEX for Good: Ukraine campaign as an example. The money raised was given to two organizations: The UN Refugee Agency and the National Bank of Ukraine's Humanitarian Assistance campaign. CCP described how the $500,000 was raised.

You, the amazing Capsuleers of New Eden, proved that kindness and humanity are core values of our EVE community, by contracting PLEX to the in-game character CCP PLEX for GOOD, an account operated by CCP Games. Our developers – who hail from all over the world including Ukraine and Russia – also made numerous donations to PLEX for GOOD themselves, with CCP then matching all total donations for the campaign.

Through the first 17 years the campaigns had raised well over $1 million:

• 2005 - $25,326 – Southeast Asia (tsunami)
• 2010 - $34,350 – Haiti (earthquake)
• 2010 - $38,900 – Pakistan (monsoon)
• 2011 - $44,600 – Japan (earthquake and tsunami)
• 2011 - $32,900 – United States (Hurricane Irene)
• 2013 - $190,890 – Philippines (Typhoon Haiyan)
• 2015 - $103,650 – Nepal (earthquake)
• 2020 - $107,454 - Australia (bushfires)
• 2020 - $135,550 - Global (COVID-19)
• 2022 - $501,652 – Ukraine (war)

The two organizations that will have permanent campaigns set up are Players vs. Cancer and ICE-SAR (Icelandic Search and Rescue).

Players vs. Cancer (PvC) brings gamers and streamers together to raise awareness and funds for lifesaving cancer research with a shared goal of ending cancer once and for all. Their fundraising efforts benefit the AACR (American Association for Cancer Research). More information on progress made in the last year, and what’s still left to do, can be found in their executive summary.

I have to make a personal note here. Usually the charity I'm most familiar with in Iceland is the giving spare change and bills to the Icelandic Children's Hospital. But I was already a little familiar with how Iceland's Search and Rescue organization worked.

Icelandic Search and Rescue teams are powered by volunteers who answer around 1,800 calls a year and put it all on the line in one of the most hostile landscapes on Earth. They also lend their assistance across the globe, and were among the first foreign rescue teams on the ground following the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, among other things. The whole operation is run on donations and volunteer work. They are looking for new rescue ships now, to go out where no one else will. Your PLEX can help contribute to these new vessels.

The causes are good. But part of why the PLEX for Good campaigns worked is that all PLEX in the game originated from players buying PLEX with real world money. Beginning back in 2024 that began to change. A small 5 PLEX reward was added to the AIR Daily Goals with the Equinox expansion. A year ago CCP spelled out how they were giving out PLEX.

• AIR Daily Goals now include PLEX as a permanent reward, creating a steady stream of accessible PLEX for active players.
• Seasonal events increasingly feature PLEX in their seasonal reward tracks.
• Occasional PLEX gifts mark special milestones and in-game events.
• Mysterious GalNet Crates I and II, featured in Twitch Drops and tradeable on the in-game market, also offer a chance at PLEX.

Perhaps I've played way too long, but part of the previous campaigns was the fact that turning in PLEX was definitely tied to giving up real world value. Someone paid real world money for that PLEX someone was turning in. Now? The connection is in large part broken. How much depends on the view of the observer.

Brian Chambers, Vice President of Game Development, Departs Cloud Imperium Games

Here's a personnel move I did not expect to happen over at Cloud Imperium Games.  Brian Chambers, the Vice President of Game Development, has stepped away from the company.

After 11 amazing years at CIG it’s time for me to step aside and watch from the sidelines.

From starting a new studio in Frankfurt to helping run a Dev team of 800+ across 5 separate time zones, it’s been both challenging and incredibly rewarding.

Time for an overdue break then…

— Brian Chambers (@ChambersArt) April 26, 2026

I'm not really sure how to view the departure of Chambers from CIG.  Chambers was one of a group of former Crytek developers who left the company to work for CIG. He founded the Frankfurt office of Foundry 42, the studio that primarily worked on Squadron 42 back in 2015. From the Star Citizen Wiki, Chambers became primarily focused on Squadron 42 in 2019.

I don't know if this is good news for the release of Squadron 42 or bad. Is the game far enough along in development that such a critical leader in the company can leave without issues arising? Rumors have it we might find out sometime in May.

Final Fantasy XIV's Next Expansion: Evercold

Go forth. Discover.

Unite the stars unto one.

- Final Fantasy XIV: Evercold teaser trailer

The first Final Fantasy XIV Fanfest for this expansion cycle was held in Anaheim this weekend. Judging from the online reactions from people who absolutely hated Dawntrail, popular sentiment about the game may return to highly favorable. Or people may look at the changes, declare them bad and the game in the process of dying. Trying to figure out what the internet judges good and bad is tricky. So instead of predicting the future I'll just put down some initial thoughts.

First, FFXIV's trailer game is back. I thought Dawntrail's expansion trailer was the worst of the game's expansion trailers. Time will tell but the initial portion of Dawntrail may go down in history as an awkward pause as a shift from the original Hydaelyn–Zodiark Saga that ran from A Realm Reborn to patch 6.0 of Endwalker.

The second of the multi-expansion story arcs is the Godless Realms Saga. Forgive me if I'm a bit unclear on whether the saga began with Dawntrail, Dawntrail's post-patches, or begins with the next expansion, Evercold. I've watched the keynote, lots of reactions, and Square Enix' press release and am still puzzled. For now, I am going to base the new saga on the appearance of the interdimensional key the party first runs across in Alexandrea. But as the key is the reason Krile initially travels to Tural one can count to the beginning of the expansion as the beginning of the arc.

I want to address a sore subject with me from Dawntrail. I thought a lot of the Scions made guest appearances that didn't make a lot of sense. Basically, they appeared for fan service purposes and not really to advance the story. If the trailer is any indication players will adventure with three of the main characters. Alphinaud as the healer and Estinien as physical melee DPS seems obvious. I think the third is Krile, the holder of the interdimensional key. We see the key interact with Azem's crystal, symbolizing the connection of the key with the Traveler, which we hear the Warrior of Light referred to as in the trailer.

For Duty Support purposes when advancing through the MSQ, all we are missing is a tank. I imagine we will see a new character appear, one who is the new tank role.

A lot of the reactions from content creators is over the top positive, and not just because the level cap was raised to level 110. For just one example, the game is moving away from Allagan tomestones for equipment upgrades and moving to a system I've heard described as similar to World of Warcraft's Trading Outpost. And that player gear on all jobs will have the item level of that of the best geared job. Oh, and that the player matching system for dungeons, raids, and trials will cover all worlds in a region and not just those in a logical data center. But we won't hear more details until the Fanfest in Berlin in July.

I'll just leave with one final note. At the same time patch 7.5 goes live on Tuesday the free trial will receive an update. The free trial will have the Shadowbringers expansion added. At this point I have to say getting the free trial is worth the effort for those who don't mind story-driven MMORPGs.

Flying Solo In EVE: Setting The Table For Capsuleer Day 2026

I normally highlight these posts with news about EVE Online's global PLEX market. Today's post takes on a little more significance because the creation of the PLEX market is making the storyline for the next Capsuleer Day event in two weeks possible. Or, at least a lot less painful.

But first, let's look at the number of accounts logging into the game.

With the end of the Gallente election players stopped logging in. Last week the average number of concurrent accounts logged in dipped down to 25,000 +/= 500 accounts. The numbers should start rising again once EVE Online's anniversary event draws closer.

The big news on the global PLEX market is the continued increased value of PLEX following the big New Eden Store sale that began on 11 April. The sale ended Tuesday with the average price of PLEX on the market rising 19.6% during that time.

The effect of the sale on the market are seen in the number of sell orders available. I check every day a little after noon UTC and the amount of orders dropped by over 50%. I have the feeling PLEX prices won't drop soon without a sale designed to flood PLEX back onto the market.

One of the benefits to the developers for removing the center of PLEX trading from Jita to a global market is the availability to use Jita in the lore.  All eyes will fall on Jita for the 23rd anniversary of the launch of EVE with what happened at Jita's gates on Tuesday.

Disaster At Gates Surrounding Jita

A catastrophic hyperspace incident has damaged all seven stargates leading into Jita. Spacetime fractures, similar to those witnessed inside Fractured Fields, simultaneously opened around the gates, resulting in significant damage to their structure. The majority of operational staff and maintenance workers stationed on the gates at the time were killed instantly by either the damage done to the gates or the massive burst of radiation released as the fractures formed. Many others were badly injured, and some are expected to begin displaying signs of fatal radiation sickness in the weeks to come. The final death toll is expected to be in the thousands.

The gates remain operational despite their damaged status. The radiation, though initially fatal, has already begun to disperse throughout space. As it disperses, it has already become visible from nearby stars as it moves faster than light through the Drifter Hyperspace Network. At this time, only extreme long-term exposure is likely to result in any negative effects. This does, however, make any immediate repairs impossible. Even repair drones are likely to malfunction after long-term exposure, making it only possible to perform essential operational maintenance at this time.

The Caldari State has placed emergency measures on Jita residents while their investigation into the cause of the incident is underway. These restrictions have put pressure on already busy emergency response teams. Additional support has been accepted from EverMore, who are providing aid from their Paragon Fulfillment Center inside Jita.

I watched Ashterothi's stream and heard that a player evacuation of the system is underway. I'm not sure how big the effort was, or is, but I have the feeling a lot of industrialists don't want to see their goods trapped in an isolated system.

The anniversary event will run from downtime on 30 April to downtime on 2 June.

The War Spreads

Once Capsuleer Day XXIII: Warpath gets underway, on 30 April, you will be able to take on brand-new combat sites throughout highsec and lowsec, similar to Factional Warfare complexes. These will range in difficulty to suit pilots of all experience levels. Fight to defend these complexes against unique adversaries and earn rewards.

In addition, there will be hacking, industry, and mining challenges, a brand new fleet-based capital support site in lowsec, as well as other existing activities that will contribute towards your progress on the seasonal reward track. In short, there will be something for everyone.

The Capsuleer Day activities will be available through the Agency and AIR Opportunities.

I'm also going to guess that the summer expansion will release after the event, so I'm going to guess the expansion will launch on 9 June 2026, giving the developers time to clean up any mess from the event before players experience the next expansion.

Revisiting The Losses Of B-R5RB Vs Atioth

In another sign of a resurgent EVE Online, on 6-7 April players held a massive battle involving over 10,000 ships fighting in a system before the server node crashed. In Atioth, the only named system in Geminite, invading forces from The Imperium defended an onlining keepstar against counterattacking WinterCo forces. When the servers finally shut down for downtime on 7 April, both sides lost a combined 9.89 trillion ISK. Not only had the servers handled (kind of, for an hour or so) 10,000 ships in a single system, but the fight was the largest since those in M2-XFE during World War Bee 2/Beeitnam over 5 years ago.

From the Clash of Atioth dev blog

Friday was a really busy day at work so I didn't get a chance to read the dev blog. Instead I read Wilhelm's EVE summary over on The Ancient Gaming Noob. Sometimes things don't pass the sniff test and the ISK total for the battle of B-R5RB was way off. Back in February 2014 CCP published a dev blog proclaiming the losses for the battle at 11 trillion ISK. Wilhelm, who's lived in null sec longer than I've played EVE, asked a very simple question. How did the losses in the battle only total 3 trillion ISK when titans were valued at 400 billion ISK each 12 years ago?

I spent a few hours yesterday manually looking up the supercapital and capital losses during the battle on zKillboard. The totals were kind of surprising given the losses inflicted during the battle.

• 75 dead titans: 33.1 trillion ISK
• 13 dead supercarriers: 2.5 trillion ISK
• 370 dead dreadnaughts: 1 trillion ISK
• 123 dead carriers: 260.7 billion ISK

Then while composing this section of the post I took my own advice. Did 441.7 billion ISK in 2014 for a fully-fitted titan smell right? The answer was no. I looked back and found a Wired article which listed a build cost for titans of around 100 billion ISK. The figure makes sense as back in 2016 I found that titans were selling for 75 billion ISK, but I didn't know if that was a special price for members of the Imperium or Goonswarm.

Then I tried an app Wilhelm mentioned in the comments of his post: killboard.app. I played around and the titan fits generally came in between 100 billion to 150 billion ISK. 

The link to the report.

The report shows an extra titan kill and some extra ISK destroyed but the overall destruction of 11.6 trillion ISK falls close enough to the 11 trillion ISK listed as destroyed in the 2014 dev blog that I'll continue using the 11 trillion ISK figure.

From the Clash of Atioth dev blog

Now on to the second bar chart from the Atioth dev blog. At first glance, thinking that 9.9 trillion ISK in 2026, which were the losses in Atioth, are worth more than 11 trillion ISK in 2014 doesn't pass the sniff test. After all, the New Eden economy holds more than twice the amount of ISK today than in 2014. But let's go through the exercise. The dev blog covering the first battle of M2-XFE describes the calculation of the real world value of ISK.

Based on the average sale value of PLEX. This number is simply given as a way to represent the effort-value of the destruction and not an actual amount of money spent by participants on this fight.

Back in January 2014 EVE still used the original type of PLEX in which 1 PLEX equaled 1 month of gametime. The average price of PLEX in The Forge on 28 January 2014 was 637 million ISK. After converting the amount to modern PLEX, 11 trillion ISK would purchase 8,634,000 PLEX. The store price of PLEX, after doing all the conversions to make the PLEX compatible with today's premium currency, was 3.5 cents, ($USD 0.035). So back at the time of the battle of B-R5RB the real world value bandied about would be $302,000. A figure at the lower end of the original dev blogs estimation of $300,000 - $330,000. And quite a lot higher than the $87,120 in the Atioth dev blog.

Now for the final step. When converted to today's ISK, does the amount of ISK lost at the battle of B-R5RB equal 3.04 trillion ISK? Since I had figured out the PLEX equivalent lost in the battle, I just needed to plug in the average price on the global PLEX market for the date the battle of Atioth into my spreadsheet. The result? A order of magnitude greater than the amount listed in the bar chart: 37 trillion ISK.

I also did the conversion to USD to 2026 dollars. My valuations of these events is always lower than most others because I use the two month sales price in the cash shop. The reason goes back to the dawn of selling game time in EVE. Most of the game time codes were 60-day time codes and in order to maintain historical equivalency I have kept that standard. The rule also makes the math simple as today two months of gametime equals 1000 PLEX. The regular price of the 1000 PLEX package is $45, making the real world value of a PLEX 4.5 cents, ($USD 0.045). Using that amount the real world value of the B-R5RB in 2026 dollars was approximately $389,000.

I don't want to undervalue this month's battle in Atioth. In my research into the subject (not using AI), the battle in Atioth was the fifth largest in terms of the PLEX equivalent lost in EVE Online history. I just don't want to see some of the old battles like 2014's battle of B-R5RB diminished. One of the unique qualities of EVE is its player-created history. I just want the data presented by CCP to be accurate.

Final Fantasy XIV Produce's Live Letter 92

We have less than two weeks to Final Fantasy XIV's next patch, Dawntrail 7.5. We are in a busy period as the first Fanfest of the current cycle will take place in Las Vegas on 24-25 April before patch 7.5 launches on 28 April. So of course we get a bit of a preview with today's Producer's Live Letter 92. The screenshots and any translations come from the FFXIV sub-Reddit's Discord server.

We did get a new trailer to tease the patch. The US trailer is below.

The MSQ will appear in two even-sized patches. The first half will appear on 28 April with the final bit of the Dawntrail MSQ appearing sometime in early September. The full schedule is in the slide below.

The new dungeon is The Clyteum, based somewhere in Garlemald. The dungeon is also supposed to show some some Garlemald technology to give the dungeon a proper feel.

The new trial, Enuo, is a boss who first appeared in Final Fantasy V. 

The Duty Support system is also being updated to support two non-MSQ dungeons, The Dusk Vigil and Shisui of the Violet Tides. The devs are also pushing out Unreal, Occult Crescent, Alliance raid, Hildibrand, and PvP content. Not all content, as usual, will come out on the first day of the patch.

Something that I am planning on coming out with patch 7.51 is the final part of Cosmic Exploration, Auxesia.

A world that looks relatively normal? I smell a trap. I'm just hoping I have all crafting and gathering classes with silver cups when looking at class contributions by then. If the past is any indication, finishing the upgrade of all the Cosmic tools should go fairly quickly if one has kept up with upgrading their tools.

Patch 7.5x will also bring a new Customs Delivery vendor, Tiisol Ja.

The background in the screenshot reminds me of the Wachumeqimeqi district in Tuliyollal, which makes a good deal of sense.

I should add some of the quality of life improvements that will make crafting a lot more convenient. 

The ability to consume food and drink as well as change classes would have been very welcome when doing the Cosmic Exploration content.

Other non-combat updates include an update of ocean fishing and the Gold Saucer. Don't expect the Gold Saucer update with the release of Patch 7.5.

Finally for this post, we will see the introduction of the new limited class, Beastmaster.

Beastmaster only goes up to level 50 upon release, meaning players can't go around with high level mobs trailing behind. To become eligible to play Beastmaster, one must finish the A Realm Reborn MSQ as well as own a copy of Dawntrail, meaning players on trial accounts cannot play the new limited job.

The live letter was still running with Yoshi-P and Foxclon showing off Beastmaster gameplay when I had to log off and go to work. But I wanted to get something out because I don't know when I'll be able to log out of work tonight.

Flying Solo In EVE: The Start Of A War And End Of An Event

Last week was a religious week in real life. Starting off with Easter Monday, the week ended with Orthodox Easter. But in EVE Online, the week started off with a 10,000 player battle and ended with the final week of the Gallente elections.

Last week was unusual that the peak number of concurrent users (PCU) for the week of 38,605 occurred on Easter Monday. That, of course, was the day The Imperium and Winter Co. battled it out over an onlining Imperium keepstar in Atioth.  Winter Co won that battle with local reaching 10,200 pilots before the servers gave out. Overall, losses reached 9.1 trillion ISK on both sides with The Imperium losing an estimated 31-35 titans. I've heard that Winter Co is falling back to Vale of the Silent.

Starting status and at the end of the first week of the war

Overall for the week, Eve-Offline showed an average number of concurrent users (ACU) of 26,000, +/- 500 accounts. One feature to note is that the current null sec war is occurring in the Asia-Pacific time zone, leading to peaks beginning an hour after the daily downtime and lasting for 4-5 hours.

A huge price spike last Friday

On Friday the global PLEX market saw its largest volume of PLEX traded since its creation in July 2025. The activity was driven by a New Eden Store sale running from 11-21 April featuring items off as much as 70%.

• Accelerators — 2 for 1
• Alpha Injectors — 3 for 1
• Multiple Character Training — 40% off
• Skill Extractors — 3 for 2
• Mastery Packs — 20% off
• Boost Bundles — 25% off
• Expert Systems — bundled together, 30% off
• Career Packs — 2 for 1
• Pilot’s Body Resculpt Certificate — 50% off
• Older SKINs — in bundles up to 70% off
• HyperCores — 3 for 1

The previous 20% off PLEX sale in the cash shop overlapped the start of the sale, but the 13% increase in the average price on Friday to 4,843,000 ISK indicates that most of the sales were not driven by people purchasing PLEX with real life cash. The closing price on Sunday was 4,917,000 ISK.

Finally, I do have to mention the end of the Gallente election event. Officially the event ends tomorrow but I finished up on Sunday. The final reward on the event track was 4 Presidential candidate favors. Part of running the event was to get one of the Moreau's Modified Expanded Scan Probe Launchers.

What drew me to the Gallente election event

With the extended week I was able to get three in total. I finished up the track on both characters I had running the content. The 15% bonus to the strength of scan probes is 5% more than that granted by the Sisters of EVE probe launchers.

If the inventory value estimate is any guide I wound up with 2.6 billion ISK in loot and prizes for the event. I also sold off the 150 PLEX I received on both characters for approximately 625 million ISK. Overall, a nice few weeks work.

A New Region In EVE Online: Exordium

Is CCP introducing a pure PvE region into EVE Online? One for new players to possibly learn in? A New Eden News article certainly suggests one is coming soon.

Members of the CONCORD Inner Circle, along with AIR Laboratories, have signed an amendment to the Yulai Accords establishing special rules governing a new region of space: Exordium.

Exordium was charted by joint CONCORD and AIR expeditions that began in YC123. At a special public signing held at the Inner Circle Tribunal in orbit around Yulai VIII, AIR joined the five CONCORD members in agreeing that the newly founded region would receive special security protocols that prohibit all violence between the member states within the region. The agreement also extends to the safety protocols present in capsuleer interfaces.

The goal of this amendment and the settlement of this new region, according to AIR CEO Elida Balashirian, is to “create a space free from the conflicts that plague New Eden. Exordium offers us all a chance at a new beginning, one where we are free to learn and develop without the tempestuous dangers that plague the wider cluster.”

The first expedition to explore the stars that now make up Exordium began when AIR took over the capsuleer training program in YC123. It will contain over fifty star systems linked by a newly constructed network of stargates. This region’s only two-way connection to the rest of the New Eden cluster will be a single stargate leading to Yulai, which is currently under construction. Four shipcasters, each within an embassy constellation held by one of the four major factions, will also allow one-way access to that faction’s sovereign territory.

But I should add that "exordium" is defined as:

a beginning or introduction especially to a discourse or composition

The part spelling out the new region's role involving new players comes a little later in the article. 

Balashirian believes that Exordium will be a refuge for innovation and study. In the near future, all capsuleer training programs will be relocated to Exordium. “From this cradle all new capsuleers will rise,” Balashirian announced, “building the foundation of expertise they need to venture out across the rest of New Eden.”

Along with each of the four NPC high sec empires each owning a constellation in the new region, pirates are also sneaking in.  Expect to see Guristas (Caldari), Angel Cartel (Minmatar), the Serpentis Corporation (Gallente) and Blood Raiders (Amarr) in the new region.

Will people just set up shop in the new region and not leave? I expect to see some of that behavior, but I don't think the developers will see that as attracting many players.

The star systems that make up Exordium have previously remained unsettled because their limited resources did not justify the cost of permanent occupancy. However, according to the Head of the Inner Circle Irhes Angireh, the lack of resources was actually a boon to this project, “When AIR first approached us with this plan, we quickly agreed that it would be important to select stars that would not be so desirable that they would become a new frontier for conflict. Our interest was to establish a space that would foster unity and a spirit of exploration, rather than somewhere that would become a new beachhead to be conquered.”

Like I stated above, a PvE area for new players. Perhaps more importantly, the distance from Yulai to Arnon, the starting system for the level 1 epic arc "The Blood‑Stained Stars" is only 11 jumps. If career agents are moved to Exordium then most of the starting activities for beginners will lie in the 53-system region.  Perhaps more importantly, new players will enter the game world fairly close together without having to brave the dangers of a multi-region trip to meet each other.

From a veteran's perspective, what would making Yulai the basic starting point for new players do to New Eden? Back in 2003 all roads led to Yulai until the gates directly leading from CONCORD's home system to the empires were removed in April 2004. What will happen to the population of New Eden if all new players begin the game in a system connected to Yulai over 20 years later?

NOTE: After I composed and posted this article CCP published a dev blog on the new system with more details. Following today's patch, the systems of the new region are visible on the map but are still inaccessible.

The Final Week Of EVE Online's 2026 Gallente Elections

Today marks the beginning of the final week of the Gallente elections in EVE Online. The developers have learned that player engagement with an event does not have to decline to near zero at the end of events. The solution? Extend the rewards in the final week.

The reward track after downtime today

The rewards are a nice selection of items. Here are the prizes per goal achieved.

• 1075 pts - 75,000 skill points
• 1150 pts - 75 political favors
• 1225 pts - 2 x Diverse Unakite Matte - Limited
• 1300 pts - 150 political favor
• 1500 pts - 4 Presidential Candidate Favor

Remember a couple of weeks ago I mentioned I probably wouldn't get the probe launcher available from the event? The final reward is enough for a player to get one of the new officer modules. So everyone get one of the modules on a single character. I had my four, but in the final week I could receive 8 more.

In addition to my high sec content, the developers added a new escalation to Rampant Drone Fabricator sites making them more lucrative (and more dangerous) to those who bring a capital to run a site.

I plan on completing the event track on at least one of the two characters with which I've engaged the event so far. The determining factor is my available time. In the meantime, I've included the patch notes below.

Seasonal Tracks:

• The seasonal point cap has been increased to 1,500 for the final week of the election, giving players more opportunity to support their candidates.
• New rewards have been added to the seasonal reward track, with the capstone reward being Presidential Candidate Favors, which can be traded for officer modules at candidates’ Capsuleer Outreach Centers.

Rampant Drone Fabricator:

• Rampant Drone Fabricator sites have been upgraded with a Capital escalation!
  
  
• The difficulty of the site will be ramped up significantly, but so too are the rewards
• This escalation is unlocked by having any Capital ship, excluding the Rorqual, present at the start of a wave.
• All Capitals, excluding the Rorqual, are now considered valid by the site's perimeter.
• NPCs will deal additional damage when attacking a Capital ship:
• +50% damage to Carriers.
• +100% damage to other Capitals.
• NPCs will no longer attack Fighters.
• Space Superiority Fighters will now deal their full damage to NPCs, Nanoswarms, and the Fabricator itself.

The Capital escalation provides extremely rewarding content that pushes even the most powerful ships in EVE to their limits! More ISK, more hybrid drones, and vastly more enemies await you within.

Several tweaks have also been made to ensure Carriers are a viable option, even giving Dreadnoughts a run for their money. Do not sleep on Space Superiority Fighters. This should hopefully give Carrier pilots a fun and lucrative content source within wormhole space.

• NPCs within Rampant Drone Fabricator sites will now scale their damage based on the system's reward tier:
  
  
• NPCs will deal less damage in C1-C3 systems.
• NPCs will deal additional damage in C5/C6 systems.

The rewards found within these sites varied by system type, though the difficulty did not. This was intended to reflect additional risk, but failed to provide an on-ramp for those wanting to try the content. Now, players running sites in lower-tier systems can practice mechanics with difficulty better matching the potential rewards.

Flying Solo In EVE: Finishing Up The Gallente Election Event

I realize that EVE Online's Gallente Election event is supposed to have surprises in the final week, but after getting two characters up to 1000 points I'm a bit tired. The event ends on 16 April but I think I'm done except for handing in my remaining tokens for items.

I think a lot of people got involved with the event last week. I'm not sure how much Asher's Friday call to mobilize the Imperium to invade TEST space in Geminate had. Sorry, I meant Winter Co. I'm sure the constellation being held by TEST was just a coincidence.

I don't know for sure, but the shift of Imperium pilots logging into EVE during the APAC time zone explains why the PCU for the week occurred on Saturday instead of the traditional Sunday. That and the fact Easter was also on Sunday are the driving factors. I think I can safely say those were the main reasons the ACU line moved up 1000 accounts to 25,000 for the week.

The global PLEX market was inching itself to higher prices until a 20% off PLEX sale hit the online store on Friday. The sale lasts until this coming Friday so perhaps the average price of PLEX will remain stabilized around 4.3 million ISK for the rest of the week.

On to the current event in EVE. I managed to get 1000 points on the event tracking bar for my second character in about 5 days. For the first character I didn't realize that turning in the political favors would also advance the event bar. Needless to say, I quickly bought a lot of drones, since light drones only cost 5 favors and medium drones cost 10 favors. I have:

• 6 - Atlas SD-900-I heavy drones
• 19 - Luna SD-600-I medium drones
• 28 - Stigmella SD-300-I light drones

I also now have 2 of the election buses. 

I still have 15 political favors and 4 presidential favors to spend. I think I'm going to wait a couple of days to see if anything new shows up. After all, the devs did promise surprises for the final week of the event.

Final Fantasy XIV Receives A Ratings Change In Japan With Patch 7.5

Last August when Square Enix forced Mare Synchronos to shut down, one of the reasons I gave was that regulators might upgrade the rating for Final Fantaxy XIV. While I took the ESRB and PEGI ratings into account, I missed out on Japan. With the deployment of Patch 7.5 the rating in Japan goes from CERO C to CERO D.

With the upcoming Patch 7.5, the CERO rating for "Final Fantasy XIV" will change from "CERO C" to "CERO D".

Currently, the "CERO C" rating necessitates restrictions on the Group Pose function. Therefore, to maintain the freedom of Group Pose and avoid these restrictions, we have decided to change the rating to "CERO D".

This change is only to the rating category; there are no changes to the game content, terms of service, or service fees. However, customers under 17 years of age should consult with their guardians regarding this change before using the service.

CERO, or the Computer Entertainment Ratings Organization, is the oversight organization in Japan similar to the ESRB and PEGI.

The reclassification means FFXIV goes from being approved for ages 15 and up to approved for ages 17 and up in Japan. The game will remain "T for Teen" in the U.S. (ages 13+) and PEGI 16 (ages 16+) in Europe.

I do wonder if the game will receive additional ratings updates in the West anytime soon.

EVE Frontier Free Trial From 1 April to 13 April 2026.

Last week I did a brief review of who might at least be interested in playing EVE Frontier. The price range I put on purchasing a package was $20. How about free? Free is under $20.

For the first 13 days of April CCP Games is holding a free fly event in Frontier. Cycle 5 began a couple of weeks ago. The thing about this free trial is everyone who participates can see how horribly wrong I was about the game a year ago. Back then I thought the game would turn out to be something like EVE Online. The developers are continuing to work, but when finished about the only thing the same may be the Carbon engine.

One terminology change I've noticed is CCP is now describing Frontier as a "civilization engine". I've always thought of the game as a civilization builder rather than a survival game. I figure some people will want to document the early days of the game if the game reaches commercial release. 

Right now I'm busy with the Gallente election event in EVE Online. But I have gotten out of the beginner system and Cycle 5 is really different from Cycle 3 which still had a lot of placeholders from Online. And, perhaps more to the point, I didn't have to create a crypto-wallet, at least for the time I've played so far. So anyone interested to take a peak around without doing so might want to take the opportunity now. I'm not sure how long not having a wallet will be a viable option.

Cloud Imperium Games' Cash Shop Revenue Down 3.8% YoY In March 2026

The powerful money-making machine known as Cloud Imperium Games hit a slight bump in the road in March. The company's online cash shop saw year-over-year sales fall 3.8% down to $9.7 million in the final month of the first quarter of 2026. Still, for the quarter sales were up 7.5% over the same period in 2025 with revenue of $27.4 million. The figure was a record amount for the company for Q1 of any year.

The $956.6 million displayed on the Roberts Space Industries funding page at the end of March was not a comprehensive accounting for all of CIG's revenue since the project's Kickstarter in October 2012. Overall, the company has recorded $1,081.0 million ($1.08 billion) in confirmed revenue (the funding page & the 2023 financial report).

1. Sales/Pledges: $956.6 million (through 28 February 2026)
2. Other cash shop revenue: $2.3 million (through 31 December 2023)
3. Subscriptions: $39.5 million (through 31 December 2023)
4. All other sources: $82.6 million (through 31 December 2023)

In addition, the company has received a total of $68.25 million in outside investment. According to the 2023 financial report, $4.8 million of the amount was returned to investors in 2020 and another $1.9 million in 2023. Including the outside investment money, the total amount raised by CIG to create Squadron 42 and Star Citizen is $1.149.2 million ($1.15 billion), or $1.142.6 million ($1.14 billion) when excluding the returned funds. An additional $12.6 million in loans issued in March 2025 and due for repayment on 31 December 2027 are not included in the total.

For those keeping track of new user account creation, year-over-year the number increased 97.1%, from 25,946 in March 2025 to 51,129 in March 2026. For the first quarter of 2026, the YoY amount increased by 118.5%. I don't know enough to know if the majority of the accounts were legitimately new people drawn to Star Citizen or if CIG held a sale with major benefits that would lead existing players to create new accounts.

What to watch for: We finished the first 3 months of 2026 without CIG publishing its financial report for 2024. That report would give some indication as to how well the company did in 2025. In 2023 CIG spent $162 million, which is more than the $155 million the cash shop recorded last year. Newer data on company expenditures would help put 2025's record cash shop sales in better perspective. Knowing the burn rate would also help put 2026's record Q1 cash shop sales into perspective as well.

Another item to look for is news about the release of CIG's upcoming single-player game Squadron 42. If the game is going to have a simultaneous global launch, the company needs to announce a publisher for the People's Republic of China in the next few months. We also need to hear news about the game "going gold". That is, the code is in its final state for release.

Finally, we need to watch the cash shop revenue. If sales in the upcoming quarter match those of Q2 2025, the world will see the counter on the cash shop hit $1 billion near the end of June.

Flying Solo In EVE: Gallente Elections Week 2

EVE Online is about halfway through holding elections for the Gallente Federation. With the end of the month upon us I can look at some of the weekly metrics before the quarterly statistics become available.

EVE-Offline ACU

The first, as is usually the case, is the weekly average concurrent user count. During much of the week the ACU line on EVE-Offline.net hovered at the 25,000 account mark. I'm not exactly sure what happened on 28 March except the possibility of Europe switching to Summer Time impacted the labeling. I'm interested to see what Jester's monthly concurrent user charts look like when the come out tomorrow.

Global PLEX Market Thru March 30

The average price of PLEX on the global PLEX market increased 1.5% last week up to 4,371,000 ISK. PLEX sold and the amount of ISK spent on PLEX fell 14.6% and 14.2% respectively. The current event does offer each character 75 PLEX on the rewards tree, but that amount couldn't make up for the lack of PLEX sales last week. CCP's sale involved a 15% savings on Omega time and a random selection of carrier SKINs depending on the amount spent. 

Selected weekly stats for 2026

For the current week of the Gallente Election event I discovered I need to lower my goals. I completed the first batch of security missions to get a Presidential Candidate Favor. But I can't just repeat security missions and repeat the cycle of tier rewards. Now I only get 40 event points for every 3 missions completed.

I should add one interesting point about the security missions. The mission system is very old and pre-dates the time when agents were designated security, distribution, and mining. The "security" missions that are actually distribution missions don't count towards security mission completion counts.

Tomorrow I move to the next phase of my alt-character development project. The character I've worked on in Q1 will finish training tomorrow and I begin building up my second alt-character. The second character is an alt on the account I'm using to run security missions for the election event. Political favors generated are sent to the account redemption queue. I'll get to see if favors generated on one character are eligible to be collected by another.

Crimson Desert Stock Price Recovering After Initial Mixed Reactions

Pearl Abyss' new game Crimson Desert got off to a rocky start a week ago, recording an average critic score of 78 on Metacritic with users giving the game an average score of 7.8. The critics score was below investor expectations, leading to a two-day decline of 36.6% of the company's stock price.

But then a funny thing happened on Tuesday. Pearl Abyss announced that sales of Crimson Desert reached 3 million units sold. The share price increased by 23.3% on Wednesday and was up slightly by the end of trading on Thursday. The price is still down 22.6% from last Wednesday's close but did claw its way back up to the price from one month ago. For the year Pearl Abyss' stock price is up 27.6%.

From following Pearl Abyss earnings calls for years now, I fully believe the company has lost the confidence of investment analysts in Asia. I think the situation came to a head in August 2025 on the Q2 2025 earnings call. After giving the attendees on the call the announcement of another delay for the launch of Crimson Desert, Pearl Abyss' CEO received the following reaction.

The update led to only a single question asked by the investment analysts on the call. Heo Jin-young was asked about the possibility of Crimson Desert's release being delayed past the first quarter of 2026. The Pearl Abyss CEO was directly asked "how can we trust you and your company" about any release date after all of the delays over the past several years.

During that day's trading, Pearl Abyss stock price fell by 23%.

At that point the leadership at Pearl Abyss had to have felt the pressure to meet the Q1 2026 release date given on that call. They also had to have felt the pressure to respond to all the complaints expressed upon the launch of the game. For years investors were told the delays were due to the need to make the game as good as possible before launch. A Metacritic score of 78 apparently wasn't what investors, or at least the investment analysts who informed investors, expected.

Barring sales news, the next important date in the Crimson Desert saga will come in May when Pearl Abyss holds the earnings call for the first quarter of 2026. At that time Pearl Abyss will inform investors exactly how well the launch of the game did sales-wise. And perhaps their reactions on the progress of the next game in the development pipeline, DokeV.

Flying Solo In EVE: Gallente Elections 2026

The numbers were trending down in EVE Online over the last few weeks. With the end of the quarter CCP had to do something to keep the numbers up. Enter a new event: the periodic election for the leadership of the Gallente Federation.

From EVE-Offline

The event began on 19 March and the peak concurrent user number began reaching 30,000 again. After 4 weeks of decline the PCU for the week reached over 35,000 on both Saturday and Sunday, peaking at 35,791 on Sunday. I'm expecting the average line on Eve-Offline to increase at least 1000 to 25,000 by the end of this week.

Latest graph for the global PLEX market

One can also see the effects of the event on the global PLEX market. The average price of PLEX peaked at 4,396,000 ISK on 18 March. Then the event and the associated sales helped move the price down. Also did the presence of 75 PLEX as a reward on the event track.

The event window in The Agency

I didn't begin participating in the Gallente Elections event until Monday. Something about EVE Frontier beginning a new cycle that distracted me. But I'm doing fairly well. I moved to Jolia in the middle of the high sec Gallente COSMOS constellation. As of this morning I've moved a Jaguar, Claymore, Prowler, and Pioneer into the station. I started doing level 2 missions in my Jaguar, thinking the security missions will go faster. If I decide I want to make more ISK I'll switch over to the Claymore. 

Tier Rewards

I am running the event in my main combat pilot so I'm using a mining destroyer instead of a exhumer which is much better fitted to mining the Scordite required. The tiers for mining seem to increment by 15,000 m3, which is about the size of a Skiff's mining hold or half a Mackinaw. But I saw a lot of the aftermath of ganking while moving my ships into Gallente space so maybe a mining destroyer is safer. I should add I'm training to fly the Outrider, the new relatively new command mining destroyer. 

The Moreau's Capsuleer Outreach Center in Dodixie

The event does have a store from which to purchase items. In lore terms, three candidates are running for president, so three campaign facilities in space exist. I really do want the faction probe launcher which costs 4 Presidential Favors. But the new drones with sensor dampeners built in are also fairly intriguing.

I should add I might be a little addicted already. I actually woke up early to mine a tier's worth of Scordite because when I looked around last night all the Scordite in my vicinity had already been mined.

Finally, I'll conclude this post with the patch notes for the event.

Features & Changes:

Gallente Election:

The YC128 Gallente Election is underway! Capsuleers can participate until downtime on Thursday, April 16, 2026. Choose a presidential candidate and support them by completing event challenges.

Support your candidate:

Choose a candidate to support and complete challenges to influence the election outcome. The candidate whose supporters have earned the most combined seasonal points at the end of the event will be declared President of the Gallente Federation.

Your candidate selection choice will not limit the rewards you can receive. Throughout the event, regardless of your choice, you will receive Political Favor which can be exchanged at Capsuleer Outreach Centers in Dodixie for any of the rewards. Support the candidate you want to without worrying about the rewards.

* The campaign bus at the end of the Presidential race will be visually different for each of the 3 candidates, but the rest of the rewards are the same.

New Content:

Rampant Drone Fabricator:

Test both your fitting and combat prowess in this push-your-luck site!

• Players must defeat waves of increasingly difficult Rogue Drones.
• Each wave adds additional loot to the Fabricator structure in increasing quantities.
• After each wave, players can choose to destroy the Fabricator and claim their current rewards or press on to the next wave.
• Current rewards can be checked at any time using a Cargo Scanner.
  
  
• Be warned: if you are unable to complete a wave, you will lose everything you’ve earned so far!
• If the standard variant proves too easy, try bringing a battleship. The dangers are increased, but so are the rewards!
• The sites rewards also scale based on where it is located, in three distinct tiers:
• Low tier: C1-C3 wormhole systems.
• Medium tier: C4, Pochven, and low-sec systems.
• Highest tier: C5 and C6 wormhole systems.
  
  
• There are several hidden quirks and tricks for players to discover while they run the site.
• It is highly recommended to keep the Info Panel section visible!
  
  
• Only permitted ships can keep the site stable. Leaving proximity can quickly cause the site to become forfeit.
• Permitted ships include combat-capable ships from T1 Frigates all the way to Marauders.
  
  
• The site is a cosmic signature, requiring it to be scanned down.
• The grid is not deadspaced; do with this information as you see fit.

Drone Iteration Depot:

Former industrial depots that have been converted into data stockpiles by Rogue Drones.

• Hacking site.
• Can be found in highsec, lowsec, and nullsec.
• Highsec version contains Iteration Databanks. Lowsec and nullsec versions contain the more valuable Iteration Vaults.
  
  

Notable Rewards:

The event features a wide range of great rewards, including exciting new additions.

New Combined Damage and EWAR Drones:

These combined drones primarily use the base stats of tech-1 combat drones. However, they also gain the EWAR capabilities of EWAR drones.

• All 6 types of EWAR are available in all 3 sizes.
• Some drones can be bought from Capsuleer Outreach Centers, while others are exclusive to the Rampant Drone Fabricator site.

New Officer Modules:

Each candidate offers a unique officer module, available for acquisition at their respective Capsuleer Outreach Center. These modules are:

• Tenzin’s Modified Guidance Disruptor
• Moreau’s Modified Expanded Scan Probe Launcher
• Roden’s Modified Nanofiber Internal Structure

New Faction Modules:

Candidates also offer faction modules at their Capsuleer Outreach Centers:

• Presidential Skirmish Command Burst
• Presidential Information Command Burst
• Presidential Mining Foreman Burst

New Character Backgrounds:

The event features new Gallente character backgrounds, available at each candidate’s Capsuleer Outreach Center.

Capsuleer Outreach Centers:

Each candidate operates a Capsuleer Outreach Center in Dodixie. Earn Political Favors and Presidential Candidate Favors, then exchange them for a range of items, including:

• Boosters
• SKINR Components
• Character Portrait Backgrounds
• Combined Damage and EWAR Drones
• Faction Modules
• Officer Modules

Agency Challenges and Rewards

• Support your candidate by completing a range of challenges:
• Complete Gallente security missions.
• Capture or defend Factional Warfare complexes for Gallente.
• Complete Homefront Operations in Gallente space.
• Mine Scordite or Gneiss in Gallente space.
• Hack Iteration Databanks and Vaults in Drone Iteration Depots found in highsec, lowsec, and nullsec.
• Kill Fabricator Rogue Drones in Rampant Drone Fabricator sites found in lowsec, wormholes, and Pochven.
• Make a trade at a candidate’s Capsuleer Outreach Center in Dodixie.
• Go on the Campaign Trail.

Tiered Challenge Rewards:

• Challenges feature five tiers, ranging from Supporter to Lobbyist.
• Completing each tier awards tokens that can be exchanged at Capsuleer Outreach Centers, with the fifth tier granting a Presidential Candidate Favor used to acquire powerful officer modules.

Complete challenges to earn points and unlock rewards in the seasonal track, including:

• 75 PLEX
• Skill Points
• Political Favors used to make a trade in Capsuleer Outreach Centers.
• Campaign Buses

Daily Login Rewards

Log in throughout the event for great rewards:

• Alpha and Omega pilots receive separate reward tracks
• Omegas claim both tracks daily, and upgrading to Omega unlocks all past Omega rewards retroactively
• Rewards include:
• Boosters
• SKINR Components
• EverMarks
• Generous Skill Points
• And more!

Is EVE Frontier Worth $20 For Alpha/Beta Access?

I've posted in the past that I thought paying $20 to access the under development Massively Multiplayer Moddable Online Role Playing Game (MMMORPG) EVE Frontier was worth the price. At the start of Cycle 5, CCP Games put out a limited time account type that provided just that, including at the price point. The time is up at the end of March 2026, but I didn't want to compose this post until I dipped into the new development cycle. I gave a price, but I haven't detailed who might find value in the expenditure until now.

Pre-launch access only

First, a few caveats about who shouldn't purchase this package. Anyone who objects to the presence of non-consensual PvP in a video game should not even try the game. The game is a bit more hardcore than EVE Online in that logging into the game is consenting to engage in PvP.

Another group is those who absolutely must have an avatar in which to wander about the game world. Frontier is built on the Carbon game engine. While able to handle massive fights of 1000 players without much trouble, the engine does not do avatars at all. In Cycle 5 the developers introduced shell industry which should mitigate the feeling of playing as a spaceship players have in EVE Online. But I haven't gotten that far in the new tutorial so I don't have first-hand experience on the system yet.

I also need to make a point about how long the account is good for. I expect the fastest timeline for release is the announcement of beta sometime in 2027 and an official release product in 2028. Given that the developers usually only hold a free-fly event once a Cycle, some might find the ability to jump in at any time over the next 2+ years worth $20.

So, who might find value in purchasing the limited time account type? Let's start with EVE Online players, both current and former. I think wormholers would love the game, especially if they find the current wormhole gameplay stale. The local chat rules follow the EVE Online wormhole standard and asset safety does not exist. Add in limited visibility to objects, ships, and NPCs in the system introduced in Cycle 5 and anyone who used to wormholes in EVE Online will find a challenge in Frontier.

Base building and hidden information in Cycle 5

Another group I could recommend trying Frontier to are explorer types. In particular I'm thinking of the space hippies I flew with in Signal Cartel. The development cycles have had 20,000+ systems which is an awful lot when compared to the some 7,000 total systems in EVE Online. An explorer might find a two-week free fly event too short to do any proper exploring.

The third group who would find the $20 account valuable are third party developers. In Cycle 5 the developers finished the swap of the Ethereum blockchain for Sui. As part of the change CCP is holding a hackathon with $80,000 in prize money. I'm not a great programmer but I do get paid to write code for a living. Did I mention your code can affect the game world? I probably buried the lede but this package is ideal for anyone wanting to spend a month or two testing whether coding in Sui is for them.

The next group are the industrialists. The base building and industrial menus in Cycle 5 are way ahead of where the features were in Cycle 3. I'm not saying they should play the game at launch. But I've hung around with enough of them to know they like having knowledge of the game mechanics.

One group I almost didn't include are blockchain enthusiasts in general and cryptobros in particular. Any tech nerd will probably find $20 for a front-row seat to what is probably the most serious attempt to create an actual AAA-quality game and not an opportunity to make a killing on a pump-and-dump I've heard of. I heard some moaning occurred when the developers decided to abandon Ethereum for the less popular Sui blockchain to improve game performance, and not just from the coders who had to learn a new language. I'm sure either way they will figure out how to deduct the purchase as a business expense.

The final group is anyone who just wants to check out the progress of the game, to include YouTubers, streamers, bloggers, and game journalists. I spent $20 on an account about 9 months ago and I haven't regretted the decision based on the amount of articles I've posted about Frontier. Purchasing the package also gets one Discord access to the Founders area. If one chooses to rely on Reddit over the Frontier Discord ... well, bless your heart. Plus, the ability to get b-roll or screenshots for the next 2+ years whenever you want is probably worth the $20 bucks for those who are labeled "content creators".

Looking above I've probably discouraged an order of magnitude more people from buying the limited time package than encouraged sales. But that's okay. I'd rather do that than encourage people from spending $20 they will regret later.