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Eve Online is getting a host of upgradeable new player-built structures

Eve Online

CCP are completely overhauling the way players leave their mark on the Eve universe, the studio announced at Eve Fanfest this evening. A raft of new player-built structures will begin drifting into the game this year, and new fitting options will render them customisable on a granular level.

“We are starting a huge new project where we are completely reimagining what players can build in Eve Online,” said executive producer Andie Nordgren.

Before now, the 62,000 player-owned starbases on Tranquility were the key upgradeable structures in the game. But CCP are designing a whole new range of floating buildings for players to build: including research laboratories, drilling platforms, office and marketing hubs, observatories “for intelligence-gathering and subterfuge”, and advertisement centers – huge space billboards that CCP Nullarbor refers to as “propaganda towers”.

They’ll all be “visually aspirational”, and some of them very large – “because bigger is better”. And their appearance will vary according to activity. Empty, abandoned stations will look old and dark, and well-used structures will be well-lit and homely. Structure-mooring for ships will only add to that sense of home.

A new fitting screen will make each structure as customisable as ships are – allowing players to select modules which specify what services are available, or even attach guns.

“We really want structures in Eve to be extendable and future-proof,” said Nullarbor. “They should be consistent in how they work and have a logical progression between them.”

Fitting can take place within the safety of other stations, before structures are moved around, traded and deployed. And upgrades will be consolidated into a single POS inventory – which can be set up for personal, corporation or public use.

What’s more, CCP are removing the anchoring restrictions of moons and planets.

“You can place [structures] all over the system,” said Nullarbor. “With some rules of course, to balance structure blobbing.”

The senior engineer believes the new system will bring about “unbelievable new possibilities”.

“We talk a lot about the sandbox possibilities in Eve, and these are literally your sandcastles,” he said. “They are as important as the ships you fly.”

Some of these structures will be released before the end of the year. Which are you most excited about?