CCP games released an official press release about their upcoming Shiva expansion an expansion that will be free of charge to download as a patch for every EVE player.

I was lucky enough to meet up with part of the CCP team in LA at the E3 convention to get some extra information about Shiva. In this two part part preview I will try to give some extra information to you.

Shiva is the codename of the next expansion for Eve-online, its main change is the introduction of player owned structures; this means that soon you will be able to claim and defend territories. Control towers will be the means to do that, they will allow you to build many additional structures in space like hangars, defence systems (shield modules, warp distributors, missile launchers), factories and refineries, to additional modules that will allow you to expand power cores and so on. All these systems will not be placed freely but on a grid like system to both prevent possible exploits and improve the look and feel of these outposts.

Another important addition to game play will be the new environments; these will enhance the realism of the universe. Ranging from new planetary effects like volcanic activity and meteor showers to comets and orbital asteroids that move around space.
These "small bodies" and fields like ice fields, debris fields, super massive asteroid fields and planetary rings will yield new minable ores and will require a new approach of harvesting. Comets for instance will be mobile, moving through systems at speed creating a trail that can be mined by a ship that follows it.
Planetary rings on the other hand will require you to navigate the rings themselves to find the best ores while potentially meeting enemies like Rogue drones or other nasty surprises.

CCP is also trying to implement other means to make the world feel more alive, empires and other organisations will have a much more active part in the universe, staging operations and interacting with the players. Agents will no longer just be available at stations but will also be found in space. These agents will now also be able to give multi-level story driven mission to help the player get more involved in the storylines.

For those players that enjoy a challenge in PVE (player versus environment) CCP has created Multi-level Scenarios that will basically act like a "gauntlet" with huge rewards and very difficult enemies at the end and low end NPC (non-player characters) at the start.
These gauntlets will be huge and will be increasingly defended the deeper you go. Slingshots will serve as a means of propelling you since warping will not be possible in these environments. These gauntlets will be based around pirate installations, old battlefields, Rouge drone hives, etc. Rogue drone hives especially are interesting since they will have a very nice "flocking" effect, where drones will swarm your ship.
You will be able to find the location for these gauntlets by using captured ship logs, visiting important landmarks or finding hidden bases.

The interface will also be improved and added to also with a plethora of features. A tactical view will be added so you will be better able to estimate ranges and position of enemy ships, it would be to comparable to a homeworld like systemview. A solar map based on what was used at last year E3 show will improve intra system navigation and enhanced graphical beauty.

Gangs will be improved vastly with a possibility to create subgroups and commander channels to make large groups more manageable and tactically flexible.

New ships will off course also be implemented, battlecruisers a missing link between cruiser and battleships will make their appearance with totally new models, making battles les risky in terms of potential loss and tactically more flexible.


Check back for part two of this preview later this week. It will contain more information about agents, implants, trading, the new alliance system and offcourse much, much more.