The next major EVE Online expansion, Uprising, is all about Faction Warfare. CCP is trying to revive one of the many mechanics that has either become obsolete or was flawed from launch. Faction Warfare sounded quite interesting on paper, and CCP’s intention was to involve more players into PvP action, but the implementation leaves to be desired.
This week begins the revival of one of the less interesting activities in EVE Online. The first Factional Campaigns are now live in the game in the form of special limited-time events where players choose to support one of the four EVE Online factions.
Players who want to join the Factional Campaigns events and support either the Gallente Federation or Caldari State must head to the Athounon system. Each of these factions is trying to build stargates leading back to Amygnon and Samanuni, respectively. Of course, only one stargate will end up being built, but here is the catch.
Along with these special limited-time events, CCP introduced new ships, which won’t be available to everyone until November. However, those who participate in these Faction Warfare events will earn special tokens that they can redeem for blueprints for these new ships. It’s basically an incentive for players to take part in the event.
Players can assist the Gallente Federation or Caldari State by either mining ore from the Serthoulde constellation or through factional warfare in the Athounon system (killing players supporting the other faction). Ore mined can be turned in at each faction’s gate building site in Athounon for “loyalty tokens,” which can be used to get early access to the new navy ships.
Photo: CCP
The Gallente Federation and Caldari State stargates use different construction methods, so they require different types of ore. According to CCP, each type of ore site is more likely to spawn in systems that are occupied by that faction in Factional Warfare.
The other two factions facing each other in Factional Warfare during these limited-time events, the Amarr Empire and Minmatar Republic, are trying to develop new technology, so they’re not building stargates. To advance the research, these factions are fighting over control of something called “Stellar Transmuters,” which Amarr built within the warzone, as well as data collected from remote observation facilities spread throughout the local constellation.
The faction that controls the system of Turnur will be able to finish its research faster, as Stellar Observatory sites are launched throughout all of the Eugidi constellation systems to collect valuable research data. These sites can be found using scanner probes, but once a player teleports to the site, they will become visible on the overview to all other players in the system.
Another important thing worth noting is that players will only be able to enter these data sites with Tech 1, Navy, and Pirate Frigates. Also, the owning faction will have NPC guards that will attack any player not aligned with their militia. Players who are neutral and don’t participate in factional warfare will receive a suspect timer if they enter the site.
Photo: CCP
Hacking these sites will provide players with “Encrypted Stellar Research Data.” Bringing these items to Minmatar Republic’s base in Amo or Amarr’s laboratory in Mehatoor will reward players with loyalty tokens.
So, while the Gallente Federation vs. Caldari State conflict focuses on a combination of PvP and mining, the Amarr Empire vs. Minmatar Republic focuses on a mix of PvP and exploration activities.
Players can turn in their loyalty tokens to the respective LP stores of that faction’s militia in exchange for exclusive early access to the new navy Frigates and Battlecruisers. Speaking of which, four new Navy Issue Battlecruisers (Cyclone Fleet Issue, Ferox Navy Issue, Myrmidon Navy Issue, Prophecy Navy Issue) and four new Navy Issue Frigates (Probe Fleet Issue, Heron Navy Issue, Imicus Navy Issue, Magnate Navy Issue) have been added to EVE Online, so you can obtain blueprints for either of these new ships by redeeming your loyalty tokens.
As far as the price goes, the Navy Issue Frigate BPCs sell for 150 loyalty tokens each, while the Navy Issue Battlecruisers are 1500 loyalty tokens. Not sure how much these BPCs will sell for in Jita, but the Navy Issue Frigate blueprints were priced at 1 billion ISK soon after the event started. However, as more players are getting their hands on these, the price will drop consistently, so you might want to wait a while if you don’t plan to run any of these limited-time events.
Google News