Eve Online - Development - Major Content Patches

Major Content Patches

Since the initial release of Eve Online, CCP has added sixteen expansions to the game, free of additional charge to its subscribers. The sixteenth expansion, "Crucible", was released in November of 2011 and shifted the focus from cosmetic changes to game mechanics. The fifteenth expansion, Incarna, was released in the first stage of CCP's Ambulation project, also known as the "Walking in Stations" project. Incarna added the "Captain's Quarters" to stations, the first phase of allowing players to explore stations as human avatars, as well as an update to ship turret models. The fourteenth expansion, Incursion, was released in stages, the second of which introduced the Sansha Incursions, in which Sansha's Nation invaded constellations, disrupting all forms of activity in the area, but provided large rewards for fighting back the incursions, and an overhaul of the character creation tool, paving the way for the Incarna expansion. The thirteenth expansion, "Tyrannis", was released on May 26, 2010. The twelfth expansion, Dominion, was released on December 1, 2009. The previous expansion, Apocrypha, was released on March 10, 2009 and introduced features such as further graphics updates as started in the Trinity expansion; the ability for players to group their vessels' weapons for easier interaction; changes to autopilot routes and avoidance of player-defined star systems.

Over time expansions have added features such as conquerable stations, massive capital ships like Freighters and Dreadnoughts, advanced versions of existing ships for situational encounters and advanced missions, or Epic Arcs for players to master. Apocrypha included an overhauled probing system, wormholes, a smarter and tougher AI and customizable Tech 3 ships as its major features. Dominion, which became available for download on December 1, 2009, included an overhaul of the sovereignty system, more realistic astrology, the Titan Doomsday weapon functionality being changed and the in-game web browser with Chromium's WebKit. It also included a redesign of the UI and in-game mailing system. Tyrannis added new features, such as the ability to exploit planetary resources, a social networking program called EVE Gate, new technology for ships, and graphical updates.