The End of An EVE Era

Its hard, when living through changes, to realize that you are passing from one phase of existence to another. Its usually only later you can look back and see the sea change that picked up you and everyone else and moved you in a new direction.

Everyone can agree that EVE entered a new age with the planning and release of the Crucible expansion back in late 2011, CCP's step back from the Incarna cliff and the jagged spires below. The game switched from one of CCP's hubris and daring while the playerbase looked on in increasing frustration to a period of reconciliation and renewal of commitment to the space gameplay instead of the pie in the sky avatar gameplay.

Everyone know that "Big Change" is coming to the game. We are in a period of massive upheaval in terms of game mechanics and ship balance and re-imagining. An era is closing and a new one is beginning, and I say that today's patch is the demarcation point at which the new era begins. Not skill extraction and injection, although that was definitely a major part of the recent sea change, nor Citadels and rebalanced capitals which will mark the beginning of the next era of EVE's history.

No, I pick tomorrow's update as the end of the old Crucible-born era because the Damage Control is becoming passive.

I know, it seems silly and trival, right? Its a small change but a massive departure from the past, a relic from an age when they could not limit modules to one per ship but could limit number of modules of the same type that could be activated. Left alone under the mantra of "if it ain't broke don't fix it", its become a ubiquitous modules that most ship fits require and the cause of every fleet commander to remind multiple time a fleet "don't forget to turn on your damage control".

But now, it will be passive like it was meant to be. Furthermore, it will not be so required as some of its hull resistance benefit is passing directly to the ships. I'm going to have to go over almost every ship fit I have to see how this and the rest of the massive module tiercide impacts them. The end of an era indeed.

So let's take a moment to toast the suitcase: It was always there when we needed it, saving the last sliver of hull for the hope of survival and winning.

Cheers!