February Update - Photon UI Full Rollout
Attention, capsuleers!
EVE Online continues to evolve and invest in the day-to-day experience of its players and its technological foundations to stay on course for a successful third decade in New Eden. This now includes the full rollout of the sparkling new Photon UI, as well as improvements to the multiple overview feature, Tranquility server hardware upgrades, and more!
Also evolving are the fortunes of New Eden’s great empires and EVE Online’s events, moving more purposefully towards a narrative-driven schedule instead of the previously established annual calendar of in-game events. This will be informed by the roadmap for upcoming happenings in EVE, first introduced in the Producer’s Letter.
EVOLVE AND PROSPER
EVE’s user interface has evolved in collaboration with the EVE community, and the anticipated full rollout of Photon UI is here. With an overwhelming 94% adoption among players of the awesome Photon UI which offers a better experience for EVE players, the time was right to make it the default and only UI available.
A single, unified design style streamlines usability, improves learning, and reduces cognitive overload. Removing the old UI will enable faster feature iteration than ever before, and more frequent, easier implementation of updates. There will also be opportunities for new and cool features such as micro widgets to be implemented that would have been impossible with the old code.
Today’s update also allows you to toggle the default state of all compactable windows with a single checkbox, making it much easier to turn on Compact Mode in Photon UI by default for all windows that have that functionality.
In addition, the multiple overview feature has come out of beta and is now standard, with the maximum number of overview tabs increased! There is also now grouping available for overview presets, with added descriptions for the default filters to give players a better idea about each one's purpose.
Features such as Compact Mode for Photon UI and multiple overviews allow for greater customizability, giving you the ability to tailor it to your specific playstyle. The improvements aren’t done, either, as the interface will continue to evolve and improve, so thanks to all capsuleers for their support and feedback thus far!
Further changes in Photon UI include your wallet balance now being added to the market window, updates to the docking/undocking animated notification, tweaks to item selection highlighting, and more! You can read the patch notes for more details.
Also, as part of the EVE Evolved initiative, the Tranquility live server has undergone some hardware upgrades, adding to the ongoing evolution and investment in EVE’s technical foundations. Stay tuned for a dev blog containing more details in the near future.
AN EVENTFUL FUTURE
EVE’s established calendar of events is also in the process of evolution, sparked by last year’s Uprising expansion as a major step towards regular narrative-driven content updates. As forces gather, tensions mount, and events unfold within New Eden between the four great empires, the exciting roadmap for EVE has a series of thrilling in-game events lined up to get stuck into. Having already gotten off to a strong start in 2023, you can also look forward to more new features, expansions, and huge celebrations throughout the year – including what promises to be an amazing 20th anniversary for EVE Online!
Keep your eyes to the stars as very soon a new narrative arc-related factional campaign will go live in-game pitting the Amarr, Minmatar, Caldari, and Gallente against each other in a tech race that will have seismic implications on the landscape of New Eden. This will set the tone for a year in EVE where some of the events you have come to expect at certain times of year will be replaced by arc-focused events. But don’t worry, instead of attending the Guardian’s Gala, the Angel Cartel have had more pressing matters to attend to. Their shift in focus will play out soon enough!
SINGULARITY OF VISION
In preparation for the upcoming events, and as indicated in the roadmap, you will soon be able to check out the new Direct Enlistment feature on the Singularity test server. This will allow capsuleers to participate in Factional Warfare on behalf of any empire they choose without having to leave their current corporation or alliance to join a militia.
This feature will be rolled out on Tranquility later this quarter, so go ahead and test it out!
FROM THE DIVINE TO THE METICULOUS – EVE STORE OFFERS
With so much on the horizon, now is the time to get prepared and look your best! The brand-new Divinity Pack in the EVE Store is perfect for fresh capsuleers, featuring 1 month of Omega for access to EVE’s best ships and skills, 250 PLEX to sell for ISK or spend in the New Eden Store, 150,000 Skill Points and a standard cerebral accelerator to boost your skill training goals. You’ll also get the stunning Heartsurge SKINs for the Keres and Hyena, plus Men’s and Women’s Obsidian Opulence Jacket character apparel.
Furthermore, the Heart-Shape Pack offers even more opportunity to flex and flaunt, with MCT, 1000 PLEX, 500,000 Skill Points, specialist cerebral accelerator, Heartsurge SKINs for the Kronos, Vargur, Phobos, and Broadsword, plus Men’s and Women’s Obsidian Opulence Jackets and Pants.
Both packs are available until 23 February and can only be purchased once per account.
DESIRE FOR DESTRUCTION – NES OFFERS
You can also lay your affections on two new bundles in EVE’s in-game New Eden Store! The Destructive Surge Bundle features Heartsurge SKINs for the Catalyst Navy Issue, Coercer Navy Issue, Cormorant Navy Issue, and Thrasher Fleet Issue, while the Dreadnought Desire Bundle features Heartsurge SKINs for the Moros Navy Issue, Naglfar Fleet Issue, Phoenix Navy Issue, and Revelation Navy Issue. Both are available only until 23 February, so don’t miss this popular SKIN’s first outing on the new navy ships!
With the player experience constantly evolving and improving, plus captivating narrative-driven events and features on the horizon, EVE’s exciting journey through its 2023 roadmap continues unabated towards forever! Don’t miss a beat and keep your eyes on happenings in-game, as well as upcoming features to test on Singularity, news of the next factional campaign, and be a part of the grand celebrations for EVE’s 20th birthday!
