CCP has announced details of the Empyrean Age, the upcoming free expansion for EVE Online that will see the dark clouds of war forming in New Eden.  Empyrean Age id scheduled for launch on June 10th.

Reykjavik, Iceland - May 28, 2008 - CCP, one of the world's leading independent game developers, has announced the features for the upcoming free expansion, EVE Online: Empyrean Age. Slated for a June 10 release, Empyrean Age brings an explosive end to the fragile peace that has existed for one hundred years between the four central races of New Eden and entices players to pledge fealty to their faction of choice to gain fame, wealth and power.

The features page at www.eveonline.com/empyreanage/ highlights the expansion's contents: the introduction of a faction ranking system, new militias being mustered, fresh agents pertaining to the massive conflicts, a dynamic new structure of system occupancy, details on hidden deadspace complexes and a whole new region in space, "Black Rise."

EVE Online: Empyrean Age incorporates elements of fiction that will be introduced in a novel by the same name, slated for a June 19th release, by Tony Gonzales. The author of many popular web-novellas and short stories, Gonzales' novel takes the reader through time and space, bridging the passage of time between the somewhat harmonious setting of New Eden as it exists for players now to a world of broken alliances on the brink of war.

After celebrating the fifth anniversary of EVE Online's initial release on May 6, CCP recently announced the formation of the Council of Stellar Management, a democratically-elected group of player representatives who will collaborate with the developers of EVE Online to address issues important to the community and provide input for keeping EVE going strong for years to come.

Read more here.

With years in the planning this could be the best expansion to date :) and I can't wait!

Ooh, EVE's already a good game, I hope this will make it even better.

Galxay-wide pvp-per-se.... excellent :)

"System Occupancy: In light of the formal declaration of war, CONCORD is now recognizing a new level of system control beyond sovereignty: occupancy. Factions gain occupancy of a system by winning conflicts in contested complexes. When a militia accumulates a certain number of victories for its faction, it is authorized to assault the star's System Control Bunker within 24 hours. Should the bunker fall to the attacking militia, a cease-fire is called in the system's Factional Warfare Complexes, and that faction gains occupancy of the solar system. "

Love this!!

I bet this nugget has everyone drooling "microwarpdrives have been cleared for use in the complexes."

Hmm - interested in playing again... I'll have to keep an eye on this... WoW is shelved for AoC, which may in turn get shelved for Eve (again) :D