We had the chance to sit down with EVE Online creative director Torfi Frans Olafsson and art director Borkur Eiriksson during this year’s New York Comic Con to discuss new initiatives on the EVE Online front, including EVE: True Stories and EVE: Source.
EVE Online is an interesting game even for gamers that don’t play it. The emergent gameplay that EVE’s game design does so well to cultivate often results in some amazing stories. It’s the potential for having such a profound impact on the game’s universe that keeps many EVE players playing, after all. There is simply nothing like it anywhere in the genre. It’s that same unique quality that also grabs the interest of those of us in the press and non-EVE players alike. For many of us, we consume EVE Online through these spectacular stories of scandal or conquest that we hear about after the fact. I know I definitely fall into that category.
CCP Games is looking to highlight and celebrate that quality of EVE Online in a new project called EVE: True Stories. True Stories is an upcoming four-part comic series that dramatizes one of most well-known stories in the EVE universe: the destruction of the Band of Brothers alliance. The choice of which story to focus on was actually selected by the players themselves. Over 700 stories were submitted for consideration and players were given the opportunity to vote on which one they wanted to see make the comic. It was the aforementioned BoB story, detailed by GoonSwarm’s TheMittani that won out in the end. The runners-up didn’t come away empty handed, though. They were granted an entire decade’s worth of game time for their efforts.
It’s important to note that the story as it will play out in the EVE: True Stories comic won’t be an exact account of the events that led up to the destruction of BoB. Again, it’s a dramatization. Even the names of characters and their visual appearances may be different. The series is a collaboration between CCP and Dark Horse comics along with notable comic book writer Daniel Way penning the entire story. True Stories will first see a (free!) digital release, with the first installment set for February 19, 2014. Parts two and three will be available on March 5 and March 19, respectively. And the whole thing will conclude on April 2. On June 4, fans will be able to pick up a physical hardcover compilation of the entire series as well.
There are other stories CCP wants to tell. While players make up the vast majority of what EVE Online is, they inhabit the fully realized universe of New Eden and CCP is looking to offer them a more granular look things. To that end, CCP is putting together a sleek hardcover lore book called EVE: Source. This book will be written in a narrative style that never reminds players they are reading something about a video game. The book will also be filled with beautiful art pieces from the EVE team, including some touched up concept art pieces, a ship cross-section or two, and an abundance of art that gives players a look at what it’s like to live on the planets they often fly past in their travels. Players can expect to learn more about their favorite races, areas, and the deep history of New Eden on a level they’ve never been able to before.
EVE Source will be available beginning on March 5, 2014.
Michael Bitton / Michael began his career at the WarCry Network in 2005 as the site manager for several different WarCry fansite portals. In 2008, Michael worked for the startup magazine Massive Gamer as a columnist and online news editor. In June of 2009, Michael joined MMORPG.com as the site's Community Manager. Follow him on Twitter @eMikeB
