Today, the fourth and final issue of EVE: True Stories is out. Thus concludes the epic saga of the downfall of Band of Brothers as told by Daniel Way, based on the not-so-objective account written by the Mittani.

This is a moment for reflection. It’s the first time that we at CCP have taken a player account from EVE Online® (upvoted by you) and had it adapted for traditional media.

A short history of True Stories

In April 2013, we asked EVE players to submit stories to the True Stories website. With a limit of 5.000 characters per story, you could tag characters, corporations, celestial locations, corporations and alliances.

The site was open for submissions for a month until 06 May, the tenth anniversary of EVE Online. Initially you could only comment on stories, not vote. Over 767 stories were submitted.

Once the submission period was over, voting began and continued for 14 days. During voting, you could see how stories were faring. Twelve thousand votes were “up” and 3,800 were “down”. For each story, only one vote per user account was allowed.

When voting was done, one story reigned at the top with 2,283 upvotes, the second coming in with 1,524 votes and the third with 892 upvotes.

At that point 109,000 unique people (unique IPs actually) had visited the website, and 9,900 logged in and either submitted a story, commented or voted.

Choosing between great stories is a great challenge

We took the topmost stories and presented them to the writer of True Stories, Daniel Way. After much deliberation of the finalists,  including  the Guiding Hand Social Club and the Disbanding of Band of Brothers, the BoB story was chosen. The other top stories were discussed as well, each great in their own way. CCP then provided some editorial assistance, but in general tried not to influence his portrayal of the story so that the line from player to writer and back to player would remain as unbroken as possible.

The comic book is born!

A-64 page comic book was born, split up into four 16 page chapters. Each chapter illustrated by a separate artist and cover artist.

The first installment was then published on 19 February 2014, with subsequent issues appearing every two weeks.

All are available for free as downloads from Dark Horse Digital. They will remain free to download until 6 June 2014, when a hardcover version will be published, collecting all four chapters into one book. Individual chapters will then no longer be available for download, but the collection will be available for purchase as an e-book.

Advance hardcover copies available at Fanfest!

Our friends in the Guristas were kind enough to intercept convoys of freighters sailing from remote manufacturing facilities. Thus we were able to secure a few advance copies of the hardcover edition of True Stories. Those will be available to purchase at EVE Fanfest, in Reykjavik this May 1-3^rd. Get yours, signed by art director Borkur Eiriksson and editor David Marshall from Dark Horse. Another great reason to go to fanfest.

What next? How can we improve?

Now, we are here, roughly a year later.

First, on behalf of CCP, I want to thank everyone that took part in the first round of True Stories, everyone that submitted entries, voted, commented or just idly clicked through the stories.

Second, I want to ask for your input. We have a few questions for you. Of course, you don't have to answer all of them, but we would really love to get your feedback on some:

• How did we do? What was done well and what could have been done better?
• If we do this again, how should we do the voting and submission process differently?
• Did you read the comic book? What did you think about this approach? Would you like to see another story done like this, or should it be done differently?
• What other methods can we use to collect and tell your amazing stories?

Please put your feedback in this thread.

Thank you for reading and participating!

Torfi Frans Olafsson

Creative Director – EVE Universe IP development

Today, the fourth and final issue of EVE: True Stories is out. Thus concludes the epic saga of the downfall of Band of Brothers as told by Daniel Way, based on the not-so-objective account written by the Mittani.

This is a moment for reflection. It’s the first time that we at CCP have taken a player account from EVE Online® (upvoted by you) and had it adapted for traditional media.

A short history of True Stories

In April 2013, we asked EVE players to submit stories to the True Stories website. With a limit of 5.000 characters per story, you could tag characters, corporations, celestial locations, corporations and alliances.

The site was open for submissions for a month until 06 May, the tenth anniversary of EVE Online. Initially you could only comment on stories, not vote. Over 767 stories were submitted.

Once the submission period was over, voting began and continued for 14 days. During voting, you could see how stories were faring. Twelve thousand votes were “up” and 3,800 were “down”. For each story, only one vote per user account was allowed.

When voting was done, one story reigned at the top with 2,283 upvotes, the second coming in with 1,524 votes and the third with 892 upvotes.

At that point 109,000 unique people (unique IPs actually) had visited the website, and 9,900 logged in and either submitted a story, commented or voted.

Choosing between great stories is a great challenge

We took the topmost stories and presented them to the writer of True Stories, Daniel Way. After much deliberation of the finalists,  including  the Guiding Hand Social Club and the Disbanding of Band of Brothers, the BoB story was chosen. The other top stories were discussed as well, each great in their own way. CCP then provided some editorial assistance, but in general tried not to influence his portrayal of the story so that the line from player to writer and back to player would remain as unbroken as possible.

The comic book is born!

A-64 page comic book was born, split up into four 16 page chapters. Each chapter illustrated by a separate artist and cover artist.

The first installment was then published on 19 February 2014, with subsequent issues appearing every two weeks.

All are available for free as downloads from Dark Horse Digital. They will remain free to download until 6 June 2014, when a hardcover version will be published, collecting all four chapters into one book. Individual chapters will then no longer be available for download, but the collection will be available for purchase as an e-book.

Advance hardcover copies available at Fanfest!

Our friends in the Guristas were kind enough to intercept convoys of freighters sailing from remote manufacturing facilities. Thus we were able to secure a few advance copies of the hardcover edition of True Stories. Those will be available to purchase at EVE Fanfest, in Reykjavik this May 1-3^rd. Get yours, signed by art director Borkur Eiriksson and editor David Marshall from Dark Horse. Another great reason to go to fanfest.

What next? How can we improve?

Now, we are here, roughly a year later.

First, on behalf of CCP, I want to thank everyone that took part in the first round of True Stories, everyone that submitted entries, voted, commented or just idly clicked through the stories.

Second, I want to ask for your input. We have a few questions for you. Of course, you don't have to answer all of them, but we would really love to get your feedback on some:

• How did we do? What was done well and what could have been done better?
• If we do this again, how should we do the voting and submission process differently?
• Did you read the comic book? What did you think about this approach? Would you like to see another story done like this, or should it be done differently?
• What other methods can we use to collect and tell your amazing stories?

Please put your feedback in this thread.

Thank you for reading and participating!

Torfi Frans Olafsson

Creative Director – EVE Universe IP development

It‘s about time we start making ship models again. We in IP development have started discussions with people in the industry of making detailed, pretty ship models for EVE. Creating physical goods like ships is different than software. It‘s a linear process, with phases split geographically across the world. In short, it takes a while. Quality is also important to us. A lot of thought and craftsmanship has gone into the design of the ships of the EVE Universe, and that must be carried forward into the physical realm.

So, to get to the point: We‘re planning to do ship models, but we want your input. What ship would you want to own? What kind of size would you like? What else, is important? Lighting? Non-painted versions? Self-assembly? Provide your answers on our forum,  and for cleanliness sake, can you print the name of the ship in the first line of your reply, and then add further discussion in a preceding line?

If you want to see two ships made, can you please make two separate entries? That makes it easier for us to count and identify.

You can comment on this news article and talk about potential new ship models in this thread.

Thank you for participating!

Torfi Frans Olafsson
Creative Director, EVE Universe IP development

It‘s about time we start making ship models again. We in IP development have started discussions with people in the industry of making detailed, pretty ship models for EVE. Creating physical goods like ships is different than software. It‘s a linear process, with phases split geographically across the world. In short, it takes a while. Quality is also important to us. A lot of thought and craftsmanship has gone into the design of the ships of the EVE Universe, and that must be carried forward into the physical realm.

So, to get to the point: We‘re planning to do ship models, but we want your input. What ship would you want to own? What kind of size would you like? What else, is important? Lighting? Non-painted versions? Self-assembly? Provide your answers on our forum,  and for cleanliness sake, can you print the name of the ship in the first line of your reply, and then add further discussion in a preceding line?

If you want to see two ships made, can you please make two separate entries? That makes it easier for us to count and identify.

You can comment on this news article and talk about potential new ship models in this thread.

Thank you for participating!

Torfi Frans Olafsson
Creative Director, EVE Universe IP development

EVE: True Stories – The comic book based on true events, 20.000 years into the future

At EVE Fanfest 2013, we announced a partnership with Dark Horse Comics for the development of a comic book set in the EVE Universe.

It’s here. The first issue of EVE: True Stories, “Thieves Among Us," is available exclusively on Dark Horse Digital, readable on their web site, Android or iOS apps.

The EVE: True Stories graphic novel  is unique in the sense that it‘s based on an actual massive player event that took place in EVE Online. The dismantling of the galaxy-sprawling superpower known as the Band of Brothers is something actually happened and thousands of players participated in.
 

Depending on your point of view, it happened in February 2009, YC 111 or 23.347 AD. It was submitted to our True Stories collection website by someone who was there, and who, by his own accord, was an instigator of the events. There are many sides to this story--it‘s impossible to be objective. As we don’t endorse one version of the “truth” over others, we are taking the account that garnered the highest popular vote on the True Stories website, that of The Mittani, and adapting it with the help of Dark Horse’s excellent artists and writers.

There were other great stories submitted and all were considered. In the end the story of the downfall of Band of Brothers was chosen as a classic story of betrayal and corporate espionage that EVE has become (in)famous for.

Established comic book writer Daniel Way came on to the project and went on to adapt the story for the comic book format. Dark Horse brought in some excellent artists as well--Tomm Coker, Alejandro Aragón, Federico Dallocchio and Daniel Warren Johnson--each bringing their own unique flavor to the mix.

We took the position that we wanted to maximize what everyone of these people could bring to the table and not hold them back or hamper them. Once the story had been chosen, CCP worked with Daniel Way to ensure ship classes, descriptions and nomenclature were correct, but we took the position to allow him to develop and adapt the story to fit the medium, and take dramatic license as needed. Same with the art. The artists were not under the art direction of CCP, rather we provided them with references and provided feedback if things were missing or wrong. But in general the concept was to allow a group of talented outsiders to interpret the story and the universe of New Eden with their own words and pictures. The result is a dramatic work based on subjective truth and artistic interpretation, rather than an objective, scientific analysis of the events that occurred.

The story is split up into four issues, to be released two weeks apart. While all issues were written by Daniel Way, each chapter has its own artists and cover artist. Here are the dates and artists:

It tells the story of Haargoth Agamar, who gets bored with routine and seeks some excitement. To EVE players who know their history, he looks like this:

And in the story looks like this:

Then stuff like this happens:

But if you want to read more, EVE: True Stories “Thieves Among Us” is now available as to download free from Dark Horse Digital.

All issues will remain free until June. The hardback prestige collected edition of EVE: True Stories, containing all four comics, will go on sale in book and comic book stores in June, 2014. Once it's out in print, True Stories will be available for purchase as an e-book on their app and through major e-book outlets.

We are very excited to get your reaction and hope you will enjoy this effort in bringing the complex web of drama and human stories from the often impregnable world of New Eden to a wider audience.   Along the way we hope you get a new perspective on EVE's events, people and visual style.

Enjoy!

Torfi Frans Olafsson
Creative Director – EVE Universe IP

Introducing EVE Source – Hardcover and Limited Edition

As we announced at Fanfest 2013, CCP and Dark Horse Comics are publishing EVE Source, a 200 page illustrated guide to the EVE Universe, its people, places and history.

Information which before had to be collected from chronicles, novels, mission descriptions or wikis has been compiled, organized and edited for your reading pleasure. This is the authoritative guide about the Universe for any EVE enthusiast, whether they are a decade old-vet or just joined this past week.

In EVE Source there is A LOT of art. While some of the images may be familiar, a significant amount of art was originally made just for this book by the EVE and DUST 514 art teams. It fleshes out parts of the setting of the EVE universe, New Eden, which before have never been seen or talked about, creating unique perspectives on the stars and planets that Capsuleers and Mercenaries call home.

When work had begun on the book, it began to dawn on us the amount of information and visual candy we had on our hands, so we wanted to take the opportunity and make something more special with it for those that are truly citizens of New Eden and want to celebrate it with nice things. So we worked with Dark Horse to develop a limited edition version of Source.

It comes with a trusty protective case, is bound in sci-fi-esque JVP leather, and is graced with a nice red ribbon for you to remember which Guristas pirate you were reading about.

Apocalypse proof aluminium plaque

Inside the lining of the protective case, you will discover a numbered anodized aluminum commemorative plaque. The plaque itself has an enigmatic image, which is for you to decipher. This printing method and material ensure that the plaque should last eons. It will probably still be there, in mint condition, in the year 7703 when the wormhole to New Eden opens.

On the plaque you will find a unique code which you can use to redeem the following items inside EVE Online:

• “New Eden Source” – The in-game version of the book. You can‘t read it, but you can carry it around in your cargo hold as you roam the heavens like the immortal you are.
• Memory and Intelligence boosting implants – The book is such a vast trove of information--it doesn‘t hurt to be a little augmented when trying to grok it all.
• Exclusive clothing for male and female characters*. Something comfortable for your avatar to slip into when reading chapters about the corporatocracy of the Caldari, slave mines of the Amarr, or the glistening streets of Caille where everything has a price.

* Clothing items remain exclusive to this product for 6 months.

Limited edition is limited

There are only 1400 copies of the Limited Edition. That's just the limited edtion, there are more copies available of the standard hardcover edition.

1000 units of the limited will be sold through the EVE Store, while 200 copies are distribited through IKON in Australia and New Zealand, and 200 units will be sold by Dark Horse at trade events, details to be published later.

First 500 units have signed lithographs

It also contains lithographs by two EVE artists, Borkur Eiriksson and Georg Hilmarsson. The first 500 copies sold will be signed by them. For your convenience, there is a counter on the EVE store which tells you how many signed images are remaining.

Available for order now! Only $89.99!

EVE Source Limited Edition will be released on March 5th, but is available now for pre-order exclusively at the EVE Store. Head there to get your copy

Eve Source Limited Edition costs $89 plus postage and packing for US and Canada. €79 for EU countries (including VAT) and €65 for non-EU countries. Prices do not include postage and packing. Tariffs, customs, taxes and postal worker bribes or protection money may have to be paid as well, depending on where you live in the world—the unavoidable nature of courier contracts.
 

Hardcover version of Source also available for $39.99!

If this is all a bit too much for you, and you prefer the classic hardcover version of the book, check out Dark Horse‘s partner Things From Another World. They will begin shipping on March 5th, but are already taking pre-orders. Select comic book stores will also make the book available on March 5th.

The retail price is $39.99, although prices may vary by regions and VAT, postage, packing and discounts.

If you want to wait, EVE Source will be released to regular brick and mortar and online bookstores on March 18^th. On the same date, it will be released an ebook on Dark Horse Digital, Kindle, iBooks, Google Books, Nook and Kobo.

We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoyed developing it! 

Torfi Frans Olafsson - CCP t0rfifrans
Creative Director – EVE Universe IP

PS: More pictures can be seen in this devblog since October and on the individual product pages

As we announced at Fanfest last April, CCP is working with Dark Horse Comics on two excellent project from the EVE Universe. The four part comic book True Stories and the heavily illustrated detailed lore compendium EVE Universe – Source.

To talk more about these two excellent books, CCP will be attending New York Comic Con, which coincidentally will take place in New York city on October 10-13.

True Stories is a comic book loosely based upon a story from True Stories from the First Decade, crowdsourced from the EVE community and adapted to comic book form. It is something that we plan to do more of in the future, since the stories of EVE players and their antics continue to amaze both us, the mainstream media and the EVE community itself. The comic book will be seperated into four chapters, each illustrated by a different artist, which will be released digitally free of charge and then available for purchase in pretty printed form.

EVE Universe – SOURCE takes a different approach. In this thick, stylish lore-rich book, we are given an insight into the EVE Universe, the races, the backstory and the setting in more detail than ever before. Loaded with both classic and original art from the Universe, not only will SOURCE look splendid on your yin-yang coffee table, but it will also provide you with a deep understanding and immersion of New Eden, home of the immortal capsuleer (you).

Both will be available in 2014.

Representin‘ for CCP will be Creative Director of EVE IP development Torfi Frans Olafsson and Art Director of EVE IP development and one of CCP‘s key concept artists Borkur Eiriksson. Both have been part of EVE‘s core team for a very long time and in various roles have contributed significantly to what the EVE Universe has become over the years.

Torfi will be attending a panel called "Rewriting the Classics, Modern Sci-Fi in comics" on Thursday, Oct 10th at 3.15. The panel will talk about EVE and other sci-fi properties, such as Prometheus, Aliens, Predator, as well as Star Wars. It will also have news on comic book adaptations of games such as Mass Effect,  and HALO.

CCP will reveal art from the upcoming Source book. But for those at home, here is a small glimpse of what‘s in store:

After the panel, Borkur will be signing exclusive EVE posters to be given away at the event.

Tickets for the Thursday of Comic Con are still available, last we checked.

Hope to see you there!

Torfi Frans

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As some of you may have noticed, the EVE store has been as closed as the welded-shut Incarna door for quite a while, despite the metaphorical sound of banging and clawing at the gates by people wanting to some deep meaningful retail therapy.

We are happy to announce that not only are we re-opening the EVE Store, but we are rebooting it with a whole new lineup of goods in conjunction with an excellent partner in the space. Our mission is about servicing you with a steady stream of high quality products, tasteful designs and premium service.

store.eve.com

Rather than trying to do all of it ourselves in the frozen tundra of Iceland, we have partnered with Musterbrand, people that have proven themselves in representing some of the most sacred brands in gaming, such as Assassins Creed, Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid.

CCP’s creative talent has been working closely with Musterbrand for over a year, planning and driving the concepting and theming of the designs, ensuring that what’s available for you is as authentic New Eden gear as you can find on this side of the EVE gate wormhole.

The initial offering is from our new premium line, called the Zero.Zero Collection. It embodies the strong artistic ambition and spirit of New Eden and its capsuleers. Some of it is also very comfy to wear! New items will be coming online frequently, taking your input and preferences into account, as with everything we do.

As well as featuring premium Musterbrand products, the store will also offer other cool gear from CCP partners, such as the New Eden MoMA T-Shirt, featuring the map of New Eden, which is part of the EVE exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art. The shirt will also be available in the MoMA gift store, for those capsuleers stationed in the Big Apple.

We are excited to premiere the new EVE Store. We’re actually so excited that we will announce more products this coming Saturday at the CCP presents Fanfest keynote!

store.eve.com

CCP t0rfifrans and CCP brooklynNinja

As some of you may have noticed, the EVE store has been as closed as the welded-shut Incarna door for quite a while, despite the metaphorical sound of banging and clawing at the gates by people wanting to some deep meaningful retail therapy.

We are happy to announce that not only are we re-opening the EVE Store, but we are rebooting it with a whole new lineup of goods in conjunction with an excellent partner in the space. Our mission is about servicing you with a steady stream of high quality products, tasteful designs and premium service.

store.eve.com

Rather than trying to do all of it ourselves in the frozen tundra of Iceland, we have partnered with Musterbrand, people that have proven themselves in representing some of the most sacred brands in gaming, such as Assassins Creed, Resident Evil and Metal Gear Solid.

CCP’s creative talent has been working closely with Musterbrand for over a year, planning and driving the concepting and theming of the designs, ensuring that what’s available for you is as authentic New Eden gear as you can find on this side of the EVE gate wormhole.

The initial offering is from our new premium line, called the Zero.Zero Collection. It embodies the strong artistic ambition and spirit of New Eden and its capsuleers. Some of it is also very comfy to wear! New items will be coming online frequently, taking your input and preferences into account, as with everything we do.

As well as featuring premium Musterbrand products, the store will also offer other cool gear from CCP partners, such as the New Eden MoMA T-Shirt, featuring the map of New Eden, which is part of the EVE exhibit at the New York Museum of Modern Art. The shirt will also be available in the MoMA gift store, for those capsuleers stationed in the Big Apple.

We are excited to premiere the new EVE Store. We’re actually so excited that we will announce more products this coming Saturday at the CCP presents Fanfest keynote!

store.eve.com

CCP t0rfifrans and CCP brooklynNinja

EVE Online's decade of history is unique. It has its heroes, scoundrels, heists and intrigue. But unlike most other games, the most compelling stories were not written by developers and acted out by NPCs. The most interesting stories are those about the real actions of the players that inhabit this universe. In New Eden, we have seen some of the best and some of the worst of what human nature has to offer, when set loose with relative anonymity, scarce resources, complete hypercapitalistic freedom, the ability to organize and to employ mechanized violence on a stellar scale. No one was prepared for the amazing stories that have come out of EVE Online since its launch in 2003. Not the developers, not the players and certainly not those on the periphery that occasionaly read up about yet another stranger-than-fiction news story of the crazy shenaginans in that mysterious game, EVE Online.

These stories are sometimes told in late night chats, posted on various forums, mentioned in blogs, lost in fleeting tweets and archived on wikis. Basically, they are scattered around the Internet, often making it hard for someone to get the full picture.

As we at CCP celebrate ten years of EVE Online, we have built a tool for you to write, edit, and discuss these stories, so that there is a place where people can read the history of our Universe, as told by those that inhabit it.

truestories.eveonline.com

Write – Read – Vote!

The system works like this:

For a given period of time, you can submit stories to the website. During the submission phase, you cannot vote stories up or down. This is to ensure that the first stories don’t get all the votes and attention. During the submission phase, anyone that’s logged in can debate a story. You can add positive or negative debate points, and players can then endorse or oppose those debate points. Debate points are not votes, however, they are simply arguments supporting or opposing the story in its current form. You can revise stories after you submit them, and everyone will see the revision history, like on Wikipedia.

After the submission phase ends, on May 1^st, voting begins. Voting will run for two weeks, ending May 15^th. Voting has both upvoting and downvoting. You can still debate stories and discuss them during the voting period.

Once the voting period ends, you can no longer debate stories. The site becomes an archive for all to enjoy.

There are prizes to be won!

The people that submitted the five top voted stories will receive serious prizes:

First Place: Round trip for two to Reykjavik, Iceland, including airfare and hotel accomodations. Your trip includes a visit to CCP headquarters to meet senior developers and a ten years subscription of EVE Online.

Second Place: Ten years subscription to EVE Online.

Third, Fourth and Fifth Place: One year subscription to EVE Online.

Your stories may inspire books, comics, TV series or even films

The Universe of EVE has grown bigger than simply the game of EVE Online. And we intend to make the most of it. As you might suspect, we are looking into publishing more books, comics, and even looking into what it would take to create a film or TV series set in the EVE Universe. That’s where the true stories come in. Having real events, set 20,000 years into the future as inspiration forthe plots and screenplays of those projects is a mind-boggling prospective. Of course, it all depends on the story itself being interesting, but our prospective media partners have shown great interest in adapting or using as inspiration actual events from the game itself.

Who can use the site?

Only active paying accounts can use this website. This is done mostly to keep the spammers at bay, and to ensure that that there is accountability behind the words posted.

Do I have to have been there?

No, the story you post does not have to be about something you did. It can be about other players, or events that occurred before you started playing. However, be sure to use good references, and mention them in your author notes.

What if two people tell the same story?

Well, getting two perspectives on the same event can be interesting. There’s nothing bad in that per se. Once the voting starts, one will become more popular. We actually think having multiple accounts from different people on the same events is a positive thing, just like in real life. Different media outlets treat truth, whatever truth is, differently.

Can I write about metagaming?

Yes, but remember that this is about events that eventually affect the state of things within EVE Online. So if you have a story about IRL seduction and intrigue that ends with a PLEX being stolen in EVE, that makes it a relevant story, however it may be more difficult to adapt than a pure ingame story.

Can I write about Dust 514?

Sure, if something awesome happened in DUST 514 and EVE, then by all means do so. DUST 514 is part of the EVE Universe.

What happens when the contest is done?

The site becomes an archive of stories. This is a focused effort to capture the stories from the first decade. There’s a beginning and end to the process, so that we can reward people for the best entries, and to focus the work. If this goes well, we are sure to repeat it.

That's it. We look forward to seeing your submissions and to watching the player-written history of a Universe unfold before us.

Torfi Frans
Creative Director - EVE Universe Intellectual Property Group