Land Rush

Caroline's Star appears to be in Jove space. In three regions of Jove space, previously inaccessible by players, the stargates have been almost completely removed. The latest mysterious actions by Sleepers, Sansha's Nation, and the strange artifacts appearing in space with apparently degrading cloaks suggests that the Jove are going if not gone and that soon there will be a new land rush.

The smart money is betting on that the much heralded "new space" that players will be building stargates to is the Jove regions that are now probably unoccupied, or at least occupied by Sansha's and/or Sleepers.

I'm not so sure.

Source

Much like the 101 new Shattered Systems are an extension of wormhole space with unique properties, I suspect that players will be able to build stargates to Jove space eventually and start to colonize that area, perhaps with a mix of known space and wormhole space mechanics. No local, but cynos can be lit. Special systems with effects and moon mining. Etc. But like the Shattered systems, there is not enough there to represent a long term expansion to the game as a whole. For example, wormholes expanded the game back in Apocrypha in a large scale that allowed hundreds if not thousands of players to carve a new playstyle. Simply put, 101 Shattered systems will not do that, nor will 2-3 regions of Jove space; it would simply be integrated into the large systems in a relatively short time.

No, I suspect that we are seeing a purposeful and graceful expansion of current space and the Jove systems will play into that plan, but the end goal of the road we started in Rubicon is beyond Jove, beyond wormholes and the Shattered Systems. New space, real and expansive new space, is still coming.

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Crystal Ball Prediction Time:

Players will find a way into Jove space, probably via wormholes, possibly with new technology to make jumps or stargates. I suspect the partially cloaked Unidentified Objects we are seeing in space from the Rhea release will play a part in getting us there eventually. In there we will start to find the components and techs we need to make the next jump to the new space which will be much larger than a couple regions. Think wormhole space big at least.

Brace Yourself.

The Lore Is Important

Somewhere along the line, CCP realized that the game universe lore was important to the players of EVE online even though they disparage role playing. Or rather remembered.

The current events in the game lore happening recently have many players that usually ignore the lore and treat it as a background to all player actions actually feeling excited about what they mean and portend. As an example of the excitement, listen to the latest Hydrostatic special episode called Rhea Lore Panel. Its a 2 hour summary of previous lore and the current lore and its possible implications. Fascinating stuff.

The upshot is that players are excited. They are looking around at Rhea and the Caroline's Star, and the lore news events, and asking "What's Coming?" with a nervous anticipation. CCP has rediscovered that Lore Matters.

But why?

Well, it matters because it shapes the game and the mechanics. Thera and the other 100 shattered wormholes are all heavily inspired and influenced by the Sleeper and Wormhole storyline; the player stargates and the "new space" implementation in the future will lean heavily on the decisions made for the lore today. And most importantly, CCP has made it clear that the direction and destination of the lore can be influenced by the player actions in meaningful ways.

Roleplayers or not, its easy to get excited about the background we engage each other in becoming more alive and vibrant. The game has always played second fiddle to player actions, but there is no reason for the background to be cardboard cutouts and completely hollow shells. The ride gets more exciting when there is more life to the animatronics.

And most importantly, the lore being dynamic and moving helps to bring players in and keep them engaged in those lulls when a player is between corporations or alliances. Hell, I want to go see Thera and I am fully engaged in Faction Warfare.

So good job, CCP, in reviving the lore storylines in a big way this fall. Good job energizing the community that follows the storylines from close and afar. Good job making us anxious for the next release not only for content but also for what it all means.

Welcome to Thera

From TheMittani.com:

Finally, CCP Mimic and CCP Fozzie had a chat before finishing off the stream. Fozzie is quite happy with how Phoebe has been received so far, particularly the features his team (Five-O) worked on, like bookmarks in space. They quickly pivoted to Rhea, however. Fozzie announced that CCP was adding more systems to New Eden with Rhea - a collection of new wormhole systems with unique mechanics and features. One system in particular he expects will be popular and notorious in the future: Thera, the first ever named wormhole system.
Thera is to be a hybrid wormhole system with unique mechanics combining aspects of wormhole, nullsec, and lowsec space. No capital ships or POS will be allowed or built within this system, but (unlike every other wormhole system) it will contain NPC stations and landmarks. Like wormholes, it will have no immediate player reveal via local chat, along with NPC Sleeper enemies. It is expected to have static connections to k-space as well as constantly changing non-static connections to both k-space and w-space. Players can live in Thera and have no idea where they'll be connected to tomorrow. Thera will be a major part of the overall lore surrounding the expansions beginning with Phoebe (involving Sleeper tech and so on).

CCP Rise has apparently described what he expects Thera will be as "the Mos Eisley of EVE" - the lawless hub of the universe, attractive to alliances on deployments, sightseers, and PvP-hungry pilots. A unique sun, multiple unique nebulae, new station colors, and other new graphics will add to the flair. Thera is expected to be available for testing on SiSi in two weeks, with an accompanying dev blog and forum post.
To summarize: Upon Rhea's release, there will no longer be grades of medical clone, nor SP loss on podkill. Players will also have access to Thera, a roaming Dark Mirror of Jita with unique features and mechanics. Those are two very big reveals, and they've certainly ignited the passion of the community in stream chat, #tweetfleet, and elsewhere. Expect more coverage of these features as information becomes available.

Awesome!