EVE Faction Warfare: Convert or Kill?

I’m a convert. I’ve seen the light, changed my religion. It started so simply — a bit of curiosity, a rumor of a new PvP system and a burning desire to see it for myself… And then it happened: I left WoW for EVE.

I was hooked. What started out as mere curiosity soon turned into a full out membership, a new obsession, and even the cancellation of my World of WarCraft account.

But I digress. Let’s start at the beginning, when I (at the time, just an innocent blood elf) heard rumors from friends of this EVE game. I shrugged it off—no spaceship could compare to elves and monsters. But then I heard about this new expansion, Empyrean Age, where a player could get involved in faction warfare. It sounded oddly intriguing (like WoW—but four factions involved in all-out war versus the Alliance/Horde mini-battles), so I decided that it was my moral obligation to check it out. So I signed up for the two week free trial and jumped on my ship, ready to go.

And I never left.

But what was this “faction warfare” to make me stay? Well, faction warfare is a PvP system that allows you to participate in a war for your chosen faction (the Caldari, Gallente, Minmatar or Amarr). It’s mostly focused on a small scale level, allowing even new players to meet up with friends and go destroy an enemy frigate. Nathan Richardsson, one of the producers of EVE, says that “factional warfare is something of a holy grail for many of us.” The effects of factional warfare will have a direct result on the universe- eventually, solar systems might change hands, wealth, industry and logistics will have an effect on the war and the war will become more like a realistic occurrence. And the game even keeps a full tally of victories, kills and statistics online, so you can keep track of how your faction is doing.

EVE had a lot of high expectations for Empyrean Age and its faction warfare, and it really did succeed in achieving those goals.

And, as a bonus to EVE, it converted me to a full believer.

Long live the Minmatars!