Ten years of political intrigue, heroic piloting, great wars, friendships, betrayals and various other shenanigans make for some of the most compelling stories and events in gaming (or so we are frequently told).
As EVE Online approaches its 10th birthday we’ve started to find ourselves a bit lacking for tools to explain the incredible depth and story it has to offer – especially as it just…keeps…growing. So far we’ve had to point people to articles on the EVE wiki, to chronicles, our published novels, scientific articles and even ancient forum posts to pull everything together and give them a crash course in the setting of EVE. Certainly with the imminent launch of DUST 514, set in the same universe, this challenge is only going to increase in complexity. I’m sure you’d agree with us it could be better.
And indeed it can!
As of right now, we’ve launched the first version of an interactive timeline that explains the setting and lore of EVE Online and DUST 514. To begin with we’re sticking with core concepts: how the New Eden universe is discovered and colonized, how the collapse of the EVE Gate isolates the pioneers and how they eventually become the major empires and controlling forces in this dark and unforgiving universe. In coming months we will expand on the functionality of this timeline to include excerpts from the True Stories initiative as well as other accounts of significant player events. But for this first iteration, we’re focused on the setting and lore of EVE.
If you’ve clicked the link already you’ll notice the timeline is hosted on a new domain, EVE.com. In the run-up to the 10th anniversary of EVE Online on May 6th and with DUST 514 taking an active and deadly place in the EVE universe, it feels like the perfect time to open this portal of all things EVE related.
Once you’ve had a chance to click around the timeline, we’d love to know what other world-shaping moments you’d like to see canonized there. The formation of the first alliance? The birth and destruction of the first titan? The invasion and “burning” of Jita? Please let us know what moments we’re forgetting in the comments thread attached to this blog.
So much has happened in the past years it’s impossible for a single entity to remember it all; only the collective hivemind of you who were truly there can tackle the huge task of chronicling our shared history.