Hydrostatic Podcast will assemble for the second time. They are a panel of EVE back-story experts who hope to discuss the expansions that are hitting every 6 weeks and how they fit in with the current story of the game. This time the panel will stream live on Twitch and take questions from players.
Hydrostatic Podcast Presents: Tiamat Lore Panel
The hosts of Hydrostatic Podcast invite you to join Mark726, Rhavas, Morwen Lagann, Anslo, Uriel Anteovnuecci, and Tarek Raimo on our new Twitch channel at http://twitch.tv/HydrostaticEVE
9:00 pm EST, Tuesday, February 3rd
(02:00 Wednesday, February 4th Eve time)For a pre-Tiamat Lore Panel to discuss the latest lore events including:
The “Drifter” Jovian(?) battleship and other Jove tidbits
The new “triple integral” symbol
New lore-connected features like the Svipul destroyer and Super Kerr-Induced Nanocoatings
The Gallente Presidential Elections
Previous lore panel was assembled for the Rhea expansions, and a recording of the discussion can be found at this link. Even CCP Seagull, Executive Producer of EVE Online, has listened into the podcasts lore segments.
If you have not noticed, EVE is in the midst of an incredible back-story push from CCP, the likes of which hasn’t been seen in years. Long ago during the run up to the Empyrean Age expansion, when Faction War was released, a set of video teasers and trailers were released to gear up the player-base. Along with those, CCP put out in-game news breaks relaying, fictional events in the New Eden.
**Spoilers below**
The beginning of the Gallente/Caldari war:
A Caldari leader, Heth, rose up from the working class to strong-arm his way to the top of Caldari leadership, opposed only by the peace seeking leader of the Ishukone Corporation. Heth was determined to fight the Gallente Federation for Caldari Prime, and made a deal with a mysterious agent known as the Broker to derail peace talks held at Ishukone HQ in Lonetrek (Malkalen).
The ceremonial Nyx class ship was to be piloted by a legendary anti-war Gallentian admiral, as a show of cooperation and peace between the Caldari and Gallente, amid tensions created by Heth. Unfortunately the general was assassinated and melted down by the Broker, who, disguised, piloted the Nyx into the heart of the station, killing Ishukone’s leader: “As billions of horrified people watched throughout New Eden, a fireball dozens of kilometers in diameter lit the space of Malkalen in a brilliant flash, marking the deaths of more than three hundred thousand Caldari souls, and with them, the only man who could stop them all from falling into the abyss (of war).” – EVE: The Empyrean Age, Book
Heth, now unrivaled, had control of the Caldari military assets and a war to use them.
On the Amarr/Minmatarr war:
The Gallente, finding Amarrian slave-holdings abhorrent, secretly helped train a rogue Republic-Thukker task force for a special purpose. Their first target was Concord HQ in Yulai, to threaten the CONCORD command and control and intimidate them to stay clear of what was going to happen in 30 days – a rescue effort in Amarr space.
‘’Karin said angrily. ‘How the hell could he stand up to CONCORD like that? And what the hell were those ships in Yulai?’ ‘I think they were the Elders,’ the admiral said matter-of-factly. ‘Only they could earn the loyalty of the Thukker Tribe . . . and only they could sneak that kind of firepower into Empire space.’ – EVE: The Empyrean Age, Book
At zero hour, CONCORD did not back down, and the Elder Fleet laid waste to the CONCORD Bureau Station in Genesis (Yulai). This was a first strike to prepare for the real target: Amarr homeworld, planet Mekhios. The Elder Fleet moved in on Amarr to rescue their enslave sons and daughters.
Concurrently, the Jamyl Serum was reappearing after her “death” in the Amarrian succession trials, years earlier, but she was changed: Her body hosted not only her soul, but another mysterious entity, one much more ambitious than even she. Jamyl commanded Amarr warships in the Battle of Mekhios, and although the Minmatar Elder fleet managed to free many slaves, it did so at great cost. Jamyl possessed a Terran super weapon that annihilated The Elder Fleets titan, when titans were rare.
The Caldari invaded Caldari Prime, Gallente space, taking advantage of CONCORD being sidelined. Heth lead them to victory and Caldari Primes was once again in Caldari hands (until the DUST launch and the player event Battle for Caldari Prime, a few years later.)
CONCORD patched itself back together and broadcast warnings and bounties for the retreating and wounded Elder ships, with bellies full of liberated slaves. Officials also warned Jamyl not to pursue.
During these events (which coincided with patch day, 2008-06-10), CCP posted breaking news bulletins, one after another, describing events as they happened: [link to World News]
BREAKING NEWS: TIBUS HETH CONQUERS CALDARI PRIME, FOIRITAN CEDES CONTROL
REPORT: MINMATAR-THUKKER TASK FORCE ARE MINMATAR ELDERS
REPORT: “MASS MURDERS” REPORTED AT MINMATAR REPUBLIC GOVERNMENT FACILITIES
BREAKING NEWS: CONCORD ANNOUNCES AUTHORIZATION OF EMERGENCY MILITIA WAR POWERS ACT
Players were treated to story arcs throughout the extended downtime, which lead to the Empyrean Age expansion. Faction war came in with a bang.
The Amarrian victory over the Minmatar propelled Jamyl to the throne, and the “Harbinger of Hope, and the Sword of the Righteous” declared a new reclaiming of Amarrian territories.
Even after the wars were in full swing, CCP followed up by having the House of Kador invade Gallente space in Solitude. Confirmations on Kador’s motives never surfaced, but he was quickly defeated by the superior Gallente forces, and then later reprimanded by Empress Jamyl for attacking in the first place.
BREAKING REPORT: AMARRIAN WARSHIPS CROSS FEDERATION BORDER IN SOLITUDE
BREAKING REPORT: WARSHIPS REPORTEDLY ACTING ON ORDERS FROM AMARR HEIR URIAM KADOR
IMPERIAL FLEET SPOKESPERSON: ‘WE HAVE NOT SANCTIONED THIS ATTACK’
Empress Jamyl reprimands Heir Kador, confiscates fleet
That trailer was the last of the Scope News broadcasts.
This last trailer was mainly a continuation of The Empyrean Age as most of the Quantum Rise expansion focused on technical upgrades. It was a breather between the Empyrean Age and the age of wormholes: Apocrypha expansion. CCP put a lot of effort into bringing players into the immersive cluster of New Eden, but faction war fervor fell victim to bugs, and players were more interested in themselves anyway.
Then, Apocrypha ushered in wormholes, and a new frontier was born, as well as a new mysterious back-story. CCP has indicated that the events surrounding the current expansions were planned many years ago and we have still not seen most of it. Clearly with the work done on wormholes, incursions, and new sleepers moving into known space, the known and unknown parts of space are converging. New Eden is being unified in new ways: Major battles now require wormholes to travel, rental empires now extend into wormhole space, and major null-sec alliances are as dependent on wormhole experts as they are capital pilots.
Behind it all sits an intricate sci-fi backdrop. Great efforts are made by players, with little gain for themselves, to bring others in on all the immersive goodness:
Into the Wormhole: The current story-arc
The Seyllin Report – Raimus Amira (summary of events after Seyllin Incident)
EVE Travel: Epicenter (Explanations of Thera’s epicenter)
Crossing Zebras: Shattered Planets and The Seyllin Incident – Rhavas
EVElopedia – 111.03.10 The Seyllin Disaster and Emergence of unstable wormholes
EVE Travel: Lore Survival Guide
Notice how few “likes” and comments they get – not many. It’s selfless work. If you don’t have time to read it all then you can listen in on the podcast as some of these dedicated players break it down: See show notes above, and if you can’t make it there will surely be a recording of it at hydrostatic podcast.
