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Limal's avatar

Drifters Strike New Eden – A Mystery Unfolds!

Something big is happening in New Eden, but the full picture remains unclear. One thing is certain: the Drifters have launched a full-scale invasion, striking capsuleers, structures, and key locations across the cluster. With CONCORD and empire forces struggling to respond, the threat is growing, and speculation is running wild.

But there’s more, hidden within the chaos, capsuleers have begun deciphering a cryptic message embedded in Drifter Spectral Vision fragments. So far, six fragments have been uncovered, and the race is on to decode their meaning before it’s too late.

Cracking the Drifter Code

The first fragment decoded, α Spectral Vision Capture, appears to depict the great pillars of the Matari tribes. Some capsuleers believe this could hint at an imminent Drifter assault on Pator (1.0), the heart of the Minmatar Republic. While CONCORD maintains a heavy presence there, we’ve already seen how quickly Yulai fell. If the Drifters are indeed targeting Pator, capsuleers must prepare for all-out war to defend critical systems.

Meanwhile, I personally obtained a fragment showing screaming faces and what appears to be Zarzakh-like technology, perhaps a link to the Vanguard? The implications are unsettling, and the hunt for answers continues.

Join the Investigation

If you want to contribute to the cause, the Arataka Research Consortium is actively collecting and analyzing data. Every bit of intel brings us closer to solving this puzzle and understanding what the Drifters are truly planning. Stay vigilant, keep scanning, and let’s piece this mystery together!

Latest data : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/15Pr3KkeKK4_U3LSXdzIDIU03rc5RyW26P5vt8o9cmoQ

The fate of New Eden may depend on it.

Limal's avatar

Getting error "try again latrer" when trying to add more than 1 image per post.

Adding aditional content as comments

Boomer's avatar

Hey Limal, thanks for letting us know about this. Has it only happened this one time or has it happened more than once?

I just tested it and it seemed to work fine, but I'll keep an eye out.

Limal's avatar

Not sure; I didn't report it as a bug because I can't reproduce it. Sometimes it asks me to wait, so I did, but after an hour, nothing changed, so I just added it as a comment.

Alex Sinclair's avatar

Great entry! You'd have to change up your submission, but I'll also point you this way:

https://justabout.com/eve-online/38600/help-us-get-to-grips-with-the-drifter-crisis

Limal's avatar

I have it on my radar, but with more content

yan57436's avatar

The situation in New Eden is always dynamic, and the recent reset of standings seems to me to bring even more dynamics, since the interactions between the groups will suffer a good impact, as with unexpected encounters in neutral or hostile space, bringing unpredictability especially in the generation of conflicts. The forces that will rise with these changes are not yet fully measurable, in my opinion (I've read some people talking mainly about Winterco and Panfam and it makes total sense).

The addition of new ships, such as Cenotaph and Tholos, have significantly altered the market, but they haven't proved accessible, you need to have a lot of money to access them, which ends up being complicated for the less dedicated, perhaps I would say frustrating. They have an incredible weapon system based on continuous damage.

In the wars, we had encounters in Cloud Ring led by The Initiative and appearances by the Shadow Cartel in Essence. Pandafam focuses on its internal issues and Goonswarm leverages gains to the south.

In this way, I believe that what will define the future of tensions will be the resetting of standings and the adaptation of alliances, and I'll be watching to see the impact on history.

Luka Zaharin's avatar

Lowsec in the Jita area: Conflict in the warzone between Caldari and Gallente

Since a few weeks, tension is growing again in the space currently occupied by militant empire forces. After a long period of relative stability, the Federation is pushing the frontlines back into Caldari space. Gallente forces broke through the defences in Alparena, opening up a new front in the Serthoulde pipeline. At the same time, the pressure on southern Placid systems remains, even pushing towards Black Rise.

The southern warzone changed shape with the loss of Heydieles and Fliet, turning the traditionally Gallentian systems green again. With even Deven and Nagamanen retaken by the Federation, the State is fighting in the Hasmijaala pipe and the Sujarento connection.

The Caldari are standing their ground though. Fighting the push from Essence into Black Rise, they did not only slow the Gallente attack down, but also managed to retake the tactically important system Oinasiken.

During the next days and weeks, a lot of the Serthoulde pipe will probably fall into Federation hands again. Caldari forces are not very strong in that area. Nevertheless, the push towards Sujarento is slowing down as it encounters opposition and so is the attack on the Pynekastoh crossway. Soon the Federation supply lines will become too long to sustain the force needed to attack the more heavily defended Caldari fortresses, but until then, many more sites will be fought over.

Overall, the movement in the warzone brings some more activity again with several dynamic systems taking the place of the old Heyd & Vlillirier hotspots. Interesting times are coming to the Caldari-Gallente warzone.

This is Alton Harvey, reporting for the Scope.

Oh, of course I mean:

This is Luka Zaharin, reporting as an unaligned "observer"

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar

Here is my report on all the questions above!

Sorry Alex, making you watch a lot of videos, I'm better with a camera than I am with written words

https://www.youtube.com/embed/IPd1FXfZjAo?feature=oembed

Alex Sinclair's avatar

Very informative, thank you! I'm looking forward to things kicking off as predicted. Just a note that while we don't (currently) have it as a necessary requirement, we do always prefer videos that are listed. It maximises value to other players and to our partners. o7

FirestormGamingTeam's avatar

Yeh thats foine, basically i have three videos listed a day until the 17th and then I will release thee day by day, if you release a fourth video onto YouTube it tends to do horribly. My bad, the videos Idid today are all unlisted, hope this doesnt effect things but I will after the 17th, start putting them public, I just cant as of yet.

S

The Charity Cup being run by Jin'taan is happening soon with signups closing at the end of the month. Full rules and more can be found here: discord.gg/vCC3QAHqaV

The schedule looks to have the main tournament taking place at the end of March/early April with prelims at the beginning of March.

The ruleset is quite simple when compared to the Alliance Tournament and also will take palce on Thunderdome so requires no investment from teams outside of the entry cost. There are still several teams looking for players and many other possible ways to enter since teams can be as small as 6 individual pilots.

Definitely something I would suggest taking a part in if you have time.

Kane Carnifex's avatar

Major Standing Resets?!https://sov.space/

https://www.verite.space/maps/coalition/coalitioninfluence.png

https://www.verite.space/maps/influence/influence.png


It looks like the reset will happen around the 1st of january.
They all will still be friends and may work in the future together.
Also nothing happened yet, just pictures from discord pings.

Thanks to /r/eve

Winterco & Panfam

We cannot say what will happen since also the Pirates claimed the Standing reset.

Beside the date showing a highly simple fake.

What will happen next?

The reset gives the game a new dynamic.
If you filament you no longer fear to land in blue space, waiting 15 minutes for another blue space?

You can visit your neighbour and say hello to old friends in the good old fashioned way.
Killing is just a means of communication

Stay tuned, then the story is just developing.

Sturmer's avatar

Last week was relatively calm. There were some skirmishes in Cloud Ring, led by The Initiative. Shadow Cartel was spotted rolling their shiny Barghest fleet around Essence. However, these engagements were all on a sub-capital scale. My sources suggest that the Goonswarm Federation is primarily occupied with housekeeping - clearing the mess in their newly captured southern regions and settling in. Meanwhile, Pandafam is taking advantage of the calm to handle their own internal maintenance, as their rapidly growing empire risks collapsing without proper support.

Nearly a week ago, a new expansion launched, introducing two new ships: the Tholos and the Cenotaph. Beyond their sleek, cyberpunk-inspired hulls, these ships come with a completely new weapon system - a.k.a DOT (Damage Over Time) mechanics found in most MMOs.

Performance?
So far, the most significant impact has been on the market rather than the battlefield. The prices for these ships, along with their weapons and ammo, are shocking, making them accessible only to die-hard fans or the very wealthy. Glady, the hull prices are rapidly going down, making them a very risky investment.

The Tholos, for instance, is a dangerous ship with just 6k EHP and a 5-billion ISK price tag, making it a gank magnet even in high-security systems (0.9).
The Cenotaph, while slightly tougher, has been seen soloing an oddly fit battleship. However, with a price tag of billions ISK for the hull alone, it’s hard to justify its value in the current meta.

DU

New Eden is at a critical moment, on the brink of instability with something brewing in the air. There’s a sense of conflict in the atmosphere, and currently, the alliances seem to show latent aggression and a desire to dominate. Among the most powerful factions are The Imperium and the Pappy Coalition, both vying for control over resources. They strategically observe their opponent’s surroundings, aiming to outmaneuver them and be the best during the conflict. They feel prepared and are ready to take risks in order to destroy their enemies. Both new and old alliances are constantly in play, sometimes breaking apart, sometimes forming for convenience. Key systems like V-3X70 and B-R5RB have the potential to shift the balance of power.

The megacorps still hold significant economic control, and even in these areas, mercenary actions for resource control are being recorded. The scene is currently a mix of the ongoing struggle for power, control over resources, and alliances that rise and fall depending on what is at stake.

mypets's avatar

New Eden continues to change constantly, and with the new redefinition of standings, everything indicates that the political landscape will become even more unpredictable. Alliances and corporations being forced to re-evaluate some relationships, as well as some unexpected encounters in neutral or hostile territories that could foment conflicts, in a way that increases and creates new realities and strategic opportunities. It's difficult to determine the full impact of these changes, but it's already possible to imagine that WinterCo and PanFam could be the main blocs affected.

Despite being one-off, the conflicts that have been taking place on the battlefield have their importance. Cloud Ring with some minor combats led by The Initiative... Shadow Carter with incursions into the Essence region, Goonswarm with a greater focus on the south and Pandafam seeking to occupy more of the inner regions (which helps prevent the collapse of its expansion).

The new Cenotaph and Tholos ships are having a major impact on the market, but there is still a major impasse with their accessibility. Despite the enthusiasm for acquiring one for the continuous damage weapon system, the prices are still very high, so let's wait for the prices to drop so that they become more viable in a while.

So the New Eden scenario remains susceptible to major changes for the time being... Let's find out which alliances will adapt best and still capitalize on these changes.

Alex Sinclair's avatar

Hi mypets,

Could you tell us how you wrote this entry? It's extremely similar to yan57436's submission and was made very shortly afterwards. Furthermore, we've noticed very similar entries from the two of you before. This appears to be plagiarism, which is explicitly banned in our community code of conduct.

It's ok to include other creators' work in your own, but you must do so sparingly, and you must acknowledge their work with a proper citation and, ideally, a link. To present other people's work as if it were your own is antithetical to our values: we exist to reward authentic, original, human content, and to respect the effort taken to produce it.

Lack of satisfactory explanation and/or further instances of plagiarism will result in us restricting your access to the platform.

mypets's avatar

Hello, Alex Sinclair!

I recognize that my reply was quite similar to yan57436’s, so I apologize for what happened. He's my boyfriend, we live and study together, and when we get home, we usually stop at the same time to do the day's activities, including Just About. We exchange ideas and he helps me with the English translations, as I have some difficulty. I think I ended up confusing the previous template he had made with the translation for my post and I didn't pay attention to the text he sent earlier, so our ideas were very similar, but I recognize that this is still against community guidelines. I want to correct my mistake as best I can. If appropriate, I will remove it if necessary. Thank you for the warning and the opportunity to improve. I really like Just About, this community is very special to me. I take your work very seriously and I hope I can correct my mistake. I apologize in advance and assure you that this will not happen again.

Alex Sinclair's avatar

Hey mypets,

Thanks for explaining. We really value you both as community members, and this definitely explains the similarities. We're totally open to community members (and romantic partners!) collaborating and helping each other with things like translation. However, it's really important for us as a platform that the submissions we receive are based on authentic knowledge, experience, and passion from the entrant who submitted them. We won't take any further action on this case, but we ask that for future rewards, you only submit to topics you're passionate about using your own experiences, insights, and creations.

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