Kind of odd that the the first thing you see on the page is a quote from "Phoebe's brother in the TV show Friends" (yeah, that's how they're attributing it), but there you have it. The newest ship to be introduced by CCP is the third fan-made ship, and it will be introduced during EVE's upcoming winter expansion. Created for the Amarr Pilots of EVE, the ship will be called the Oracle, and aside from looking like a woodbug with lasers, it should feature a boatload of firepower that'll satisfy even the staunchest of psychic pilots.

I'll be honest, I haven't had the opportunity to really get involved in everything EVE, so this latest dev blog from CCP on "Hybrid Weapon and Tech II Ammo Balancing" is a little over my head. This won't prevent me from taking a valiant stab at it, however, and from what I can understand, Hybrid Weapons in EVE Online are getting a buff, as it was felt that their close-range balance was a little underpowered. Also, ships seem to be getting some velocity and inertia modifier buffs.

I'm going to assume that's a good thing.

What I do know, however, is that this latest dev blog from CCP is a clear example of their stated "refocus" on EVE Online. A simple line like "If you have issues with this balancing plan, please post your feedback in the comment thread. We are listening." is fantastic for bolstering community confidence, and this is exactly what CCP is doing. Keep it up CCP!

Last week, there was an unfortunate announcement from CCP that they were laying off 20% of their global staff in order to refocus their efforts on developing EVE Online and bringing DUST 514 to consoles. In the wake of those layoffs, EVE's Community team has followed up with a post of their own, noting that some members of the EVE Community staff were also affected by the downsizing.

They did, however, want to stress the fact that communication will not suffer as a result of this, as the Community team has merged with the Customer Support team in order to create the "Customer Relations wing of CCP." By being co-located with the developers, this new "wing" will be able to better communicate with players the current developments taking place in EVE Online.

The team also highlighted their plans for the next few weeks, including a series of short video blogs that will focus on ideas currently being developed for EVE Online. More social media interaction will be taking place, as well as a higher number of dev blogs and up to date news. Finally, the volunteer moderator program is also in its planning stages, which would obviously help out this diminished community team. Good luck!

It seems like CCP has been having a baaaad month. A few weeks ago, CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson formally apologized for the controversies surrounding the sale of certain virtual goods in the Noble Exchange store, and this week's announcement comes in the form of a global layoff affecting about 20% of CCP staff; with most of those layoffs coming from their Atlanta, GA office, and a few select losses in CCP's main offices in Reykjavik, Iceland. In their letter to the public, CCP makes it clear that the global layoffs are a result of the company wanting to focus more heavily on EVE Online and the launch of DUST 514. Feeling that many of their mistakes with EVE were the result of a team stretched too thin working on EVE Online, DUST 514, and World of Darkness, CCP had this to say:

For the immediate future, our mission is to enrich the vast EVE Universe by strengthening the continuous development of EVE Online while preparing to bring DUST 514 to market on the PS3. We do this in order to realize our ambitious and challenging plan of joining the two in a cross-platform, truly massive online world.

World of Darkness will continue development with a significantly reduced team. This team will continue to iterate and expand on the gameplay and systems they have designed. We will also redeploy creative teams in Atlanta to support the launch of DUST 514.

Bad news for World of Darkness fans who were hoping they might see this MMORPG sooner than later, but this is certainly good news for any EVE Online players who are eagerly looking forward to the launch of DUST 514. As usual with CCP, this is a bold move to address key problems, so let's hope they work!

CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson just posted a lengthy apology letter to the EVE Online community that touches on the controversies surrounding the Captain's Quarters, virtual goods sales in the Noble Exchange store, and the overall launch of Incarna. "I was wrong and I admit it," he said.

As Pétursson reflects on his "hubris" and all of the "red flags" that have popped up over recent months, he also states that he has high hopes for the future of EVE. "Good things are coming. They always do when you learn from your mistakes," he said. As a reminder, he linked to the "Future Vision" trailer that was released at Fanfest in March. You can watch it below and then read through Pétursson's full letter after the jump.

In a follow-up dev blog entry, Senior Producer Arnar Hrafn Gylfason announced that "EVE Online´s Winter 2011 expansion will be themed around improvements to warfare and PVP." He also said they're refocusing all of the development teams on EVE's core gameplay: spaceships.

CCP has released the three remaining racial Captain’s Quarters on EVE Online's Singularity test server, and they're almost ready for their final deployment to Tranquility in October. The new Captain’s Quarters have been designed to represent the style of each race:

• "The Caldari Captain’s Quarters are about glass and steel, as the Caldari are, of course, men and women of steel. Their mindset is Spartan and functional. Cold and calculated."
• "The Gallente quarters are slick and streamlined. Comfort through elegant design. The mirror is also prominent, since the Gallenteans are known to spend a lot of time in front of it."
• "The Amarr Captain’s Quarters were designed with dark religious undertones and a show of opulence, despite the relatively cramped living area. Religious icons tower at either side of the entrance, reminding you of your lowly place in the world."

Want to know what he's watching? Click the image!

Do you want to watch your own videos from the comfort of your Captain's Quarters in EVE Online? Well now you can with CCP's handy guide! All you need to do is convert a video file to .BIK and then drop it in the CQScreenVideos folder in your EVE cache folder. Add multiple videos and you can watch them loop on your "virtual, hundred-and-something inch flat screen television."

Interestingly enough, CCP decided to release the guide after some EVE players realized you could "fiddle with a couple of files in the client" to add videos to the Captain's Quarters television. Rather than risk players messing with the client and missing new patch content, CCP told all players how to safely customize their in-game TV experience.

EVE Online players have reached the second sharing milestone on the EVE is Real virtual museum site, which puts another 1,000 Aurum in the pockets of every active pilot. According to CCP, all that Aurum adds up to approximately $1.75 million worth of virtual currency that's been given out for this milestone.

So how do you unlock these Aurum milestones on the EVE is Real site? All you need to do is share the player-submitted images and videos on social networks like Facebook and Twitter. The third milestone is currently in progress, which will give each player 1,500 Aurum. The fourth and final milestone will unlock 2,000 Aurum for each player.

In other EVE is Real news, CCP has picked the winners of the image and video contests! The 20 image winners will each receive a GeForce GTX 460 SE video graphics card, while the one video winner will get an Alienware Area-51 gaming computer. You can watch the winning video from Tez Saurus below.

When the Captain's Quarters feature launched with EVE Online's Incarna expansion, CCP removed the ability to spin your ship in the station hangar and look at it from all angles. If you missed that feature, you'll be happy to know that it will be making its return in the near future.

Why is CCP bringing ship spinning back? Simply put, the Captain's Quarters requires far more GPU and CPU power and doesn't retain the UI functionality of Ship Spinning. Once the update is live, "you will simply be able to board and unboard your ship, toggling between Captain‘s Quarters and Ship Spinning mode."

CCP's Torfi Frans Olafsson amentions in his dev blog entry that the upcoming patch will also feature new cyno effects and improved lighting effects, as well as changes to the turret icons.

Mark your calendars! CCP just announced that Fanfest 2012 will be held from March 22-24 in a new location: the recently completed Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre (seen above).

Here's a list of the events you can expect to enjoy at the ultimate EVE Online community event:

• Exclusive EVE Presentations
• Live PVP Tournament action
• Player/Developer roundtable discussions
• The latest in DUST 514 presentations and information
• The Reykjavik nightlife experience with devs in the CCP Pub Crawls
• The famous Party at the Top of the World
• Blue Lagoon Hangover Party
• Live Agents, the Silent Auction, and much, much more!

Further details, including flights and accommodation and Fanfest 2012 Access Pass availability, will be announced at a later date. While you wait, feel free to browse through our coverage of this year's Fanfest.