Director of Content Cody Bye sat down with EVE Online Lead Designer Kristoffer Touborg to discuss the null-sec revamp and the state of the game.

During his time at PAX Prime, Director of Content Cody Bye got the chance to sit down with EVE Online Lead Designer Kristoffer Touborg (aka CCP Soundwave) talk talk about a variety of topics, such as the null-sec revamp and the community's current reaction to Incarna and the Captain's Quarters. He even touches on the future of EVE, including the addition of player-run Establishments and alcohol. Lots of alcohol.

Keep reading after the jump for the full interview!

ZAM: We're not going to beat around the bush. What do you guys have planned for the null-sec revamp?

Kristoffer Touborg: It's going to be our primary focus through the winter. I'd like to say that it's going to be our focus for the time after winter as well, but that hasn't been firmly decided upon yet. We're taking a hard look at our capital ships and ship balancing, which we've been meaning to do for awhile. Capital ship production, we feel, is a good place to start in all that, and this supplements the other work that we're doing in null-sec very well.

Basically all of the forum posts and blogs that users have been reading about where we want to take null-sec, that's the work that we're starting on now. For example, we want to make null-sec the place where people go to make Tech 2 items, along with a lot of additional “living” changes that make it easier for players to stay in 0.0 space. Hopefully small time industrialists and other sorts of players will have more of a reason to go to null-sec space and stay.

There are some things that are just awful that players have had to endure for awhile, and we want to make them less awful. Things like module timers; there's no reason you have to sit and watch that module for fifteen minutes. We want to cut that down. Passwords on jump bridges we also want to do away with. Just a lot of relatively small changes that hopefully add up to a better overall experience.

ZAM: Incarna and the Captain's Quarters definitely polarized the community when it was announced, but how has the community responded to it now that it's been live for a few months?

Touborg: They're becoming more and more accepting of it. Obviously when it was announced, there were some people in the community that didn't want it at all. We're also seeing quite a few people that do like it now. It seems like whenever a complaint thread crops up now, there are plenty of people willing to jump in and say that they like it.

It's gradually evolving into a natural part of the EVE experience. For a lot of players, it's really all that they know, because they start with it.

ZAM: What are players talking about / doing the most in the community right now?

Touborg: Definitely null-sec changes. The number of motherships for sale has skyrocketed because a lot of players are trying to anticipate what's going to happen and bracing for some sweeping adjustments. People know what's coming up, so they're trying to play the market a bit and get an advantage while they can.

We also might be making some changes to how players mine minerals, and it's the same thing there. People are stockpiling resources because they're trying to anticipate what's going to happen once the changes are implemented. They want to benefit from what's going to come next.

The Russians, for example, are basically trying to take over as much space as possible because they believe that how groups project their forces will be changing drastically.

ZAM: How has that worked out for them?

Touborg: They've taken over a lot of space.

ZAM: Why weren't they controlling more space before?

Touborg: It's mostly been about the political scene. A lot of the Russians really hate each other. People see them as this one big power block, but they're really not. They banded together to destroy the “NC” power block that had formed, because they decided they hated them more than they hated each other.

Once they took that out, it went back to the status quo and the in-fighting within their groups started again. The Russians up “north” hate the Russians down “south” - it's basically a civil war.

ZAM: Are the two Russian blocks the major superpowers in EVE right now?

Touborg: You could say so.

ZAM: What's the horizon look like for EVE Online? What kind of new content is heading into space for us to play with?

Touborg: Our big focus for the brand new stuff is Incarna. We want to release the rest of the Captain's Quarters sometime this winter, and we're getting Establishments put into the game as well. These are going to be shops that players can own, and you'll be able to have players gamble with their avatars. In the spirit of EVE Online, it's going to be all about drugs and gambling. Alcohol will also be readily available for players.

We want this to be a fun and engaging side of the non-ship part of EVE, and we want players to be able to bet everything on their games and then buy drugs/alcohol to dampen their emotional state. Anything we can take away from NPCs and allow players to do is in our plans. So maybe you go and dock your ship and you need some repairs - instead of having it done by NPCs you could accept the lowest bid from one of the various player-run Establishments that exist.

Cody "Micajah" Bye, Director of Content