EVE Online is a space-based MMO through and through. In the six years since the game went live, EVE's galactic setting of New Eden has expanded to encompass thousands of solar systems, both charted space and far-flung unexplored systems, as the game's subscriber numbers have slowly but steadily grown. The IP is expanding in new directions as well. Novels now add more depth to the game's lore. CCP Games plans to let players step out of their ships and interact as avatars with Walking in Stations, and the devs have stated that they'd like to bring atmospheric flight to the game at some (undetermined) point in the future. And of course they also have a ground pounder FPS set in the EVE universe in the works.
It was some of these things on the horizon that got our friend CrazyKinux thinking about the possibilities that may open up for this sci-fi MMO if planetary colonization or terrestrial gameplay are introduced. In fact, he decided to make this the basis of his next EVE Online contest. It's one we think might interest some of Massively's readers, particularly as the contest winner will get to
CrazyKinux explains the main idea behind the contest:
"The goal is to write an article on planetary control and how that would be implemented in EVE. Your article needs to cover what features, game mechanics, game design you would like to see implemented if (or when) planetary control/exploration/exploitation becomes available in EVE."
The contest will be more difficult than it seems at first though, as each article submission will be done in two parts. He explains:
"You're required to write a two-part article. The first part needs to be a fiction piece that tells a story based on the feature (or game mechanic, game design, etc...) that you would like to see implemented, while the second part would be the actual description of how that would work in game."
If this has sparked your interest and you've got a flair for writing, have a look at the contest announcement over at CrazyKinux's Musing for more details. The contest deadline is August 19th, at 11:59PM EDT. CrazyKinux will select the top five entries, with the winner chosen at random.
