Eve Online is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed and published by CCP Games. Players of Eve Online can participate in a number of in-game professions and activities, including mining, piracy, manufacturing, trading, exploration, and combat. How important was Niarja to Empire space, and what does a post Niarja world look like? That and much more on this episode of TIS Weekender.
- Player names are unique across different Universes. For example, Wurm Online has only one 'Rolf'.
- I’ve noticed many people attempting to run the blockade in Niarja without any positive standings with the Triglavian Collective. It’s not going to work. While the Entropic Disintegrator Werpost (Steve) no longer insta-locks, there are large Triglavian fleets that roam the system and especially like hanging out by the star gates. The best way to reduce the risk, and get through unscathed.
While not actually a bridge, Niarja is a system in Eve Online which bridges two of the biggest trade hubs in the game together.
Currently you need to jump through 10 systems to get from the biggest trade hub Jita to the second biggest Amarr, one of which is Niarja and it’s a key system.
Niarja is a 0.5 security system so has always been dangerous to pass through if on autopilot or carrying expensive items in a non tanky ship as suicide gankers use the system to gank easy targets but the alternative to avoid the system makes the trip too big.
Taking the analogy of the system being a bridge over a river, if that bridge was to fall, to cross the river you would have to go further along the river to find a new bridge or to get around it somehow, in Eve Online if Niarja falls, the safe route between the 2 trade hubs would go from a 10 system route to a 46 system route which is a massive difference.
Now you might be wondering what I’m talking about and how a system can fall, well I’m not totally sure myself what’s going on as I’ve just returned to playing the game but for a while now New Eden has been getting invaded by a race known as the Triglavians and the latest update has ramped these invasions up.
I don’t know if its random but it possibly is but the Trigs can now invade and take over a system unless the invasion is stopped by players helping the good guys, however with Eve being a sandbox, players can also side with the invaders and help them take over a system.
This is what is happening now in Niarja, the Trigs started their invasion yesterday and as at 07.10 Eve time on the 18th August 2020 the Trigs have 97% control so it won’t be long until they control the whole system.
Once they control the system, the defending forces that protect New Eden will withdraw from the system and give it up. This means that the security status of that system will drop and it will effectively become a null sec system whereby anyone can and will blow ships up without repercussion, any one that takes their trade ship in will likely lose it.
Traders will now need to either risk going through Niarja which would be stupid, make the 46 jumps to trade or not bother trading between the hubs, most I don’t think will bother.
Niarja Rift Wurm
What this means for Eve I don’t know, Amarr could lose trade and another trade hub will rise somewhere else, or Amarr could get bigger as the southern players use that instead of Jita while the northern players use Jita.
Only time will tell but it could be a big shakeup in the Eve markets and trade hubs.
Edit: it seems that the Trigs have gotten the system to Escalating Liminality which has pushed the sec status to 0.4 so the system is effectively low sec now.
The system is now in first liminality, continued success for the invasion will push it into second liminality before finally going into final liminality at which point the system will become null, so it’s not over yet but on its way, even as low sec it’ll cause traders problems.
Edit 2: at 10:19 Eve time Niarja now shows as in Second Liminality, only a matter of time until it goes final and the system permanently changes to null sec.
Final edit: at 14.45 Eve time, Niarja has fallen. It is now in Final Liminality and effectively now a permanent null sec with a sec status of -0.7, travellers beware.
– Sparko Marco
When the Hisec trade route choke-point of Niarja was invaded and subsequently conquered by The Triglavian Collective, the ensuing sodium chloride produced by the player parties involved during the siege—heaped upon the EVE forums, r/EVE, and community Discord servers—was enough to nearly overwhelm the game devs. The pure, unfiltered NaCl pouring out of players began piling so high CCP Sledgehammer expressed fears the company would need “to rent storage just to store it all.”
Niarja Trig Invasion
Niarja serves as a “pipe” system along the formerly shortest route between the largest trade hubs in New Eden, Jita and Amarr. When The Triglavian Collective began invading Empire systems and recruiting capsuleers to assist in taking the systems to seemingly harvest the suns for resources, many hisec and skeptical players expressed doubt any key systems would be invaded. Many of the Kybernaut (Pro-Triglavian) community dearly hoped they would, for a successful conquering of a system with the right type of sun lowers the security status, and in the final stage of “Full Liminality” the system will drop to null security – a system without CONCORD. No police, no rules for engagement, just free PvP and gatecamping. This, as one can imagine, would make moving goods via freighter through any such system much more difficult. For this reason, the system of Niraja has been viewed as the “holy grail” for Kybernauts. The Pro-Triglavian players waited in anticipation while the EDENCOM (Anti-Triglavian) supporting players expressed their doubts.
Naturally, when the system was invaded many players had mixed-to-strong feelings about the prospect. No insignificant amount of players were nervous, some outraged, while Kybernauts leapt for joy. For a brief time, the null empires looked on with vague curiosity, but soon they began throwing their lot in, seeing the importance of such a chokepoint, as it falling would mean the safest route between the two trade hubs would be a whopping 45 jumps. Such would be a minor inconvenience to null coalitions with jump freighter services so they couldn’t just sit idly by.Many hours of stalemate PvE grind and Catalyst ganks had players exhausted and venting their frustrations, aspirations, sh*tposting, and disdain for each other in local chat. Community leads, FCs and CCP could only look on as salt poured forth from players, especially as the system hit Liminality after The Imperium sent reinforcements to the outnumbered Kybernauts. Within a day of their arrival, at the command of TheMittani, the system was conquered, and the salt mounds in Niarja quickly buried local chat and began spilling over into Discord.
In a stroke of genius, CCP marketing specialist CCP Alpha formulated a plan for the overabundance of blood-pressure-elevating granules: “Why don’t we just sell the stuff?” Truly a remarkable, if risky business venture for a game development company. Masked interns were brought in by truckload, carrying boxes of CCP’s EVE themed salt shakers, and were put to the task of scooping the salt into the shakers and boxing them for shipment.
The new Premium Niarja Salt™ in EVE shakers is now available on the EVE Online Gear store. For a limited time, players can also purchase the stylish EVE Waterproof Backpack/Duffel Bag filled with Niarja salt. Players are encouraged to take advantage of this sale quickly, as the salt supply from Niarja is finite; many players burnt themselves out on shooting Triglavian and EDENCOM NPCs for several days straight.