MeinMMO editor Caro was at the EVE Fanfest in Reykjavik this year. There, she spoke with the community manager of EVE Online, who discussed not only the tough entry into the space MMO but also conveyed: It’s not too late for her either. Quite the opposite!
During the EVE Fanfest 2026, I was there on behalf of MeinMMO to closely follow the community of the MMORPG as well as various announcements and presentations.
On-site, I also spoke with the community manager and lead at Fenris Creations (formerly CCP Games), Peter Farrell. I was curious how he, as the community boss, perceives the atmosphere of the Fanfest, how Fenris intends to handle future battles, and whether there is still hope for a curious beginner like me to get into an MMO known for its intimidating learning curve.
However, the outcome made me cautiously optimistic because: “The best time to start with EVE is truly today.”
A world record that required much more than just 11 hours
Caro (MeinMMO): Thank you for the invitation! Have you been having a great time so far?
Peter Farrell: Absolutely! The nerds are coming to Iceland… It feels so good to see them again.
Caro (MeinMMO): When we think of EVE Online, we first think of the massive battles. That was the first thing I heard of – all the value that is invested in these battles and lost. There was that big record you broke with 10,000 players in the battle of Atioth – so congratulations on that!
There are hardly any other MMORPG experiences that would compare. How do you view these milestones, and are you sometimes amazed at what happens in the game?
Peter Farrell: Actually almost always. Before I joined CCP… before I joined Fenris Creations [editor’s note: the slip happened often during Fanfest, to every developer including the CEO], I was actually an EVE player myself. I led a pretty large alliance in the game for several years starting in 2008.
So I have a pretty good idea of what goes through the players’ minds when they endure these battles. But I never imagined being part of a fight of this magnitude.
The organizational power needed for that can’t be found in any other game. For every ship that is out there – we’re talking about 10,000 people – someone had to gather the resources, build those ships, bring them to the right place, organize all the equipment, and distribute it to the people… There’s a huge, massive machinery behind the scenes enabling this.
Even if we only see these snippets of an 11-hour battle, there are probably hundreds of hours of work preparation in it. It’s just so cool to see how it plays out on the big stage because no one knows what will happen. No one knows what the other side will do or if the other side will show up with new friends they didn’t expect. It’s always exciting to see these big wars.
Even the tiniest detail can have a big impact. While that fight was going on, there was another group on the other side of the map thinking, “Well, these guys are busy, so I’ll just sabotage the infrastructure of one of the guys fighting, just to be a thorn in their side.”
What ended up happening was they created an opportunity for a fight over another timer a few days later. In this fight, about 8,500 people came together in one system. All of this happened just because a small group decided to be annoying over there. Those are my favorites, those are my people.
Caro (MeinMMO): When it comes to all the infrastructure: Did you have to modify the technical infrastructure given the number of players to make such large fights even possible?
Peter Farrell: Yes. In the very early days of EVE, when we talked about big fights, it was in the hundreds. When 500 people showed up, it was immediately one of the biggest battles. The servers back then 20 years ago just didn’t know how to handle it. When you jumped into the system, you might have seen just a black screen the whole time.
Over time, we adjusted the hardware. EVE runs on a single node – there are no shards, so everyone plays on the same server. We’ve added more infrastructure, and when we know a battle will take place, we provide dedicated server hardware for that so the rest of the game is not affected.
We also have this really sophisticated system called “Time Dilation.” Essentially, we slow down the simulation in this system while the battle is going on so that the server can keep up with all the commands. There’s a small display that shows that. It feels like the “bullet time” from The Matrix.
Everything moves super slowly. That contributes to the sci-fi flair and the uniqueness of it all. It can truly change the effects of a battle because time dilation slows down one system, but all surrounding systems run at normal speed. Out there, everything is super fast, and the people fighting move in slow motion.
Caro (MeinMMO): You said there were fights with 500 players, and now there have been 10,000… It will probably escalate even more! Do you think that will work? Do you have the strength, the capacity to offer something like that?
Peter Farrell: We constantly push the boundaries of what is possible, fully aware that the players will take it to the next extreme regardless of what we do. We can’t possibly say, “Oh yes, from now on it will work great forever.” Players challenge us and push the boundaries even further.
Our Guinness World Record battle a few years ago was with 6,500 people in a system, and we’ve broken that record a few times in the last weeks. We know that with the next improvement we make, players will simply bring more people.
We could give them the parts for a bicycle, expecting them to build a motorcycle, and instead they build a catapult that flings tires at people.
Peter Farrell, Community Manager and Lead in the interview
The legendary learning curve – how to ensure newcomers don’t fear it?
Caro (MeinMMO): EVE is sometimes referred to as a human experiment because it is just so massive. As a curious beginner, I’ve heard that the learning curve is “legendary” – or simply put: damn hard. How do you balance the desire to excite new players for these big battles without sacrificing fun and complexity for veterans? And… is there still hope for me?
Peter Farrell: The good news is – there is still hope! The best time to start with EVE is truly today. Because you never know what impact you will have on the game. Resources are needed everywhere in big battles.
They all need someone contributing a specific part to bring it all to life. And you don’t know who that person will be. It could be someone just starting out or someone who has been around for several years but hasn’t really found their calling.
EVE has many complex systems, and we keep adding various mechanics. When we introduce a feature to the game, we have an idea of how players might interact with it, but we’re never sure. We could give them the parts for a bicycle, expecting them to build a motorcycle, and instead, they build a catapult that flings tires at people.
We cannot rely on what they will do, so we must simply provide them with tools to tell their own stories.
Regarding entry, EVE works in a way that you don’t really have to grind to catch up with someone. If you specialize in something you enjoy, within a month you can be just as good at that one thing as someone who has been playing for 15 years. Maybe even better.
The real problem we have is analysis paralysis. When you start, we tell you: “You can do everything!” And that’s really cool, but what does “everything” mean? We need to explain what that “everything” is.
Fortunately, in the expansion [“Cradle of War”], we have a few tools to help with that. We are going to place all new players who start into a starter system called “Exordium.” It’s located in the center of the map, and there are many interconnected systems there. The idea behind this is that people are surrounded by others at the same skill level. They will be able to help each other in a safe place that teaches the core mechanics of the game.
Caro (MeinMMO): So, like a little kiddie pool?
Peter Farrell: Exactly! You would probably hate it if I called it a kiddie pool, but it’s a kind of safe kiddie pool. And then we just push you into the ocean – but not directly into the deep end with the sharks, but we throw you into an area that’s still pretty safe. From there, the idea is that you feel safe enough to make informed decisions and take conscious risks instead of accidentally wandering into a dark alley.
Our veteran players also have a vested interest in this. They want more people to play the game because they know: the more people there are, the more activity there is. All major groups have their own training organizations for new players. Once you find your people, you will stay in the game. They will show you the way, no matter what guides we put out or anything like that.
Nothing is better than just talking to someone who has been through that experience and who can say: “Oh yes, the game tells you to do this, but don’t do that. Do it this way, and this ship may look cool, but this is the one you really want” – teaching them those skills.
Caro (MeinMMO): Alright, so from a veteran like you to a teachable newbie: What is the best ship?
Peter Farrell: My favorite ship – a player actually gifted me a pin for it – is called “Megathron.” It’s a Gallente ship, it looks like a roadster, and it just has the coolest aesthetic.
I choose ships based on how they look, and then try to force my playstyle onto that ship. But the Megathron is definitely the coolest in my opinion. I think the most iconic for EVE is the “Rifter.” That’s the small ship that was seen in the opening ceremony.
A community that can build and destroy just as quickly
Caro (MeinMMO): When you see the Fanfest like this and how EVE Online has shaped the gaming experience over decades: What is the main goal to ensure we still have the Fanfest in 10 years and still talk about record-breaking battles?
Peter Farrell: So, when it comes to Fanfest: We put a lot of effort into the presentations people give and in sharing cool info about the game, but what players will really remember – and I can say this with confidence as someone who has experienced the Fanfest as a player – is simply meeting friends, the people they fly with. And we have people here who have been around for 23 years.
It’s really the community that keeps people together, and the stories they tell. The fact that I can do something in the game that is permanent for everyone… The idea that everyone must experience it, no matter what happens. The story truly matters, and the fact that everyone can shape that story is super cool.
It’s absolutely “EVE Forever,” that is definitely the goal we have in mind, and everything we do is oriented towards that.
Caro (MeinMMO): So from what I gather from this conversation, the community of EVE Online is a community like you don’t see in every game. You said that players are very welcoming and want to bring in new players. Compared to other games, that can look quite different. In some other games, you join, and because you are the inexperienced newbie, everyone hates you. Is EVE really that different?
Peter Farrell: Yes, it really is. And that’s my favorite thing, you know? Everyone has this rite of passage to learn EVE Online. Everyone knows how hard it is. So when someone succeeds, it’s like being in a community of people who have survived one of the hardest games.
And the people? The players are so nice, I can’t… It’s hard to describe how great they are. If you spend just five minutes down there [at the venue], someone will come up to you, ask how you are, and especially, who you fly with. And even if you’re kind of an enemy, they say: “Oh, it’s all good, here you’re my friend, let’s go have a drink, let’s talk about your favorite ship.”
Caro (MeinMMO): A truce at Fanfest!
Peter Farrell: Yes, yes, yes, exactly! There’s kind of a truce because there are factions in the game that are bitter enemies. But when they are here, they acknowledge what we all have in common, which is the love for the game.
I don’t know exactly what it is about EVE players, but we have so much in common – and obviously, I’m one of the EVE players myself – but yeah, I don’t know. It just all seems to make sense. It’s just this whole sci-fi fun. People take things seriously, but they also know when to not take themselves too seriously.
Caro (MeinMMO): Is there something you really appreciate about your community as a whole, especially from the perspective of the community lead?
Peter Farrell: One of my favorite things that EVE players do is that they host charity livestreams whenever there’s a good cause that players want to support. And sometimes that’s a bit tragic. When you think of a game that’s 23 years old, you don’t think about dealing with the death of a player – that’s not something you anticipate.
That’s why the players created this monument in the game where you can drop a little flag or a small container and write a name on it, in the spirit of “Rest in peace, my friend So-and-so” – with their EVE name. And we turned that into a real monument in the game that players can visit.
We placed some structures around it so that no one can damage it and that the containers never disappear. And just the fact that we have a memorial in a video game and that the players were the ones who started it – I think that says so much about them.
Caro (MeinMMO): I mean, from how you describe it, you provide the playground with all these great things and possibilities, and the players just take ownership of it.
Peter Farrell: And they break everything! [He laughs]
Caro (MeinMMO): They create it and then destroy it!
Peter Farrell: Yes, yes, and we could give them every conceivable tool – no matter what we give them, we know they will somehow break it.
Caro (MeinMMO): That might be a really dumb question – it’s not even on my interview sheet here – but what kind of player does EVE attract, that they are so engaged, putting hundreds of hours into building something… only to destroy it? And enjoying the loss rather than mourning their work?
Peter Farrell: Yes, I think it takes a certain type of person for that. But once you’ve reached a certain level in the game and built many things, it must be clear to you that according to the lore of the game, you are this immortal capsule pilot. You can’t die, you know?
When your capsule is destroyed, your consciousness automatically transfers into a new body. Basically, the ships you fly are meant to be destroyed. And that’s kind of the fun of it.
And once you overcome that first hurdle, the game opens up in a new way. And there are players who simply don’t want anything to do with PvP. We talk all the time about the big battles, but for every big battle, there are a hundred people just doing their own thing in the game and keeping the universe running.
There’s someone moving something, someone mining, someone manufacturing, and someone else just shooting at NPCs and patrolling the space routes. There are really so many different things you can do. And the fact that it all works together in a strange way is super cool.
A conclusion with (important) tips
Caro (MeinMMO): Okay, this is the last question. Remember, I’m new. I’ve seen everything here and I want to play. I want to walk around the venue and need a plan before I get recruited for any alliance.
So now is your chance to intervene beforehand: Which faction should I join? Which is the best? You’ve already told me about the “best” spaceship. Now I have to join a faction and maybe an alliance, who knows. Now, I’m still malleable.
Peter Farrell: Excellent! So, the faction – it’s important, but it also doesn’t matter, you know? Regardless of which character you choose, you will start in the same starting area as everyone else and have more or less the same starting skills. The experience isn’t going to change significantly.
Caro (MeinMMO): But it’s flavor? Flavor matters.
Peter Farrell: I made my decision purely based on aesthetics. The group that makes these ships in the game [he points to his pin of the Megathron he mentioned earlier] is called the Gallente Federation. And I just like the style of their spaceships, so I thought: I’ll be part of the Gallente!
But for the next character I created – because I’ve made a few over the years – I chose the Caldari just because they had better stats at the time. It saved me… we’re talking about 30 minutes of savings over a month due to all the bonuses. I think the Caldari are very cool, but the Gallente are my favorite, absolutely the best.
Caro (MeinMMO): Yeah, when it comes to selection, I’m all about style rather than what is theoretically stronger. I need flair.
Peter Farrell: Yes, yes, yes, I’m basically a prisoner of aesthetics and just love the whole vibe, that’s why I absolutely love Gallente characters. And their lore in the game is pretty cool. We had the Gallente elections where players could vote for the new president of the in-game faction, and it was really fun to watch.
So yes, they are my favorites. And their space area is also a bit green, and I like green. Each space area has its little color palette. The Caldari have a lot of blue, the Minmatar a lot of red, and the Amarr a lot of yellow and gold. But I thought: The Gallente have the green and turquoise, which just appeals to me.
Caro (MeinMMO): Turquoise is my favorite color. Nice! Okay, I know my ship, I know my faction. Maybe I’ll join an alliance as soon as I’m down there. We’ll see. I think I’m prepared! Thank you!
Peter Farrell: Oh, thank you! That was a great conversation!
After the interview with Peter Farrell, I continued through the EVE Fanfest to find out for myself whether the EVE community is really as open and helpful as he promised me.
In addition to various announcements, including the aforementioned expansion “Cradle of War,” I also spoke with players, including one who even changed his place of residence for the Fanfest. You can find more about my impressions of the Fanfest and the entry-friendliness of the space MMO here: At the EVE Fanfest, I understood why the community loves the space MMO so much
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