Abstract

We present EVE Frontier, a crowd-built virtual world and player-driven sandbox. EVE Frontier builds on and extends the success of various virtual worlds that have come before it, in particular the sci-fi MMORPG EVE Online. As a space survival simulation its inhabitants will find themselves awakened within a shattered region of space, warped by the presence of supermassive black holes gravitationally bound in a macabre dance. Rogue AI infests its depths; corrupting and consuming the remnants of what still stands.

The universe of EVE Frontier has been built upon technically robust foundations, rooted in immutable rules which govern its physics and behavior. Through these foundations - based on cryptographic techniques and blockchain technology - our vision is that EVE Frontier will be in players’ hands, allowing them to modify aspects of the single-shard server in runtime, while adhering to its ‘digital physics’. In tandem, with its open design, it will offer an evolved player-driven sandbox through open third-party development and tooling, giving players recognition, ownership and freedom over their own creative efforts. As players take a greater role in the evolution and growth of EVE Frontier, the amalgamation of this creativity will result in player-driven societies and ultimately, civilization. The keys to its universe and civilization will be handed over to its players, allowing them to fully realize a fully player-driven, governed and created virtual word.

Philosophy

With EVE Frontier, we aim to push the boundaries of what a virtual world can aspire to be. Building on the worlds that have come before us, most notably EVE Online, we have identified valuable lessons

The design of EVE Online rests upon a single defining concept:

Death is a serious matter

This principle is how the world of EVE Online has sustained itself over decades, and will continue to for decades to come. The concept permeates the entire material economy of EVE Online: where nothing ventured results in nothing gained.

EVE Frontier builds on this concept and extends it to player agency, posing two questions:

Could you create a virtual world that was true only to itself? 

What truth would that virtual world have for its inhabitants? 

EVE Frontier is a simulation of a universe where the rules - its digital physics - are fixed and immutable, beyond even the control of its developers. The incorporation of fundamental laws of energy brings the world closer to thermodynamic accuracy, enhancing its realism and fortifying the underlying foundations. On these foundations, inhabitants of the Frontier are free to create novel emergent experiences, particularly through the groundbreaking mechanic of Smart Assemblies. As both future development and player participation shape its evolution, the world will continue to grow and transform in ways currently unimaginable.

We have long recognized that virtual worlds, though shaped as much by their players as by their developers, rarely see these contributions formally acknowledged. Despite the pivotal role players play in building these worlds, their efforts often remain unrecognized in any explicit or meaningful way. Through strict End User License Agreements, developers and operators confer very limited rights to what players can create and have created. Player-driven creativity is in most cases owned by the proprietors of such worlds, or in others banned or removed entirely, wiped from record. In other cases many worlds are retrofitted to support these efforts: player-built creations are derived from APIs added after the fact, rather than from the world’s foundational design.

In short, despite decades of creativity and effort being poured into virtual worlds by players, the ability of developers and operators to grant digital property rights and access to their players is a complicated cultural, technical and legal undertaking. EVE Frontier will change this by building the world on a very different premise.

Combining its permanence with open access, EVE Frontier can survive eternally: a self-sustaining and persistent digital reality, as true to players and their actions as our own physical world is to our own. A sovereign virtual world, that will become self-governing and operating. You, the community will hold the power in perpetuity for a world designed to last forever.

EVE Frontier is thus built upon a legal and technical premise which affords a pragmatic path forward for an autonomous virtual world, where players have rightful access and ownership over their creative efforts:

When the ontology of a virtual world is held by a distributed and consensus-based ledger,
granting digital property rights to participants can become real

A virtual world true only to itself through digital physics

By enabling players to program within an open environment and by open-sourcing our development platform, we empower the inhabitants of EVE Frontier with the tools and freedom to shape and rebuild the world according to their own vision. This moddable layer rests upon the world’s digital physics and spans the entire universe, continuously simulated and persisted. This openness not only empowers players but formally recognizes them as active co-creators of EVE Frontier, a role supported by the game’s technological infrastructure, business model, and economic design.

The whitepaper details this vision for EVE Frontier, a dynamic, emergent, and community-driven world where players hold the power, and in which their actions have lasting consequences. The following sections outline its foundational components, starting with the core beliefs that drive its development and the design principles which shape it.

Human Growth from Shared Experiences:

Playing together is fundamental to being human: an essential activity in our lives that leads to personal growth and satisfaction. By sharing experiences with one another, we connect, learn and grow. This is true across the virtual and the physical. From loss to hope, from anger to joy, shared experiences create meaning in our lives. EVE Frontier takes this belief and transplants it upon its universe: the Frontier is a world defined by shared experience, conveyed through the necessity of banding together to survive its brutality in the quest to build anew. Through intense and unpredictable adversity, EVE Frontier will create meaningful human connection and personal growth for its inhabitants, driving the formation of culture and identity within the world itself.

A Virtual Nation & Digital Sovereignty:

The Code of Hammurabi, a collection of 282 rules, set the standards for commercial dealings and outlined fines and punishments to uphold justice. As one of the earliest and most comprehensive legal texts, it was etched into clay tablets and safeguarded within the city's walls. Today, End User License Agreements (EULAs) govern the digital property rights of everything; from our game libraries, our songs, to almost everything we create online. These EULAs typically grant participants only the most limited rights of access, restricting their ability to fully engage with or contribute to the virtual world. As such, these virtual worlds are in fact, chiseled in a metaphorical stone age. With EVE Frontier, we aim to transform this approach by creating a world where digital property rights are not only immutable but self-governing, eliminating the need for any "Hammurabi" to oversee and protect those rights. The world, true only to itself, will be the only governor.

We believe that participants and contributors to virtual worlds should have ownership rights to the digital property they create or that arises from their collective efforts. EVE Frontier will be collectively owned, governed, and operated by its players, evolving into an independent and sovereign entity - a virtual nation free from autocratic control. The framework established will empower players to form and sustain their own tribes and cultures, free from interference, except from other players. The powerful tools provided will mirror this autonomy, allowing players to create their own laws, livelihoods, and enforce them through smart contracts, in-game mechanics, and self-crafted societal norms.

Autonomous World:

We seek to build a world that exists in perpetuity, where every player can contribute and bring their unique ambition to life. Continuously extending and enhancing the ecosystem to benefit all participants is critical. Rooted in composability and built upon a programmable foundation, creating such a world presents a significant technological challenge - one that was not feasible until the advent of recent groundbreaking technologies and techniques for its full realization. The decision to build on blockchain came after years of careful consideration. While not yet perfect, it serves as the best starting point. As cryptographic methods and blockchain capabilities grow to support greater scale and compute power, this virtual world will eventually run without the need for privileged actors, achieving the vision of a fully autonomous world.

OH SHIT THIS IS A BLOCKCHAIN GRIFT