2022 is already off to an interesting year in EVE Echoes ISK Online, with the holdover from the scarcity to prosperity discussion from late 2021 still casting a pall over many capsuleers. Since then EVE has seen NFTs hit the MMO's Alliance Tournamnet, though not in the MMO itself, as well as the first major cross-over IP in EVE's almost twenty year history. Yet as 2022 starts to deepen one question looms on my mind specifically: Fanfest.

Fanfest is a time like no other for many EVE players. It's a chance to meet up in person with your corpmates, plan large movements and goals for the year, and just have a good time with fellow capsuleers in one of the most interesting destinations in the world. While Fanfest 2022 as of this writing is still a go, it'll be interesting to see how it proceeds as we get closer to May.

Another major topic that has dominated not just EVE discourse, but gaming in general, is that of blockhain and, more specifically, NFTs. While many MMOs are dabbling in NFTs themselves, EVE did the same by introducing NFT killmails as part of last year's Alliance Tournament. While the NFTs themselves aren't in the actual MMO, meaning that you can't earn NFTs for kills in your everyday gameplay like participants could during the tournament, CCP Games isn't shying away from the technology. Blockchain is something we've heard CCP talk about before, and it doesn't seem like that interest in learning more about the technology is going away any time soon.

One thing CCP Games has held firm on is this idea of EVE Forever, this notion that what they are building in EVE Online will outlive us all. Looking at technologies like blockchain only further that goal according, though Bergur is quick to note that just because the team is looking at these technologies doesn't necessarily mean its their future, per se.

Saemi added to this stating that the vision he has is of EVE Forever. And while the discussion around NFTs usually turned into a fear that implementing them will mean a cash grab for companies,  Saemi stresses that's not the direction EVE will go - as it doesn't further that Forever charge.

"The vision is to have EVE go on forever, and that will not be realized with a cash grab that does something in the short term for damages in the middle and long term at all. I am motivated, extremely motivated by having EVE outlive myself and my son. And if you look at the implementation we did for the [Alliance Tournament], it was extremely graceful compared to a lot of things, I would say."

The future of Cheap EVE Mobile ISK Online also looks pretty bright from CCP's standpoint. 2021 has seen great growth, spurred on by both the new new-player experience, but also launching the MMO on the Epic Game Store and opening the universe of New Eden up to even more players. However, it's easy to also see that while many players might have logged in, retention is still something the team is working on. Increasing average play time is on the list for the developers, as well as adding onto the new player experience by teaching other core concepts like mining and more are on the horizon.