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[Hans Jagerblitzen]

Hello again everyone!

I was hoping to pick your collective brains for a second...I am working on a new blog post with some imaginative ideas for a future EVE expansion, but I want to be sure I'm not proposing anything that trespasses on established lore. 

So, my question is this - what physical mechanism do EVE ships use to interact with each other in space with regards to docking or personnel transfer?  I am not an expert on all of New Eden's technological advancements, I'm just a simple soldier.

I've never heard of stories about any kind of teleportation device that could "beam" passengers aboard a ship, so I'm wondering what we use instead... boarding parties via shuttles? direct ship-to-ship coupling? 

If any of you have information on the physical method one might use to move a human from one capsuleer's ship to another, I'd greatly appreciate it!  It'll make more sense soon, I promise.

[Morwen Lagann]

I assume there would be airlocks that could be used with connecting cables and such, but as far as capsuleer vessels go, it's probably as simple as "insert new pod and go".

There's not been that much in the PF that I can recall about it, but we do know that it occurs - the Blood Raiders have to use the technique or else they get freeze-dried blood, if any.

[Ghost Hunter]

In the EON chronicle (the older series considered non-canon) 300 Rounds, Capsuleer capable Kestrels form a very temporary type of connection tube with a derelict vessel - but such a connection is considered extremely risky due to the unanchored nature of space ships.

The only teleportation technology that has ever been touched upon was the failed Jovian Ambassador expose, which resulted in the Ambassador dismembering itself across the galaxy in thousands of tiny fragments. Wormholes are too specific to qualify in this area I think.

Salvager Drones are used by every ship in EVE to collect loot, cans, etcetra, the things we normally click + drag to our cargo hold. They have other purposes, but game mechanically they are never used outside of that role.

[Lyn Farel]

Interesting question, but I have no clear answer myself...

Best fitting thing I could find was this one from the item Amarr Marine Counter-Boarding Team/Company (yes, them again :p).

Amarr Marine Counter-Boarding Teams are regarded as among the most elite units of their type across all four races. This expertise was developed not long after other states rediscovered warp technology. It occurred to senior Amarr military leaders that wars of the future would include ship-to-ship actions in space, to include the possibility of an enemy ship boarding another, as they had in millennia past when their ancestors sailed warships on the high seas. To that end, boarding and counterboarding training became a mandatory part of every Amarr marine’s advanced infantry training. The development of this capability led to the development of highly-specialized equipment for use in “boarding ops,” to include manportable high-speed welding gear, outer hatchway breaching explosives, and personal weapons for close quarters combat.

It does not tell exactly how they connect ships, but it tells other littles bits revolving around it... To be honest, I think boarding another ship is probably quite old fashioned : the target ship has to be disabled and the other ship  has to get his own airlock close to the hull, then the boarding team would probably open its own way through it, or something like this including explosives and the likes. Which implies sealed suits and zero G infiltration.

Unless of course its not in a combat situation with both parties willing to board each other. Well, probably like has been said above, if the airlocks match, good, if not, i suppose they can still use some sort of sealed soft connector between both ships.

[lallara zhuul]

Boarding a ship during combat would be pretty much impossible because of the speeds involved.

After combat, there is only a wreck.

So it's pretty much a moot point.

[BloodBird]

Not all ships carry weapons or are willing or able to shoot back. Stasis webification tech and warp-disruptor tech can immobilize an enemy ship enough that opening your own hatch to send off a few dozen or hundred troopers in suits to blow open a hatch on the opposing hull and make their entry is not impossible. While this is not present in-game as a mechanic (it might just make piracy and anti-piracy a bit more interesting in the few situations that don't include blobbery, as one example) Lyn's example shows it's been considered from a PF stand-point and quite frankly, the possibility is a very logical one to assume - the opposing side don't have to be a ship - a fleet might go bust an enemy dead-space location for instance and instead of destroying it (valuable people/stuff inside or whatever) they make a hole due to the structure being to small to dock in, and send in troops to assume control and capture the place.

It could make missions more interesting. "Please take with you these two platoons of marines and go capture the dead-space facility in location X of  system Y, we have great reason to think they work for Z secretly and want proof and prisoners for interrogation, so we need them alive, don't destroy the facility. "

Many possibilities here really, and I'm convinced the only reason we don't see ship/station/complex boarding actions is solely due to game-mechanics, and IIRC there is little to flesh this part of the game out, besides small things like the piece Lyn quoted.

[Graanvlokkie]

Boarding a ship during combat would be pretty much impossible because of the speeds involved.

After combat, there is only a wreck.

So it's pretty much a moot point.

This assumes that a wreck is just a pile of metal pieces that you are unable to board. What if you needed to board a wreck, or a damaged spacecraft unable to function under its own power, to rescue (or capture) survivors?

[lallara zhuul]

Survivors are in the invisible escape pods.

That the Blood Raiders harvest.

[Karmilla Strife]

If there are escape pods, why not some sort of assault pod or shuttle?

[hellgremlin]

In the EON chronicle (the older series considered non-canon) 300 Rounds,

They declared the older EON chrons non-canon? Where?

[Lyn Farel]

There is plenty of examples of wrecks of ships still mostly "intact" structurally, in missions, everywhere. Even capital wrecks, as much as they are falling apart, manage to keep their integrity visually.

[Ghost Hunter]

In the EON chronicle (the older series considered non-canon) 300 Rounds,

They declared the older EON chrons non-canon? Where?

A year or two ago in a devblog or on the EVE fiction forum, I believe. They talked about how the first few EON issues were not put under the same quality control as actual prime fiction, but newer EON issues would be and could be considered proper canon. I'll try to dig it out.

Edit ; I distinctly remember this being the case because I was extremely pissed about it, 300 Rounds was one of the EON chronicles I frequently cited for ideas on more diabolical mannered Sansha.

[Louella Dougans]

I drew a picture. This is how I envision boarding an object.

The boarding party is in chamber 1. Approach the enemy surface. Then make a seal against the surface. Drill through, to determine interior pressure. Chamber 2 matches pressure with interior of object. Party cycles through airlock into chamber 2. A hole is made in the external surface of the object. Then the external airlock opens, and the party can move into the interior of the object.

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[Lyn Farel]

In the second mission of the gallente epic arc you have to save someone from a shuttle wreck. It is said :

"There is a really cut-hole in one of the metal sheets you salvaged : it must have been for a boarding tunnel. I can only guess that after the boarding, the attackers initiated the self destruct. Sensors do not show any shots fired by the Minmatar ships."

[Kohiko Sun]

If a ship can keep erratically changing the speeds and axes of a tumble with maneuvering thrusters, a shuttle or docking arm will look like this when it tries to latch on.

...Silly cat.