Viridian - Corporate Tools

Viridian - what changed

Background

Viridian (2023-06-13) is the second post-2022-cadence expansion. Its two big features are Corporation Projects (a corp-leadership tool for assigning member objectives and tracking contributions) and the Lancer dreadnought - the first T2 capital line since jump freighters in 2007, one per empire (Bane / Hubris / Karura / Valravn).

It also shipped structure painting (a SKINR precursor for player structures), corporation Loyalty Points (corps can now earn LP as an entity), and rebalanced Marauders alongside battleship buffs. For the industry and social playstyles this is a minor expansion; the PvP cap-balance changes are big in cap circles but fall outside that scope.

What changed, by playstyle

Industry

If you build capitals, Viridian is the expansion that opened a new T2-cap industry vertical for the first time in sixteen years. Lancer dreadnoughts (Bane / Hubris / Karura / Valravn) need T2-capital invention, advanced components, and a brand-new weapon production chain (lance weapons), and they're not optional infrastructure for any nullsec coalition that wants to compete in cap fights post-2023. At the same time, capital construction got a cost rebalance that made lowsec/highsec capital production more viable - fewer "only Delve can build this" choke-points. Structure painting shipped as a small SKINR precursor, a new cosmetic ISK sink. For an industrialist returning in 2023, this is the expansion to read patch notes on first.

Social / political

Viridian's headline social feature is Corporation Projects - for the first time, your corp's leadership can define objectives ("mine 10M units of veldspar", "kill 50 Sansha cruisers in [region]") and EVE will track member contributions automatically. If you've ever tried to run a medium-sized corp and felt like you were keeping the spreadsheet in your head, Viridian is the patch that gave you the spreadsheet for free. Corporations also gained the ability to earn LP as an entity, and the role/permission system got a streamlining pass. None of this is as flashy as a new ship, but for anyone who's tried to lead a corp in EVE, this expansion is a quiet step-change.

Aftermath / what stuck

Corporation Projects is the kind of feature that doesn't look big on launch day but reshapes how medium corps run themselves over the next year - by 2024 it's assumed infrastructure for any corp doing organised activity. The Lancer dreadnought line shipped as the first T2 capital production vertical since 2007 and quickly became a meta hull in capital fights - Lancers persist as a balance-pass target through Equinox and beyond. Structure painting was the SKINR precursor that flowered into the full SKINR launch a year later. If you've been thinking about returning to lead a corp, Viridian is the patch that made that meaningfully easier.