EVE General Discussion

Could you point me in the right direction re: the leaks?

Once DUST is launched there will still be an EVE to interact with for CCP to have the first real console FPS / PC MMO interaction. This is just as true with a 45.000 or 25.000 online player EVE universe. And whatever the mechanics are that this interaction uses there will be plenty of EVE players who will give the DUST troops something to do after launch, EVE players will try anything new and a lot will stick with it. Especially of spreadsheets are involved somehow. As it is now attacking PI facilities is pretty irrelevant but if Zealots and Guardians are suddenly produced only at planetary factories you'll see plenty of interest.

And a loss in subscribers is money lost, there is no denying that. But to me it seems clear CCP has decided some time ago spending, say 10 million on an amazing FiS expansion will not bring in as much new players (and money) as that same 10 million would spent making an entirely new game. The business case would go like this:

-Revenue from EVE subscriptions: 40 million a year
-Costs to keep EVE running: 25 million

Money free to spend on new things: 15 million.

-15 million spent on new EVE FiS content: + 2 million a year in subscription money
-15 million spent on new game: nothing now, + 10 million a year on new game subscriptions in 2 years, - 5 million in EVE subscriptions, -2 million in yearly EVE running costs, frees up 2 million in hardware

Here is the financial report http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2G7AMIAW

If I recall the matter correctly, a Eve player from Iceland (either active or ex-player) walked into a government office several months ago and pulled their publicly available financial records. Those pointed to the fact that CCP was not doing poorly, per se, but that they did have a rather large loan that had to be repaid in October. Also I think a pretty hefty chunk of their corporate profits was from Eve Online subs. I hefty chunk of the company is already split between a very not well-to-do disgraced Icelandic banker who's probably not happy being suddenly poor, and some Venture Cap groups.



Doh! Sorry then, was totally confused.

I might go back and read the rest. But probably not.

With that opening right there you show that you didn't really want to play Eve Online. You wanted to play something easy.

The Skill system and the need to make ISK to buy additional tools/shinies, including additional Skills so you can eventually make more ISK, are foundational to the game. If you don't set goals, plan and strive to achieve goals you don't deserve them.

Eve is hard. That is its appeal.
When you achieve something with hard work you appreciate the accomplishment.

You want a Pay-to-Win game. I hope Eve Online doesn't reach a point where you are satisfied.

Please go back to cheating at Solitare.

Its not a "leak". Someone in Iceland went down to their equivalent of Companies House and paid for a copy of the 2010 accounts.

Basically it shows a loan due for repayment next month which CCP has to repay and they'll have to go back to their investors/shareholders for another round of funding in order to continue work on WoD/Dust.

At least one of those investors will say no - the guy concerned is yet another dodgy Icelandic "businessman" who is up to his eyeballs in debt and court cases (I'm told by a friend in Iceland its quite likely he'll be doing some jail time, but I have no idea if that's true or not). The investors (if they have a single brain cell between them) won't let CCP go anywhere near any other sources of funding (like a bank) as that'll have first call on repayment and also may insist on some collateral.

CCP are burning all the revenue from Eve and then some on WoD/Dust dev. IIRC they're burning $25mill/year on WoD/Dust

If you go have a look on www.failheap-challenge.com there's an analysis there - somewhere. Also on the old forums.

The tl;dr of it all is that Eve is exceptionally profitable but the costs of WoD and Dust mean that CCP has significant cashflow problems.

Edit - oh and it might be relevant to consider that the founders of CCP don't even hold 10% of the shares these days. Personally I think you can trace the changes in CCP back to the point the ex-Citigroup/Goldman Sachs/whatever wanker joined the board in April 2009.

I see alot of words, but your not saying anything.

A) No subscribers asked mittani to go to Iceland, he did that of his own and CCP's accord. There is no reason why the meetings couldn't have taken place on skype.

B)You think CCP flew the CSM to Iceland because they had no plans to release items which they had to classify as "non-vanity" only after talks with what the CSM thought was advisable.

C) I think you should go back and read Hilmars leaked mail. He clearly makes reference to getting the point across via "Fearless newsletter" as well as other outlets. You clearly see CCP Devs claiming that Eve is a golden goose to be milked for cash, and that "I would love to introduce more than vanity items".

D) They tried to release a scorpion on the nex store without it requiring a normal hull from market, whilst they implemented the code needed (HINT: They never planned on people requiring a normal scorpion to purchase the nex store one). CSM agreed for I believe a week only period?

Do I really need to go on?

Did you not pick up on the fact that Hilmars Email basically said the MEMO was what they were working towards?

That memo was never just a "what if" thing. It was the guide for the employees on the direction the company is going. Get on board of drown is usually what that means to the workers. Its the kool aid they are told to drink.

If you could clarify here:

You defend the CSM using the NDA as something to hide behind when they don't want to talk about something? The CSM delegate was the one that brought it up in the first place.

"A fine collection of thoughts but, as I said, flawed on a fundamental level as you've simply generated connective bridges between available facts, connective bridges which I can tell you with authority that are misplaced."

I think most people that defend using an NDA in this manner have never read an NDA. When you are under an NDA, you aren't even supposed to indicate that information presented to you is covered by an NDA. How do you usually see people respond when presented with questions they can't answer?

"No comment."

Instead we get this sort of nebulous denial that basically amounts to responding with "words." The CSM delegate in this case should have either responded to the things they knew and could respond to, which were correct and not, and then not commented on the NDA aspects at all. Either that, or nothing at all.

I don't have a problem with people respecting an NDA. However, I have a huge problem with people saying "some things you say are wrong, but I can't tell you what they are or why." And I think that is more or less what everyone else was pointing out as well.

Are you able to support that claim with evidence of some kind? CCP's financial statements were listed as are most Icelanding companies, if I recall correctly. You might find that the development of WoD and DUST has been bought with loans. Since neither WoD nor DUST is generating income at this point in time, the only source of funds to repay those loans is EVE Online for the present term.



This is Iceland you're talking about. Fishermen head off into the North Atlantic without lifejackets, and then there's the whole "Icelandic male psyche" issue that you don't appear to be aware of. They are arrogant risk-takers, and taking risks against advice from their peers is part of that arrogance. Besides, at the time the risks were being taken, Iceland was on top of the world, financially speaking. Then that whole sub-prime mortgage thing happened in the USA, which brought down Icelandic banks along with everyone else's.



SOE shut down SWG, even though they had planned to keep it running until next year, and it was still making them money.



For someone who claims to have studied the relevant blogs, you're pretty behind the times. The breaking news of the last few months: CCP sent their draft of the Emergency Summit minutes to the CSM, and the CSM promptly replied, "WTF?"



Say it's not so! The Mittani? An attention-seeking egoist? What's the world coming to?

Sorry to say, but it is widely recognised by everyone who has had any kind of dealings with The Mittani that he is an arrogant prick with an ego the size of a small nation. But apparently he's good at what he does, so we let it slide because it wouldn't be as fun to mock him and his minions if he pulled his head in. EVE Online, the sandbox game, where the players create the content. Here's The Mittani providing the obvious "evil overlord" target for all the non-Goons to focus their rage upon! It doesn't get better than this. Well, apart from the faceless Russian bot-lords, or the Siigari Kitawa fail-fits, or the Star Fraction RPers, or … hang it. The Mittani provides content. Which is a lot more than most of the players of this game can say.

You appear to be blissfully unaware of how bankrupt the Icelandic banks are. The Icelandic banks are bankrupt, in case you missed the world news for the last couple of years. You can deposit Euros, but only withdraw Icelandic Kronor, ask any Icelander. The banks are desperately trying to pay several billions of Euros of foreign debt: Landsbanki in particular lost a lot of liquid capital when the bank's directors embezzled the funds and disappeared overseas. Which comes back to Icelandic males and their arrogant risk taking attitude.

So you don't know CCP's financial situation. You don't know about Iceland's financial situation. You don't know who CCP's primary shareholders/investors are. You don't know who The Mittani is. Yet you have opinions about all of these things, claiming that the rest of us who actually play the game and know CCP and know Iceland and know The Mittani, even if only by reputation, don't have a clue?

Why did you bother posting?