EVE General Discussion

I'm saying what I'm going to say with the intent on perhaps piggybacking on the recent discussions on how awful the NPE is, because there is another problem related to getting new blood in the game, that threatens to hurt the game before people even try it. I am not going to propose ideas on how to fix it, or claim it needs to be fixed. That is for others to decide. I am simply a messenger.

EVE's reputation has a problem with gamers outside of EVE.

This has been known, I think for some time between many EVE players. Its been mentioned and is something that I think a fair number of us encounter when we talk about EVE to other gamers.

I was playing another MMO last night, that will go unnamed, but I saw talk about EVE and another game in a chat channel I was in, that had somewhere around 200~ other people in it.

This is the quote that got my attention:



For many of us, that might seem a bit... tame. For many people that play this game, that's a normal sunday in game.

But, it does speak to the problem itself. Read it again, particularly the last part. "I've never played the game though. I probably never will, why would anyone want to experience that?"

But, this isn't new, nor a new problem.

Comments in an article about that problem back in march/april that got someone banned rather publicly for harrassment are worth reading. Article in question, read the comments: http://massively.joystiq.com/2014/03/25/heres-some-of-the-cyberbullying-that-happens-in-eve-online/



From a former player:


From a steam review:




The point is... EVE has a reputation problem that gets people to never consider trying it to begin with. This is not good for the game. What should be done about it, if anything?

WTB, 1 of each please.

Its OK but only to a point. In the end, it amounts to less people for me to sell stuff to, less people for you to pew pew, and less people for others to do awful things to. Its bad for me, its bad for you. How bad is it before its intolerable?

i can see where you're coming from, and it's definitely a problem that'd be better solved thru spreading awareness of the groups in eve that work to provide a gentler newbie experience (i'm thinking mainly of the eve university people, who run a pretty useful wiki and seem generally nice) than making any alterations to eve's actual gameplay.

Nowhere did I suggest changing gameplay. More to the point, I am pointing at parts of the EVE community that might be doing more harm than good in the long run. I'm personally more of the mind that putting social pressure on them to stop doing harm to EVE is probably a better way to go about it.

Gameplay changes that might be a good idea are outside the scope of this post.

OP, i've heard similar discussions in the chat channels in other MMOs as well.

to be honest, i think eve is a niche game that will continue to grow, albeit slowly, over time. maybe it's too much like real life for a lot of gamers. maybe the sandbox scares some potential players.

i don't know what a resolution to bringing in a massive amount of new blood would be honestly, but i know in order for eve to thrive (like it should be doing because it's the best MMO around), new ideas need to spawn.

what those new ideas are, i don't know.

... pressuring people to change their playstyle is changing gameplay, though. an enormous amount of eve's content is created by the players, and trying to manipulate the way people play space jerk simulator 2k14 for the greater good is just silly

New people should have a completely safe area to play while they learn, but if you make that available for just anyone then everywhere else is going to be very quiet.

Still have that evergreen motorcycle pic, Ralph?

also, from the perspective of a player and not someone trying to make money off of this game, what exactly is the advantage of getting a lot of new players if most of them are going to be boring and low-quality