Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I understand and respect the constraints of game design. But the current Eve planetary systems are just a bit off. Real world science is catching up fast to the public consciousness. We are finding and understanding exoplanets better and better. Also, the description texts in the planet data are just ... empty. It's a beautiful universe but it is lacking in proper narratives. THere are planets out there that are just huge. I did the numbers for a few, and planets with a surface G of about six can not be properly colonized, that sort of thing.

It would be just amazing if CCP starts gradually correcting for this.

- My invitation is that CCP game design starts running the numbers for planets and systems and if necessary corrects them. The actual universe is beautiful and diverse and it's time Eve starts reflecting this. This doesn't need to be all elaborate, just add a few real jovian planets in the right spots, a few hot jupiters, positon terrestrial planets in their proper place. and then coming up with unique stories - say, a gas giant where the story reads there's floating life in those clouds and that explains for the planets odd green cloud bands.

* While you are at it, add some orbital structures. It was the 1970s when O'Neill descibed proper habitats. Planets are fairly lousy places to live, compared to space habitats. I love existing stations, but orbital Habitats - or Space elevators are now part of proper hard SF. An island-3 would make absolutely stunning graphics and I can't wait to see what the difference would be between a Minmatar and a Caldari Habitat. Likewise, space power sattellites or SBPS. SBPS is a lot cheaper than fusion reactors and again, these would be beautiful structures. I can even imagine players making an ISK by creating low key income stream orbital structures, much like planetary colonies. Modest solar farms, or spin gravity agricultural farms. Orbital greenhouses to feed those teeming planetary populations.

* Asteroid colonies are now mainstream, especially after Expanse. The solar system has hundred thousands of big asteroids and a century from now many may be settled by humans or posthumans. I see very few properly settled asteroids in Eve, let alone realistic ones. An asteroid would be stunning in terms of docking graphics and traffic, conceivably more so than existing stations. The'd be covered with teeming industries and cities.

* Add some proper descriptions for inhabited planets. Populaton numbers would be just nice. I see planets illuminated by continent-wide cities. That's a multiple of human habitat compared to Earth - probably in the order of tens of billions of inhabitants. That needs proper contextualizing.

* The thing I miss most, as a hard core SF fan, is stories. Eve has decent background stories - why not just add a little for various planets? I'd absolutely love stumbling across some planet, opening up its information panel and reading a awverl page narrative about early settlers, local politics, oddball culture, conflicts, economy and such. Stories about how kinky Arcturians are.

* And make stars better. Take for instance Betelgeuse. We all assume stars are featureless blobs of white but that just isn't always the case. Stars can be insanely big and extremely featured. These are opportunities for very enticing game design. And while we are at it - black holes. I'd love see CCP have at least one system where players would have to venture close to a black hole, with at least a token tip of the hat to the gravity field of the black hole exerting pull and changing ship dynamics, accelerating vessels towards the neuron star or black hole, combat or mining in the debris of the outer accretion disk of such a beast, etc.

I'd be thrilled of CCP picked up the challenge.