EVE General Discussion

Its nice during all times, not just a season.

People who think CCP doesnt want to branch out and gain new subs regardless if they are pvp or pve are just plain short sighted. They want to spread out, even created fanfest forums and think groups to figure out what they can do or change. This isn't about pvp or pve. It's about a sandbox where can you have the ability to do what you want, which sadly is being ruined because too many people are whining about the safety of high sec, the lack of challenges in low and null sec, and for the extreme minority the storyline. The game isn't going to survive, because a few people with elitest personalities want it too. You have to have the right mix of everything or the game is just going to loose its 'niche'.

Additional note--

Someone posted the sub activity for the game. It's sad. The game is slowly dying and somehow I don't think goons or any other group who want to ruin the game for everyone else are going to keep the game alive or CCP staff employed. They had to layoff 120 employees last year due to drop in subs. They are hurting for staff for the CURRENT CONTENT. How are they going to improve or bring new contect if subs continue to drop. If you're happy with never getting another expansion or playing with the glitches, ruining other people's fun is great....

http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility

Yes, by playing in the starter systems is being in the wrong place. I have seen griefer corps with offices in those systems and popping new players, which baiting and ganking in a beginner system is a bannable offense by the way. They need to make the beginner system impossible to enter after a certain amount of time.

Luv2Rat, Luv2Mine.

I'll just throw in my $.02 here at the end.

The first time I played EVE, I used a trial. I played for 2 hours. The game was beautiful even then (several years ago). I was interested. Then I got can flipped. So I quit. Not a rage quit or anything, I just didn't want to play a game where a new player immediately gets scammed. I'd be paying to keep playing after all.

I eventually came back, but only because I'd made friends who played EVE.

As I see it, the biggest problem for new players is lack of information. It's relatively safe in Highsec for beginners, but maybe we should provide a beginners guide in-game that warns them about the numerous types of scams in the game. How not to get can-flipped, how to avoid contract scams, etc.

There's plenty of ways to not die in this game, but most of them require information. I don't think a change in game mechanics is necessary, just a change in the way we inform new players.

it's no longer eve, it's theme park MMO

btw, to buy a tengu, I only need to do 1hr of shooting red cross, you're doing it wrong

It's not just the PvP that keeps the game niche.

It's the "when you do get killed in PvP you lose all your stuff" part.

Stuff = time spent...stuff goes boom, you've wasted your time...or spent it on a 5 second rush, which seems like a waste of time in retrospect. Folks want to see character progression in MMO's...and because of EvE's wierd skill training system, you can't measure progression in time because you have no control over skill point aquisition aside form making some choices about implants and stat allocation once a year.

You CAN measure progression in stuff though. So when it goes BOOM, you've lost progress.

This is the complaint I've heard from buddies who've tried EvE...cool game but you end up losing your stuff that you spent time/effort aquiring...often violently at the hands of somebody that will do nothing but mock you for it.

Takes a certain kind of gamer to deal with that. Some folks love it. Most folks don't from what I've seen.

Worst post ever. You clearly have an extremely limited understanding of how this game works.

If you have to grind battleships for a week to die in PvP once, you're doing something awfully wrong. I did notice though that later in your post you state that you make 2mil in 20 seconds. By this logic, you should easily be able to lose many Tengus per week at a rate of 360mil per hour.

First of all: we have a CEO that plays EvE? Interesting, cuz Hillmar sure doesn't play ...

Second and more: I see the argument the OP is making and have a few comments. I am involved with a wide cirle of gaming friends. We do everything from Team Fortress II to Perpetuum to Black Prophecy, Jump Gate [Classic] when it was around, and even TOR. Two of us, in a circle of about 30 gamers, play EvE. Six of us are tight and often play in the same room.

When we say EvE is a sandbox, the general gaming public hears "EvE attracts greifers". Many who are not EvE players see it as "griefer central". Griefers have been weeded out of almost every other MMO because to sell tickets, you need an "pleasant" environment in terms of group/personal dynamics. This perception, real or otherwise, limits subs.

Many hardcore PvPers don't like EvE's style of PvP. This is no insult, it's a factor of popularity and choices. Some of the best PvPers I know state that EvE is "not real PvP". They quote the Blob vs Blob thing. We say the death penalty gives PvP some meaning; they say it forces them to grind PvE to pay for PvP. EvE is simply not attractive to a lot of existing PvPers who prefer the PvP style and rules of more main stream games. This limits subs.

CCP's reputation for bungling. This is only reinforced at times like these... Everybody I know who does not already play EvE has nothing good to say about CCP as a company. Maybe DUST will change that. As it is right now, this limits subs.

Shared PvE and PvP environment. This one seems to be closer to what the OP was talking about. And I must agree. I think the sandbox can be maintained even though there are areas that prevent non-consensual PvP. As an example, Perpetuum is thought of as a sandbox, and they have distinct PvP and PvE areas. It's workable, except as soon as anyone says "non-consensual", the flame wars ignite, followed by making a voodoo doll of me and sticking pins in where my liver should be. IMHO, this is the biggest hitter that prevents EvE from having mass appeal. Someone will retort with, "Well then EvE is not for them" and "They should pick a different game and leave us alone". Guess what: they already did. This limits subs.

Last thing I want to say: my experiences on SiSi have proven that EvE is fantasic and vast PvE environment. I've been all over the universe, and seen a lot of stuff I will never get to see in the production environment. Why/how? Because non-consensual PvP is not allowed on SiSI - it's got something to do with griefing the testers. So here we have a universe that would be easily marketable to an array of PvEers, meaning profits for CCP, if it didn't have open PvP in at least some areas.

Ain't gonna happen, right? With so many obvious marketing factors adding up against EvE as a viral profit making machine, is it any wonder that CCP is giving primary focus to other games with larger mass appeal, albeit, different customer demographics?