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New dev blog: A letter to the followers of EVE

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Michael Turate
Federal Navy Academy
Gallente Federation
#521 - 2011-10-06 10:31:51 UTC
Great news. Lets also give some love to the dissenting voices within CCP (mentioned in the blog) who kept the faith and kept the fires burning and whose names will probably not be known. Their belief in the intrinsic importance of Flying In Space to the EVE universe and their continued opposition to the company ignoring the players feedback has allowed this about face to happen. If everyone in the company had deserted the playerbase then things would have continued to unravel and there would have been no opportunity to save the situation. Thank you to those people, it's only a small thank you but I hope you hear it.
Sidus Isaacs
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#522 - 2011-10-06 10:37:34 UTC
I was surprised by this blog, in a good way.

It takes courage to say "I was wrong", and I never look down on someone adimiting their mistakes and wanting to improve themself. This, dare i say it, has kindled a new hope for me for EVE. For EVE truly is uniqe, and that is why so many was so angry, we love the game.

I am looking forward to what is to come.
Officer Nyota Uhura
#523 - 2011-10-06 10:43:13 UTC
I think I love you again, CCP Hellmar.
Louis deGuerre
The Dark Tribe
#524 - 2011-10-06 10:49:18 UTC
Oh Hilmar, you big teddy bear Oops

*hugs*
Furb Killer
#525 - 2011-10-06 10:51:08 UTC
Well two options: CCP has a non-******** PR person or he actually means it. Sadly with CCPs track record it is hard to assume the second one, we have always been promised alot of shiney, which barely ever was delivered.


I hope this indeed means a change in EVE's direction, although personally I am going to let my sub expire in a few days, might have been different if you realised this a year ago, but now for me personally EVE is dead and simply does not give me fun anymore.
XO SPECTRE
#526 - 2011-10-06 10:55:11 UTC
Hellmar shows he have some leadership skill

CCP have very smart CEO i belive EVE will be better and better he will save our cyber space
Jowen Datloran
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#527 - 2011-10-06 10:57:13 UTC
Hm, "The Followers of EVE", sign me up!

Very very nicely written, Hilmar, I am feeling positive mood all over.

We should never forget that trying to force one version of how to play EVE, be it PvP or station interior experience, upon the whole player base is not the way to add to diversity or the sandbox experience.

Mr. Science & Trade Institute, EVE Online Lorebook 

qu1ckkkk
The Warp Core Stabilizers
#528 - 2011-10-06 10:59:44 UTC
Hey CCP Hellmar,

If you quit, can I haz ur stuff? Shocked

Proud developer of SeAT! A Simple Eve API & Corporation Management Tool.

Project Page: https://github.com/eveseat/seat
Brinid Navarre
#529 - 2011-10-06 11:11:42 UTC
Finally. Thank you for taking fault. This ignoring bullshit was starting to push even me. Now we can move forward.
Jin Maci
Synergy Holdings Inc
#530 - 2011-10-06 12:01:40 UTC
crap I gave all my stuff away
NIJofleyUK
I N E X T R E M I S
Tactical Narcotics Team
#531 - 2011-10-06 12:12:12 UTC
I read this and thought...

AT LAST!! CCP management have finally realised that the players are who makes this game! We have been voicing over forums, FanFest and many other channels our gripes for "getting things right" first time, not putting off what you think are small things to fix. We have waited far too long for the existing playing experience to improve greatly. Being a bit of a Hobo myself in EVE, I have been around the world for a short cut and have experienced many many of the problems everyone is talking about.

Too much focus was made on advancing prototype technologies within EVE rather than actually concentrating on the core product already there. It's like making a cake with toppings, if the cakes not right, it doesn't matter what you add to it later, it will still leave a bad taste in your mouth.

I am EXTREMELY impressed by the admission of guilt, and the courage it took for Hillmar to post that apology, I feel this is a definite move in the right direction and I am now really excited to see what comes of this. As a community, we can also help CCP by offering constructive criticism, maybe not on a business level but definitely for the priorities of what we would like to see in EVE. I would like to suggest a feedback questionnaire in multiple choice format. Say once per month, not going to all characters but to a character we can enable from the EVE Account area, where it only receives the questions, from this we can all vote on what needs fixed or added or tweaked. Maybe also a suggestions section, although I feel that would require human intervention to read but could maybe be presented in a dry-form layout where specific questions are asked and you have a selection and Other option/opinion. This sort of feedback and QA would be invaluable for CCP & I would implore CCP to consider this. It's only 1 mail per month, or an online form we fill in the account section once per month.

I feel the users "us" have sometimes felt like were silenced into submission, this hopefully will change over time now it seems like CCP are now realising that the community can fight back, either in game or in media formats.

Regards
NIJ

Instant Annihilation ::

> Join channel IAPUB for more information! (Recruiting)
HaydenJD
War Crime Syndicate
#532 - 2011-10-06 12:13:12 UTC
Kheirozen wrote:
That little page of text just gave me back part of my hope for EvE.

But the game clearly needs new features with the Incarna stuff.

Flying around in a ship killing stuff is fun, but it's pointless after a time... We need more stuff to do, be it inside a station or whatever.

You know what would be awesome ?? Space Casino Stations.... man i'd waste all my time playing casino in EvE with all my ISK.


You've put CCP Back on the right track, now stay on it.




This game is all about flying in space and pvping, they just need to add more to that to be honest. If you are bored with that then go play another game, don't want EVE becoming something else as this is why I play EVE in the first place over other games.
Vegare
Bitslix
Lolsec Fockel
#533 - 2011-10-06 12:13:23 UTC  |  Edited by: Vegare
Thanks for your honesty and thanks for having regained the faith in your current playerbase Smile
Alaxandria d'Vindi
Serenity Rising LLC
Controlled Chaos
#534 - 2011-10-06 12:20:29 UTC
Well said. As noted by other following through will establish trust but I am personally you are acknowledging the mistakes and hopefully fixing in a way that is beneficial to all!
Meditril
Hoplite Brigade
Ushra'Khan
#535 - 2011-10-06 12:41:41 UTC
Hats off!

Not many leaders have the courage to admit that they maybe have made a mistake. Also leaders are human and mistakes simply happen. So finding out that something get wrong is the first step to improval. Therefore I am looking forward to the next expansion. CCP did a lot of good work in the past and now with this realignment I am sure you are back on the path to glory.
Nehmen Geld
#536 - 2011-10-06 12:52:53 UTC  |  Edited by: Nehmen Geld
Good to read. I look forward to seeing the results.

Have you considered that you might get more traction with the adoption of the NEX if you included a per-month Aurum credit as part of the existing subscription? No price increase, just a per month allowance included in the current price. i.e. subscribers receive a small amount of Aurum a month. The amount would be small enough that it would take years to afford the "thousand dollar jeans" items but large enough that players could accumulate enough Aurum to buy a pair of boots and a shirt every 12 months. Something in the range of 350 AUR a month.

Nobody is really going to buy into the shallow pleasure of vanity items until we've actually tasted the experience of having a wardrobe.

A loyalty payment would also be an interesting reward, perhaps even a tangible expression of appreciation toward your customers. An amount of Aurum for every paid subscribed month since we joined? I think that would kick start something interesting and contribute to watering down the inevitable "haha sucker" stigma that is going to be associated with toons wearing NEX items when establishments finally arrive.

In the interest of balance: yay spaceships!
RealaiX
Dont be a drone
#537 - 2011-10-06 12:56:00 UTC
just one word...


R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Kr99
Citadel Mercantile Exchange
#538 - 2011-10-06 13:02:55 UTC
Nowhere is the culture of arrogance felt more strongly than in the customer service department.
Average time to get an impersonal rebuke from a CCP GM: 3 days
Average time to be in live chat with a Blizzard GM: 30 seconds

I have an impression of the Icelanders as a proud and tough people, who suffer fools and whiners poorly, and at the same time have a profound sense of fairness, justice and the rule of law. That makes them worthy of admiration perhaps, but also tragically unsuited to the task of customer service, where empathy trumps law.

You could do worse than to fire the whole department and outsource it, or at least rebuild it with some consultants from your competitors.
Vedje
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#539 - 2011-10-06 13:09:06 UTC
With all due respect
Personally i am grateful for incarna
it looks awesome, it gives us a chance to see our characters
Indeed i can only imagine how much work went into it.
But nevertheless it still doesn't have any practical use, sadly.

The promises on the other end made for winter expansion have
a great deal of potential.
I am hoping that Eve continues to grow, as in Eve that we are playing
not the captains quarters where we sit for a minute till our loot was dumped
into the station so we can go on, sit to fix modules and fly out
or where we leave our characters afk.
Publius Valerius
AirGuard
LowSechnaya Sholupen
#540 - 2011-10-06 13:09:13 UTC  |  Edited by: Publius Valerius
Misanth wrote:
Florestan Bronstein wrote:
Cors wrote:
WHERE do PEOPLE who already pay for your game TELL YOU they WANT THIS????

Monthly subscription fees BUILT CCP. BUILT EVE ONLINE.

MY GOD. The greed that is slapping us in the face, beating us with sticks, stealing our wallets is called Micro transactions.

**** OFF with MICRO-TRANSACTIONS.

Just because half the Japanese/Chinese/Korean games do this does NOT mean it's a good model. This is the model for games that are on their dead beds. Games that have no development team left. Games that are DIEING!

Many people reduced their time spent in EVE in favor of games like WoT (power & convenience MTs) or LoL (vanity & convenience MTs).

Maybe you'll argue that these games are fundamentally different from EVE but I think especially the wide-spread love for WoT among EVE players (and "gold ammo" in WoT gives you a very significant advantage) is a huge pointer to CCP that the issue is with "subscription AND power MTs" and not power MTs per se.

So, yes, I think there is a pretty strong argument that players themselves tell CCP with their actions that MTs are at least acceptable (if not preferable to a subscription-based model).


Yah, we can take me for example. At my peak I had 50+ characters and quite a bunch of accounts active in this game. I'm one of those older customers who been through most expansions and changes in this game. But since this spring I only log to change skills and read mails, more or less.

I've gone to use my gaming time in WoT, LoL, both free to play. I'm also re-playing old games like Warcraft 2, the Heroes of Might and Magic series (including the beta 6). Civilization, NWN, etc. I.e. I'm playing games that either are free to play, or games I bought or downloaded years ago.

I already cancelled my SW:TOR pre-order, I've dropped my EVE accounts to what is already pre-paid, and I don't really feel a reason to play anything that cost me money. That's the reality of the MMO industry as a whole, look at Blizzard, dropping 2 million subscribers in short time wasn't it? 12->10? Meanwhile free to play games are doing well.

There are still people around who don't mind paying a monthly subscription, that is right, but it's a given fact that the MMO industry can see where things are heading. Free to play is the reality (right now) and something you want to introduce sooner rather than later. When Zulu posted his blog about "big changes", I actually believed CCP had taken the decision to go free to play and rely on PLEX/NeX for the future. It's quite obvious they're looking at that direction right now.


I have just 1 Account and two Chars on it Lol but I think... I think in this case monthly subscription for EVE Online is model thats fit this game better, I come why I this is the case later.... As for WoT, I play it too... and this game is fun and free to play... and sells power... better to say "penetration of shells" ... so I like many players this days which had play EVE... I just log in and read the mails and skills some stuff... and get my hardly earned walled try out for plexes as long as it gets.

Now to the point why I play latly more WoT than EVE... it is mainly I havent so many time latly... everything is eating time right now.Sad So If I have to choose between WoT and EVE I go for WoT because I know... I just log in get in my PzKpf V Panther with my long 7,5/100 and fight on one or two battles to get the dailys... then I log off... thats is the main reason... it just that I know I can finish some stuff in short time... in EVE, well, everthing what you start is amlost a journey and you are forced to play longer... the time I havent have.Sad So in my case I´m not agaist microtransactions or CQ or Sansha Incursions etc... I thought it is a nice thing, and I personly hope for the new wiki and immersion project.Lol
A second point in my case is that some of my friend which brought me to the game left.. for differnet reasons. Cry (SO I hope the FW update which are coming are good, to bring them back)

P.S. About WoT.. Dont forget the bitching on Overlords blog and the formus about the test server nerf (from test patch 2 to 3 on 6.6 or 6.7 I think) of the E-Series. Nothing is perfekt, but I had the feeling the community makes this game great... so I hope some will come back.

Now to the point about monthly subscription. I get this point for you (Misanth): "Free to play is the reality (right now) and something you want to introduce sooner rather than later [...] and that it is the future." I think it will be the future too... but maybe not for EVE (maybe it can survive as on of the few monthly subscription games). I think for EVE is it to late to make such a change to free to play. I mean everthing would now just seems as like it wouldnt fit in (by the way thats is the feeling I have with the microtransaction shop somehow it doesnt fit really in... always when I open the ingame window of the shop, it feels like a diffrent game). What I mean is, that Free to play is something what you have from the start or not... a later change would be just give a feeling of something is oktroyiert/forced/imposed to the code of the game. But maybe it is just me.

maybe a nice read: No Blood, No Gore, Just Megatons of Steel

now to CCP Hellmar... I like the tone, but just in case I´m ready for the Charlie Brown feeling of someone takes the ballBig smile. So I´m ready for the worse, but I hope for the best-P

I would love to have those classes ingame. See here:

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/376566/march-07-2011/joshua-foer