My EVE

from http://poeticstanziel.blogspot.ca/2013/01/why-ccp-is-wrong-about-modular-poses.html

CCP's excuse for not tackling POSes are three-fold. First, that it would take too long, require too much developer time: most of the company's resources for an entire year. Two, that not enough people use them. And three, the one they won't mention, because this is the unmentionable reason they won't touch a POS revamp: they don't think it will drive new subscribers.

More than enough people will talk about the first and second reasons. I want to talk about the third. I believe a modular POS revamp would drive subscriber numbers through the roof. Why I think this is true is for far different reason than most people might imagine. Not because of industry or mechanics or because of failings in the current POS system. Nope. A revamp will drive new subscribers because of aesthetics.

That's ******* crazy, most of you are probably thinking. Who gives a **** about aesthetics? A lot of us fly space potatoes, for godssake.

Look at other MMOGs. Think of player housing. Modular POSes would be EVE's version of unique, player-owned, player-designed housing. Sure, you can't step inside a POS, but if it's modular, it's still something that you have built and designed yourself. It's something you can show off.

I envision modular POSes like LEGO™. You can slap one POS module onto another, eventually building out unique configurations.

There is little in the way of personalization in EVE. Sure, you can fit your ship out the way you want, but it's really only visible to the builder, not to anybody else (until you die and you show up on a killmail.) But with POSes, it becomes a building exercise, something inventive. No matter the intial costs and the monthly fuel costs, some people, many people, are going to build monuments to their imaginations. It seems silly, but these types of features, these sorts of mechanics lend themselves to the creative spirit. Creativity is what drives certain types of people to certain types of games.

Sure, you're eventually going to get a giant space penis orbiting some moon somewhere, but that's a small price to pay for building something the players can utilize inventively. Imaginatively. Creatively.

If CCP thinks that a modular POS revamp is not going to drive new subscribers to the game, then they simply aren't thinking outside of the box, outside of the industrial applications, the generic wormhole uses, the mechanics. They aren't thinking about the marketing possibilities. Small cities in space, cities that the players themselves get to build and own. These things that will ultimately reflect a player's personality. How is that not an easy sell?

Is there even any debate about this amongst the playerbase?

Reading the minutes it surprised me how Unifex dismissed POS reworks as not benefitting enough players, while previously his creatives (cant find the quote but I think it was either Soundwave or Grayscale) said that "a pos is something everyone should want". And im sure that plenty of people would benefit of any change there to justify it.

I have a feeling that there's a different reason altogether. Maybe they're a bit fed with rehashing old code that they've been doing all of last year and want something fresh; and its clear that POS/corporate roles code are possibly an even bigger headache than Crimewatch was.



Quoted for truth.

Even if CCP reworks player owned stations expect it to be horrid and wait 2 more years for a fix.

POSes don't benefit enough players because of the limits CCP placed on where we can put POSes, and the grind it takes for them to be available to the high-sec population. Which may have its purposes, but ultimately is how THEY designed the game.

Otherwise, their assessment is true. They'll get bigger numbers if they remodel a whole race's ship lines than if they remodel POSes.

See also

See this two-step Dev blog
http://twostep4csm.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/i-am-small-portion-of-community.html

Post into this thread
https://forums.eveonline.com/default.aspx?g=posts&t=194625&find=unread

Thanks you for your time. It will only take a minute or 2 and this one is really important.

Thank you for your speedy article poetic

CCP really put their foot in it on this one, so much for “Enablers” & “Instigators”.

They killed it before it made it out the door.

Very good post, I fully agree.

"Have you played EVE, you build these awesome starbases in it? Check out my screenshot, we built these!"

as opposed to the current

"Well yeah this stick with a bubble is our pride and joy, the homebase of our corp... no you can't dock there and it looks just like 140622 others"

I feel that CCP totally underestimates the profit potential of attached emotional value of building sky palaces.

Please revamp POS. The playerbase is begging for it for years now. :(

I believe they mean "modular" in a more Tech-3 sort of sense, where its one structure with various interchangable bits connected to it and expanding from a core, rather than just a spike with various bubbles and gadgetry floating around it disconnectedly.

personally I think that holds some appeal as well. perhaps tweaking the system to make it a little easier to get into having/running/building one, and maybe make it so you can set it "public" so non-corp people could utilize what you've set up to some extent.

it would be neat if you could have NPC stations (like they are now) then renovate Outposts to be essentially player-built custom stations that could potentially be on par or even better than an NPC station... and re-do POS's to be sorta mini-outposts/stations, where you could rent out lab slots, manufacturing slots, processing services... something like that would have a lot of potential I think. it would be interesting to be able to "make a living" running a network of POS's in station-less systems or something, expanding the high sec research lab availability (at a price) and so on.

I don't mind their reviewing ship balancing though. I think some of that is sorely needed as well. going through everything like that just takes so much time and all, its a tough balance and I don't envy them trying to manage it.

The Voice's of the masses will be herd, go to Jita Park Corner & Look for : I am a small portion of the community.