EVE General Discussion

You would be more than a little surprised by the systems I have worked on, one of which is under such a heavy NDA that I can't even tell you what I was doing or who it was for.

As to bad ideas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iG9CE55wbtY&t=5m35s

I am prepared to be wrong. I am happy if just a scrap of a quick idea is used as a basis for a better idea. I am willing to step forward with something rather than chime along with the banal masses.

That is a great line. I'm going to try it the next time I'm out on a date.


"Listen, sugartits, this is how things are going to go down. Every time I open my mouth, piles of unintelligible garbage are going to come tumbling out of it. It's going to be like my words are splashing diaper juice all over you every time I talk at you.

But listen. I do have good ideas, interesting things to say, even some funny lines here and there. The problem is that they are all under NDA. I just can't tell you about any of them. Sorry. :(

Wait. Wait, don't go. No really! I mean it! I'm not as completely brain-dead as I sound like I am. Come back!!!!"

Well burner missions and sleeper caches are both very recent additions to PvE where CCP is trying out new ideas. The sleeper caches were interesting, have you tried them?

More lvl 4 missions thrown into the mix would be a waste of time. They'd still be nothing but shooting dumb red crosses on a spreadsheet. Boring. They'd need to make the NPCs smarter and act more like players. And come up with a way to randomize things without resulting in a mess. And even then it would still be a few models floating around in space with the majority of the interaction occurring on a spreadsheet (overview).

EVE's core concept and design keeps it from having PvE that can match that of the fantasy MMOs. EVE can't have interesting set pieces and multiple level maze-like dungeons to explore and whatnot, like fantasy MMOs can. You don't get a close look at your enemies, control of your ship feels detached, the collision meshes are huge, etc, etc. There's a myriad of reasons why PvE in this game sucks and a lot of those reasons are not things that can be changed.

The whole exploring derelict structures on foot idea could have given EVE some missions that are actually fun and visually interesting. But CCP was incapable of pulling it off.

Anyway... to return to the original sentiment in the OP, I don't feel like the game is changing too fast. Ship rebalancing began in 2012 I think. They're still working on it. T3 cruisers still haven't had their subsystems overhauled. Changes to sov mechanics have been promised for years and they are only just now getting around to trying something.

Sleeper caches? I'm not aware of them, maybe they can't be found in hisec, or their rewards in hisec are carp?

I stopped bothering with "new exploration content" since CCP Idiot 1 (now can't recall his name) stated that highsec ghost sites would have zero chance (not 1-in-a-thousand nor 1-in-a-milion, but ZERO) to get the best rewards so players "moved out of their comfort zone" i.e. into low/null/WH. Each time I hear any CCP Dev say that, I feel like strangling puppies...

As for the utility of more Level 4 missions... Jesus. Please go back to the stats. ONE IN FOUR MONEY GIVERS PAY CCP FOR THAT SH*T. And they get a pool of, how many? Maybe 500 missions? All of them which have been "walkthroughed" since years ago. Nobody has written the walkthrough of a mission for years. By adding new missions with each release, CCP could keep the Traditionals happy, and make life less miserable to anyone engaging into PvE-for-money. All with just a level designer and the right set of tools.

You're right that at the end fo day, it's all a bunch of red crosses to shoot at, in a certain order or looking at certain parameters (aggro management), and the arms race between player ships and mission NPCs has been won by player ships since years ago. In a way, I am fine with that for ~reasons~.

But what I long, is the abbility to use that mechanic for pursuing complex goals. In EVE, the will to shoot and be shot at and the cunning and determination to succeed opens the gates to owning space empires and sh*t. But no amount of will, cunning or determination allows to achieve anything by shooting red crosses because there are no tools for it.

Players don't interact to NPCs. The game mechanics exist, but not in EVE. Think of NPCs as cards from a collectible cards game. The way to obtain, lose or use NPCs would imply shooting red crosses. But not for the sake of it, but because by doing so, you'd be playing against another player... just not shooting his face. Now, take it a bit further, and let's say that some NPCs could have an effect on players who don't own any card, not even the simplest "defense" deck. Those players would have a pressure to get those NPCs, as ignoring PvE would not be an option in a game where someone can PvE, obtain "attack" NPCs and fight back, not by shooting your face, but by (say) offlining your weapons and your warp drive for 15 seconds as soon as you fire on a neutral...

Be noted, this doesn't means removing the old shoot red-get iSK mecanics. But expanding PvE by handing control over to players in order to fight other players. NPCs are brainless, but by acting as "agent" of their "masters", they could be perfectly viable as smart, cunning opponents.

Currently EVE PvE is like setting all pieces in a chess board and taking them down with a slinghot. NPCs don't fight, don't move don't act. There's no rules nor opposition. Now, let's say there were some rules... and a human on the other side. The pawns would be the same, but the game would change completely.

Currently in EVE, either you box or you slingshot pawns from a board. "Chessboxing" EVE would be a way better game, specially for those who would rather not box. Which, interestingly, are an absolute majoriy of the money-givers.

I surrender! I surrender! I can not hope to defeat the most logical warrior on the forums.

(.... because I care so much! )

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Tangent:

Some of these are great.

Image one

Image two

... and goes to show that a good design doesn't need cheap tricks.

Join moa. Tell massadeath I mentioned him

Something something not empty quoting.

Opinions on a forum are like fashion.
Changes rapidly and no one really notices or cares what someone else has.

OP asks new content because has tried new content and find it lacking and uninteresting because of poor design decissions by developers who, like CCP Idiot 1, think that people should give them money to play the game the way CCP tells them.