EVE General Discussion

^^^ THIS. New Eden is a work of art in motion. It is shaped by its inhabitants; the lore revolves around such factions as Ushra'Khan, provibloc, Band of Brothers, the Goonswarm, TEST, ..... I've never met LShock and I don't know if he still plays - yet he still lives on in song. There's still propaganda for slumbering (dead?) alliances out there. The factions in our universe, its rich and colourful history is perhaps its most important defining feature.

Right there. Could have just +1'ed but no empty quoting ;-)

*CRAP*

busted

Every year brings more games.

There are less people playing the game this year (indisputable fact which will only be denied by people who are of the most imbecilic) because just like every year thus far, more and more games are being released.

This never ending deluge of games results in a constant fracturing and splitting of "gamers".

Back when this was one of few, it was crowded.

Now that it is one of many, it is spatial.

The game was truly an amazingly innovative mmo a decade ago, but the edge has not much left now. Look, the reality is number of online players are declining. MMO is all about connection between players. If the down tredning of population continues and passes a certain threshold, it might trigger a death spiral effect. One way or another, they have to stop the bleeding. Cherishing the memory of good old days cannot solve the problem.

No. The source of innovation are players.

The increasing number of competitors out there cannot be ignored. Player created content is a wonderful idea. Irony is that innovative players like to exercise their creative thinking in innovative games. Eve is losing these creative players to other competitors and that means the average player remains in the game might not be as creative as you think.

EVE PCU has not been less than 5K since I was in the beta. So your point is complete hyperbole. In addition, through it's existence CCP has routinely had some of the leading technology available. See this article from 2013 with this quote referring to the technology in use back in 2009 here:

"The funny thing was that, at the time, the technology only existed in the military so we had to get military clearance to go into a bunker in Texas to evaluate the hardware because the company, back then, had only just started looking into commercializing this thing that they made for the US army. We were one of first clients and they thought it was really funny that they went from building things for the army to something that's so completely light-hearted."

With a grin, Halldor adds, "Of course, we told them that the Internet spaceships are serious business."



First, let's be honest, they are not quiet. Second, you admit (in the bit I bolded) that you have no facts on which to base your position yet you completely dismiss the data that does exist because they do not back up your assumptions. I call that rather convenient.


EVE's has never had a "monolithic" player base.


I believe you are trying to rationalize a problem into existence, EVE is dying because of lack of casual players, that is not there. If it were true that EVE is dying, it is not dying (since 2004 by the way) because it has not catered to casual players.

The "silver bullet" to fixing EVE is not to just make it like every other MMO except "in space." You are an admitted developer and that is great. I am in marketing - for over 25 years. Please believe me when I tell you that just doing what everyone else is doing is not "understanding your customer base."

Do you honestly believe that CCP is not aware of the popularity of casual gaming? Do you honestly believe that CCP is not aware of the changing demographics of online gamers? Is it possible for you to admit that CCP might just actually know a little bit more about their game, their target market, their goals and their definition of success than you?

The simple fact is that CCP did not design THIS game for the casual player. This game can not be changed into a game for the casual player. They are developing other games within the EVE IP to attract these people.

In summary, go completely change the foundation and core mechanics of some other game but, please, leave this one the **** alone.

People are easily amused? People like shiny things and explosions? People like getting a trophy for showing up?

And the gaming world is full of people who don't understand:
Any solo game which requires you to be online to play alone is defective. Any small-group multiplayer game which requires you to be online to use it in a LAN party is also defective. Buying these kinds of games tells publishers they can continue to sell defective products.

The point is that it's not interesting and he is right.

What kind of argument is "sandbox?" anyway? the "people do what they like" thing is complete hogwash, because it's a catchall for every single one out there, completely dismissing the initial influence that pushes into certain directions. Arguments using "individuality" more often than not lack any depth, meaning and consideration.

People don't just do what they like, they learn what they like and then stick with it or try something else. Many just stick with the initial activity that gave them a reward. This is a situation caused by ccp themselves, who pushes people into restricting pve and mining, which does not even offer anything interesting that makes the game and worse pushes people into isolation because it encourages isolated solo-play which ccp admitted is not so great from a retention perspective.

the sad part is that it's not afk mining (mining with three accounts in covetors and an orca is fun though, always busy!) they like, it's that they like the easy rewards combined with watching netflix/etc. That's simply not how a game should be played, or will you argue that watching TV is part of the sandbox experience? ^_^

This should be obvious.

If there are lots of games for casual players, then entering a highly competitive market with a game not suited to casuals and then trying to make it suitable for casuals is almost surely not going to end well.

What are you going to do, compete for a tiny sliver of players? Yeah, that will work. To be clear, a competitive market like this any game is going to have a tough time surviving for long because there will always be a newer and cooler and better game for people to flock too. If this is the strategy it is not one, IMO, for long term success.

Think of it this way, it is like going to Vegas and opening a new casino. Sure you'll pull in customers, but the vast majority if not all of them are going to be from other casinos. And those casinos are not going to just sit idly by and let their customers be wooed away to another casino. They'll respond to bring them back or keep them. Thus, a new casino is going to have a hard time of it.

This is a game for people who plan on spending some time with it and getting good at it. Now it appears that people do not want to stick with it. How do you stop that? To be quite honest, I do not have a clue...and neither does anyone else here. It is like trying to pick the next google. If it were easy we'd all be billionaires. Since we aren't; it isn't.