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My Thoughts On Alphas And FtP
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TackyTachy1
Doomheim
#1 - 2017-03-13 04:30:28 UTC
For a few generations after WW2, with the rest of the world in a shambles USA had the only functioning economy and managed to live a couple or three generations in spectacular prosperity. But then the rest of the world managed to rebuild it's self and in time became stiff competitors with the USA. About that time, with their backs to the wall, American corporations loosed probably the most deadly mantra ever loosed upon the people of Earth: Maximum Profit, All the Time, No Matter The Cost. In other words, no matter the damage to the environment, no matter that both parents had to work to make ends meet, no matter that people died attempting to use defective products or, as in the case of Big Tobacco, no matter that millions became addicted to the life threatening cigarettes.

OK, so what's all this got to do with us, trying our best to kill other players pixel based starships with our pixel based starships? CCP is yet another global corporation going at it hammer and tongs with their competitors, all scrabbling for that elusive thing called market share. But this is where it gets tricky: CCP's market is not like everybody else's market, and this game is not like most of the games out there, and the people who play this game are not, well, normal.

Yes, CCP must make a profit, if for no other reason than to provide a sandbox where we can fly our pixel based starships. But to venture past a reasonable profit, striving for that elusive maximum profit, the burdens soon out weigh the benefits. CCP has a fiercely loyal player base, although most will deny such maudlin sentimentality, and they comprise a strong core of players who pay by the year and tend to simply allow CCP to auto renew their subs. CCP should perhaps concede that this is what they have, and efforts to inject glitz, glamour and slam bang excitement into the playing experience will accomplish nothing much more than an irritated core player base and disappointed seekers of glitz, glamour and slam bang excitement.

I lost a Legion the other day, and no, that was not fun and I quit for oh, I don't know, more than twenty-four hours. But then I started thinking about how and why I lost the Legion and I think I can fix that. And the suspicion grows that maybe, just maybe, I ain't all that normal myself.

Forum Rep for a bunch of characters, couple corps and one seriously Lost In Space multiboxer.
Bjorn Tyrson
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#2 - 2017-03-13 04:43:18 UTC
That old and loyal playerbase will not be around forever. No matter how loyal or how long we have been playing. People do eventually drift away. Maybe they get a family. Maybe the accomplish their eve goals. Maybe they get a new job or simply grow bored. Either way, the company cannot survive exclusively by courting their existing player base. If the game is going to survive they need to attract new blood.

Yes, ftp probably lost us some older players who let their subs drop now... but frankly those players where on their way out already.

And sure, the majority of fhe new alphas might not have stuck around. But most of them where not cut out for the game anyways.

But that 1 in 10 who did stick around. That is the new blood we need. That is what will help keep this game going for a little while longer at least. .. and sure they might not post on the forums much, but I'm betting that's because they are out in space having some fun.
Mav Ahishatsu
Doomheim
#3 - 2017-03-13 08:00:31 UTC
I fail to see the correlation between the implementation of alpha clones and "...efforts to inject glitz, glamour and slam bang excitement into the playing experience".
BuntCakez
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#4 - 2017-03-13 08:20:53 UTC
so your thoughts on the alpha state are a random smorgasbord of verbose musings more or less entirely irrelevant to the subject... cool man, good to know
The Fukuzawa
Doomheim
#5 - 2017-03-13 08:30:47 UTC
Oh geez, f2p is going to help the EVE population grow. Those of you who expected a huge number of increased subs are idiots, this is a niche game. For every 25 people who try it 1 sticks around, with f2p in place, that 1 out of 25 is more likely to commit.

F2p is a success because of the small trickle of new blood that is running in to the pool.

! ! ! New Eden Trade Group is paying monthly interest to investors, contact me if interested ! ! !

If you already assume we are scammers without looking at what we offer objectively, go ahead and F*** off.

Thank you, that is all.
Mephiztopheleze
Laphroaig Inc.
#6 - 2017-03-13 08:33:27 UTC
TackyTachy1 wrote:
About that time, with their backs to the wall, American corporations loosed probably the most deadly mantra ever loosed upon the people of Earth: Maximum Profit, All the Time, No Matter The Cost. In other words, no matter the damage to the environment, no matter that both parents had to work to make ends meet, no matter that people died attempting to use defective products or, as in the case of Big Tobacco, no matter that millions became addicted to the life threatening cigarettes.


The term you're looking for is: Neoliberalism.

Occasional Resident Newbie Correspondent for TMC: http://themittani.com/search/site/mephiztopheleze

This is my Forum Main. My Combat Alt is sambo Inkura
Ijon-Tichy
Ze One Man Show
#7 - 2017-03-13 10:21:11 UTC  |  Edited by: Ijon-Tichy
The day you stop thinking about how to get new customers is the day your competitors win. Everything else is just a matter of time. Same is true about the day you stop thinking about how to serve your old customers better. Citadels were for the old, alpha clones for the new customers, looks like CCP got it right.
000Hunter000
Missiles 'R' Us
#8 - 2017-03-13 19:47:11 UTC
Bjorn Tyrson wrote:
That old and loyal playerbase will not be around forever. No matter how loyal or how long we have been playing. People do eventually drift away. Maybe they get a family. Maybe the accomplish their eve goals. Maybe they get a new job or simply grow bored. Either way, the company cannot survive exclusively by courting their existing player base. If the game is going to survive they need to attract new blood.


Hm... I've grown old, started a family, got bored and accomplished lots of goals...

Yes, i've taken a few breaks, but EVE has always drawn me back in! ALWAYS. Big smile

It does that to people Shocked
Cade Windstalker
#9 - 2017-03-13 21:06:45 UTC
000Hunter000 wrote:
Bjorn Tyrson wrote:
That old and loyal playerbase will not be around forever. No matter how loyal or how long we have been playing. People do eventually drift away. Maybe they get a family. Maybe the accomplish their eve goals. Maybe they get a new job or simply grow bored. Either way, the company cannot survive exclusively by courting their existing player base. If the game is going to survive they need to attract new blood.


Hm... I've grown old, started a family, got bored and accomplished lots of goals...

Yes, i've taken a few breaks, but EVE has always drawn me back in! ALWAYS. Big smile

It does that to people Shocked


Yeah, but not to everyone.

At this point my friends list has more people who haven't logged in in over a year than it does active pilots.
Dravos Tarimus
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#10 - 2017-03-13 22:00:57 UTC
I'm sure that CCP will make more money off of alpha players who decide to subscribe/buy plex than from leeching off of inactive players who've forgotten to cancel their sub.

Besides, CCP's revenue is doing very well lately.

Article wrote:
The most recent financial results, announced today, report an uptick of around 30% in revenues - up to $86,135,976 in FY 2016 from $65,703,397 in 2015. EBIDTA sits at $38,935,538 (45% of revenue). DAU for EVE online doubled during this period, ARPU is up 20%. CCP's heavy investment in a nascent VR industry is pretty much breaking even already.


Even if that increase in revenue isn't because of the decision to incorporate F2P into EVE, it at least means that CCP isn't strapped for cash and so has the financial wiggle room to try things like this. Besides, more players in the game is a good thing for everyone.

Dravos' Diary: A Newbie's Attempts To Git Gud
Ranzabar
Doomheim
#11 - 2017-03-16 02:53:00 UTC
Without any data to support my theory, I posit that 90% of the people who give EVE a try will bail straight away. 5% will hang around as Alpha Clones for about a year, with 2.5% ultimately going Omega but the other 2.5% bailing out and of the 5% that went Omega directly, 2.5% will stay and 2.5% will bail and of the 2.5% that stayed, 1.25% will revert back to Alpha and the other 1.5% will join Brave Newbies and get podded in their first accidental solo venture into Null Sec. I have 44% confidence in this conclusion, but there is a 56% chance that I'm full of Sh*t.

Abide
Drake Aihaken
CODE.d
#12 - 2017-03-16 03:36:00 UTC
Sometimes in EVE you get the bear. Usually, the bears gets you.
roberts dragon
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#13 - 2017-03-16 06:39:35 UTC
buisness is buisness period ccp has to make a profit thier model is good reason been going so long , but with the free to pay they need to keep more of them , do think over time the free to play will work because its free but need more of them paying , so how to achive that . i do play for the subs allways have.

just a few suggestion 1.0 to 0.8 safe haven for players who want that style no gank .

no npc corps after tutorial you have to join player corp run by isd and devs and of course the pros .

and tutorial older one there is no pvp content so should have at least a arena with corvettes anc civilan modles to help the along as well .

since game was made for pvp and thats only when blowing players ships/pods the rest of the game is actually pve ,so to get more to actually do pvp you need a better way to make that happen.

people dont like change have to lead them into changes , do think to keep more alpha players and in time commit to subs you need to think out of the box . as a few suggestions i have made .
October Isagar
Rage Against All Reds
GunFam
#14 - 2017-03-16 07:03:29 UTC
Honestly this game in my opinion is not free to play it has a glorified trial that has no expiration date kinda like wows p lay for free till lvl20 only eve use other limits due to its vary different nature. I don't know what the answer is to growing eves market is but I don't think a glorified trail labeled as free to play is going to help eve out
Kaeden 3142
State War Academy
Caldari State
#15 - 2017-03-16 09:56:03 UTC
There's plenty of pixel entertainment out there and CCP has to compete.
McIron
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#16 - 2017-03-16 18:45:57 UTC
I think CCP has a little problem...
EVE was always centered around PVP. People who like space games and PVP jumped in and many are still on board.
To make money they chose the sub/PLEX model, which was normal at that time, the sub one at least.

The problems i see...if we want to call them as such (think from the perspective of a new player)

Subbing is relatively expensive, PLEX even more. That already eliminates potential customers, especially nowadays with tons of F2P games which kill free time just as good as sub based ones. Add to that the time you need to sub to skill up, get a ship you want etc.
And then you die and your nice shiny ship, equipment, implants are all gone. Weeks of work and time. Not really motivating.
That on the financial side.

Then we have the players who prefer PVE MMO games and i think that may, or may not, be the majority of "normal" MMO players nowadays... or at least a game with safe zones.
PVP content and the tied in politics, wars etc. are not interesting for them, at first. PVE part of the game however is extremly hollow and at the beginning unrewarding (Mission succeded, payout 40k ISK, ship player wants 400 millions, PLEX 1b...). Added the danger to lose it all.... again not motivating.

And those are mainly the reasons i heard from 9 co-workers whom i invited as alpha status got introduced.
Not one of them subbed. It was too expensive for what they get, too boring and too time consuming (especially for those with "ganking setbacks" who tried to start a career as miners).

Add to that the attitude of some players calling such people carebears or worse and trying to force them into PVP. Won't work, they will leave, there are many other games out there. And with them the money and possible PVP content (if they in the future decide to take part in it) leaves too. All were as me around 40, with jobs and enough money but the game failed to deliver what they were looking for. In this case a game where you can build up something and relax after work or PVP if you choose to do so. Not providing content for PVP'ers by beeing a victim until you learn everything you need to. Between work and family, time is scarce and sometimes one just wants to have some fun. Which for everyone is something else.

Now sure, you can say who cares, let them go, but if CCP wants more players and more income you need such people.
Problem is, if CCP tries to please their needs and get them to become paying customers, they would start a s***storm here coming from the vets who don't want their game changed.
Also, for sure, there are dangers in adding more safety in an existing game. UO failed at that too. Trammel was relaxing at the beginning, but without the danger of beeing attacked by players and losing equipment and money, the economy collapsed, people amassed wealth, got bored and left. PVP'ers were not pleased fighting each other, without easy prey, they got bored too.

Possible solutions? Alot more PVE content wouldn't hurt i think. Interesting missions with useful rewards. Perhaps a small station only you can reach to call home (yes, many people like to have home, useless or not) which would have no real purpose other than to dock there and put your flowers on the table. Safe zones...probably not, it would do more harm than good,see UO. More ideas...?

So....hard to tell. One can never please everybody. Existing playerbase seems to not be enough for CCP, changing the dynamics of the game however is risky.

Just the 2 glorious cents...
Aedaxus
Ascendance
Goonswarm Federation
#17 - 2017-03-16 19:53:58 UTC
Eve is centered around a balance between PVE and PVP; Where you will find carebear people over 0.5 sec say it's a PVE game and people under 0.4 sec say it's a hardcore PVP game. It's actually much more than that, it's like the 50 shades of gray between PVP and PVE combined with a economical system.
If EVE becomes PVE only it will fail, if it becomes PVP only it will fail. Some people are still claiming it's one of both should think why there is a gradation of security. Then think again and again then stop thinking and be one of the many drones in the plan of the elite few who's intelectual capacities go beyond "pew pew, boom, repeat" and "mine, sell, repeat".

The whole thing about eve is risk assesment., this goes beyond "pew pew, boom, repeat" and "mine, sell, repeat".

The main reason people don't play it because the PVP "pew pew, boom, repeat" is mediocre and the PVE "mine/mission/haul/PI/... , sell, repeat" is average at best. It's a game that can be played on the background but get tedious if played 'intensively'. The best ship in EVE is friendship, and it has a reasonable good community, mostly because not every post is replied to with "I ***** your mommy!".

The learning process is long, yet it's much easier if I look back 10 years. But still it requires people to "STOP, THINK" instead of grabbing the next skill, ship and equipment for their next adventure then need to realize they have to wait longer and longer on skills. I repeat, not for the average player that wants everything NOAW. Although impatient players can choose to invest to save time.

That aside, there is a lot of PVE mission content but it can be repetitive and its so slow people stop reading, just click accept and do teh mission and grab the cash. Making longer stories is a waste of resources and will be fixed by letting players make their own awesome adventures were people will be reminiscing on how awesome those adventures were and not mind the rewards.

Home stations are scrapped, people hardly use the ingame station where only you can come and is your home, but yeah, most people have ideas and ideas, but don't play the game. I play the game and enjoy it's depth. But the probalem is almost no one knows or takes the time. As 99.99% of the people I know want to take entire nullsec for their own after a week of gameplay.
Drake Aihaken
CODE.d
#18 - 2017-03-16 20:02:49 UTC
The new proposed PLEX changes are intended to capialize on Alphas/F2P. PLEX will be safe, it will be secure - and it will be easier to save up for, acquire and accumulate in smaller quantities. There will also no doubt be lots of new things to spend it on in a revamped New Eden Store...
TackyTachy1
Doomheim
#19 - 2017-03-20 04:11:14 UTC
Man I figured after a post like that I'd get gored but the response was surprisingly perceptive with but minor goring. There are vast swaths of this game I don't know that much about and I'm confident that when I'm looking for new ways to play there will be things I need to research before jumping in. I ain't got a clue about Plex and Arum, some kind of other money I think but neither one flies and I can't shoot nobody with it so I don't think I'll ever get into all that but hey, if that's your thing then go for it. As far as the Alpha folks, well, good luck and happy flying, all that.

Forum Rep for a bunch of characters, couple corps and one seriously Lost In Space multiboxer.
Frisky LaDouche
Science and Trade Institute
Caldari State
#20 - 2017-03-20 05:08:52 UTC
I tried the free to play to finally try it out. After a long weekend of playing, I upgraded to Omega. Mission accomplished for CCP.
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