These forums have been archived and are now read-only.

The new forums are live and can be found at https://forums.eveonline.com/

EVE Information Portal

 
  • Topic is locked indefinitely.
 

New dev blog: A letter to the followers of EVE

First post First post
Author
Previous Topic Next Topic
Tanya Powers
Doomheim
#641 - 2011-10-07 11:52:04 UTC
Imawuss wrote:
why do i feel i just went to one of those office meetings that are all hype and sound great, but in the end nothing at all changes?


Maybe most people think you need a big pair of balls to punch someone's face and everything then goes forward, they're sadly wrong.

Having a ******* big pair of balls is to come out in front of each and every one and recognise you've done ****, you messed up and assume your mistakes, learn from them, present your excuses and show you want to move forward on the right path.

This has been done.

CQFD

It's time to move forward and find together ways to improve this game and bring it to it's higher potential, and the one who can't see the true potential of it is either blind or stupid.

More peeps, more stuff, more content, a better game.
couriertrading alt
Doomheim
#642 - 2011-10-07 12:15:34 UTC
Firstly let me congratulate you for writing this, it was brave of you when you consider the personal reasons you have mentioned for what basicly became the EVE riots.

The EVE that we have all created though is a place where actions speak louder than words, but this said your letter has restored a large part of my faith in CCP and the future of EVE, now we wait to see the actions.

Kind regards

CTA

P.S. long live the subscription!
Valari Nala Zena
Perkone
Caldari State
#643 - 2011-10-07 12:19:57 UTC
I really had the feeling CCP didn't understand (or didn't want to understand) the problems and is growing more distant to it's customers.

This blog shows me that Hellmar understands, and is willing to correct and prevent what was done wrong.

I feel this is the first big step taken by CCP, that might actually restore my fate and the fate of many customers.

Just before the blog ended, i still had the feeling to address “It’s not what you say, it’s what you do”; and there it was, in the blog reading it just after i was thinking it.

That to me is just proof that you understand, and i will be looking with renewed hope to what CCP will do next.
Benteen
Atra Mortis Industries
#644 - 2011-10-07 12:20:03 UTC
It's good to see faith is slowly being restored. Thank you for having the courage to write that blog and I hope you know i'm going to stay the course with you and the CCP team for as long as I can.
DODGE CITY
Keep it Hard
#645 - 2011-10-07 12:32:49 UTC
i have a suggestion....stop with the monthly deployment of new game features and give them to us every 6 months after they have been tested thoroughly on sisi and all bugs have been worked out and patched.
1 more suggestion fix the training que so months worth of training can be added so we dont have to check every few days ..cause you all dont keep the que active unless the account is paid monthly so would not give any one an unfair advantage over any other player

Troll Skill Lv3 ≡√≡
Ranka Mei
TANoshii Incorporated
#646 - 2011-10-07 12:58:07 UTC
I can't believe Hilmar came clean like this! I double-checked the site to make sure I hadnt landed on some hoax page or anything. :)

Anyway, kudos to the man for everything he said. That was pretty big of him.

-- "All your monies AUR belong to us!" -- CCP
Nandy Cocytus
Doomheim
#647 - 2011-10-07 13:27:57 UTC
Visione wrote:
finally a blog i can support and is nice

i think i speak for all or maybe allot of EVE players:

"We don't want more "sims 3" activities or expantions, we want more spaceship business, we didn't play EVE to get another sims 3 copy, we played EVE because it was UNIQUE, not another 14-year-old-game"

so yes, fix game mechanics, fix null-sec, fix FW, add more ships, and don't forget its a game about serious spaceships :P

so i am fary please CCP can see that now :)


I think comparing what Incarna was supposed to be is extremely glib. A lot of EVE players tend to be glib. A total scifi experience includes a character that fits the setting. If YOU want to be the pilot, then design your character to look like yourself. It's that simple. It's not another sims copy.

Quote:
Incarna didn't give us characters or avatars: they gave us mannequins.


I'll give you that. But, the old character creation, when your bloodline and heritage MATTERED, there was something there. I think that should come back. I also think that hearing Aura describe the various empires during character creation was awesome. What the hell happened to that? I'm personally very attached to my characters. But, I think to flesh out Incarna more, it might be worth considering to bring heritage into the mix. Simply asking a player to write a bio isn't quite enough. There should be a legacy to build from.

So it goes.
J Kunjeh
#648 - 2011-10-07 13:32:07 UTC
Obbi Vynneve wrote:

I think this entire sentiment is highly foolish. People do not want connection with their avatars, because the avatar has no personality. Eve has always had the player as the pilot: this, however, is not a traditional roleplaying experience. The character creator is impressive, however that is the full extent of "me" that I see or care about. My ships, however, are still the thing I love the most.


I think that presuming to speak for anyone but yourself is far more foolish, don't you?

"The world as we know it came about through an anomaly (anomou)" (The Gospel of Philip, 1-5) 
Vetr Saken
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#649 - 2011-10-07 14:28:11 UTC
I've always puzzled over the complaints around some of the issues mentioned. I welcomed CQ. I never saw ship spinning as anything other than just something to occupy the eyes while in a station, and I can't understand why people got so passionate about its removal. CQ, at its worst, is also just something to occupy the eyes while docked. At best, it's the beginning of new, more involving phase in EVE's development.

As for the Noble Exchange, like many players, my reaction to that has been to ignore it. It'll stay, or it'll go. I have no feelings either way. I can't get worked up about 'pay-to-win', because I've always felt that the ability to buy GTCs and sell PLEX in-game already amounts to that.

Still, whatever my position on the issues raised, I accept that many have been unhappy recently. So it took courage to make this post, and I too thank CCP Hellmar for doing so.
Karos Vandarl
Republic University
Minmatar Republic
#650 - 2011-10-07 14:41:50 UTC
no pay to win : great

you noticed 0.0 is utterly totaly broken : good

your goina fix 0.0 : good , im a '07 living in high sec 'cuz 0,0 is FUBAR

you realized that we players are not so stupid we noticed a single room with no edit options doesnt count as an expansion (CQ) : ok

your bringing back ship spinning : meh

new ships : good


......

ok caps back on the kerosine can, but the cans not going back in the shed yet.

you bought some time. use it well.
Apaco lypse
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#651 - 2011-10-07 14:55:01 UTC
Thanks Hellmar, I think the EVE community will forgive you too... soon(tm). Lol
Brazero
#652 - 2011-10-07 15:00:17 UTC
Not a word about the major fokkups, like plex, RMT, bots. The things that really ruined the game.
HaydenJD
War Crime Syndicate
#653 - 2011-10-07 15:05:18 UTC
J Kunjeh wrote:
Obbi Vynneve wrote:

I think this entire sentiment is highly foolish. People do not want connection with their avatars, because the avatar has no personality. Eve has always had the player as the pilot: this, however, is not a traditional roleplaying experience. The character creator is impressive, however that is the full extent of "me" that I see or care about. My ships, however, are still the thing I love the most.


I think that presuming to speak for anyone but yourself is far more foolish, don't you?


Look at how many people got into playing EVE before Incarna was even thought of, doesn't that give a good idea of what people want? People cared about their ships and they still do, I know many people who care more about their ships than their avatar and that's the reason we play this game and call it "Internet Spaceships". With all this "evidence" I could speak for others and I'm guessing that's the same thing Obbi Vynneve did.
Shifty Shifterson
The White Fang
#654 - 2011-10-07 16:48:53 UTC
I got in here pretty late so I can't imagine this will even get read. It is great that you are thinking about finishing some of the aspects which have been added to the game as little more than concepts. I have been disappointed by so many of the recent 'expansions', though I appreciate a lot of work has gone in to them. The problem was always that everything has been over-hyped, probably because you wanted them to be so much more.

Factional warfare was supposed to be a huge war over territory. I pictured it something like this: if faction x control a system, then that system is generally safe from the enemy. As in, if an enemy is there, then they get shot by npc's and gate/station guns. Something along these lines anyway, to avoid the campy side of fighting which 0.0 is so often about. So that there would be a front line with a war continuously going on instead of a camp at the most common lowsec entrance and occasional blobs flying around.

However, I am a little worried about the things that you did not mention:

Planetary interaction was touted as some kind of sim city game in EVE and turned out to be little more than a UI reminiscent of a flash game with a totally overcomplicated resource network to make it seem like it was a lot of hard work. Saying that, at least that patch brought with it some beautiful looking planets.

Wormhole space seemed to go entirely against everything you have said about visions for EVE. I swear every year in the visions of the future presentations you mention that EVE is a huge place and that there is so much wasted space within the systems. Then you had half as many again or whatever it was... why? Surely a better mechanic could have been added to test the new AI and source special resources from, within the current geographical structure of EVE. I don't really have a problem with wormholes tbh, just that it seemed to fly in the face of everything I thought you wanted from EVE.

Lastly, and probably most importantly really, I would mention Dust 514. If you want to talk about upsetting your audience and us owning the game then perhaps you should take a minute and consider this. We, the PC audience are your original and currently your ONLY audience. We have put up with many patches of late which were unfinished and added little to the game in the long term. Now you are considering bringing out an entirely new world (or many) with all new gameplay aspects within the game and presumably this will come out as a finished package. If you don't want to upset your audience, my main piece of advice would be this:

BRING OUT FIGHTING IN OUTPOSTS/STATIONS/CAPITAL SHIPS AT THE SAME TIME OR VERY SHORTLY AFTER DUST 514
(basically any form of FPS within EVE played through a PC, not death match rooms in a station but territorial combat)

That should be your main focus more than anything else right now in my opinion. More important than finishing anything else, simply because if the FPS aspect of EVE is to be limited to consoles, you are going to upset a lot more people.
Bea corpse
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#655 - 2011-10-07 16:59:46 UTC
well...
I´ve been here more or less since 2005.
There are a few things that have been bothering me for a long time and some of them have to do with ccp's focus or direction.

ccp is just a company, with managers and shareholders. when revenue starts slipping, it gets noticed. thats all that is really happening here. hilmar is trying to rally, both his own troops and players. not sure its gonna work - too little and too late indeed.

the fact is, while ccp has been busy trying to push and polish the "eve-is-real" experience (please!) and throwing in character creation (huge waste of time and diskspace) and captain quarters in order to appeal to a broader base of customers they have been neglecting their old (and, at one time, willfully paying) subscribers.

I don´t pay for EO anymore and I won't go back to that if Incarna and CQ is all that we can look forward to in the very near future. I've done the alliance bit, the 0.0 bit, piracy, missions, yaddyyadda, WH, exploration...all besides industry really, and why would I pay money to do that in a space game??

the only real reason to play and stick with eve is space. Not stations. Not blingy avatars or (come on people!) monocles or shoulder pads! its space and what you get to do in it, alone, in small groups or big, as long as you are having fun. that is where you get your immersion, the fun factor....all else fades very very quickly.

so, ccp lost their way - they forgot the real reason why peeps want(ed) to play eve.
finally listening to reason (paying users screaming for attention) does not constitute courage, nobility or any honorable human trait. seeing your wallet bleed, however, and your company profit drop usually prompts people to some kind of action. don't make this "dev blog" out to be anything else than it really is - a plea to players to not leave the game.

someone posted earlier that ccp may have bought themselves some time. maybe they will have enough time to finish and launch dust514, and maybe not. In either case, I have paid more than €1000 to ccp in subscription(s) during my playtime. It was fun (note past tense) and I hope it will be again. I've got ISK for about 10months and that's all the time I'm giving ccp.

a few years ago, while playing another char, i postulated that eve was dying. i still think it is, and hilmar's only proving me right.



(posted as former char: Finn Yr)

http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=443400&page=4
Takseen
Federal Defense Union
Gallente Federation
#656 - 2011-10-07 17:04:38 UTC
Yep I think that apology/summary covers everything that went wrong. Incarna just wasn't ready for release at that point and was extremely underwhelming. Here's hoping the winter expansion goes a bit better.
six deltasigma
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#657 - 2011-10-07 17:07:46 UTC
This might help to explain things: Hilmar, show me the money!!
Ztrain
Evolution
Northern Coalition.
#658 - 2011-10-07 17:41:39 UTC  |  Edited by: Ztrain
six deltasigma wrote:
This might help to explain things: Hilmar, show me the money!!


Is this the typical CCP Mittens conversation?

Z

P.S. Sorry couldn't resist =P
Andrea Griffin
#659 - 2011-10-07 20:25:52 UTC  |  Edited by: Andrea Griffin
One of the very best blogs in a long, long time. It's easy to get drunk on one's own success - we see it every day with modern day super starts. Sports, movies, business, whatever. What we rarely see is someone taking a moment to reflect on what is happening and change course.

I'm happy to let the past stay the past and look forward to the future. Here's to a stronger, better future for Eve.

Edit: I'm happy to pay a monthly subscription for an excellent game. Every single "free" MMO that I have tried is a terrible, shallow piece of poo. They can go free because, well, you get what you pay for and they have very little to offer. Eve is different. Eve is worth paying for.

CCP Sreegs is my favorite developer.
Symlin Raahn
Aliastra
Gallente Federation
#660 - 2011-10-08 02:36:54 UTC  |  Edited by: Symlin Raahn
I informed CCP of problems and got the run-around. (Telling a customer to submit the problem somewhere else if they want to is NOT the way a customer wants to be treated. The company should submit it there themselves when it is THEIR problem.)

I tell them that telling me I'm getting a 3 month subscription when it is really only 90 days is not being 100% honest with the customer, and they ignored me. I felt they said, "Screw you, it's only a day or two." Their day or two, MY money.

I complained about all kinds of new **** being introduced when much of the old **** wasn't working right, or causing problems. They kept developing new **** and ignored the problems.

I complained that not being able to read the small, in-game type was very annoying for someone who no longer has great eyesight at computer screen focal length. Answer? We don't need you older players... at least that's what I felt. News Flash! One doesn't need to be old to not have great eyesight.

And I'm VERY TIRED of having to change things around all the time because CCP changes the game play or the way the computer mechanics work. It seems like you spend as much time getting outside programs to work right sometimes as you do with EVE game play. Who has time to play the game when you have to be tweaking stuff all the time. I don't need a job. I want a game I can relax with.

You destroy things I have spent tons of time setting up and act like it's no big deal. I'm particularly thinking of having to import and export settings when there are updates, and that not even working a good deal of the time -- like all my customized overview settings that get wiped out on a CCP whim. Bull ****.

I wish just a message from the head dude would make all this crap right. To me it will not.

I'll believe it when I see it, and not one second sooner. It's now up to them to convince me, and words won't do it.

Your turn, CCP. Go.

Sym

Sometimes trying to play EVE just makes me tired... tired of fighting all the changes CCP makes that cause you to have to redo things.