EVE General Discussion

Well, I would, but I haven't had an SA account for 3 months yet... plus I only lurk there.

ITT: Cognitive Dissonance

I've torpedoed my dominix before with my raven. Opps !! (It didn't die)

I have a corp and alliance, but I mostly play solo. I ended up separated from the majority of them after I took a hiatus, but I prefer to stay in highsec.

Mainly because of the easy market access. Nullsec was a bust for me; without the time to attend CTAs at all hours, it just didn't appeal to me.

However, 'solo' doesn't mean 'completely alone'. I interact with the market, I hang out with corp-mates and friends when I can, and I even venture into lowsec occasionally.

So by this statement (bold above), if solo players represent most characters, then solo players represent the most income for CCP, so CCP would be pretty stoopid not to cater to the solo playstyle. Right?

Z3

Ish did NOT say anything about casuals or carebears, she was endorsing the idea of providing more for solo players (of whatever persuasion) to do. I dunno but you might want to consider the idea that this might actually include more tools for you to use solo while preying on casuals / carebears.

But from the sound of it you've already got firm hold of the only tool you'll ever need.

Enjoy.

Z3

No, that's fail logic.

It just means that people use alts for most of the solo activity. Market alts aren't grouping. Industrial alts aren't grouping. Mission running alts aren't grouping.


The player benind those alts groups though, just on thier main.


And it would be stupid to cater to the solo guy, because the PLAYER controlling all those solo CHARACTERS is a GROUP PLAYER. You're ignoring that part.

CCP doesn't cater to the group palyer either, so you don't have to worry.

They cater to the player run corp player.
Something that seems to be lost on some of you.

It doesn't matter if you play solo or you play in a group. It matters whether or not you play in or out of a player run corporation.
The people who play in player run corporations are the most important players in EVE. CCP wants you in the player run corporations.


You may notice they never actually ask, "how do we get more players to group?"
They do ask quite often, "how do we get more player to play in player run corporations?"

EVE has never been a game that emphasizes group or solo play. It's about player interaction and the player dynamic that arises from the player run corporations.




You guys keep looking at EVE the same way you look at themepark MMO's. You're doing it wrong.

Nailing my own colours to the mast here. Have done so before but happy to reiterate!

I've been playing EVE for about 2.5 years now. I love this game because of its complexity and depth, and because of its sandbox nature. For me it's Elite all growed up with knobs on, a game I grew up with. EVE is the best game I've ever played, bar none.

I also love the MMO nature of EVE, even though I mostly play solo. It gives an extra edge to the game, a sense of constant danger and risk you just don't get from pure solo games. And I like interacting with other players, on my own terms.

Why I play solo. Well I joined a player corp soon after starting, I learnt a lot from them and enjoyed their company; but there were a few things made me realise that me being in a corp wasn't likely to work for me long-term.

First was the requirement for voice comms (which is pretty much universal for any corp op in any corp). When I'm playing EVE, I'm sitting next to my wife in front of the TV. I play enough that she already jokes about EVE being the "other woman" so I have a balancing act to perform. If I put on headphones (so I can hear voice comms) that's a step too far for my relationship with her. Likewise if I played in another room (so I could speak as well as hear). So voice comms are out for me (because rl wife > any game :o) ).

Second was corp politics. Now most of the guys in this corp were really cool, but it was still clear that the corp was largely run to help the top few do what they wanted; and my goals and theirs were different. On this point I'm sure there are corps run in different ways and happy for people to do their own thing; but given the point about voice comms as well I just think there's not much point me joining someone else's corp because corp requirements would limit me, and I don't think i'd be able to add much to the corp.

Now there may well come a time when there are things I want to do in game for which joining a corp would be a big benefit; so I won't say "never", just "not now, and not until I can find the right corp".

So I have my own corp (because why pay tax to NPCs?), 2 accounts 6 characters.

How I play. I dual box. I do mostly PVE stuff - a little mining (for building stuff), a little missioning, mostly exploration. I'm not a hisec carebear though; over the last year I've spent most of my time in W-space, doing the nomad thing (alt in Orca). I don't go looking for trouble, but I still enjoy f*cking with people when they're nearby (amazing how big a gang will run for cover in w-space when they see combats on d-scan). I'm currently skilling for a Stealth Bomber - look out when it lands, because I'll start properly hunting in w-space then :o) I've also spent a lot of time in lowsec and some in NPC null.

For me I look at expansions and often think "well there's nothing there for me." Highlights recently have been revamped crimewatch (I love the Limited Engagements because it means I can get a 1 on 1 with a crim without his mates piling in. I now fly ready to fight in hisec) and the Venture (W-space Ladar sites). I've been looking forward to the POS revamp for ages - hoping for a true scalable system to give me my own personal hideout with maybe some refining / research / manufacturing capability - so now very disappointed that CCP seem to be backtracking on that.

So that's me, why I play this MMO, why I play it solo, and why I hope CCP starts at least thinking more about us solo players when planning expansions.

Fly safe (but loaded for bear)
Z3

No, not wrong. CCP is already thinking about it, as "lurkers" are one of the 5 groups that should get attention on each multi-threaded expansion. Now, the issue is that we get the right attention, on the assumption that we all got a reason to play solo and don't want to stop doing it. We don't want to be punished for not playing in groups (FAI: incursions) and don't need to be nerfed so we are forced to play in group just to keep our income. We need more carrots, not a bigger stick.

As you state, many features can be used by everyone independently of wether they are usable by soloers or don't. We don't need all the cake, but getting a piece of it in every expansion would be sweet.

I don't think I am ignoring your first point; even if most solo characters are run by group-oriented players, those players still spend time playing with their solo characters, so surely even group players can benefit from EVE development that is aimed at solo play - more varied missions, better industrial interface, better mining game etc, so we should be on the same page there.

And sometimes CCP does cater exclusively to the group player - incursions? Not a soloable activity. Now I'm not complaining about there being activities in the game that can't be soloed - this is an MMO after all - I'm just saying that with the new "themed" development approach CCP is taking, I'd like to know that there will be *something* in each expansion that adds to some aspect of the game that can be done solo - even if it can only be done solo at a disadvantage to those players doing the same activity in a group. Is that asking too much?

I am in a player-run corp btw; but that corp is just me and my alts, so not sure if that counts in your book!

For me, I've never played another MMO. And in a sandbox, for one player to tell another "you're doing it wrong" is pretty arrogant. Guess that's what I've come to expect from a Goonie

Z3