EVE General Discussion

Well, this is the consequence of micro transactions. As soon as CCP went for another revenue stream from the subscription model, it opened the door for F2P pay schemes, and everything associated with them.

Blizzard maintains subscriptions despite the MMO industry all but moved to the F2P model, as they generate enough money on it due to the volume of players (plus it's a consistent cash flow each month). In game development the job doesn't get done until it's funded first. With a consistent cash flow Blizzard can fix things quickly and roll out the content without facing bad spells, like when players buy PLEX ingame, instead of paying for it themselves.

And it's probably better in the end, because players who want to control development to such an extent that it hurts the game, will peel off and go elsewhere (and not to WoW, since either you pay each month to play, or don't pay at all).

Games are not free. Either you pay for access with a subscription (which is the best pay model as you can budget with it), or get used to being a whale, as the other pay schemes are more expensive in the end, because they'll nickel and dime you on everything.

Bringing an EA exec into EvE is par on course with it's development, as players are used to paying more than $14.95 a month, and everything associated.

I hope any leadership CCP gets from this is more than just about revenue streams, and more about being competitive in an genre that is dominated by one MMO. Thus, it can get media presence to attract more human players, who in turn populate the game more than Joe the IsBoxer.

Dont worry everyone, I'm sure if he misteps at all, he'll learn whats what come Fanfest next year

I agree that MMO is not a genre, but it's silly to say that EVE and WoW are not in direct competition. It's not like people have a genre and they only play games in that genre and nothing else. I don't play EVE because it's a space game, I play EVE because it's a very well done MMO with good balancing, excellent mechanics, and a skill training that appeals to me.

EVE and WoW compete not because they share a genre, but because people have limited leisure hours to devote to gaming and research shows that one MMO just about eats up an entire customer's worth of leisure time. Unlike, say, an average console game which can be played alongside other console games, very few gamers play more than one MMO. So once they're hooked on WoW, they're going to have to kick the habit in order to pick up EVE and Vice Versa. This is the essence of MMO marketshare. Games compete for player's time and given the commitment required to excel at most MMO's, all MMO's compete with each other for the same basic demographic of players.

Though CCP might do well to figure out why girls don't want to play EVE.

But the mindset of players that EVE aims at are not the same group that WoW generally attempts to target.

WoW targets the younger crowd looking for "OMG my legendaries and damages", who enjoy running around pre-scripted stories as the "great hero" among thousand other "great heros", its bright colours and all females being sexualized 12-year old ****-material attests to its audience. the average WoW player will play seriosuly a week before and after an expansion to get "new lootz" then eb done outside of some scattered guild "raids".

EVE targets the older audience, im talking 27 and older, who want a game about work, and rewards, a game that will punish you if your weak, and reward you fi your strong. It isa game that focuses on player politics and drama, spanning YEARS, its a game MEANT to be played seriously throughout the year, a game where NO ONE is "a great hero" unless they ahve actually done something to deserve the title, and has a recognized role within the greater community.


its late and im tired, so im probably not explaining clearly, but my point is, the audiences targeted by the two games are VASTLY separate in many regards, down to the game's basic philosophy.

Nope.

The MMO community is very small (when compared to FPS games which dominate the gaming industry). MMO players do play more than 1 MMO, as the trend is to play one game through a patch cycle, then mothball it, then reactivate the other MMO and play through it's patch cycle.

This is very apparent when a new MMO comes out and folks play it for 30 days. After 30 days they return home to their favorite or most played MMO. There's but few MMOs with a solid core of players that isn't on life support. EvE is one and GW2 is another, with WoW holding the most (this is for the West).

Players understand this as they tell burned out players to go play another MMO.

I see hilmar hasn't yet got to grips with what a micro transaction is yet.

“I’m looking forward to helping CCP continue its tremendous growth,” said Decker. “I’ve admired the company’s commitment to its games and players from afar for years, and now I’ll be able to be a part of that effort from the inside. I can’t wait to get started.”

Based on this statement, it looks like we're off to an amazing start! He has no idea who CCP is or what games they make. If you've admired CCP at all, much less for years, then it would be pretty basic to make mention of EVE. His statement was completely generic. He probably had that written down for the past decade just in case he left EA employment. It would work with any game dev company.

Maybe we could get a better statement in the near future. One that says who he is, what he's about, and just exactly how much he knows EVE online and CCP.

What games does CCP make?

See the problem outside the EvE oyster?

Well, considering how much this player base hates WoW, if they gotten an Activision-Blizzard VP would it be any better?

There's only 2 choices at the top. They got there due to mass marketing and their distribution networks and have the volume of players to fund even more games.

Blizzard has so much money (independent of Activision and it's CoD flagship), they're branching out to other game venues -- despite losing almost 2 million subs and laying off 600 employees.

They're big companies. Big companies have experience in operating BIG.

If CCP wants to compete and be something in the industry, it has to rise to the top...not just be a niche game provider, that if you mention "EvE" people don't think about the movie "Eve" itself. And DUST is dust (horrible name CCP, horrible).