EVE General Discussion

Global warming melts Iceland and sea level raises. There isn't enough land left in Iceland for the server farm. Larry Ellison, a well known and filthy rich EvE fan, buys CCP and runs it from Oracle headquarters in Slilicon Valley. The Chinese use EvE accounts as a hacking jump point for infiltration into American corporate computing systems. Homeland Security shuts down the EvE cluster for reasons of national security.

I don't care about the next 10 minutes let alone 10 years...

I've been playing since launch on and off, so allow me a few observations:

- tablet hardware will eventually replace the PC. It's already happening with laptops, and before too long tablets will be able to cope with Eve. Because Eve isn't really a 'twitch' game where you have to actively control your ship in an X/Y axis, it will be possible to do a tablet conversion. About the best MMORPG on tablets (when I say 'best', it's a relative concept) is Order & Chaos, a WoW clone. Better MMORPGS will come along. If CCP can look pas this Dust stuff and focus on tablet Eve, the game will have a massive new lease of life. PREDICTION: Eve Online for tablets. Hopefully iPad, not Android.

- One of Eve's greatest strengths - the skill system - will also become its Achilles Heal because of slippery slope. If more and more 'end game' content is created for higher skilled players (like, for instance, Incursions), then the bar gets higher for new players. It's already a complicated game with a steep learning curve. In the age of the 69p throwaway game, this can't be ignored. How do you, as a new player, compete or join in with the vets on content? If it is impossible to do so easily, then I predict that you will eventually be able to buy 'skillups' as IAP: packs of skillpoints.

- For the same reason, I think the game needs another faucet in high to mid sec space for newer players. The agents / missions system could be massively expanded and made more subtle. More teaming missions. More specialisation.

- Veteran characters will increasingly become a credible choice for acquisition by new players.

- Dust 514 will last another year or so before it dies.

- There is no credible reason why the game universe can't continue to expand exponentially, so I would expect in 10 years for there to be at least 50% more space.

- Super uber characters should have a very specialised, but significant, political / social skill that takes a year to train. Hard to define precisely, but perhaps a bunch of stations in hi-sec could be controllable, tradable and capturable with some kind of advanced political skill tree mixed with player interaction. Why, for example, can't players be president of the major, currently NPC corps, factions and even races?

Anyway. Another volcano might go off soon and Iceland thrown back to the middle ages. Who knows what the future might bring....

honestly i think by then eve will have voice and motion command. (at the very least!) i mean in a similar way to the way the do it in tom clancy's end war. i think that would be really immersive and of benefit to players. especially disabled gamers. accessibility is a big thing everyone seems to be ignoring in games these days. which is why i get annoyed when people hate on the kinnect. theres a lot of potential there for a game like eve too. can you imagine controlling the Neocom with that, minority report style?

also why on earth are there so many people lamenting the "end of eve"?? i just dont get it. i mean the game is growing year on year. CCP make mistakes but after incarna their focusing on core gameplay one thing at a time? just seems like people love being all depressed and annoyingly nostalgic for the "good old days" a la.. "back in my day we didnt have all these fancy tech 3's ruining everything" lol