EVE General Discussion

Hey, you said it not me

Interesting stat, thanks for that.

I wish you wouls take your meds or whatever you do, when have I ever said anyhting about buffing pvp, or pvp needing a buff?

This comes from thinking other people think like yourself. You want things to change so you think everyone is interested in that, but it's not true.




Null sec is fine. All this weekend I've been shooting Goons and (mostly) surviving, and lots of people were online. Your problem seems to be that you think there is some kind of problem, when there isn't. EVE is fine and stands to get even better



And again I'll ask, since you are leaving, why do you care anyway?

Highsec is...

...the most complex space in EVE
...the place with more diverse gameplay
...the place where can be found 72% of all characters logged in
...the ingame home for at least 50% of all subscribers

Also Highsec is...

...the place with shortest player tenures
...the place with worst player retention
...the place with worst content
...the space that gets nerfed when other space areas need more "carrot"


CCP prioritizes nullsec over everything.
Then they also care of lowsec.
And each now and then they think of wormholes.

But highsec hasn't been prioritized for years. Highsec development is commonly undertaken as a mean so highsec players leave highsec and go somewhere else or do somehting else. Whatever is added to highsec, either is shared by all the other areas, or is of worst quality than in other areas, or is not related to highsec gameplay, or is a bait to go play somewhere else.

Highsec, its players, and the way they play, are not regarded by CCP in proportion to their importance for the game. And so they are not included in the future plans being announced and are not expected to get anything relevant for the duration of the Rubicon plan, scheduled for completion in 2017.

And so something funny happens: CCP announces bold development plans for what is not highsec, and they are received with excitement by some players, and yet server population keeps flatlining when it should be growing and dwindling when it should be stable.

So CCP plans fail to keep the players interested, and those plans don't include highsec. That's not an accident.

See my replies in bold.

I like high-sec. It's not as empty as most of 0.0. It's the least dangerous place I know of. Plenty of fun PvE.

But it is also the only place you can't really claim property over in any persistent way. That is good, because it is nice to have a safe harbor and it is the reason why business can thrive in Jita, Rens, Hek ... yet it is not representative of what EvE is about. EvE is a sandbox. You can build and destroy sandcastles, and that is precisely what you can't do in highsec. At best you can wardec a high-sec corp and that is laughably shallow to what WH dwellers and 0.0 alliances can do to each other.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade the comforts of high-sec for anything. But high-sec doesn't define what Eve is about. High-sec is literally a cross between starting hub, market hub and (somewhat) PvE flagged zone. I'm tempted to add consensual PvP to that list because it's so easy to evade most forms of combat in high-sec.

Indah, you know me as a WIS proponent (original design with shops, bars ...). I have also in the past helped with a frigate racing event in high-sec (sub-warp racing venture). I'd love better constructed missions that were a little more engaging. But the situation in high-sec is not as dire as you portray it.

Players who never go beyond high-sec can't claim they have played EvE. It's just not the same game out there in WH, 0.0 , .... even low-sec is only a small step. High-sec is basically the kiddies pool: it's fun and the water is warmer, but if you want to swim you have to go to the deeper pools.

CONCORD/Suicide Ganking are Highsec only, but the rest are not.

Crimewatch is very important in lowsec and wardecs can be used to remove gate guns from the equation. Bounties can be used everywhere.

It's really amazing how all themeparker's expect NPC's to do their job and defend them in a sandbox mmo-rpg game.

NPC interaction should be lowered not increased, dependence on NPC's is a typical feature of trash kindergarten themepark mmo-rpg's. Now if you like that genre of games, then good news for you, since there are a few games out there that will suits your themepark needs.

Here is an interesting concept to increase desireability. What if we made more use of legalities? Stuff like boosters localized and illegal for starts? Regionalize gases so that certain space for certain boosters plus other high dollar items? Very generic idea but I think would make more interest. Smuggling runs or what not? Dont take this as an idea, just a bare bones hypothesis.

This is the problem. For highsec to be a truly interesting place there would actually have to be the possibility of competition between players - that means the ability to interfere and dominate others. As it is, everyone is so safe that it is nearly impossible to disrupt the operations of other players there, especially those of solo and small group players. Wardecs no longer have any teeth, suicide ganking is almost completely avoidable, and now awoxing has been removed. Resources (ore, missions) are not limited so pretty much that only leaves indirect and hit-or-miss tactics like corp theft and market PvP to interfere with other players.

Sure, CCP could ramp up the ability to interfere with other players to allow political power bases to form in highsec, but half the player base would completely lose it. The simple truth is that most players, especially the purely highsec ones are risk-averse carebears who will not tolerate their assets at risk. Nor are they especially happy when you "interfere with their game" and try to "ruin their fun" by actually competing with them as this game was originally designed. They feel entitled to a gaming experience with no interference from others, and are already unhappy with the limited (and easily dodged) tools gankers, mission-baiters and wardeccers have to mess with them. Already the forum is full of complaints about "griefers" and non-consensual PvP in highsec. I can only imagine the moaning that would go on if you allowed more ways to hurt other players.

Highsec can either be an interesting place where players compete on all sorts of levels or it can be the safe, "don't ruin my fun" zone that it is today where everyone can do whatever they want without having to compete. CCP has chosen the latter which means nothing interesting will happen there, outside of the shenanigans of CODE. and a few mercenary outfits who actually do try to compete with other players and provide some basic level of player-driven risk. Highsec has been made the "safe" zone so it is nearly impossible to actually wage a war of significance. Players have 100% security in stations, and CONCORD provides almost as much in space to those who know what they are doing, meaning you cannot actually hurt your opponent in highsec.

Because of this safety, highsec should not be providing economy-altering levels of resources as that just sucks the competition out of the rest of the sectors in the game. Let highsec remain the "kiddie pool" it is where new players can learn, casual and non-competitive players can splash around and have fun, and where business gets done. Dial back the ISK and resource faucets so players who are interested in the player-driven part of Eve have incentive to leave highsec and become content for everyone else instead just exploiting that free safety indefinitely.

Safety and a lack of reasons to compete is what is stifling this game. If you want players to have real political power, players have to also have the power to influence gameplay of others in the sandbox, something sorely lacking in highsec. Otherwise, the likely losers will just "opt-out" of any power struggle and go about their business grinding and building stuff in safety.

CCP literally cannot cater to those looking for a single-player spaceship game experience, and those wanting to be part of a competitive sandbox universe where their actions can have an impact on the greater universe. However they certainly have tried and the result is the mess that is modern highsec and it is hurting the game.The reckoning time is coming though and CCP will have to choose one or the other.

Simply because for politics to be existent, there must be real consequences. Lots of the drama in 0.0 is due to the risk of loosing years of work. What can you loose in high-sec ?
I'd love to see more dynamic in high-sec, like being able to actually takeover corps (with consequences for their members), mess with station rights and taxes/fees and so on, BUT that all would pose a risk to players who want a risk-free play style.
Again, no risk and no consequences, means no dynamic.