Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Let's face it - nobody uses the Captains Quarters (CQ). Why would they? Sure you can get a kick now and then strolling about but there is nothing actually engaging to do or any reason for you to use it.

I get that this is a product of the whole WiS nightmare; that much more was planned but was unable to be delivered for various reasons. But that's all in the past now and we are looking at the future.

What potential does the CQ have? In my opinion there are a few things CCP could do to breathe some life into the CQ and turn it into a profitable feature.

1. Vanity Items

Essentially what I am proposing here is for each player's CQ to be reduced to a bare room. The player would be able to purchase vanity items from the EVE Store or occasionally find them as rare drops from structures or NPCs. These items could then be used to outfit your CQ however you want with furniture, decorations, lighting etc. All content could be lore friendly with items from each faction able to be used. There could even be room for trophy items for those who participate in tournaments etc.

I get that this is 'barbie' EVE 101, but it would provide a reason for some people to engage with the CQ. It would provide CCP with a product to market as MTs (as they seem fond of doing lately). It would provide payoff from grinding, the excitement of coming across a rare drop while running missions or sites. Adding more content doesn't detract from the game, it gives the game more flavor. And speaking of flavor...

2. Personal Database

Another injection into the CQ could be a personal database that the player can access. NPCs would have the chance to drop data cubes which could then be loaded into the database and unlock relevant lore and information that can be read at leisure. Explorers could also find these items hidden in data and relic sites and also be able to scan various things to upload information to their databases. Perhaps there could be some way of tracking your achievements in acquiring this data, opening up a new style of vanity profession? Steam achievements could also play into this, if one has the game installed via Steam.

I understand this will probably receive a lot of hate and QQing about fixing current content before adding in useless tack. That's fine, everyone is entitled to their opinion. This is an ideas forum and these are just some ideas for how CCP could revive existing yet redundant in-game content whilst also making some money off it.

much as I hate to say it, because I was a HUGE fan of WiS when it was first announced. it is a dead feature, that will likely never get updated.

the only reason we got it in the first place, was as a test bed for their world of darkness mmo, the one that has since been scrapped and the rights sold. and the amount of develoment time and work that would be required, even to add vanity items, specifically vanity items that only a small percentage of the player base will ever even use. is just not worth it.

unless they can add meaningful content to WiS it will remain an unused relic, and without a secondary reason to develop it further that content will never be added.
our best bet at this point, is hoping that whatever FPS they work on in the future, if it manages to actually get off the ground, will have actual interaction and compatibility with eve. if and when that happens, then they might revisit the character creator, and the WiS mechanics in order to allow the two to blend together, but that is a massive longshot.

It's a pointless feature. Vanity items for your character model can work because your portrait is something that other players see all the time, and of course people want to customize their appearance and show off for everyone else. But your captain's quarters decorations would be locked away in a private room that only you will ever see. And what's the point in doing something really cool if you can never share it with anyone? The very few people who would be interested in the new "feature" wouldn't be anywhere near enough to justify the development time required to make it.

Stations will likely continue to have the CQ/ship dock view. If they are ever replaced by Citadels or the likes, they will likely adopt the current exterior view Citadels and EC's have. If every type of station is planned to be eventually removed in lieu of the current and/or future iterations of player structures, then that means CQ will likely go with them. I suspect the only real reason CQ still exists, even in it's current form, is because CCP doesn't want to waste the time removing it unless they must, and replacing stations with player structures would be one such convenient reason.