EVE General Discussion

An argument that is based on a faulty premise can only be correct by accident.

You start with this silly premise that CCP can function without the revenue from EVE, this is demonstrated nonsense. Games that are still in pre-beta development do not generate revenue. At this point WOD and Dust are money pits that require a constant influx of cash to develop. EVE is CCP's only source of cash and is therefore critical not only to the continued development of WOD and Dust but to the very survival of the company.

The next silly premise is that these projects would have been fully funded prior to development. This is never the case if for no other reason than most people are unrealistically optimistic in estimating costs and time this is the reason that projects almost universally end up late and over budget. As such why would anyone front load development costs of a project? Hell the plug could be pulled at any point. Generally this sort of thing is done in a just in time manner.

Since the remainder of your argument hinges on these two false assumptions it can be reasonably ignored as senseless babble from the clueless.

As to The Mittani and his Ego, well duh that's the character he plays, it's also obvious if you've paid any attention to his activities in the game that he's well read and classically educated and while having a law degree is generally considered to be an impediment when it comes to accurate prognostication it is not generally detrimental to ones ability to influence opinion.

How successful the CSM's current efforts will end up being is an open question just as whether CCP's "commitment" to stick to "vanity items only" in the NEX is sincere or so much PR bullshit to shut us up for the moment.

The point though is that CCP is making some grave errors when it comes to management of the game. And the CSM is using the only weapon they really have in their arsenal to get CCP's management to recognize that fact.

Hell if nothing else Hilmar's leaked email is clear evidence of how out of touch he is with reality.

"First of we have Incarna, an amazing technological and artistic achievement. A vision from years ago realized to a point that no one could have imaged but a few months ago. It rolls out without a hitch, is in some cases faster than what we had before, this is the pinnacle of professional achievement."

I understand that CEOs are master bullshit spinners but one really really hopes that he didn't actually believe this nonsense. The CQ is a buggy, poorly optimized bit of code that hardly qualifies for early beta status, It's little more than a technology demo, It's camera and movement controls are crap on top of all that the lighting is so horrid that all the avatars look like pasty zombies with a stick up their butt and is a far far cry from " an amazing technological and artistic achievement".

We also know from that email that the Fearless newsletter was anything but internal brainstorming.

Now as to the CSM, They're options much like our own are limited, They are constrained in many cases by legal obligations (NDAs) beyond that their power is mostly symbolic, they do however have a certain elevated status based on their position that makes them more "authoritative" than some random EVE player in the eyes of the media. Particularly The Mittani who's infamy as Goonswarm's leader has given him notoriety beyond what other EVE players posses.

This provides them with something of a bully pulpit from which to draw focus to issues in the game.

Ultimately of course the target of this campaign is not gamers, It's not even Hilmar rather it's the investors to whom Hilmar will listen. If enough of a stink can be raised that the investors become concerned with their prospects then we can expect a shift in priorities at CCP.

Will it be enough? Who knows but it is the limit of what they can do and win or lose it would be irresponsible for them not to take what ever action has some chance of success.

I also don't put to much stock in the accusations of flipflopping leveled at the CSM for giving CCP the chance to save face after the emergency summit . What were they supposed to do burn all their communication paths with the developers and company by calling them the liars they were?

They did the reasonable and rational thing, they let CCP have their little face saving lie hoping they understood that there would be dire consequences should CCP continue down the "golden ammo" path.

To be fair at least to this point CCP has kept their word about performance enhancing items and services so so far so good.

No one knows whether their current "campaign" will have any affect or not; or if any how much. What is known is that they don't have many other options. The only one who has any leverage beyond the Bully pulpit is The Mittani who might be able to cause CCP some serious financial impact by folding up Goonswarm but that's a doomsday scenario and a threat that works best while it remains a threat, it can only really be done once because it's unlikely the organization could be reformed once they leave EVE and might or might not work since Goons are rather anachistic and are under no obligation to do anything that The Mittani tells them to.


So given the circumstances I commend them for trying, support their efforts and hope that they are successful in bringing focus back to the FIS aspect of the game before it's too late.

that there is a mighty fine post skex.

yeah but given theyre giving up now....

I don't know why; what changed?

I saw people whipping the forum into a frenzy to get mad at CCP, stories in the media, and.. what? You got the meeting minutes released..? A story appeared in the media about a CCP interview that was given before this nonsense was ramping up? CCP confirmed that they were working on the stuff that's already been featured in dev blogs?

Egh.. I think at this point trying to participate on an intellectual level with you would be casting pearls before swine but honestly, I don't even know what you're trying to accomplish now other than put your name out there.