EVE General Discussion

(looks at picture, reads thread) My minute, GIVE IT BACK!!!

Please, don't tempt me.

I don't tear; I rip.

I'm sure the people at CCP are nice people, and I wouldn't wish for anyone to jump out of the window on account of my words.

But, I'll give you an analogy.

Imagine you make the best distilled water known to man, woman and child. So great is the ability to parch the thirst is this water; those who drink it fail to feel any level of satisfaction from drinking other, lesser quality water.

If CCP were to market the water, they would inform everyone about how delicious the water is; its ability to parch, its phenomenal and unique flavour. They would hold seminars and webinars illustrating the origins of the water and its history. All the way from the grandest hills, right down to the ancient sedimentary rocks with which the water ebbs and flows, coursing its way through, taking hundreds of years to filter down to the spring.

Then they would place on a pedestal the accolades of the workers who refine the water and look after this valuable resource of wonder. They would tell tales and sing songs of these wonderful people, who no doubt were not only chosen at birth to become one of the sacred few who shall bare the burden laid upon them, but were prophesied to fulfill this duty by the gods of h2o.

Furthermore, they would spend millions producing endless documents proving this water was the greatest ever, and will even dig up scientists and pseudo-scientists to attest to the clarity and shear heavenly qualities this water has.

When they meet people, they will tell them, repeatably, all of these facts and figures with a lean forefinger and colourful spreadsheet to boot.

What they will not do is find out the most obvious and simplest of questions:

Are you thirsty?

So, it's a wood/trees problem.

CCP know their game is complex and huge, and as a result, market the game preemptively - and i swear to the gods; I have always suspected the only reason Dust exists is because of the following thought process:

EVE is too complex for mainstream
Sub conversion ratios don't change
Increase marketing expenditure
Increased marketing activity doesn't improve ratios, it only sustains the input/output cycle
Need to reach a wider/larger audience
Consoles are popular
Lets make an FPS and link it to EVE
Simplify/streamline EVE
Capitalize on multi-platform marketing streams
EVE sustains Dust if unsuccessful
EVE gets more column space
Profit?

AK