Janus Nightmare
Gallente
ECP Incorporated
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Posted - 2010.07.18 07:23:00 -
[1]
Just my two cents here on a couple of issues. First, I get the impression that people believe the CSM should have the authority to tell the CCP teams of developers and executives what to do with the game. That, to my knowledge, has never been the case, and in my opinion quite frankly shouldn't be. My understanding is that the CSM has been, and always will be, a feedback channel for the developers. One of many sources of feedback which includes this forum. That, I think, is the issue that CCP needs to address with regards to the CSM, however smarter, more politically savvy people than I would be required to solve that particular problem as I'd just tell all the haters to **** off and be done with it 
Secondly is the assumption that CCP has, judging by a number of posts in this thread and throughout the forums, given up on "fixing" Eve or at least devoting large numbers of resources to fixing game bugs. The fallacy in this is the belief that throwing more devs at a problem will magically result in fixes when that is simply not the case. Thinking that vast numbers of devs concentrating on bug hunting and repairing will result in a positive outcome is like expecting the government to fix education shortfalls by simply throwing more money at the problem without providing guidance on how to use it.
Yes, there are problems within the game. Large fleet lag and blackscreening is a major one. Unfortunately, the major problems within the game are, to be redundant, extremely unique to Eve because of the unique server architecture that Eve has. My argument is not that these issues need don't need to take priority, because they do, but I can't help but think that the solution many people want is an instant fix that quite frankly would require the resources of a company like Google. And that leads me to my next point.
Eve is, to be rather blunt, a niche game. It's design, as is, will never appeal to the mass market the way a shooter like Halo will, or even a brand-name game like STO with dumbed down controls, lazy crafting systems, and lots of pew pew with no real penalty for getting your ass kicked. Eve is a game for a special kind of gamer, dare I say nerd, who finds solace in beating the odds, working the social and technical worlds to come out on top. It is, in a very real sense, a game for hackers, scammers, and cutthroats which does not and probably will never have mass market appeal.
We, the current players, thrive in a game like this. The problem is that there are so few of us (let's face it, even half a million active accounts is paltry) that CCP is and always will be limited in its resources unless it finds ways to attract many, many more paying subscribers. And that is the key item that I think many in these forums are missing.
Incarna and Dust are not attempts at dumbing down the game. Nowhere in any discussion I've seen has CCP or anybody else suggested that the actual gameplay of Eve is going to be simplified in order to accommodate new players who subscribe as a result of either Incarna or Dust. In fact, it's possible, although I may be wrong but I doubt it, that both Dust and Incarna will open up entirely new avenues of exploitation for current Eve players. But only if we want to. Not have to. Want to.
But since I'm running out of room, let me say this. CCP is rightfully taking the long-term approach to addressing the issues that are constantly brought up here. They are opening avenues to attract new players, and most importantly, more players. This provides them with the income to hire more resources, hire more developers, and quite probably develop new technologies that will, in the end, make Eve itself an even better game. The mistake we make as a community is believing that Eve is being cast aside, whereas I'm a firm believer that all of these things, Dust and Incarna especially, are designed to help Eve grow well into the future.
BTW, a little tipsy, so ignore my errors 
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