Zerbrorg
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Posted - 2011.06.24 15:14:00 -
[1]
Hi all,
First thing to point out is that I'm very much a casual player of Eve. That means I haven't got lots of time invested in the game. However, I do care a lot about Eve, having recognised early on that it represents something truly special in the world of gaming. That special-ness (if I may use that word) is an almost suicidal (on the part of CPP) lack of commercial-ness. I really do believe this is one of the main reasons that people love this game so much and are so outspoken when it appears to be threatened.
I work in the games business myself and have spent time playing all manner of MMOs: WoW, LOTRO, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Everquest II etc. etc. I can honestly say that (for me) there is nothing that comes close to Eve. It's clear that a lot of other Eve players recognise this too. Where else can you get so much awesomeness and depth for 14.95 a month???
At the same time, CCP is running a business. They have ambitions. You only have to look at the plans for Dust. Nobody has tried anything quite like that. That doesn't come cheap. So it's no wonder that they are looking for other revenue opportunities.
What I am trying to get at is that CCP is in an impossible position. Maintaining the status quo is not going to allow them to achieve their ambitions. At 350k subscribers, Eve is a niche MMO (albeit a large niche). Even though this represents a rock solid income stream and no doubt enables them to take on a large amount of debt, there are limits to what can be achieved with this level of investment.
So maybe we should look at the big picture? Do we want a complete Sci Fi simulation that combines everything from fleet battles, through planetary interactions to FPS skimish's on the ground? Something that could potentially attract millions of users rather than small hundreds of thousands. Or do we want a small niche internet spaceships game? I don't think there is a future with the latter. If we go down that path I promise you that it will be blown a way by a competitor. I also don't necessarily believe in microtransactions for in-game advantage but the stark fact is that we already have them in the form of PLEX.
In summary, whilst arguably the purest days of innocence in Eve are behind us (in the sense that the game was arguably less commercialised in the past) I for one believe in the vision of the future. Maybe we should look at the big picture a bit more rather than getting hung up on whether we can spin our ships in stations?
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