Barbelo Valentinian
The Scope
Gallente Federation
353
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Posted - 2013.05.14 18:00:00 -
[1] - Quote
I can see the OP's point, but I don't think it would happen.
I'm a casual PvE player, and I carve out my own little story in my imagination (and sometimes do the story arcs, which are actually not bad, you'll enjoy them when you get to them). The game isn't really orientated around my playstyle, but I love the art design and intricacy of the game, and even though I don't PvP by preference, the ever-present sense of danger, and needing to take precautions constantly, makes the game highly immersive (until I do get blown up of course - that always puts me right back firmly in my Aeron, in my flat :) ).
As to the "emergent gameplay" counter-argument, I like the idea of player-created content in theory, but in practice, IMHO most of the EVE history stuff is just goofy uber-geek e-peening, it mostly has very little relation to the excellent s-f backstory CCP have set up. Obviously it's been fun for those participating, on the whole, and it's newsworthy, but it's not really much cop from an observer's point of view as story, it's not really drama, just schoolboy antics.
As to rp, there used to be a lot more roleplaying corps than there are now, they've just dwindled away because rp hasn't been supported by the devs, because that's not the side their bread's buttered on.
Actually, I think CCP painted themselves into a corner long, long ago. When they started, the intention was "multiplayer Elite", i.e. a game with PvE and PvP balanced. Unfortunately they didn't have enough resources to make the PvE side of the game as good as it might have been, and meanwhile a lot of PvP players were attracted to the game even with its then-sketchy PvE, and supported it through it's early development. (There used to be remnants of this potential PvE complexity - long, long ago, there were quite complex hauling and trading possibilities on the PvE side, the beginnings of something that could have been more like a multiplayer Elite - all those dangling loose ends have long been snipped.)
Sad, but on the other hand, that's the way it is. It may be impossible, at least for the near future, to have an MMO that has the kind of deep interweaving of PvE and PvP that the concept "multiplayer Elite" promised. I doubt Star Citizen will be able to do it. SC will probably have good PvE but be too "safe" and lack the immersion factor of EVE that comes from its danger.
There really is no solution. As a PvE solo player, you either take EVE as it is and learn to cope with its foibles and jackassery, and carve your own niche in it with your imagination, or you don't play it.
The game is beautiful, with a rich backstory, and in terms of art design and intricacy would make for fantastic PvE. But that train left the station long, long ago. It is the way it is and it won't change - there are too many players invested in the way it is, by now. |