Gerad Osmos
School of Applied Knowledge
Caldari State
0
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Posted - 2013.12.08 20:26:00 -
[1] - Quote
The - Case for walking in stations & more: Just a quick thought. Wanted to make a small contribution to the thread (Of course this is just my own theory/intuition/...)
1. What is CCP's ultimate business goal?
To maximize profits under the condition of achieving its vision.
2. How to achieve the vision / what is the vision?
As far as I can recall at the moment I think it was something along the lines of:
"Creating experiences more meaningfull than real life" or in other worlds make EVE "real" - as in "EVE is real".
In order to achieve this vision two things have to be fullfilled: First, the degree of immersion of the EVE franchise has to be optimized in order to "make it real". Second, the number as well as the significance of opportunities for players of EVE franchise games to "make a dent" and achieve meaningful things and have a persistant impact on the universe have to be optimized.
One could interpret the vision as the developement towards a maximum immersion sci-fi universe that lifes and breathes just like our (real) universe (probably) does. While promoting opportuinities for players of EVE franchise products to interact and play in a fashion that makes the experience meaningful and the players impact real.
3. How to maximize profits?
Not going into detail - Profit = Revenue - Cost
CCP's cost structure should be relatively rigid and hard to save a lot of money while pursuing current business goals.
So the "easier" and more constructive way to increase profit would be boosting revenue.
(Near future) revenue is based on two strings of revenue. First and mainly the EVE universe franchise. Second (the long-term safeguard) world of Darkness. With the recent expansion of the EVE franchise I think, the impact of World of Darkness will be negligable in the next few years. --> Ergo: Comparatively greater leverage if revenue of EVE universe franchise is boosted. (Lets concentrate on EVE franchise games)
Personally, I think the idea behind the "EVE is real" sort of vision is going into the right direction. After all a lot of people probably have put thought into it. But back to topic ...
There are only a few options to grow revenue. Some are: a) increase prices (which is always a risky thing), b) make the existing customers buy more of your products, c) get new customers.
rg a: Increasing prices is risky and there is a limit not too far off where the current prices are
rg b: Make existing customers buy more of ur stuff is actually a viable option as long as you can create needs for other products of yours or can create products and a need for them. However, creating products almost always incures cost and there again is a limit to the number of products you can push out in a certain amount of time
rg c: Getting new ppl to develope a need for your products is one of the most profitable ways to increase profit (especially with software). Cost are almost non existant buy getting a new customer and the potential for revenue growth is huge.
Lets elaborate on c (new customers): Putting aside marketing cost (which I argue dont have to be increased to get new customers. Looking at the development of EVE franchise products, I argue that by simply making the games more immersive, accessible and easier to get into is a key element for increasing profit with EVE franchise products in the next decade. The core game is running, the universe has been defined to a degree where it has become a stable platform for future expansion. I argue that by boosting immersion with the EVE universe, boosting accessibility and tearing down entry level barriers to new customers, new heights of profit and vision fullfillment could be reached. Of course this is still a at least mid-term development that would have to be pushed.
4. Personal motivation
I love the EVE universe and I am seeking immersion. Immersion can be boosted in many ways, but contrary to hard core players that are thriving for the next "level/gear/killmail", for me, the experience, the immersion, the feeling of being part of the EVE universe is what drives my gameplay. I do like almost all activities out there in space and have tried them all. I dont care whether I am mining for hours, PVPin, roleplaying, exploring, trading, et cetera. What drives my need to play EVE franchise products and ultimately makes me pay the subscription or buy plex in EVE is the immersion, the feeling of being part of the EVE universe with all its fiction, politics, people, products, ships and opportunities to interact.
5. The Catch to the idea
My argument builds on the premise that potential customers of EVE franchise products, which are not effectively reached today desire a more immersive and complete sci-fi experience. That goes for any EVE franchise product.
I have not conducted any research on whether this is true, but most certainly EVE Online and also other existing EVE franchise products have a reputation to be "hard-core" / "with a steep learing curve" relative to other games/products in a genre/product group. Furthermore, from my own experience and of ppl I know, this is what they (and they are more the "normal" gamer kind of ppl) want. I dare to say the a huge part of the world likes the EVE universe and its fiction, politics, and scandals (see news coverage). Lastly, the development of subscription growth in EVE over the years is a more or less predictable function. We know what CCP had to do to get this growth (+ have learned some tabus in order to prevent huge future drops in subscriptions). If they continue the old path the growth is likely to be similar. In order to really accomplish CCPs goals I think they should really work on improving immersion and the EVE universe itself (as described above).
In this context: Walking in Stations GO!
(Note: just had to write this of my mind; sry for bad writing, if argument is received well - will write a proper post on the topic later, when got time) |