First of, congratulations. You have a challenging road ahead and I admire you for daring to take it.

I'd like to say that while I enjoy your presentations and agree with the message you're trying to get across, I don't particularly trust CCP these days any more than I trust politicians. A lot of what's been said is exactly what we want to hear, but the actions have been often counter-productive to EVE. In other words, we'll be watching what happens closely, not what's said or promised.


Regarding "EVE is dying " bit. I don't think it is and as long as it remains without competition it's pretty safe, however I don't think anyone will dispute the fact that it has been stagnating for a while now. In my humble opinion, one of the big reasons for this stagnation is CCP's stubborn thinking that they know whatGÇÖs best for the game and players.

EVE client today is arguably much better than it was four years ago, but this progress has been made with several "three steps forward, two steps back" expansion/releases. It is progress yes, but the problem is that most of the people will focus on the negative. They will notice certain aspects of the game declining and withering. They will see their hard work, advice and feedback swept aside and ignored. They will start to feel as if CCP forgot what EVE is about and stopped caring about their players. While the overall picture may be improving, the progress is slow and small; at the same time it is alienating much of EVE's population by forcing careless changes that few if any asked for.

This negativity and feeling of helplessness serves to set in apathy. I may be one voice among thousands but I promise you that many out of the hundreds of people I've met in EVE are growing more apathetic every year. I think the only way to reverse this trend is to once again empower the players, the true masters of the game.

Call me arrogant, but I don't view CCP as the developers of EVE, I think of them as its custodians. Most of us who play EVE are not here because we enjoy staring at our mining lasers stripping away an asteroid. We are not here because we saw an epic trailer about saving the Damsel from Kruul. We do not wake up at 5 in the morning for an op because we think TiDi is fun. We do all of this for other reasons, reasons which are provided by other players, not CCP. With every action we take, we feel empowered. Our actions matter because they affect the people and the environment around us. We write the rules and break them. We define the game and dictate itGÇÖs development. We make the experience awesome and worthwhile. Even CCP with their statements, trailers and ads admits the fact that EVEGÇÖs epicness comes from its players, not from the client. I seem to be stating the obvious but then why does the gameGÇÖs development process not honor and endorse this obvious fact.

Why does CCP continue to think that they know whatGÇÖs best for the game when almost every single feature ever released has been hijacked and redefined by players in their own nefarious or benevolent image. Ask ten EVE players what is EVE and you will get twelve different answers, but I bet they will agree that the reason they play it is because itGÇÖs a sandbox. That means we get the tools, the sand and water from CCP but we build and destroy our own sandcastles, in our own creative way. Diversify the sandbox by giving us more tools rather than your own version of sandcastles to build. Give us more possibilities rather than limiting us to fewer options that you consider meaningful. Expand the way with which we communicate, interact and affect each other rather than adding more swings and merry-go-rounds.

Listen to your community, and IGÇÖm not talking about just CSM. They do a lot of hard work but they do not represent the majority. You have a lot of bright and talented people in this game who spends hours playing, researching, discussing, and testing to improve this game. They are as vested in itGÇÖs growth as anyone else and together we can propel EVE into its third decade.


Rant TLDR:
Grats! Plz give us better shovels, more sand, more tools instead of shiny content and blueprints for building your castles. We'll design, build and destroy our own damn sandcastles. If you want growth, empower and excite the players to be (inter)active rather than limiting us down your pre-defined path.