Xaintrix
The Shadow Order
The Shadow Ascension
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Posted - 2006.12.29 22:32:00 -
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I don't know, this is the first MMO that I ever felt like I'm getting my money's worth for continually investing in the game. Rather than have to buy an expansion pack on top of it, I get value added content like Revelations. It's far from perfect, but there are plenty of building blocks that for someone looking for a good home was able to access.
Take warp to zero. Now many jaded vets out there will bemoan this, but to me it opened the game wide open. Now I don't have to rely on bulky instas if I care to explore the universe and that makes life a lot easier in about every facet of how I play the game. It's not perfect by any means, but that built in clumsiness (like autopilot not utilizing it, or not warping to station perfectly) is MORE than acceptable than the time and cost it took to go anywhere or do anything outside a little bubble that I grew familiar with.
As for the other money making ventures, if you're going to hire more devs, and buy more servers, you'll need to diversify the gaming experience and really allow the player to get as immersed as they care to. This doesn't take away from development time, so it's really hard to build a tangible argument against it.
That's not to say i don't think there are some flaws still. They still follow a general model in computer design that it's cheaper to throw out new content than it is to fix outstanding problems. That being said, at least they do put forth some effort and fix things that are critically broken.
If I were to have two things it would be the following:
Greater server stability and reduced lag. Lag will happen, that I have no doubt, but some regions being near unplayable at times (and losing a Drake to it for that matter) really brought me down. I can understand if a SYSTEM is impacted, but it's difficult to tell if a whole REGION should be avoided for that very reason. But Rome wasn't built in a day, and honestly 95%+ of my experience has been rock solid.
Improved customer support. Again, yet another one of those mountain of a problems that is difficult to get a handle on. Even when solutions are being developed, or more personnel being hired, it doesn't change the ever increasing amount of petitions that are out there. I'm a little miffed myself that I have one sitting over a week, but it's tempered by the fact I've been in customer support awhile ago and know that having to treat every petition as a legitimate one regardless of how absurd it may be can be rather trying on even the most stalwart CSR. I doubt many of us would have the patience as these guys/gals have.
It's frustrating, but not nearly as much as the frustration as I've had with other MMOs and that speaks volumes. I have not seen a MMO that catered to so many types of gameplay and as deep as they are.
I think one thing people lose sight on is that we the players ARE an integral part of the system. We don't get paid for it, sure, but the experience is as rich as we want it to be. The story isn't fleshed out? There are outlets for you to develop it. Technical issues plaguing you? I've seen a number of people come up with creative solutions in the tech forum. It's not that the staff aren't doing their job, but really do you expect the game to work perfectly with every permutation of computer hardware and software setup?
Maybe my rose colored glasses will break after a few years rather than the 6 months I've been playing EVE, but you know right now I really do feel like I'm getting my money's worth. That's why I still play. The moment I feel I'm not, I stop. Aren't games grand? New ones are made every day. :)
Cheers,
X
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