Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but with the recent change in game direction, EVE Online may be well on its way to the stated numbers online at the same time. Will the server handle it? Will space seem too crowded? Will the empires discover new systems for null, low and high sec space?

And on a 'not my business, but really wishing' note, will there be a place for those former CCP folks to become current CCP folks again if they so desire, if things continue to go well enough for these numbers to be seen?

What happens when we have 60k, 70k or 80k players on at one time?

there is still alot of improvements ccp needs to make before alot of the bitter vets return.

also during the height of the 80k ish pcu alot were bots which have now been banned or hunted out of the high sec ice belts by hulkageddon events and later goons & co.

Will the server handle it?

Will space seem too crowded?

Will the empires discover new systems for null, low and high sec space?

You do know the numbers still havent returned to what they were pre-incarna, 50k is good but nothing we havent seen before

Bitter Vets can just stay gone if you ask me. I have been playing EvE since day one. You may call me Happy Vet.

there is still alot of improvements ccp needs to make before alot of the bitter vets return.

Worst case scenarios:

- 10% of them are in Jita

One physical server actually only needs to handle everything going on in one solar system. So until 1000v1000 battles become a common occurence, all CCP needs to do is buy more servers using the increased revenue.

Will the empires discover new systems for null, low and high sec space?

Highly unlikely.

lol..."spiraling into decline".

ex-+ag-+ger-+ate
GÇé GÇé[ig-zaj-uh-reyt] Show IPA verb, -at-+ed, -at-+ing.
verb (used with object)
1.
to magnify beyond the limits of truth; overstate; represent disproportionately: to exaggerate the difficulties of a situation.
2.
to increase or enlarge abnormally: Those shoes exaggerate the size of my feet.

If EVE hits 100K there will be 10,000 wives pissed at thier husband for buying a 10th EVE account.

Doesn't really matter how many players you have online on the server as a whole, since they are always divided in nodes. If it gets above 100k players online then i'm pretty sure CCP can just as easelly add more hardware power, since the whole thing is quite modular.

The problem is having over 1k players online in a single node doing high lag thing like activating modules, shooting at each other, firing missiles, etc...

... during the height of the 80k ish pcu...

Edit : partial ninja'd ! Heh.

There was a dev reply not that long ago (can't find it, but it's there on the old forums) where this exact issue was discussed.
If memory serves right, the current architecture can support somewhere up to 190k (or was it 192k? 196k?) simultaneous users (although the performance won't be pretty) as far as the "interface" nodes are concerned, and if for some reason they get enough subscribers to make that a somewhat less than freak occurrence, they can easily upgrade the hardware to handle more.
The problem right now is users per node, or better said, users per single CPU core (at the extreme, one node handles just one solar system, like, say, the Jita node), and increasing that is an ongoing concern, achievable both via software upgrades/tweaks (plenty of data about that in various blogs) and occasional hardware upgrades.
The long-term goal is to have a node be able to use more than just a single CPU core...

P.S. Found it : http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1446750

There are hundreds of inaccessible systems in the database. The chances of more opening up are greater than you think. :)

Hay... where did you get that? Hundreds? Got a link?

Probably talking about the (3) Jove regions up in the north part of the map. (Also known as the CCP/Dev regions.)

Personally, I think it would be interesting to add a few more regions around the edges (blow the edges of the map out another 20-30 LY), then sprinkle in another few regions closer in, and add another 1500 w-space systems. We're a bit overdue for another expansion of space (drone regions back around 2007, w-space back around 2009, nothing since then).

I'm not sure I agree. I think the amount of space out there will be somewhat proportional to the number of people on the server. Since our numbers still haven't recovered from monoclegate, I don't forsee new systems in our near future. Moreover, CCP still needs to get around to fixing existing space and making resource distribution less conformal and slowing teleportfleets/logistics, and... you get the idea.

There aren't hundreds of systems in the jove regions though, are there?

Fixing existing space? I'm not sure CCP even has the balls to admit what's actually wrong with it.

http://go-dl1.eve-files.com/media/corp/Verite/influence.png
See the regions: A821-A, J7HZ-F, UUA-F4.
(Too lazy to count the dots or query the database dump tonight though.)

There's plenty of room for growth, dozens of barely inhabited nullsec systems that could be filled if people were forced out of empire, WH space, Jove space. It's just High-Sec that'd get even more overcrowded.

agreed, but given that the game had been spiraling into decline, a return to 50k+ players online for two weeks in a row indicates that the game - and CCP - are headed in the right direction again.

There's plenty of room for growth, dozens of barely inhabited nullsec systems that could be filled if people were forced out of empire, WH space, Jove space. It's just High-Sec that'd get even more overcrowded.

Chances of seeing most bittervets return is close to 0.
what you need to remember is that a very large portion of us bitter vets Never left eve

A lot of us are also burned out when it comes to this game. Wich comes from having played this game for close to 10 years, and all the new guys are ruining are game

I am at two accounts and my wife is already pissed!

Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but with the recent change in game direction, EVE Online may be well on its way to the stated numbers online at the same time. Will the server handle it? Will space seem too crowded? Will the empires discover new systems for null, low and high sec space?

And on a 'not my business, but really wishing' note, will there be a place for those former CCP folks to become current CCP folks again if they so desire, if things continue to go well enough for these numbers to be seen?

12:58:07 Istyn: The EVE cluster has reached its maximum user limit. Please try logging in again later. You are #1420 in line for logon.

12:58:11 Istyn: 19000 online.

IIRC CCP said that the current TQ hardware should be good for at least 100k.

Confirming that I don't even.

LOL what changes?

Posted - 2011.01.11 23:05:00 - (6)

I don't think anyone really has a clue. A game like eve is on a permanent test / trial and error status

there is still alot of improvements ccp needs to make before alot of the bitter vets return.

also during the height of the 80k ish pcu alot were bots which have now been banned or hunted out of the high sec ice belts by hulkageddon events and later goons & co.

there is still alot of improvements ccp needs to make before alot of the bitter vets return.

Did that happen? 80k pcu I mean. I thought the record was somewhere right around 65k during the alliance tournament 2 years ago??

TBH, many of the vets that have left, that I know, aren't even bothered enough to see what is happening to/in EVE...they are too busy kerploding tanks.

That's only because they (CCP/EVETV) got every man and his dog to log in alts...hardly indicative of a normal days player participation

If you code it (and it rocks)... they will come...

Personally I'd like to see space games become cool again and play EVE with a couple of million other subscribers.

If having the better product was drove customer usage we'd be using:

Betamax instead of VHS
HD-DVD instead of bluray
Component instead of HDMI
*more that I can't think of but would be interested to see a list*

In fact, many technologies that we DO use were invented 50+ years before they were "invented" yet not adopted.

"better" is relative.

Betamax was a better technology, but Sears wanted too much for the licencing so sony and panasonic went VHS. Consumers therefor went VHS (cheaper) and broadcast networks went beta (for quality). They just diverged into different markets.

HD-DVD was in fact inferior quality despite the lower price point to consumers (blu-ray higher capacity and ability to write and playback at same time). It nevertheless had some licencing problems with manufacturers.

I do use component instead of HDMI.

The EvE experience has always been buggy imho. Yet here we are... still flying CCP spaceships

It's a combination of the ambition of the game and the promise. This summer people just got sick of empty promises.

Betamax was a better technology, but Sony would not licence it to other manufacturers. JVC let everyone licence VHS and the difference in quality was only relevant for about 18 months. VHS soon caught up and surpassed Beta in quality. So all the other manufacturers went VHS. Consumers therefore went VHS (cheaper) and broadcast networks went beta (for quality) ((only at first)). They just diverged into different markets. Beta was just another lame attempt by Sony to control the medium. By the time Sony let others manufacture Beta machines, it was too late.

Perhaps I'm overly optimistic, but with the recent change in game direction, EVE Online may be well on its way to the stated numbers online at the same time. Will the server handle it? Will space seem too crowded? Will the empires discover new systems for null, low and high sec space?

And on a 'not my business, but really wishing' note, will there be a place for those former CCP folks to become current CCP folks again if they so desire, if things continue to go well enough for these numbers to be seen?

50360 on Sunday, not bad at all.

Daily average is climbing back above 30k, which is still down from the 35-36k average that we had back in Jan 2011 and Jan 2010. So down, but definitely improving.

http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility

Edit : partial ninja'd ! Heh.

There was a dev reply not that long ago (can't find it, but it's there on the old forums) where this exact issue was discussed.
If memory serves right, the current architecture can support somewhere up to 190k (or was it 192k? 196k?) simultaneous users (although the performance won't be pretty) as far as the "interface" nodes are concerned, and if for some reason they get enough subscribers to make that a somewhat less than freak occurrence, they can easily upgrade the hardware to handle more.
The problem right now is users per node, or better said, users per single CPU core (at the extreme, one node handles just one solar system, like, say, the Jita node), and increasing that is an ongoing concern, achievable both via software upgrades/tweaks (plenty of data about that in various blogs) and occasional hardware upgrades.
The long-term goal is to have a node be able to use more than just a single CPU core...

P.S. Found it : http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=topic&threadID=1446750