Vash Bloodstone
The Chiaotzu Doctrine
2
   |
Posted - 2016.05.26 06:36:06 -
[1] - Quote
Hello, I'd like to take this moment to offer my humble opinion on this subject. After much thought and deliberation and seeing firsthand some of the results of this new mechanic, I have come to the conclusion that it is a bad idea and a failure.
First of all, it seems clear that this recurring opportunity is meant to incentivize log-ins and also as a way to get people to UN-dock. On both these accounts, it will fail. I am not privy to the log-in numbers and I wouldn't be surprised if for the short term, log-ins did increase, but it will be a false victory. First, we must understand a few basic things. In EvE online, we live in a sandbox, and there are "rewards" to be gained by completing tasks. But like real life, each reward in eve requires work and effort equal to that of the reward and sometimes you get no reward for a lot of work. Going further, many tasks in eve are done with the knowledge that the rewards will be meager or that it will even cost resources to engage in. I am sure that many here might say that the funniest things to do EvE often have no rewards at all. For example, many acts of PvP may end with no reward and may in fact result in great losses. So, why do people do those things than? If you don't know already, they do it because it's *FUN.*
If you can take anything away from what I say, let it be that the main reason people play EvE is to have Fun. Yes, people play EvE to have FUN and not to earn "rewards." Oh, but Vash, can't people have fun earning rewards by doing daily opportunities? You tell me, can they? When you set-up a reward system, you change how a person's brain works. In general, people will do things that they think are fun. They will make this decision on their own, often not not on the basis on how many rewards they will get, but on how much fun they will have. How else can you explain why so many people engage in PvP, or how many people in industry make stuff even though the profit margins are thin or non-existent? If people only did things based on rewards, than there would hardly be any PvP and we'd probably see a lot more PvE action.
One of the best things that I like about EvE is its unique reward system. Rewards are variable and getting better rewards require more risk and ingenuity. They are fun because it mirrors real life in that things are uncertain and you never know what your going to get. What this recurring opportunity does is fundamentally change all that.
Ask yourself this question: Why did you log in to eve today?
Before this abomination of recurring opportunities, most people would of gave very nice answers like: explore, pvp, mine, etc, etc. But now today, a growing number of people will now say: I logged in to get the 10k sp bro. This is the death bell of eve online. There is one thing you must understand about human motivation. Rewards do not foster creativity, and in fact they stifle it. Studies have shown this. If you pay people based on getting good test scores, they will do worse than those who just studied because they felt it, (with no incentive).
When people log in to get the 10ksp, that's exactly why they are logging in, to get 10ksp and NOT to play Eve online. This may seem like a odd statement, but this is what rewards do to our brain. They change our perspective. When we have rewards on the mind, that's all we can focus on. The thing is, by turning the task of logging in to eve and killing a single NPC into a reward, you've now turned that simple activity into a chore. Because inside people's brain's, what happens is that deep inside, people start thinking, if I have be incentivized to do this task, that means the task must not be worth doing in of itself.
So, whether CCP intended or not, they now just destroyed a certain number of their players. Its probably not many, but now some people are going to think that EvE online must not be worth playing because they have to give out rewards just to get people to log in.
Anyway, this recurring opportunities thing seems small, and many of you will probably just shrug your shoulders, but it is the spirit behind it that is so toxic and why it must be stopped. Please get rid of this abomination. Don't turn eve online into a chore. If you want people to play eve more, than let it be because its fun, and not because of some lousy reward. Ultimately, if you get players to play just because of rewards, you will just end up with a bunch of zombies and this game will end up in oblivion. End Daily tasks now.
Sorry if my post dragged on...may the force be with you....
|