Markus Reese
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
857
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Posted - 2016.08.15 00:36:33 -
[1] - Quote
Long threadnaught, so will start just from the initial impressions.
So why less players? Need to look at the history of eve throughout. And that starts with the OP's concept of PLEX. PLEX doesn't affect player quantiy, specifically the price. Highest player activities were well before PLEX existed. Eve play doesn't work on a FTP style of mechanic. FTP being where one group of players is casual and invests minimal, while a heavier competitive play group invests more. The issue of plex is that if the core game revolves around needing it, then some players leave.
PLEX also works on two principles. That somebody doesn't want to grind and farm to ship, most often new players or PvP, and the other who has no issue with it. In a successful FTP mechanic, the player's experienced is enhanced. Eve does has examples of these. Most successful is things like skins. Skins are a great way to enhance. They are optional and I have spent more than a bit on Aurum since came out because I felt it was value and an enhancement.
For the combat players, that same money goes to selling plex and others multibox, enhances their experience. Why is there still a Subscription that keeps plex valid?
Because free play tends to lean towards a more casual experience. Plexing itself would be more successful, or more satisfaction with a sub rate if the value was more. That is why I haven't sold a plex, or bought skins recently. I find current game is not up to the standards of investing more than the sub. The experience to get a PLEX also not enjoyable.
----------PLEX OUT OF THE WAY---------
Okay, history. Back in the turn of the decade eve was hitting it's peak. 50k at a time log ins, wide battles, and accessible. Isk inflation and power creep has made certain areas of play inaccessible.
If you want to get into something, instead of having the range of play as normal, you now need to niche. Poor, you gotta fly the low isk fleets. Want to maintain security status? Then stick to highsec. This one is where I group in. I hate pvp not for the pvp, but for the grind to replace ships if I want in the big fights, or if small gang, then I start losing access to a significant portion of the game.
"Well, that is what alts are for"
See previous statement of value. I have to pay twice as much just to have access to the whole game? Is why I went right from highsec to Null back in the day and limited my roams. I refused to lose the highsec access on my main character.
Now more and more, to try and make things more engaging, niche ships and modules come out. In the name of balance. Changes that do not reflect on eve community. Even simple stuff like the new mining ship concepts revealed. Two mining lasers on all of them due to the role bonus. Is unfortunate that we are now losing something that is a stable image of eve. Make use of description or lore to explain the bonuses or other means. Fantastic models, but what value has removing that bit of eve signature brought.
CCP and us as players need to look at eve for what it is on the gaming market place. We all have things we like about it, but why is the player base small and why is there a player base?
Eve offers something unique. A full open game environment. Where from your first undock, you can fly to wherever you want. Success is not tied to SP or time in game or your farming but how you applied what you did and learned as a player. But over time, this started to cause issues. The force projection, the isk farms, players outdoing what the initial threats were. Result is stopgap things. Fancy tools and exception to rules that have put up more borders and reduced player freedom and ingenuity. Things start becoming mandatory instead of just ingenuity.
This removes goals. Exploration is a favorite of mine where it got tweaked so all levels of it was instantly accessible. This also means that it quickly becomes worthless as the challenge is nothing more than a mechanic to be beaten and has removed the players from the equation for the most part. Toss isk at it, and you are in without the progression. Old data sites used to need some combat to get into. Means that you needed more than a fast cloaky ship to run null. needed friends, or be on the ball with a fine tuned fit.
I find there is much more, but that is why. The gaming world is still unique, but the gaming experience isn't keeping up with the times and its satisfaction amongst new players is diminishing fast. To counter, more and more of the games is being developed to follow traditional game models.
That works if you have a traditional game, but you got to offer it much better than what the market already has or maximize the original concept (see minecraft vs other voxel crafting games)
CCP, maximize your concept. Following some traditional plan to the letter does not work. You need to customize it for EVE. Identify the unique features, and maximize them
1. Open world - Make it open again
2. Assorted account age player base - refine mechanics to encourage the incorporation of new players. Eve is supposed to be about ships dying? Well cheap new bean ships are easy to replace. Refine to have them an advantage means they don't care about ship loss, and they get in on the action instead of excluded. Apply same to encourage different playstyles interacting positively. Making PvE PvP fodder just makes the PvE peeps quit. Nobody wins.
3. Don't make it a penalty to play end game. If eve is about big fleet battles, why is it that to be part of that you need to grind, sell plex, etc to afford it in a meaningful way? Why should a player need alts just to be able to have a main that is a lowsec pirate just so they can still have access to half the game environment?
Look and find answers to those, and the population will start to increase dramatically again. This development mentality is what led eve to it's peak.
To quote Lfod Shi
The ratting itself is PvE. Getting away with it is PvP.
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