One problem which EVE has (in my opinion) is that the reality often fails to live up to the hype, especially for players who are attracted by stories of "epic space battles" and instead end up running level 1-2 missions for 6 weeks and then never return.

I've been fortunate enough to have an "EVE Career" in corporations and alliances which are at a level where I've been able to take part in 1000-man battles, and both capital and supercapital gameplay. Many players, for whatever reason, will never progress this far, and thus never really be able to take part in these experiences. I personally believe that this is especially damaging for new players, as once the beauty and thrill of flying a spaceship wears off, the reality of hitting a few buttons in the minimal-interaction activities of mining and mission running quickly burns one out.

Why couldn't there be new epic arcs introduced, where players could have (a completely PVE) experience where they could use a titan bridge, fight with allies, and take on an enemy fleet? Wouldn't having the option of helping the Caldari Navy fight off a group of Guristas capital ships be a meaningful experience that would seem especially "epic" for many people who want to experience the thrill of "epic space battles."

I don't participate in PvE content all that much, mostly because it's more of a grinding experience than anything. However, I remember when I first started EVE, once the initial thrill wore off, that I was left with a feeling of "is this it?" With PCU numbers hovering around the 20k mark, I think it might be time to think of reinvigorating the PvE experience, or at least providing around 30-40 hours of engaging, new, content.