Jenn aSide wrote:Thank you for posting this and I won't derail you thread beyond this single comment about what you all are doing. I can't speak for Indahmawar Fazmarai as we don't agree on much, but one thing we do agree on is that it seems you guys are making an awful lot of "PVE" content that resembles PVP. I'm a pro-pvp PVE player (ie I like how pvp and pve interact in EVE and I counsel other PVE players to always keep in mind that ship to ship PVP can happen at any time so be aware of it, even embrace it), but I have a problem with the direction you guys seem to be going in. If a PVE player wanted a PVP like experience, we that's what PVP is for.
In other words, some of us like saving the Damsel, or attacking that Pirate Haven for the umpteen-millionth time, or Dreading that Pirate named Scarlett.
I'm sure you guys have internal metrics about what dedicated PVE players do across New Eden, and while I don't know for sure, I'd bet that if you looked at those you'd see a lot of people doing "old" content (like regular mining, anomalies, lvl 4 missions, DED complexes) even when they have access to newer stuff (like Burners, Drifters, Sleepers, incursions, Mining operations etc).
That old content has value because it lets you engineer and experiment with fits and tactics and new approaches (mainly because it is in fact mostly static in nature, you know what it's going to be every time you experience it). The newer PVE like Burners and Drifters and Mining Operations and it seems these new shipyards involve a higher potential for ship loss and act more like PVP, which actually forces PVE players down a narrower path than the "old" PVE does.
I know some vocal people have been saying for a long time how PVE should work like PVP, but not all of us enjoy that kind of thing, there is real value in the old style PVE that shouldn't be forgotten.
Hi Jenn, thankyou for your post. It is a little off topic, but I think its valuable to answer it.
TL;DR: All new PvE content won't be PvP-like.I understand where your coming from. Sometimes, you just want to watch Netflix, or chat with your mates, and only half pay attention while running some Sanctums, or running The Blockade.
And yes, much of our new content has had a considerably higher difficulty cap than previous content. I can assure you we recognize the value of both.
We understand the importance of 'low engagement content', and we believe we can deliver that while staying true to our push for player-like-NPCs. We can use a couple of different strategies at lowering their power level. Low skills, poor tactics, bad fittings, providing you with allies or handicapping them in other ways.
Additionally, there is the question of Mastery. I've spoken about this at round-tables at Fanfest and EVE Vegas. Players have Mastered content, for example, the Mission system. They've spent the time to find the right ships, skills, fits and tactics to optimize that content. Changing that content has a cost, it reduces or removes the investment someone has made in mastering a system. This is a large part of what attracts many people to EVE Online, complex systems to master. This doesn't mean we'll never change missions, or any other system, but we do recognize the cost it has. And sometimes, this Master is just kinda bad...its not optimization and player skill, its just figuring out the game system (i.e. mission blitzing).
Lastly, no matter how hard we try, I doubt we'll ever get to the standards of player flown ships. Theoretically, its possible, but we can't have a super computer to run every NPC in the game :) And, there is just mental difference between knowing their is another person controlling the ship your killing (or getting killed by) than a computer.
Much of the push for adding the Mining Ops, and Blood Raider Shipyards has less to do with the specific PvE content and much more to do with the tools we're creating. How NPC's chose their targets and maneuver around the battlefield. NPCs respecting EWar resistances, or being effected by sensor dampeners and energy neutralizers. NPC's using capacitor when they activate a webifier or repairer.
We're creating these tools at the highest possible difficulty level, trying to replicate PvP as much as possible. Ensuring these tools are rock solid. But these tools will be very useful for lower-intensity PvE as well. A Rifter fit with Civilian autocannons still needs to find the right range to orbit its target at, and respond appropriately when you use a Tracking Disruptor on it. We're striving for internally consistent PvE.
We want to provide a variety of PvE and PvPvE (which is probably where the Blood Raider Shipyards fall) for EVE Online. Casual, High Risk-High Reward, Group Based, Solo, and everything in between.