Hotice
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Posted - 2004.06.21 05:08:00 -
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Edited by: Hotice on 21/06/2004 05:10:23
Unlike other MMORPGs, Eve is more or less mainly a solo game when it comes to PvE. Sure one could always hunt in group but NPC and loot system isn't really geared to reward large group hunting. Besides, player also have to worry about who to group with while doing PvE. Last thing we want is getting ganked by people from other Corps only because one of the group member is at war with them. In certain sense, group hunting for PvE element is not very viable. However, the new tracking/accuracy/weapon range changes reduced the ability for a single player to be able handle the spawn alone. Thus such changes result in people unable to do PvE as they were in the past. So, now players have to either group and deal with the poorly designed group system or mount short range weapons at cost of much less fire power when it comes to dealing with large NPC ships.
What we are experiencing now is a good example of conflict between PvE and PvP combat system. It is next to impossible to balance both at same time. This is also the reason that more and more companies choose to either to go all out PvE or PvP but not both at same time and on same server. For a mostly PvP game with some PvE, items, spells, and skills must made relatively cheap and not too time consuming. PvE element in a game focused on PvP should have no way effect how PvP combat. NPC design must also be focused on useing PvP rules and skills. This way people will be more willing to into PvP combat and only do PvE when they are bored. This is the key point for Eve developers to consider at this point. Do they want to make this game more focused on PvP or do they want to turn this game into more PvE with PvP as small option. There is simply no middle ground.
At present time, Eve face a lot of things need to be improved. There are many ship types for each race. However, most of them are next to useless since they don't offer anything special. Thus, players will pick the best ship and pretty all that ship. Weapon choices in this game are pretty good in number however not viability. Due to limited weapon slots, players have to choose go for the most optimized setup. This leads to specialization. However, due large amount training required to support weapon specialization, we need a combat system that have to be complete and not as a subject which requires constant change. Based on what I have seen in this game, the combat system is far from complete and changes to combat system is too dramatic. This is why we see many angery players tody.
What should CCP do at this point? First, they need to know exactly which direction they want this game to evolve. Once the decision is made, they should let players know and turn the game toward the final form. At this point, I'm not sure if CCP developers know what they want to do with this game. They need to realize it is impossible to make a game good at both PvE and PvP without large amount of resource. Many companies have tried and failed badly.
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