Jameson (not verified) on February 2, 2007 - 18:58.
A great piece...
I've followed your writings on Eve since I started playing it over 12 months ago. You've summed up nicely the disappointment I have with CCP in that the systems they really should be improving and growing with new development are being shunned in favour of combat mechanics, a few new toys (ships) and poor improvements like contracts, invention, exploration - which was hardly a priority for most players since ESCROW actually did the same thing...better, exploration is essentially deadspace complexes that now take ages to find, and invention - while an admirable and decent attempt to reduce the imbalance of tech 2 production - fails miserably because i) the horribly imbalanced BPO lottery system still exists and ii) the invention cost (with difficult to obtain interfaces, poor BPC efficiency, and being chance based) makes it less worthwhile than a side-salad.
I started pre Red Moon Rising and I was really pleased with all the new content they appeared to add with that patch though admittedly I couldn't really tell at that point how this properly changed the game. It still felt like a LOT was actually delievered in new ships, science/manufacturing etc etc....I hoped this level of content would continue with the lofty promises of KALI.
However KALI, as you've said, seems to have been forgotten and replaced with Revelations. To me it looks like CCP Developers are either getting bored, distracted or trying too hard to please the very vocal minority of PVP junky forum posters. I think the problem is as you point out - that they are working on the next MMO (along with the Chinese server) more and more and dedicating less time to the current game. I mean subscription numbers go up and up...What about expanding the number of developers to expand the game further!? Fair enough though - after all CCP is a business and has the right to innovate and attempt new things. If it were my business I'd probably be laughing right now since it is probably more profitable than ever - I just hope those increasing profits get reinvested into EVE and not 'Station Walking online...'.
So the issue arises for me when they change direction and think their 'loyal' subscribers (I pay YEARLY!) will just forget what they have promised to deliver.
I find it very disappointing that Revelations is now again this years 'big' patch and the majority of it seems to be bugfixes and small improvements that they promised previously.
The Vivox stuff will no doubt be great fun, especially since I dont use teamspeak etc - The next 'capital industrial ship' is just another toy really and adds nothing much. New leadership/warfare, constellation sovreignty (great for big 0.0 alliances, useless for everyone else) enhances play a little. But yet again I expect the patches will get watered down to be 'less is more' as the output of Eve development shifts to new projects.
The real 'content' upgrade which I think a lot of the subscribers (except maybe the big 0.0 alliance members) wanted certainly me and most of the people as you have highlighted so well with their own words - now looks to have been 'binned'. Shame on CCP.
I'll continue to pay and play in the hope CCP with drop some new innovative stuff in without much trumpetting (is there a chance they're still working very hard in secret on something ingenious for Eve? Maybe), but it is starting to feel like I'm paying to train skills and frankly my enthusiams is withering for what has been a great game...I just wonder whether we've seen the best Eve's developers could offer and the rest is small crumbs to keep the most vocal happy.
Re: Eve-Online quote-play
A great piece...
I've followed your writings on Eve since I started playing it over 12 months ago. You've summed up nicely the disappointment I have with CCP in that the systems they really should be improving and growing with new development are being shunned in favour of combat mechanics, a few new toys (ships) and poor improvements like contracts, invention, exploration - which was hardly a priority for most players since ESCROW actually did the same thing...better, exploration is essentially deadspace complexes that now take ages to find, and invention - while an admirable and decent attempt to reduce the imbalance of tech 2 production - fails miserably because i) the horribly imbalanced BPO lottery system still exists and ii) the invention cost (with difficult to obtain interfaces, poor BPC efficiency, and being chance based) makes it less worthwhile than a side-salad.
I started pre Red Moon Rising and I was really pleased with all the new content they appeared to add with that patch though admittedly I couldn't really tell at that point how this properly changed the game. It still felt like a LOT was actually delievered in new ships, science/manufacturing etc etc....I hoped this level of content would continue with the lofty promises of KALI.
However KALI, as you've said, seems to have been forgotten and replaced with Revelations. To me it looks like CCP Developers are either getting bored, distracted or trying too hard to please the very vocal minority of PVP junky forum posters. I think the problem is as you point out - that they are working on the next MMO (along with the Chinese server) more and more and dedicating less time to the current game. I mean subscription numbers go up and up...What about expanding the number of developers to expand the game further!? Fair enough though - after all CCP is a business and has the right to innovate and attempt new things. If it were my business I'd probably be laughing right now since it is probably more profitable than ever - I just hope those increasing profits get reinvested into EVE and not 'Station Walking online...'.
So the issue arises for me when they change direction and think their 'loyal' subscribers (I pay YEARLY!) will just forget what they have promised to deliver.
I find it very disappointing that Revelations is now again this years 'big' patch and the majority of it seems to be bugfixes and small improvements that they promised previously.
The Vivox stuff will no doubt be great fun, especially since I dont use teamspeak etc - The next 'capital industrial ship' is just another toy really and adds nothing much. New leadership/warfare, constellation sovreignty (great for big 0.0 alliances, useless for everyone else) enhances play a little. But yet again I expect the patches will get watered down to be 'less is more' as the output of Eve development shifts to new projects.
The real 'content' upgrade which I think a lot of the subscribers (except maybe the big 0.0 alliance members) wanted certainly me and most of the people as you have highlighted so well with their own words - now looks to have been 'binned'. Shame on CCP.
I'll continue to pay and play in the hope CCP with drop some new innovative stuff in without much trumpetting (is there a chance they're still working very hard in secret on something ingenious for Eve? Maybe), but it is starting to feel like I'm paying to train skills and frankly my enthusiams is withering for what has been a great game...I just wonder whether we've seen the best Eve's developers could offer and the rest is small crumbs to keep the most vocal happy.