Damn it, I hate it when you’re nice to me.
I got nothing. There are so many other ways for them to make money off their players without pissing them off in the process and they must’ve known it would piss people off, otherwise they would’ve asked the CSM for feedback, and they did it anyway.
I’d guess they did it because it required the least amount of “dev time” to put into place. Giving us, say, alliance skins or structure skins means having to do actual work and it would appear CCP doesn’t want to work on the game anymore… and with that, I’m outa here, before my brain explodes trying to make sense of the senseless garbage CCP is doing.
Thanks for all the work you’re doing Brisc! Give my regards to Frank too when you see him.
Appeal to authority argument fallacy. People are free to be critical of business decisions, especially when they provide sound reasoning like is provided in this open letter.
Because it sets a bad precedence. People who spent time and effort to produce retrievers are now competing against CCP.
Not only that the fit is bad and ripe for ganking… it literally has no tank. How is this a problem? Imagine a new player drops $25 on this ‘ready to fly’ ship… and then someone ends up blasting it out from under them because it is poorly fitted. Is that player going to stick around and continue to play Eve? Probably not. They just dropped $25 on something and lost it because they were handed a poorly fitted ship. New players are going to see it as a cash grab and never experience what makes Eve different and unique… and thus its a quick cash grab instead of a well thought out business model.
What do I mean by well thought out business model. Okay, CCP just jacked a player for $25. They made some money. However, there is a high chance this player is going to be upset when they discover the package isn’t that good. Even with the skill points, its only a slightly better deal than buying PLEX to get in-game ISK to buy the skill injectors and the ship. Now, the player is upset and see CCP as money grabbing instead of providing a good game. They leave. CCP got $25.
Now, let’s say that instead they focus on what they have said keeps players playing: getting said new players into a player corp that can teach them how to play. Now, the player stays and goes omega via subscription or buying PLEX. If they buy Omega, CCP makes $15 a month… repeatedly. If they do it by buying PLEX via in-game money, CCP is making $20 a month… repeatedly.
Which business model is actually going to sustain itself? The one time cash grab of $25… or the model pulling in $15 a month from the customer. Two months of subscription and I’ve already made more money than the $25… and I haven’t upset my existing player base.
For someone who claims to run IRL businesses, you don’t really understand what a good business model looks like. Then again, you said you have owned many businesses in real life. Let me guess, many of them went bankrupt and you used bankruptcy law to make a profit even as your business fails.
You’d be hard-pressed to find a MMO player that doesn’t know about joining a guild/faction/corp/house/etc to improve their experience (if they wanted that social/team/group aspect). CCP or any game doesn’t need to spend a lot of time on that nor should they. In a player run game, PLAYERS should be trying to get new players. No to mention that there are a ton of ■■■■ corps out there that have ruined many a new players experience by scamming them.
Not the best hypothetical…
I’d like to add my name to that list, even though I “won EVE” in 2020…
Turamarth Elrandir
If you won, then why are we still here?
Has anyone here actually bought the pack? Or know someone first-hand who has?
My point asking is: Is this pack continuously available to a player, or, is it a 1-time purchase like the other skill packs? 
1 time, is my understanding.
As much as I don’t like it, that makes a difference IMO.
Eve Online is one of the few games where you really need others to be successful. Its not like WoW where you can see all the content without becoming part of a guild/clan/etc. You can even see raid content in the dumbed down LFR queue.
In case you weren’t aware, what little solo content that does exist in Eve is dying. Even Xtra Squishy has stopped his solo Eve streaming.
Depends on if you want your game to continue to be profitable… spending some development time improving that awful and useless corp recruitment tool. Which bring us to…
We are… I’ve brought 4 players into Eve in the last 2 years. Might have a few others who will start when life allows.
But here’a the thing: we can’t help the new players that don’t have a real life friend playing Eve unless CCP gives us the tools to do so. Again, see the incredibly bad corp recruitment tool.
Welcome to Eve. Nothing us players can do about that with the tools CCP has given us. If the system would show how many inactive players there are in those giant tax haven corps, that would help. Again, that’s a tool CCP has to give to the players.
Do you the only way to check activity on a corp is to look at their zkillboard? And maybe look at how many people are leaving or joining via evewho or dotlan. Give us public metrics like how much ore did the corp mine in the last 6 months… or how many hours of industry they ran. Or how many of what level missions did they complete.
All of this would show activity which helps clear out those bad corps without giving away a lot of intel on the specifics. Again, give us the tools and we can do it.
Its not a hypothetical. CCP has stated all their research shows that its how you keep players in Eve.
This is subjective so, no
Solo offerings by CCP and only been on the increase over the years which is a double-edged sword IMO…but still a fact.
Have you ever stopped to think that they are fine with where the game is now considering how old it is and that it has been sold? Every product has a lifespan and EVE’s has been in the final stage(s) for a long time now…this is the reality. It will never get back to where it was and they know that so, they will do what they can to keep the lights on for as long as possible while making enough cash to make the owners happy.
err…“Now, let’s say…”
They also said that ganking is a player retainer yet look at home many people are against that and/or is cited as a reason for players leaving. Which is it?
Again, all a new player has to do is look/ask on the forums. Nothing ingame needs to be added nor does CPP need to provide intel on corps which will be abused by bashers/gankers/griefers.
Stop asking for even more training wheels as EVE is not nor ever has been that type of game.
And yet go look at the Pearl Abyss earning statements; Eve is still very profitable. As a matter of fact, the IP now brings in more money than when Pearl Abyss first bought CCP.
If you can continue to make money by simply adding more cosmetic items and maybe some new variety of ships, why wouldn’t you? Why kill the golden goose when the goose is still laying eggs?
No, they didn’t say that. They said that ganking shows little to no coorelation to player retention. That means that just players are just as likely to stay as leave if they get ganked. Nice straw man argument fallacy.
Yes… because when I play other MMOs, I go looking on the forums for a group to belong to. I mean, I do… after I’ve tried the in-game system first. And Eve’s is substandard by almost every measure. And this is somethinfg players have been complaining about for years.
I didn’t know providing information about corp activity would be considered training wheels. Especially coming from someone who said. “No to mention that there are a ton of ■■■■ corps out there that have ruined many a new players experience by scamming them.” I offer a pretty simple fix to help the players avoid the problem and you call it training wheels.
If you want to talk about training wheels, this pack is literally buying training wheels. No need to learn about trading hubs, we can drop your retriever where-ever you want it.
Also, if you actually want to have a good faith discussion about this (hint: using argument fallacies means you don’t), you wouldn’t bring up your statement about ganking causing players to quit since as that retriever is fit, its pure gank bait.
I get it, you don’t want solutions, you just want to be contrary. I’m offering solutions to problems you being up in your red herring and you then go on the whole “we don’t need training wheels” silliness.
Have a nice day. You continue to be contrary, others of us will look to keep a game we like going and improving.
As opposed to a player, you know, doing it themselves? Yes I said players get scammed and those are the ones that did no research. Are some stats doing to help a new player that has no idea what they are even looking at in the first place? Probably now. Is askin a few simple questions in the forums a great way to start, yes. Problem solved.
No, you are looking for a giant EASY button and asking CCP to hold the hand of new players is an example of that. We didn’t have that for the first 20 years but here you are saying “look I am solving a huge issue, I’m so smart”…please.
I raised ganking because YOU brought-up player retention and that is a topic often raised.
I’m being contrary because oppose your suggestions…don’t like that? Tough.
Have a nice day.
What did I ask for that was a giant EASY button? Because according to you:
Make up your mind… either its a huge EASY button or it won’t help at all. Which one is it? Oh wait, that’s right… its whichever perpetuates this argument since you’re just being contrary.
I brought up player retention because that’s what makes MMOs profitable. This is why so many games die very quickly after launch. Because they don’t keep enough subscriptions to be profitable. And do you know what those games end up doing to try to suck the last bit of profitability out of those games? They offer a free to play model with micro-transactions. Does that sound familiar?
Player retention is important and as for what CCP said: here’s the reality, I believe their internal statistics over all the whining on the forums. Why? Because with most MMOs, the number of the players active on the forums isn’t even large enough to be considered a fraction of the actual playerbase. So listening to the complaining about ganking on the forums is using anecdotal evidence (another argument fallacy).
Again, you’re not interested in a good faith discussion here. We’re up to three argument fallacies… and you’re simultaneously saying my idea won’t work and also calling it a giant easy button. Giant easy buttons normally work. But again, bad faith discussion…
More likely, the players disapproving of this move and all the changes that led up to it will cease to participate, conveniently relieving them of any opposition. Ironic as it is. “Unusubbing” won’t help, unsubbers will be replaced by wallet warriors. Which is probably what the Almighty of the New Eden want.
Not a word to that effect can be seen in the pack description as it currently shows at
https://secure.eveonline.com/packs/details/?pack=prospector-pack
And it says it’s “fully fitted and flight ready,” so this advert isn’t exactly the most transparent.
What are the indications of it being one-time-only then? (Not going to try and buy a couple to find out)
Folks have bought it, and we’ve confirmed with CCP that it’s one-time-only.
I’ll be your huckleberry.
I made a video where I discuss my opinions concerning monetization if you prefer listening. But, I can write out my opinions if you want a TLDW.
