For an “Other” answer, I’d definitely say avatar gameplay would be spectacular as some sort of exploration - entering into Sleeper constructs or Triglavian towers a la the fanfest 2012 cinematic, combined with some of the structural exploration like the things CCP’s art director conceptualized, and the added bonus of them having messed with this exact concept before, would be spectacular and likely a hell of a lot less messy/expensive to implement than any sort of combat.
5 Likes
Confirming. My EVE character has more clothes than I do IRL. XD
Good idea Uriel! And it actually would be easy to be implemented in Project Nova!
Will get to this in a moment.
I will allow myself to talk about other games in this post, I hope you guys don’t mind.
First off let’s look at Star Citizen. They have raised more than 250 million dollars. They started with making their avatar gameplay and it is so interconnected with the rest of the game, that you can’t skip it in any way. Well, obviously, that will not work for EVE, this is noted. But SC devs have invested in the avatars so much that they even do some player face tracking, to project it on their avatars ingame! And going further, SC forums have like 2 million people, most of them backers of the developing game. They don’t mind avatars at all.
I guess we can still argue that EVE is fundamentally different, that EVE has mastered large scale spaceship gameplay and it is a pretty niche type of thing. But let’s remember one thing that was written on the CCP Games website long ago: “Long term we are aiming to become the premiere service provider of the ultimate Sci-Fi experience, one in which the experience itself extends from the ground, all the way up into space and on every vehicle in between.” It was long ago, yes and maybe CCP is not openly that bold, considering the hardships they have faced, but they keep rising and keep going.
So, recently CCP received 450 million dollars, Pearl Abyss, we all know the story. Realizing that and comparing things to other games, I feel that a lot of things can be done with a budget like that. Keeping in mind that they still receive money from Omegas, SKIN purchases and cosmetic purchases for avatars that we don’t really use yet. They can hire more talent and who knows, bring ideas like Multicapsule Ships roaming Uncharted Space (chain of blog posts, evolving concept), new spatial environments and even give players some world building tools! But these examples are just a suggestion, mentioning some ideas that I have in my blog, can’t guarantee that they will like them. All good.
Right now, however, CCP must focus on Project Nova, keeping in mind that it is a project separate from the core EVE game at the moment. So the EVE focus is still going strong in the meantime. And let’s remind ourselves of something that seems so strangely elusive: Project Nova is Avatar Gameplay. Yes avatars are put in dropsuits, but they are still avatars. This is why I see an option to make a WiS similar thing in the Nova setting and let it evolve with the rest of the game.
Again this is just suggestions. This is what this thread is for.
Moreover, let’s remember some more of the visions of CCP a few years back.
As you can see, they have a very holistic view of the game. Inclusive. Avatars too. Of course, they are laser focused on the spaceship experience now, they are extremely careful with the avatar aspect, remembering the controversy that was years ago. But look at the videos again. Do you like what you see? Would it be awesome to play in this setting? If you don’t believe CCP can deliver this, what keeps you playing the game?
2 Likes
CCP didn’t exactly get that as a lump sum. The previous investors were paid off in the acquisition with additional payments likely made to CCP executives (up to the potential 450 million) if target goals are met.
1 Like
I stand corrected. Still they got probably more than enough to bring back their bold visions.
1 Like
The work already done on Nova is a very decent foundation that offers a lot of meaningful avatar gameplay potential, yet as many have said it needs more of an Eve link to set it apart. I do hope CCP is bold, however I don’t believe real time gameplay integration of Project Nova with Eve is neccessary or even wise.
What really makes me curious is how Nova and avatar gameplay fit into Pearl Abyss’ vision and goals of a (re)launch into the China market, if at all.
1 Like
That really depends on your perspective.
Wormholes created new gameplay and new ships. And the latter has most certainly had a negative effect on the rest of eve.
Abyss space is also new gameplay and new tools, and in many peoples opinion, negatively affected the rest of eve.
But if you think about walking in stations, there’s really nothing it can do gameplay wise that cannot be done more efficiently with a menu. It’s only attraction is to look good. But that wears off after a short while.
Avatar gameplay is a non-starter unless there is more to it than looking pretty.
I can’t see it ever being a thing until something like nova is done, and then they copy/paste nova into eve.
That gameplay in eve would be ‘messy’. Where does your ship go? How does it fit in the sandbox? What if someone wants to pvp you?
It’d make more sense to make that a feature of nova.
So what if you take a game that has no context for that and HYJACK it. Go play Star Wars or something. Stop trying to change a game 100,000s enjoy for your own person needs. Especially something that already failed so pitifully.
Talk about selfish.
a) Hijack. No ‘y’.
b) Way to take one piece of the response out of context to continue your non-contributing chain of negativity, Saltfoamer. This is why nobody bothers with you.
1 Like
That’s right, anyone who doesn’t agree with you is negative.
No chance the idea is braindead bad and has failed before.
History makes you wrong.
The focus of Eve Online has been since it’s creation SPACE SHIPS. So as a result every time CCP Development has looked at making something like W-Space, planet mining, avatars, or anything that didn’t directly involve the use of and game play of SPACE SHIPs that component has been rejected by the players.
So my suggestion is don’t even try to target new development as an add-on to EVE using avatars. The community will always complain about it and attempt to reject it. I submit to you that there are only two possible ways to approach the Avatar Game Play. One is to ignore all the complains and attempted rejections by the vocal part of the EVE Community and do what you CCP Development thinks is the best option. Two is to develop a completely new game that has it’s focus and game play centered on the Avatar and Space Ships are a supporting component.
4 Likes
Don’t forget the follow-up:
4 Likes
I get the distinct impression that how Hilmar teased, whatever that was, may not have been wise.
And the cycle of expectation building begins again 
1 Like
i would have thought it could have been a nice transition for a project legion. get bored shooting spaceships? come shoot other clones. the honest to god thing that i would have loved to see is that as an avatar you could take a peak into the build window of your various build jobs. or even sit on the bridge of your PI.
1 Like
History is remembered. And as long as CCP and the EVE community remember it, mistakes from the past will be avoided. But just because they have failed in the past, doesn’t mean that things are not different present time and it doesn’t mean they can’t do a lot better in the present and future.
I guess CCP needs to make a survey, asking the wide playerbase for their opinion regarding avatars. Even if a thousand people vote in the polls in this thread, I doubt that would be viable to represent the entire playerbase.
Hilmar and Burger are awesome! 
3 Likes
Why would they do that, they lost their ass on WiS, it takes double or triple the staff they have to produce and in this whole thread not one person has come up with a viable activity that has ANYTHING to do with EVE.
What do you mean? A viable activity for Avatars?
The entire Project Nova is one such activity - shooting each other in the face.
Arrendis gave you examples, are they not viable? How about Uriel’s idea?
Just above in my big post where I linked the videos of some of CCP’s visions, I have linked some of my blog posts, there are avatar gameplay suggestions there.
1 Like
He’s not making any good-faith attempts at a serious discussion, Veskin. He never does.
2 Likes
That is a separate shooter, what would EVE players have to do with that, it’s the same BS as Dust was.
Also Nova is apparently dead.