KISS isn’t in my vocabulary 
Either way, any one of these ideas would be a welcome change to wardecs.
I think high sec needs more reasons to go suspect off a gate or station. And not just at the end of what you’re doing, but during the whole thing. Make some dank level 6 missions or something that payout huge and have a level 4 but slightly higher difficulty that give suspect as soon as you warp to it or activate the acceleration gate. Make suspect stay as long as the player is in the site, even players who probe it down and activate the gate should go suspect.
I think we should take a second and look at the facts:
Player count is down significantly since the 2013/2014 point. This is bad for CCP, the players, and EVE. CCP staff reductions are a direct result of this fact and also hurt the game and its players.
I applaud these efforts. From an overall perspective CCP’s ‘vision’ during that time period has failed. I highly doubt they implemented any changes designed to reduce their player count. The one thing highsec can do that no other area can is support casual play. I know many hate hearing that, but loss of players does not help EvE and highsec provides the space for these players. They need a place where they can login after work/dinner/get the kids to sleep/whatever and chill/talk to friends/de-stress from the day and still accomplish something- that should be the biggest selling point of highsec, not just that it is the ‘starter zone’.
As an example, one of my characters was in a corp with over 100 real players and close to 150 accounts. Most of them lived in highsec, they are almost all gone. The corp is effectively dead, as maybe 2 or 3 people log in per week. Whether through nerfs or neglect, it doesn’t matter, what matters is that they are gone (and a good number of them were from the 2003 - 2005 time frame). So I support these efforts to try and stop this loss. I believe Brisc is genuine in his efforts and support them.
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Much of what’s happened to highsec population it’s been because of a flawed strategy.
After Incarna CCP needed to rethink everything, and what crystalized was that they should develop the game according to players. Which players? The ones for which CCP was doing it better. CCP asked themselves, “what do we got right?” and the answer was the emergent PvP gameplay associated largely to nullsec.
They had different resosn to think this; that area had been somehow abandoned and it could prove that its numbers were dwindling because of fo terrible mechanics and lack of attention. Notoriously, those playershad (and ahve) a very direct line to talk to cCP, unlike other players.
CCP then developed people-measurign tools to figure what players were doing and why, but they made the mistake to make a straegic decision before those tools were fully implemented and operational.
With Rubicon and the production plan associated to it, CCP directed its efforts to people whose favorite gameplay revolved around conquering and owning space. Giving more tools to players, more gameplay would happen, and they were confident that they got this right.
Of course, they couldn’t neglect highsec. So they made effort to improve the chances that players became the kind of “conquer and own” players that enjoyed the game more.
Players would be given a new NPE, streamlined complexity, opportunities to meet other players (since multipalyer is key to the grand plan) and altough new PvE was introduced for explorers and PvErs, it was aimed at increasing the chance of PvP and multiplay.
Durign all this itme and efforts, the highsec PvErs like miners and mission runners got limtied to no resources, or even some kicks to the balls as the grand plan required it.
That didn’t work. Facing the same exact missions untouched for years, facing PvE developed according to the interest and needs of other people, facing the added insult of nullsec becoming the best in everything just because, highseccers quit the game. And they were no little minority one could just shrug off.
CCP got good their plan to lure more people into long retaining gameplay, social gameplay, multiplayer, nulslec PvE, everything that was “right but improvable” in the pre-Rubicon era. And what was “meh” was left to rot, and it rot worse than CCP expected.
Did CCP expect losing some players in the short term? Probably. But 30% less PCU, and 10% less revenue, and ending up with 30% less employees and a hamstring budget was not in the plan.
EVE is not just old. It’s lost roughly one third of its former self. And the greater share of the loss, it’s been highsec player like myself.
For us, CCP has effectively done NOTHING since Rubicon. Burners, drifters, forward bases, abysmal space… they call it PvE but ti’s not what we were paying for.
Probably now some at CCP are worried. They know that they should do something like adding new missions, but they’re afraid. If they do it and it works, it will prove they’ve been stupid for 5 years and EVE, again, turns to be a different game than what they thought that they were developing. But if they get it wrong -and the chances of it going wrong are high-, if CCP effectively destroys the mission system just by interloping bad new missions in the stream of reheated porridge from 9 years ago, then they will lose the game completely.
Many people have bought CCP Seagull’s vision of space colonization. But the price it’s been losing a terrible amount of the people who didn’t bought that vision.
One of the potential dangers of customer oriented design is to get your customers wrong. Like thinking that they’re paying you to be nullsec overlords when they’re paying you just to rescue the damsel.
5 years have passed and I the irrelevant nobdy was right whereas CCP Seagull the Executive Producer has left behind a wreck of the game she received.
30% less people online. 10% less revenue. 30% less employees. F2P and MT. And hints that CCP is now going cheapo in network operation costs.
And I told her it wouldn’t work.
And here we are… just it’s taken 5 years instead of 3, to reach here. And there’s no new space in sight and probably CCP can’t tell heads from tails on how to balance it compared to Delve.
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I would disagree with your assessment that CCP is afraid to admit they’ve made a mistake. By any metric they could think to use, no company would be happy with the trend they’ve had. I remember when they bought a newer larger server, it was like 10 years ago. They know how to succeed, so they obviously know they have failed recently.
In an ideal world, they would make null best at somethings, wh’s best at others, lowsec best at something else and highsec best at something too. People would have a reason to populate all areas. For example, null can only make supercaps, but make lowsec better at building caps (give structures there a bonus), give structures in wormholes an advantage in building T3’s and give highsec structures advantages in T2 production. I’m not saying forbid the other areas, just enough of an advantage to want to have people there. This way there’s a slice of pie for all. These are examples, but each region should have a purpose. IMO highsec should be the area that supports casual play, I think Brisc is trying, and I support him in this endeavor
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Well, area specialization is something CCP hates with a passion. “Risk vs reward” is the mantra, now nullbears have zero risk and all the profit to turn Tranquility into a version of Serenity, whereas highsec literally has no reason to be in itself. Highsec has no endgame, no goal, is just a phase before quitting the game or becoming a “true” player.
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Then why do you think most of lower sec players have highsec alts?
Highsec and the hubs are still the glue which keeps New Eden connected and alive. It’s the only place in EvE where you can live and operate fully on your own terms. Also it’s a good place to get filthy rich without grind because of that, if this is your endgame.
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Thanks V.
Do you have any insights as to what caused a lot of those folks to step away from the game? I know in my experience with my corp, it’s generally RL stuff or folks taking a break who end up coming back, but every corp is different.
I am currently out of town and can only access the forums by phone. When I get back in game next week I’ll do some digging and get back to you.
The observation that HS has a high population of people that are casual players, tend to have limited free time, and tend to socialize rarely or in very small groups is vital to understand the dramatic decrease in the HS population. CCP has continued to introduce new content that either depends on group participation to succeed ( RW, FOB, Incursions,etc.) or specific ship builds,procedures, and skills to succeed (AS, Burners) As so many people have stated over the years, many of us just want to log on and rescue the damsel,explore some sites, mine some asteroids, just enjoy a couple of hours away from work or the kids. While executing a mass exodus from a Hellcamp with specifically timed and implemented commands and player log in/commitment may grab the news, the rest of us are just looking for a new site to explore, something rare hidden in an asteroid belt, or even that cuter cousin of the damsel in distress. I agree that CCP has been interpreting the data from HS incorrectly; not surprising when all their feedback comes from people who have their primary character in other areas of EVE.
I don’t mind having to play with others at times; I do mind being forced to either play with others to access new gameplay or remain doing the same activities I’ve been doing for a decade. Yet, CCP insists that since we are still doing certain activities after numerous years, that area of EVE gameplay is perfectly fine.
…and the HS population continues to decline.
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I have seen RL being a reason for many as they grow older into their Prime of life, but once middle age has been passed i have seen others come back and they just cant get back into the game.
1.) The Prolific amount of Highsec ganking as a career thing, especially the CODE dogma, is a big crux for some of these returning players…they just do not want to deal with the meta-game and possible toxicity from some ganking attitudes(i know for i have talked to some after ganking them.) This is in part to no real effective way to counter Ganks without having alt accounts, a huge number of contacts/friends, and the fact they just want to play casual to get their feet wet again without always being smashed in the face with meta-game politics/RP every day as they do so.
2.) Standings and Security Status, some hate the fact they are forced to kill their Sec status while in FW and if a single account user, get chased and shot at by their own Faction Police…eventually they get frustrated or bored even as an Alpha within 6 months because of the tedious amount of balancing what they find fun and having to grind sec status or not take a fight in losec to save it(again single account users).
3.) The wardec system in its current version is just utter garbage, it needs an entire revision an rework from the ground up, like a totally brand new system that takes in meta-game possibilities from the get go…if its exploitable or game breaking EvE players will do it…so that has to be taken into account to level the playing field while still allowing the system to be intuitive and fun to use.
4.) The NPE…it does not do enough in certain areas as many have said over the past year or so. I do not have the link, but i saw a reddit post once that showed a twitch recording of a first time player… Overview needs serious explanation, its the most important part of flying your ship successfully in EvE to include using it to locate and lock up targets without having to pan around in space with the camera, movement controls need to be explained faster and in much more detail than it does, and the fact of how modules actually work…like green means it is on and red it is not off yet but de-cycling to off for example to name a few things.
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While I don’t doubt that these issues have each chased at least someone out of the game, personally I find it hard to attribute them the significant decrease in highsec activity we have seen over the last few years. These issues were always present - ganking, FW standing hits, wardecs and an NPE climb - and didn’t seem to stop highsec players from playing for years.
I have seen real changes cause highsec players to leave - removal of highsec AWOXing and the watch list nerf for example both pushed many highsec antagonists out of the game, but they were always a minority so I don’t think those changes are the explanation.
There must be some other factors, either in the game or outside of the game that explain that drop in activity.
IMO it’s been regular player attrition (the average highseccer used to play for 2 years) combined with lack of affordable new content. CCP with the Rubicon plan has been developing PvE as something tougher than the previous PvE and that is not going to call a lot of new players (nobody is going to start EVE with abysmal sites), whereas easier/cheaper content is just too cheap to compete with the established content: nobody is gonna RW when they can Level 2 for a better use of their time.
So, in one hand, nothing has been done to extend the tenure of highsec PvErs; on the other, nothing has been achieved in gaining new PvE types; and of course, even stubborn veterans like me just throw the towel when they get zero attention and see nullsec being boosted for nothing.
There is not a single cause, but there is a single agent: CCP’s strategy to develop EVE primarily for wannabe nullseccers.
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Seriously? So first Highsec == PvE. I’m not even sure what you are moaning about. The last couple of expansions where all adding PvE content. And not just for nullsec, you got them all over the place. And sure, nullsec has the best payouts, but that is fine and that is still PvE no matter if you have access to it (which is your own fault) or not.
The thing with PvE content seems to be no matter what CCP does someone will not be happy about it and the moaning continues. Also PvEers have the tendency to destroy their own pleasure by min\maxing everything within days and transforming every new addition which could be a lot of fun for normal people into a chore for max ISK\h. And god forbid CCP adds any risk to that like the suspect flag then the crying gets even louder.
What this has shown, and you are a big part of that, that investing into PvE what they did heavily over the last years is not worth it. It is just a waste of time really
They rather focus on the things that make EVE the success it is and that is the PvP sandbox experience which is something it almost has a monopoly on. There it can win an audience that is actually happy with the game. On the other hand there are a gazillion other games which have a hundred times better PvE experience than EVE and it just can’t compete in that area.
The builders and miners are another thing. Obviously we need them and they are kinda sorta PvE as well. But they are living in the sandbox already and content provided by CCP is not what they cry for, I think they are fine where they are. The pure PvEers however are like an appendage that doesn’t really fit and it really shows in their demands. I think it is fine to maintain it the way it currently works, but I would really not invest any resources to expand on it, since that will not yield new happy customers as it has repeatedly been shown.
CCP has added new dog food while cats were leaving. As a conclussion, further investing on pet food is wrong for CCP. 
Oh yeah sure, a stupid metaphor will explain everything. So what was your kind of special cat food you wanted and how are you sure the others are not all parrots and won’t like that either?
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Squawk
So what was your kind of special cat food you wanted and how are you sure the others are not all parrots and won’t like that either?
Squawk
Since I started CCP has added the Mining OPS missions, the Blood Raider’s FOBS/Blood Raiders, and the Triglavians. I ran a Mining OP mission and they don’t pay enough to play them. The Blood Raiders/FOB are too difficult for a solo player to do and are way to difficult for High Sec. The new Triglavian missions are not worth doing with the prices of the fits and my low skills. I don’t see much that added to High Sec that benefit most players here. I would add that since the bounties and loot drops got nerfed heavily since I started most combat anom sites (greens one that you don’t have to scan down) are not worth doing and since the bounties/loot nerfing even the level 4 missions are starting to suck.
I have figured out since playing that CCP does care to balance the mining ships or industrial ships or freighters versus the combat ships that attack them regularly. It sucks that any one can bump a ship for 4 hours and have nothing happen to them. It is garbage that the mining ships, industrial ships and freighters have not evolved along with the combat ships in Eve. This game shows so much favoritism to the attackers it is just stupid.
Can we please stop to pump up non-issues as “problems”? I’m living in high, fighting mainly in lowsec, and regularly tank my sec status, but never grind, rat, shoot NPCs for sec status … surprise, how can this happen? Also I’m playing with only one char.
BTW, the only ever toxicity in EvE I have experienced from “carebears” and PvP-averse players.
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The Skiff is absolutely insanely overpowered. If you think otherwise then you just don’t know how to fit a ship. Meanwhile even the Orca is now making it’s debut as a combat ship since it got such an insane buff the last time around.