I want to ask CSM candidates how they view, wish for, or plan to advise CCP on improving gameplay for solo, nomadic, and small-group players.
Here are a few of my own thoughts :
I think there isn’t enough being done for people with either a single account or multiple accounts who try to live an independent life in New Eden. I think this play style should be validated as it fits the fantasy of living in a sci-fi space world and probably would be beneficial for player retention by virtue of being a legitimate and fun way of living that fantasy.
For starters, CCP underdelivered on their promises that smaller structures would come along when they first released the Citadel expansion. People who embrace a full independent playstyle often still use the old POS system and live out in an Orca, both of which were not at first intended for solo, nomad or small group play style and just so happen to be the go-to because of their mechanics which makes them the lesser evil compared to other more permanent-designed options like Citadels.
I’d like to ask if CCP plans to ever release proper tools designed with intent, whether it is microstructures, new ships or new roles, or a balance pass of existing ships, to give lone wolves or micro-groups more independence and a general better quality of life, to let them explore and set their tents up where they want more easily. A few ship candidates for role reviews would be the Porpoise, the Nestor, and the Carriers.
Some quality-of-life improvements are simple, however: a higher limit of bookmarks and online folders and the ability to share probe results through chat, corporation, or access list would make exploration more accessible and less redundant. More prominent groups have requested some of those things, and thus, they would benefit the whole community.
We are also lucky to have dedicated 3rd party developers who spent their time and expertise to create powerful tools to map wormholes. Over the years, I used Siggy, Tripwire, and Pathfinder and meddled a bit with EveEye and Galaxy Finder. However, CCP never released a basic mapper in-game, even though wormholes have been in the game for 15 years. The opportunity to have a proper mapper was also passed on when they redesigned the in-game map a few years back. While this is far something I’d die on the hill for, I think it goes a long way to show how I think CCP sometimes succeed in delivering an engaging playstyle that significantly affects how we play this game but then does not iterate on it, thus making the playstyle heavily reliant on the community to be sustainable. It comes first at an opportunity cost for new players, as they are the most in need of being made aware of available community tools and might erroneously believe that the game gives you everything you need to engage with the play style.
To conclude, here are some of the friction points I have myself experienced when engaging with exploration or solo deployment over the years:
- limited dedicated storage options or good storage options requiring a dedicated pilot (like the DST)
- mobile depot using a large chunk of cargo space and can’t be given access to other characters
- the complexity of living out of a POS
- the difficulty to share BMs with character in multiple corporations under the limit of other essential online folders
- scanning with numerous characters requires a lot of double check with additional apps to avoid scanning multiple time the same sig
- 3rd party websites/apps issues alleviated by self-hosting but requires technical skills I don’t have
- logistics generally a pain unless using the Orca