Not CCP’s. It was some CCPian’s blaze of god knows what, combined with this being an actual marketing and messaging initiative.
This is just speculation on your part. Bear in mind EvE (and by extension CCP ) was doing fine until 2012 or thereabouts, despite “Monoclegate” and the unpopularity of Incarna.
It was probably the failed diversification into consoles with DUST, WoD and the more recent foray into VR that stalled overall progress. Meanwhile the core game suffered as a result.
Of course this isn’t an “on the spur” decision! Why would it be? It’s also not unreasonable to expect the VC owners might want to sell at some point. The issue isn’t the sale itself. It’s the timing of it and who the buyer is.
Yes, it’s possible, but there is no evidence for it. I think it’s reasonable to assume CCP have been working towards a sale for several years now but attributing everything they’ve done during this period to this goal could be going too far. It’s equally likely that the cutbacks were a result of their failed attempts to diversify and expand.
It’s an interesting viewpoint but remains a speculative one. I just don’t see a company which has made major missteps several times in the past orchestrating something like that. I also don’t think CCP is that Machiavellian but perhaps I’m too naive…
I’m not sure what what you mean here.
I wasn’t suggesting they’d impose a different business model on CCP from day one, but if the two companies start working together they will undoubtedly influence each other over time.
Something people are forgetting in their haste to panic is that BDO bought CCP, not EvE online. Perhaps they’re one and the same but if the interview with Hilmar is to be believed CCP has already re-orientated itself with several new projects in the pipeline but which it currently lacks funding for, hence the need to raise cash. It’s possible they feel they can’t bring these other NEW games to market without the support of a larger games company which is also a publisher, that can provide access to a large player base. Similarly, there are reasons to purchase CCP which aren’t purely financial.
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So you think Pearl Abyss is selling their clients info into the black market. Now that would be very troubling.
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This is fantastic news for the shareholders, lucky guys!
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Yes, but I’m paranioid by default, comes handy in life.
But that doesen’t change the fact that their so called anti-botting system does not work. It’s very evident with how BDO’s godaweful, garbage market works where you have to fight against these marketbots in “sniping” gear upgrades off the orders, and it’s a crapshoot cause 9/10 times the players who run those bots end up hamstering the gear.
It only inflates the problem with BDO’s market as a whole cause it’s a regulated, socialist system where only the first order in queue can be bought/bid on, and the value is dictated by the game. There is no supply and demand, only demand and bots hamster the supply.
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That might have added to it, but I’d look more at their Rubicon plan. Over 5 years they neglected, and in some cases, directly nerfed all other areas of EvE, except SOV null in a failed attempt to get people out there. Many answered the call, but far more left. At one time CCP’s mantra was “you can do whatever you want in EvE” - and EvE grew every year. After Rubicon, it was “you can do whatever you want in EvE, but you’ll always be second rate to SOV Null”. Obviously more people chose to not be “second class” citizens in a game they play for enjoyment. Who can blame them.
So they went F2P and then buffed F2P in an attempt to bolster their sagging numbers. Imagine 5 years ago, on peak days EvE had 60K omega accounts online at once, we’re lucky if we get half of that now, and we have no way of telling how many of those are omega’s. Half or less? Who besides CCP knows. What stupendous results to your vision, huh? Rubicon may go down as the worst ‘plan’ in EvE’s history. Many years ago, a government official told me, “I never saw a plan I didn’t like, only results.”
I really doubt people left EvE because those side projects failed.
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First BDO did not buy CCP. The makers of BDO (Pearl Abyss) bought CCP. Second CCP is a subsidiary of Pearl Abyss after the acquisition. This is a Acquisition not a merger. If it was a merger, it would be all over the news of a new gaming company would come out called CCPPA. The subsidiary owner has the right to not work side by side with the subsidiary. Take Gameloft a subsidiary of Ubisoft. Ubisoft makes good products while Gameloft always makes bad products because Ubisoft does not want to help Gameloft.
Now on your other note of there being other reasons for purchase of CCP and the fact that as you said they can work side by side. I will agree with you on that. This actually might help and improve the game a lot. Pearl abyss does have much bigger player base. This move may bring in a lot of new players. It might fix a lot of problems in the game. It might even bring more new opportunities for Omegas and maybe even Alphas.
However… that is if Pearl Abyss wishes good for CCP.
The head company can impose a few rules on its subsidiary, like the use of the malware (which might prevent Europe form playing EVE in the future). CCP would be in terms of agreement with Pearl Abyss. In the event that CCP does not comply with the rules of PA, they can become unsubsidized. Believe me, an unsubsidized CCP without any help of a head company will drown quickly and go bankrupt.
On a side note, CCP had no choice, they were forced by their owners. I do not see any mods or devs any where in this forum jumping for joy. This is especially true for ISD’s as they might get laid off. CCP was doomed from the start. Unless CCP can somehow out of no where get enough income to get them selves stand aloft if they were to get un-subsidized, CCP has to follow the orders of their boss company.
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It isn’t Machiavellian. It’s just organic and smart alike.
CCP began as a small group of people who did things like making one game to get money and mortgaging someone else’s house to put funding together. They they got picked up by venture capital.
They made a game, which in spite of everything everybody knew at the time not only worked, but worked in ways that back then weren’t fully understood. In time CCP figured it out. By observing behaviour.
By that time however most of the original team had gotten quite used to being special, which they were. They had made something everybody said could not work. So they were awesome. They were also awesome in game, as they interacted directly with players.
Heck, I once got podded by a CCPian flying a Concord ship because a bunch of us did some, well, creative things with math versus Concord. Let’s not dwell.
But when you do the same thing for a long time, you want to do new things. And that is where things went wrong. Some ccpians approached this on a perspective of awesome, and not reality of knowledge or experience. This caused friction. Also, nepotism was at points an issue. And CCP filling gaps during the banking crisis was admirable, and proper, but it also had some unintended consequences. There were position changes where the smart ones got out on top because of being better at observing … behaviour.
None of this is unusual. Business is human.
The trouble is that venture development became based on a perception which had less roots in reality than in aspirations. I’m pretty sure that Hilmar was one of the few actually trying to mitigate and navigate matters, as several other oldies fought reality tooth and nail.
Ultimately those got either cleaned up, encouraged to leave, etc.
Meanwhile CCP did try what every growing company has to do, diversify. You can’t bank on a single thing. We all know how that went, not as well as projected. But, lessons were learnt.
Picture CCP as not a magic company, but just as humans. Wishes, wants, hopes, lacks of knowledge, experience with this, lack of experience with that. Then it makes much more sense.
One thing which is a definite pattern however is a presence at CCP of frustration with the reality of not getting anywhere but EVE and slowly but certainly become just like everything else while being stuck in a model where there is little room for being awesome as design has to follow stories and mythology created by players. And players were terrible, in their being actually awesome. One former CCPian, Oveur, got to a point where he started calling players “haters” by default. This during a time where parts of CCP got affected by having been a part of what by this time was called an emergent dynamic. It didn’t help, and however anything came to be or was dealt with, such things leave impressions. It affects culture, mindset, perspective.
So, friction. That friction provided energy for a viewpoint of reality checks and controlled attempts to branch out. While that was less than optimal, it did provide an agenda. If reality = x, make the most of x.
This is what Hilmar as CEO has done. Whatever opinions of what change may follow, from a perspective of venture capital development yes CCP has been less than optimal, but it has provided well enough, and it did provide a good case for packaging up the product and selling that. There is irony here, CCP demonstrated that a game product does not have to be or become a themepark cow in order to be profitable. Unfortunately, the whole roots in emergent dynamic became a thorn, and a stumbling block for other projects.
Now that branching didn’t work, not even when others paid for it, but CCP figured out that they needed to accomodate potential buyers. Drastically so. If you map out a timeline, you will see that it is not machiavellian, but simply reacting to requirements as they became aware of them. But, in consistent manner, according to agenda, step by step. PA figured out that CCP did not meet the bill unless some things were changed, and CCP figured that out as well. Work out the timeline of the last 18 months, it’ll become very clear.
Again, less than optimal results, even if the pricetag now really is rather inflated 
I’m sure PA will figure that out at some point, in spite of the small legion of sollicitors and accountants having gone over stuff during the different stages (!) of negotiation and agreement. PA currently smell stuff, but they do not mind, they do need expertise and some other bits. I just hope CCP remembers the Asian investment business mindset. Never equals, never forget, never forgive, never care.
So the agenda stuck because it was the only agenda left while growing older. And because it was a worthwhile agenda for those who had put up the money. For them this is a decent enough deal. Less than what could have been, but more than what now should have been. So it’s fine.
The main realisation here is that when you work out the timeline, it becomes clear that there is a very consistent step by step roadmap of actions and decisions visible. Throughout this Hilmar is a, if not the, driving force of identifying options and means.
When for example CCP’s management was celebrating the succesful deployment of Planetary Interaction, which had begun as something entirely different but fun yet got twisted by someone who still wanted to be awesome into a dramatic clickfest which completely bypassed QA, the working people were dealing with a massive mess. While that nitwit ignored that, Hilmar did not. He learned a few things from that.
So whatever people say, some respect is well earned. In spite of decisions some may not agree with. But everything he’s done, he’s figured out by keeping close to information flow, a keen eye on differences in perspectives, and using people’s behaviour as energy.
Not machiavellian, smart business focus.
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You know da wae7 points·1 hour ago
IMPORTANT.
Message to anyone wanting to “try out” BDO to see what Pearl Abyss is about.
Be aware that Black Desert is using the infamous " Xing code" rootkit (malware) that gathers information (what files and path you accessed during the last 48 hour) and uploads it to one of their servers. It scans not only memory but also files “outside the BDO box” and logs your internet activity.
This rootkit does not uninstall when you uninstall the game.
Ref:
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This is a gigantic Fu Q to our player base/community. @ CCP how fkn stupid can you possibly be?! I am sickened and sad to accept that this truly is the end of Eve Online! Pearl whateverthefucktheirnameis is going to destroy this beautiful game! So many thousands of players over the years have made eve a part of their lives, so much history… Memories… There will never be another Eve.
Disgusting
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Yes this is something that you should be very worried about. ESPECIALLY IF YOU LIVE IN EUROPE AS SUCH PROGRAMS THAY INSTALL THIS WILL GET BANNED AFTER A NEW LAW IS PUT IN PLACE! THATS RIGHT, EVE ONLINE IS ON A COUNTDOWN TO GETING BANNED IN THE SAME CONTINENT IT WAS CREATED IN!
Even if you do not live in Europe, it is quite disturbing to have some malware on your computer that does this. Even after you uninstall the game. This is like privacy invasion.
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Removable by manually nuking the xhunter entries in registries.
Do you think every gamer knows computer science? I do not think so. Even though I do have a Bachelors Degree in Computer Science, it does not mean that every gamer does. Messing around with the registry can be dangerous, one small mistake and your computer will not function like normal.
It also won’t solve the problem that no one next year in Europe will be able to play EVE anymore.
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VeryBadLarry
8m
This is a gigantic Fu Q to our player base/community. @ CCP how fkn stupid can you possibly be?! I am sickened and sad to accept that this truly is the end of Eve Online! Pearl whateverthefucktheirnameis is going to destroy this beautiful game! So many thousands of players over the years have made eve a part of their lives, so much history… Memories… There will never be another Eve.
Disgusting
Blockquote
Hard not to feel the same sentiment 
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Reading the breakouts here and on reddit, a couple things are clear:
A. People do not understand that eve is a product whose sole real purpose is to make money. Ccp, ccp’s current owners and the new incoming owners are businesses. They want to make money. They are not charities. So being upset about this or anything they do to make money is kind of dumb.
B. Nothing has changed yet nor is it likely to in the near future. People are panicked like an asteroid has just been sighted and Bruce Willis is no where to be found. Calm down .
If you are all so concerned, buy stuff from ccp. I mean it. The more profitable it is shown to be, the less likely pearl abyss is to intervene in ccp affairs or development. Businesses tend to not screw with things that are raking in the cash already.
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Mate I’m thinking if somehow they find a way that we are being evicted and their subscribers settled in the new eve, could it be good if eve existed in a way of suit Korean game styles and instead they populate it, it sounds like every body wins tho, eve survived and we moved on, also they made money back and their subscribers get a chance got used to eve then.
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Every time you ‘mutate’ a mod it is entirely random as far as the results, the more you ‘roll’ for a chance at getting a better result gives you an opportunity to get a win, like crapshoot, especially if you buy isk to buy mods and ploids to try you’re hand.
If you don’t use RL money to buy these items then you are just playing a game within a game.
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Reading all the posts on the forum and reddit, you know its bad when people wish it was EA that CCP sold out to.
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I do not see any reason for how 1 person buying something will change anything. It won’t.
Also, your point A will not work if PA owns CCP, they will regardless force CCP to put the malware, which once done, EVE is banned from the majority of countries in the European continent. The ban will not affect me, as I live in the US, but I want to speak for the voices of players that live in Europe. CCP is being forced by its owners to buy CCP, and it was PA them selves are the ones that have come to buy CCP.
For your kind information the reason why people are panicking is because already it is known that there have been incidences where, especially people who live in the US, got their SSN and Credit Card numbers stolen. It was literally traced back to a malware that was designed to reprogram PA’s malware. Basically PA’s malware is really not safe from getting attacked. That malware will contain all your in game purchasing data, that once hacked can be uploaded to some place other than PA’s servers. That is why everyone is panicking here. The only thing PA did after that incident was saying sorry, and they said they placed a patch on their malware, or should I say by what they call their anti- bot and anti-hack software.
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I now wish the same. EA or Jagex, why did you not buy out CCP!!!