I have heard rumours that EVE is EVE. And EVE is on the internet, which makes it get even sillier at times.
Yes, there are those who spend all day staring at the screen they have ( or 6 ) trying to work out how to genuinely hurt others. Not pop their pod, genuinely hurt the actual pilot. They see EVE as territory, and that means that they want the person off the server.
This has cost CCP a fortune in lost revenues. This Rich tapestry of roleplaying & pew-pew-pew, simply reduced to a drunken fight in a pub.
So I agree that more moderation is needed, but how do you do it?
Does a disabled person have to upload their paperwork to CCP and be on a ‘special list’? Even then pod-goo is pod-goo, and over-kill is over-kill. Each Incursion Ship I fly is worth about £20 in real money. About 2b in in-game ISK. I have 20 of them.
A proper hunt costs me, well, a lot. But then you’ll lose another player.
Even Aussie-rules Footie has rules, and that is a tough game ( I played rugby for teh record ).
So…
I think the answer is teh Council of Stellar Management. And… Real-world skills.
Broadcast For Reps is a project designed to keep EVE Pilots safe. Yes, EVE gets rough, but… No one wants a dead capsuleer in real life.
Get too rough on the forums ( internet bullying ) and… You might just push someone into a suicidal spin.
I work for the NHS in the UK in Mental Health, and… Internet Bullying can kill. It’s called grooming. You pretend to be someone’s friend, then you a**-rape them EVE is EVE, so you must recognise this strategy.
The Council of Stellar Management can talk about this subject, but… Without proper skills they can’t spot when someone is…:
a) Spiralling, because their internet friend just stabbed them in teh back. Disabled people don’t always get out much, so Internet Friends can become a big deal for them/us.
b) Saying “it’s PvP” as they kick in vulnerable adults ( people with health problems ) for fun, as if it was some rather grubby bar in some rather grubby neighbourhood. These people are real. They are not ‘desirable customers’, as they will cost you revenues.
c) Actually so ill that you may well have to, well, intervene. Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder etc etc.
.
EVE is a great hobby. It’s Warhamster, but easier to move about ( on a laptop, instead of carrying 3 cases of lead ). It’s also a rich roleplaying tapestry. So many storylines you could follow.
But…
Point b ruins it all. And Point c is…
Now factor in point a, and how rough EVE can get in normal gameplay.
Which takes us to… Easy Mode & Hard Mode. I just can’t see any other way of doing it. And no, not teh test server. Being a Test Pilot can be hard work. I mean proper Easy Mode.
.
Or has EVE become such a Toxic mess now that it is gone, and the decline from 60k players to 30k players is… terminal.
EVE can be saved. But you have to stop being so obsessed with PvP. In Incursion Fleets, or successful FoB Fleets, in £20 real-money spaceships, you use teamwork; not beating the living daylights out of each other over comms.
Where-else can you use Teamwork? Have a think.
Or is EVE really dead now?