Hello,
When I read some comments posted on the EvE Online forum, I can’t help but see some stratagems on the part of an editor in the grip of despair, in view of the ongoing disaffection on the part of a large part of the New Eden community.
Veterans in particular are increasingly turning their backs on CCP, but the latter still does not understand why a priori, as it is above all deaf to all our grievances filed here or elsewhere (reddit) for several months; some will probably tell us for several years, but personally, in 19 years of loyalty to CCP, this is the first year where I feel obliged to intervene so much on this forum, inflation of +33% having been for me the trigger.
So what would it take to cause a real jump on the part of CCP, and this so that New Eden can really be saved?
My feeling after 19 years of practicing EvE Online is that CCP no longer manages to innovate at all. By this I mean that CCP no longer knows how to surprise us at all and lets itself be overwhelmed by all its competitors striving on all sides to copy its best concepts; no fan of EvE Online can be fooled by this. However, there are also some serious publishers who are still trying to innovate, and they are doing so in unexpected ways.
I’m going to take a recent example that is starting to get a lot of attention, especially since its latest updates. It’s even a very fine example which amply deserves to be underlined as the story takes place in a very old universe well known to all of us here, namely the Star Trek universe, and which is therefore much older than the universe of New Eden itself; I want to talk about Star Trek Fleet Command, an MMO-RPG-RTS published by Scopely and produced by Paramount.
Because while EvE Online is emptying of its primary substance, namely its players, Start Trek Fleet Command is filling up!
And the last two updates of the game are so convincing that they attract more and more new players every day, even forcing the publisher to completely review its server deployment strategy to deal with it. But never mind this logistical problem, as long as the players are happy and invite others by word of mouth.
So how to explain such a burst of enthusiasm? Here, in my opinion, is what very clearly differentiates Start Trek Fleet Command from EvE Online, knowing that the graphics engine of Star Trek Fleet Command is content with pseudo isometric 3D, where that of EvE Online bets absolutely everything on DirectX 12; this point deserved in my opinion to be underlined before developing further this comparison, and I specify that personally, I force EvE Online to launch under DirectX 11 which is in my opinion amply sufficient, the other version causing an overheating of my machine which is simply unacceptable, because I always need my machine elsewhere.
Now here are those differences worth highlighting:
1- The narrative side is omnipresent through thousands of missions, which make you discover the whole galaxy and the history of Star Trek from its origins until today; on this point, we also feel very well the importance of Paramount’s imprint on the game, including respect for its texts by original authors.
2- The Star Trek universe is truly persistent, with players’ stations and ships always present wherever you are in the galaxy; it is thus possible to lose a ship between two connections if care had not been taken to put it in the shelter.
3- In addition to the equipment of the stations and the vessels, the emphasis is also placed on the crew whose specific skills are extremely numerous and useful; collecting characters, in particular all the characters in the series, finds all its meaning and all its usefulness here, not to mention the improvements specific to each one.
4- The game of alliance is very important there, the players being invited very early to take part in the community adventure, knowing that in any case, it is a necessary course to be able to progress more quickly.
5- Star Trek Fleet Command is single-account, knowing that each player with a sufficient number of characters can always control several ships simultaneously (maximum 7 for very high level players), which confirms the importance of individual strategy in this game, the alliance not doing everything.
6- You don’t choose your faction easily, you earn it as you accumulate reputation during missions for the Federation, the Romulans, the Klingons, the Augmented or the Syndicate, which puts a certain spice in the course in the history of the game, each player having their own style of play.
7- Star Trek Fleet Command can be played on both Mobile and PC due to account synchronization for each environment, what is impossible between EvE Online and EvE Echoes for example :
Star Trek Fleet Command | Play the Award Winning PC & Mobile Game
8- Star Trek Fleet Command is completely free and ad-free. For only 4€99 each one can, if they wish, add an additional construction line, or even for 19€99 more, also add an additional research line, all this in order to accelerate their individual progress, without it is an obligation, knowing that it’s already a very good start to take full advantage of a game of very good quality at a lower cost, and that’s all.
All that’s missing is a market for Star Trek Fleet Command, and that’s it. But the publisher should not take too long to offer this market which is important part of the expectations of the players, just as wormholes were part of it before the last update of the game; Scopely seems to hear his players…
Commonalities with EvE Online; in short: Pay to Win, SKIN, skill boosters, PvE and PvP, etc.
So. Try To Fly Safe Again. Or Not.
Ully Loom
