Generally, why I'm not getting back into eve

Communications Center General Discussion
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Hello.
I’ve been playing Eve since 2012. Not the oldest, but nearly 10 years speaks for itself. I’ve been on and off for a few years now. Graduated College, have a full time job, the works.

I decided to give Eve some time today, and I’d like to maybe give some feedback on why I’m still not feeing like getting back into the game, as well as seek feedback on those who feel the same.

So there I was, in my alpha clone in Amarr. I was browsing the new sleek character sheet and browsing events on the UI. As I did this I sigh. It’s the same. It’s the same game as in 2019, when I left. Sure there are some new skills under Spaceship Command, and the enemies got a paint job, but it’s the same same. I left this community because nothing changed with the underlying game. To come back and see that nothing still has changed, makes me sad.

In my opinion, the last great update to Eve Online was the Citadel update (and ensuing minor patches). The update which was game changing for all those in all Eve. There was no place where things were not changed. From Wormhole to Hisec. That’s not the majority of why this update was great. What made this update great is that it promoted player progression. No matter how good of a pilot you were, you can’t solo a (reasonable) citadel (multiboxing aside). If you wanted to interact with a citadel in many aspects, it is no simple task. There is a certain mastery one can achieve towards citadels which takes time and practice, even if some of it may be on a spreadsheet. Recent expansions do not have this.

For example, take the Edencom vs Triglavian expansions. It may look new, it may feel new, but the update is less new than you may think. Let’s go over a list as an example.

  • Vorton projectors: good change. introduces new mechanics. Even if mildly niche, the content is welcome and affects the whole game.
  • Triglavian ships: mild - bad change. The only novel thing which these ships add is a bonus to smart bombs and, their weapons. The smartbomb bonus isn’t something we’ve seen before, and will change the game in certain aspects. Everything else is somewhat drag n’ drop. These ships fill no new roles in fleets; the roles which these ships fill are 100% pre-existing ones.
  • Edencom ships: Bad change. It’s a shield Triglavian, with arguably less skill. Nothing new was gained from these.
  • Drifter Incursions: Easier incursions. No value added.
  • Triglavian invasion: IIRC this was factional warfare with Sec status at stake. The change in system sec status was fun, but the mechanism was an absolute grind.
  • Abyssal space: It’s new, but it’s literally stapled onto the game like an addon. It feels no more a part of the game than the crowd-sourced science minigame.

The list is just a long form way of saying: “STOP RECYCLING”. Event sites are not new. These ‘new’ ships are not new. These UI changes are not new. The majority of this content is not new. What’s worse is the little new stuff that exists, the nuggets that may make the game worth playing, aren’t even shown up front and center. It’s hidden where anyone who may benefit from the gameplay must search and trudge, and maybe even stumble on it by accident.

The real killer with the new stuff however is that the content that I mentioned is easy. Eve Online is a game which is hinged on the difficulty of being a good player. Citadels are difficult, each one comes with it’s own challenges and puzzles which must be solved. There is no ‘rule of thumb’ for citadels, and those who think there is often pay dearly. This is not easy content. The phrase “get good scrub” is repeated for a very good reason, and it’s because the folks that play Eve find a pleasure in doing challenging tasks and solving new puzzles. Do you know how dull it is when the same gila fit from 3 years ago is still solving the most difficult problems today? I’m sure you do! We are on the Eve forums, after all. It’s plainly boring and uninteresting. I have a sneaking suspicion that those who have left eve would agree with that core concept.

If we’re being frank, I’m not coming back to Eve because there’s little that is new, and the stuff that is new has no effect on 90%+ game time, probably 80% if I’m really embracing the new stuff. I really really want to like my spaceship game again. I do.

What do you think? I’m interested in what the community thinks on this. Is the gameplay stale and uninteresting, or am I just a whiny crybaby with no reasonability?

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hmm…speaking of core concepts…isn’t wanting to be fed content kind of opposing the core concept of making your own content?

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‘wanting to be fed’ is an interesting way to put it. If that’s synonymous with plainly ‘wanting’, then I think that’s an apt description. I think that wanting new content is directly in-line with the content having sufficient novelty.

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The point made is that EVE being a sandbox game the content is you and me and everyone else, and all the positive and competitive interactions between all of us. Wanting “new ships” and “new pve content” is not what drives the game.

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To be fair, I never asked for “new ships” or “new pve content”. I agree with the sentiment. Coincidentally (maybe), new ships and (recent) pve content seems to be the most highly recycled content in Eve online.

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Absolutely amazing writing friend, surely Tolstoy is rolling in his grave in envy. In fact, I’d argue nothing else in the English language has come close to the perfection such as this.

As a matter of fact, and this is with utter sincerity, could I have your stuff tho?

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One area you haven’t really addressed in your OP is the post-Triglavian content, Pochven. You should at least give that a whirl if you’re looking for “what’s different in EVE”.

In some things I agree - “same old same old” isn’t really cutting it in EVE. However that’s because I personally feel that a lot of the “core structure” of EVE is broken. Faction warfare, resource wars, low sec, and from most reports Null Sov all have major issues. Personally I feel that EVE PvP, supposedly the driving engine of the game, remains significantly underdeveloped. Even the storyline concept of having 4 factions, all with their own tensions and risks, isn’t well used.

I also agree with the posters who say “it’s a sandbox, we make the content” to an extent. CCP shouldn’t really be needing to come up with game wide changes every quarter to “keep things interesting”. The problem arises from the point above - I think CCP has dumped a truckload of sand on the ground and then published a lot of hype about how you can “build your own sandcastles”. And then published videos showing some pretty great sandcastles. But they couldn’t provide the proper shovels, buckets and seashells (or even much water) to make that vision work.

So the vision narrowed down to “Here’s a sandpile. Oh, and some sticks. You can kick sand in someone’s face. Or hit them with a stick! Or steal their sand! Or build a sandblob with the sticks. Or stomp on someone else’s sandblob! Pretty cool huh?”

CCP should focus less on “providing content” and more on putting the tools to build their own into players hands. And they should really stop trying to dictate how and where players play with their hamfisted design changes.

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You are an alpha clone 10 year vet who thinks Citadel was the greatest eve expansion?

I can’t explain how such of an acute minority you are, how so little you will be missed.

Don’t worry no one wants your stuff, just bio mass all accounts, I assure you that you will not be missed.

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Aw crap…you actually make fairly good points…

Well…broken clock right twice per day and all… :wink:

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i really want to come back but ccp did a mac client that exclude old macs that can run the old wine version fine
and they don’t let us use it
sooooooooo
im out
dark days for the game man

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You really aren’t missing much at the moment. FW will probably be the next thing they re-■■■■-up anyway. Maybe by making the complexes instanced or something, so that they don’t have to ban the FW botters, and get to have higher log-in numbers.

It’s just a ■■■■-show all around right now. They can’t commit to fixing the game’s environment because of the whiners, so they throw up some half-measures, take one step forward, and then two steps back. And because they can’t stop the bleeding, they focus all their efforts on having the existing players get even more alt accounts.

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Can I have your stuff? I promise to give half of what you’d give me to Mike Azariah. :smiley:

The game isn’t “stale” and “uninteresting” to me at least, but I don’t think you’re a crybaby, just a bit illusioned with false expectations.
I think you spent quite a bit of time in EVE and are now finding out that you’ve outgrown it, trying to come back to a game that no longer holds your interest. It’s nothing disastrous, it happens and you now may find another game that does hold your attention.

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linux is still using wine, and working, until ccp changes it… so in the meantime you could try to jump to linux to continue playing…

was wondering why i haven’t seen your name in a while on here at least.

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You are a whiny crybaby.

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I really hope that the majority of people think the same of the game as you, given this isn’t a low effort troll.

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naa man
i will be back
iMacs last a long time but eventually ill will buy a new one

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This^^

Everynow and then CCP do something that gives me a glimmer of hope. And then they have to backtrack on it because people absolutely lose their ■■■■ if their krabbing gets disturbed, or CCP themselves come up with something that is pants on head backwards.

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Ill admit I do wonder why people post posts like these. A bit like all those reddit users that “won” eve years ago and yet still hang around in reddit bemoaning why they left.

But that aside, you put down all your reasons not to list, and whilst i disagree with Rattati’s butchering all the fun out of the game, what would you like to see?

Most peole go on about i hate this, i hate that (sprinked with a few things that CCP did well), this is all the same etc etc and yet offer nothing back as to what they would like to see in game. but then of course, one persons boring content is anothers interesting content, what interesting content would YOU want to see

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You are really a whiner aren’t you?

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