How to get more people to play eve

Communications Center General Discussion
813

The issue, my friends; is not so much that safety is a real issue from a pvpers pov but it is an issue when we are dealing with a player made economy - in which case points should be made to reduce the impact of non pvp activities onto the rest of the economy.

Case in point if people can mine veld and not risk any kind of loss in highsec this can have a detrimental effect on the game itself for a variety of reasons.
I dont think you really need to be an economist to realise this, and it would also be unfair to assume that one player with one toon would have that much of an effect - it would be the players with ā€˜a butt loadā€™ of toons.
Example 2 is structure based wardecks; these are restrictive - incredibly so, now ideally those who wish to deck need a structure and both sides need a force that can kill or defend one - this rules out new players, it is really in many ways a very linear system that restricts structures and wars in eve to a few people.
Rather than (for example) having it scale with skillpoints which would not only create a more even playing field it would also create a more healthy mercenary ā€˜marketā€™ where its not just the same 4 corps asking for billions but also niche solo or low sp players; and yes a nub corp could dec another nub corp over mining rights without the need to anchor a 600mil structure and then have the sp AND isk to actually be able to defend or attack it. (i dont have the space here to flesh that out)

So, having said that there needs to be a line and at some point even if you do not want to pvp, if you want to take part in bigger operations then you have to cross that line and be open to being attacked in several ā€˜normalā€™ ways (not ganked). A prime example would be if you want to make capitals currently you have to do it in low sec +, if you want to make supers then you need sov; i believe there should be hmmā€¦ restrictions made to aspects of highsec and corps and anchoring structures that dont effect the little guy, but does effect the conglomerates so to speak.

I also believe that no corp should be wholly invincible from wardeck but again, restrictions put in place that help to avoid it being unnecessarily one sided.

In short i believe fully there should be some sort of balance here that spreads out to nullsec even going as far as to say that nullsec should indeed have restrictions on items like local chats, anomalies and so on - now that sounds like restrictions but they neednā€™t seem or feel like such; for example if in sov null ratting was more akin to fobā€™s and incursions that scale with the size of the alliance or activity, not warpable anomalies that mean people never leave the system (this too is what causes the real issues talked about with afk cloakers though people dont seem to realise it)

I dont believe EvE is what you would call a true sandbox as the npcā€™s and content actually make it less like a sandbox and more like a linear game wher basically all the pve stuff is the same, static, dull and grindy experience.

In short, what we have had so far is more akin to fansy the bards escapades, this sort of behaviour is inherent in humans and put simply if you dont want the few ruining it for the many, if you want it to be fun for all; then you have to have it designed a certain way - and if, over time that way becomes abused, than that too needs to be adjusted; sooner rather than later.

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814

The problem ā€œseemsā€ to be Goons? CCP seems to react to them rather then being proactive? Its tough for CCP to get ahead of them. Goons have the manpower in game and a hell of a lot of talent behind the scenes out of the game.

Their motto is to break the game. I think they may have done just thatā€¦

I donā€™t see any easy answer.

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815

The answer is education. Educate new players on what not to do and why.

For example, CODE would go out of business if miners/haulers were properly flown/fittedā€¦but you just have to look at their zKB to see that they still have a limitless supply of dumb greedy miners/haulers.

But really, even with education you are fighting against human nature soā€¦

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816

Thatā€™s why I donā€™t have a problem with CODE. I donā€™t fly fits they will attack.

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817

Containment might work to keep a more level playing field, reduction of alliance sizes also; im not wholly against groups like goons myself but have to agree the ease in which they can run from one side to another and seemingly CCPā€™s push towards bigger battles and probably bigger groups can really only lead to one outcome.
I mean surely no one has failed to notice that the most popular streamers are solo and small gang pvpers?
So why does it feel like the games always being pushed out of this area to cater for large ā€˜dumbā€™ fleets where in reality its only one person doing anything at all?
IE i dont think people should be rewarded for simply forming a big group of ships that they dont really know what to do with, havent relly spent the time getting to know and with the sole objective of stomping on someone less than half the size.

818

No one will write an article about a guy killing 6-7 players all alone but for 2000v 3000 sure cuz thereā€™s nothing like it in gaming even tho those people donā€™t know this news worthy crap means people stared at their ā– ā– ā– ā–  moving on their screens slower than a snail

819

CCP has its hands full fixing things, making money, the future of the game, etc like any good business should. They invested the help of the player base with the CSM. Unfortunately, itā€™s made up of mostly large alliance members, hence, CCP ā€œseemsā€ to takes its advice from them.

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820

Theyve read plenty about one man taking whole alliance down, fraud within the game and theft too; not a real valid point i feel?

A game, economy and so on like this needs a healthy amount of competition to create growth; growth is basically what new eden needs.
I dont think handing blocs the extras really helps the playerbase to decide to create that competition rather than simply joining it.

2 Likes
821

But that doesnā€™t talk about pvp combat itā€™s just social engineering

822

Ok well the forseeable issue with large scale battles is this; in effect, it wouldnt be lasting, merely a fleeting transition before it becomes the norm.

And again, many tire of these types of fight quite quickly, especially if they are capable pvpers or capable of improving - its just not challenging game play and so by that analogy it does not ā€˜ā€˜keep bums on seatsā€™ā€™

Course this would all be conjecture, theres not really enough data to suggest either is correct and as ive mostly played with the solo and small gang types of peopleā€¦

823

Itā€™s true it doesnā€™t appeal to some but seems to appeal to others who remain in null for years spending countless hours starring at these slow motion fights to sayā€™I was thereā€™
Some were indoctrinated into this right after they began playing recruited by the large entities in null.
The older more independent types who began before this age of agresive new player indoctrination have a distaste for blobing up in general because say around 2007 no one wanted noobs In null so people got into smaller fights over other trivial ā– ā– ā– ā–  like can flipping exploring nearby lowsec for kicks random wardec by a corp no better than your own because you ā€˜stoleā€™ their roids etc

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824

Amen.

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825

That made me remember a small war, tons of fun against a small Romanian corp. Me against all of them! (they were more noob than me) No hard feelings, just good fun. We had to speak through google translator, lol. I gave them advice on how to kill me and they died like heroā€™s trying to pull it off. After the war, we parted friends. I miss more than anything, the comradery of the old game. Devā€™s in game. All of us stuck with the 2 day downtime after a patch. We gave CCP a hard time over that, but still, felt better after having gone through that all with them.

Kids call us bitter old vets. Itā€™s more like a ā€œBand Of Brothersā€.

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826

Thereā€™s too much focus, in this thread, on changing the game itself to get more people to play EVE. This isnā€™t the solution as EVE is already a great game, also EVEā€™s reputation is already set in stone, so any changes you make at this late stage will be futile. Instead, the focus should be on attracting the type of player who is most likely to enjoy EVE and stick with it long-term.

To find this type of player, we must look to games that are similar to EVE, and appeal to that playerbase. ā€œā€¦but Pix! There is no game like EVE!ā€ You may be thinking to yourself. This isnā€™t the case, there are many games like EVE out there. Let us use the survival sandbox PvP game called Rust as an example.

In Rust:

  • You lose anything you were carrying upon death
  • You can mine resources, and become more efficient at it as your tools progress
  • You can build bases, which can also be attacked by anyone
  • PvP is decided by n+1, or in the case of an even fight, whoever had the best equipment/tactics
  • You can scam, steal, backstab, and coerce others, and it is all legal

Sound familiar? The only difference between EVE and Rust is that Rust players donā€™t cry for PvP to be removed from the game whenever they die, funny that.

We should be appealing to the players of these survival sandbox PvP FPSes, as they are the most likely gamers to find EVE interesting, and find enjoyment with it long-term. These players arenā€™t afraid to die, and already see the infinite value of emergent gameplay.

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827

Rust is one of the best games out thereā€¦

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828

I know.

829

Game reboot with crucial parameters changed.

830

Forget that. No more ā€œfoolsā€ like that today. :stuck_out_tongue_closed_eyes:

831

Will destroy the game forever.

Needed another alt again, hey?

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832

No longer Eve, itā€™ll just look like it.

1 Like