It is not really a “big” change, I see it more of a small step in making a big change. And you can not make any sort of assessment of how it has or will effect the game in the long term based a very small small sampling.
Now, I am in NULL, been there for a very long time. And this has been the most fun I have had in a very, very long time. I am seeing old diehards, crusty peeps come back, that has been gone a long while.
So I am enjoying this very much, and haven’t had this much fun since…the wars with BoB and AAA.
It will calm down a bit, it will stabilize and new tactics are emerging already. But this feels organic, it gives the feeling of true danger and gives that spike of adrenaline. Almost like the very first time you tackle someone and in that fight. You are forced to use actual tools that most have never used, or for guys like me, have not used in quite sometime.
We don’t know a 10% drop in activity is a 10% drop in subs. Maybe they aren’t all unsubbing. Maybe they are alpha.
A short term drop in players isn’t as bad as a long term decline which is what we have now. The hope is to turn that decline around into a long term increase.
The kinds of players disliking this change are null bears. They typically play alone and farm all day, even if they aren’t bots. They don’t really contribute to player engagement. The players that like the local change play in groups and interact more. They are more likely to drive player engagement.
So what i expect is a short term shock and then a more stable increase in engagement. But it’s just a test and maybe they won’t do it for very long.
That’s a different topic.
I agree that conflict in the game can lead to more interesting gameplay. But it still does not mean that making people be engaged would lead to more of them remaining in the game.
For example the perception of cost is a very important factor, the perception of time to engage in the game, the feel to find caring people, all those may (or may not) be more important than feeling a conflict in the game.
I really just don’t know. Those points I gave are those that made me want to stick to the game, but since it’s been so long maybe my memory is bad. I tried to look at how people behave with different level of help, and most of them quit after a time. For some it’s the tedious grinding, for other it’s the delay before learning a skill, for some it’s the toxic population, for other it’s the cost of the ship they lost to a ganker. For most I have no idea, even with all those reasons ticked out (I paid litterally 10s of ship for one to go in FW and he was having fun and then no more contact. Same for another whom I sent exploring in wh, pmaying him ships and teaching him how to explore in HS - don’t know what he became. And for people who go in NS…)
I genuinely don’t know what are the factors to make people to stick to the game. But what I know, is that people claiming that “killing people increases retention” are complete idiot that need self validation even if it means lying about official data.
What am I thinking about it? Sweet ■■■■ all is what I’m thinking about it.
It will be like every change the CCP has ever done. A lot of crying. A lot of people saying they’ll quit that won’t. A lot of drama queens trolling for likes in the forum. You know…same old, same old.
And then a week after it’s implemented it will have been completely forgotten about as those same whiny hyperbolic fucks will have moved on to the next game ending mechanic change to cry about.
Negative effect for our group is we just lost 5% of our corp because this is stupid. My corp plays to just chill and have a good time making a little isk and building ships. With that said, I don’t know if i will re-sub my 9 accounts. I know, no loss with that…
So far everything is the same. People still rat and mine, at least in our neighborhood. No local did not make the game more dangerous as far as I can tell, just made it feel lonelier
Well just woke-up and it looks like about a 10% drop which was predicted by most.
This is actually not an issue due in part to the fact that could be a lot of botters gone. I kinda though that would be offset by the returning players interested in the new and improved NS.
What are the next indicators? The coming weeks? Financial report?
I think in the very least this has improved the “tone” of EVE where in there is a lot more positive chatter going on which is a good thing…but will it be enough?
My gut is telling me that PA gave CCP a year (maybe two?) to to stabilize or increase their numbers or else; I wonder if my gut is right…probably just hungry…
I don’t think Pearl Abyss is being very aggressive in regards to CCP and the monetization of Eve. At least not yet. I’m not too worried about it, to be honest.
But, keep your eyes out for a mobile app or some such that’s coming at some point. Or perhaps another spin-off game? Again, not too worried about it. Now if Activision had bought CCP and not Pearl Abyss… well you know there would have been some changes by now =)
You are probably right. My thinking is that PA really just wanted they server tech and that’s what they paid for…they’re humor EVE for what they are contractually bound to do but unless it turns around and makes a “good chunk of cash” (what ever that is), the plug will be pulled…
Pure BS speculation mind you…but I think logically this is close…
Yes I read that piece before and while the “we bought it for the IP” hold some truth for future expansion, it seems also a bit hollow. Half a B for something down the road…maybe?
There is a piece to this that’s missing and IMO it’s the hardware for a single shard MMORPG…and as you apply mentioned, mobile tie-ins…
Well you asked;
For null most of it that is…
It is a mess with the blackout
the intel channels still work
Capital umbrella well that is still there in fact now with the cap umbrella an blackout i am seeing more of them in use to wipe out the small gangs of capital ships which seem to assume with a null blackout that no one will notice them until the ambush is in effect yet all that is happening in a boson then it is all dead in one shot.
no local = boring instead of the large fleet engagements we were getting now all we have are random solo or small gangs of sub cap small kiting ships which land in a bubble then die quickly.
not much else.
many people refuse to subscribe again an many have simply canceled the paying accounts until CCP decided to inform players how long this black out will last.
One corp left an alliance i am with in null total of 186 paying accounts in protest to go play another game.
So far all this black have accomplished is losing customers and making the null sec space very boring other than random encounters nothing else is happening.
less an less players are logging on in the the game in null or the null players are using an alt in HS to obtain isk from mission running an mining.
I ran around a complete region in an interceptor checking dscan all the way in the trip both ways an there is nothing on dscan other than structures.
an that is about it.
not much else happening including in alliies blue space in null.
there is more going on in the NPC null than the sov spaces right now
many players are not playing eve online an are playing other games.
is this enough information?
So we can equally presume that people who die in game are getting killed because they are actually playing it and hence are retained.
Amamake was always the more fatal funnel back in the day.
people play eve online because of free will to want too an not every player in eve which plays will be destroyed in pvp or pve right away in fact there are a few which will not have the player loss experience for several months,
the statement of the a player who is ‘killed’ so to speak is more likely to subscribe is a sale pitch to entice players to PVP to lose ships an assets for the destruction is good for the CCP business model of PLEX SKINS STARTER PACKS
I have met players that were alpha accounts buy PLEX in the shopping cart for selling into ISK then never subscribed an yet either way CCP made a small amount of income from the transaction however the Alpha never upgraded to omega ran with a Gila all with faction mods.
That is about it for that alpha account.
An allpha can focus train into t2 weapons an most t2 fittings then use a GNOSIS then never need to upgrade to Omega still PVP an so on using all faction mods.
The statement is a business model with an advertisement to indoctrinate new players in eve for sales.
Bottom line the game is a business product.
Now back to the core topic of what is going on in null with the blackout.