Non PvP for less aggressive players

G’day EVE.

First up, let me say how much I love the universe. I played the original EVE many, many years ago and loved it, too. Then skipped to the current version a couple of years ago.

I have a suggestion that might be problematic, but I would like it to get some consideration, please.

I am an older player (approaching 60 y/o). I used to enjoy world building games such as Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri and other similar games where I could pioneer and my only enemy was the AI.
These games were very limited in that you have just one planet and a set goal that once completed meant that the game is done.
I confess, I also liked not having to fight other players every step of the way.

I see EVE as having the potential to create the same kind of game play but on a much larger scale that doesn’t end just because a certain point of technological development has been reached.

I know that EVE is space based and not planet based, but the ability to develop “satellite” communities above mining planets and create trade routes between various colonies would be a suitable option within the EVE universe.

The process I see in my head is a very long term game play.

I enter the first region of space with a “colony” ship that has enough materials to build the first satellite community. I have to build and establish a stable community and start exploring to find other planets where such communities can be built, more or less from scratch using resources gained from the first community. From here, I now have two communities that can work toward a 3rd, then fourth, then fifth, etc, communities.

Basically, I would need to administer the first colony initially, and then take on greater administration of the multiple communities until eventually, I have built an ever expanding empire that I must administer.

The EVE universe currently has a vast number of planets and regions with attendant asteroid belts, alien artifacts, etc.
It is also my understanding that there are also alien races within EVE, but I have not yet come across any.

As a player, I don’t mind having to fight to gain territory, but I don’t enjoy PvP play as I don’t get to play often and don’t enjoy having to fight other players every time I get on (because of this continual PvP issue, I tend not to come back regularly).

I know there is a fan base out there who, like myself, are maturing past perpetual fighting and want the more relaxed option of pioneering as I have had this conversation many times with other, older gamers. It is an almost untapped player market that you might want to consider.

In terms of resources, it shouldn’t strain the system significantly.

Right now, EVE is a massive universe with a massive player base. The system is trying to juggle a huge amount of information constantly as it has to hold every player active, even if they are inactive.
By starting a player near a single planet, only a small region of space is needed by the player at any given time. The jump gates can be made inactive until the player has reached a certain level of technology. This means that a player can’t simply go out and put a base in each of the current regions and require the full universe to be available.

If a player is started in a corner of the universe, expansion into the greater universe can be progressive as tech levels increase. This will limit the amount of strain on the system per player.

By making the first colony fully self-sufficient, but needing governance and technical development to progress, game play becomes self teaching as the player progresses.

I would be more than happy to speak further with the EVE developers if they are interested and happy to help with the development if it should go that far.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Col.

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I think you mean well so I’m going to be nice and explain a few things.

First of all, what you’re asking for can’t be done in EVE (even if there was a desire to do so, which there isn’t), because of the way the game engine is structured, and the way that the game’s code works. Fundamentally, there is no AI logic or capability for free-form creation of any game assets and entities; everything is essentially comprised of database entries with static UI elements attached to them. What you want would be akin to adding a Minecraft-like “creative mode” to a Battlefield game - it just can’t be done. The entire game would need to be rewritten from scratch to make this possible.

So when you say stuff like…

At best what could be done within the game is the creation of an instanced or gate-locked zone with stations, et cetera. All space in EVE has already been discovered (in fact it’s all available by default and doesn’t need discovery). The game engine doesn’t support the creation of new systems, planets, et cetera via RNG mechanics, so anything of this nature would have to exist within space that already exists (or new space would have to be manually created by the developers using their own tools). However, you will never be granted the privilege of your own private space, because it would be game-breaking for everyone else, since you’d be able to engage with the economy (you’d have to, in order to be able to build stuff and/or make money) without at the same time engaging with other players, which would be a massive loophole.

It just will never happen. If your issue is the game’s open-world PvP nature, and you’re not willing to play in such a way that minimizes you as a target (e.g. keeping to high-sec, not owning your own station, and not flying extremely expensive ships), then you’re better off getting a single-player game like something from the X series.

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Hi, and thank you for your post.
I find your idea for PvE delightfully refreshing and interesting. I too have enjoyed world-building games in the past but feel that I’ve outgrown many of those titles that kept me busy to no end and you are right, that kind of gameplay could easily be incorporated into EVE Online.

The problem you will encounter with EVE though is the developers’ lack of imagination and unwillingness to grow the game beyond it’s original matrix, not counting the veteran players’ hostility towards anything that would further or improve the PvE side of the game, many of whom have great influence on CCP through the CSM or other more underhanded means of putting pressure on the developers for their own end.

If you can speak with the developers about anything I will be beyond shocked, I may even get a heart attack.
That said, I wish your idea good luck and wish you good health, sir.
o7

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I can completely understand not always wanting to play a competitive game. In fact, I don’t always like playing Eve myself. Sometimes, I want something cooperative and/or more casual. But Eve is what I go to when I want a brutal, PvP-centric game. And, I’d prefer it stay that way, rather than see it try to poorly imitate what other games already do better (because they were designed from the ground up to do those things).

All of that being said, I am not opposed to people care bearing it up. I think that straight PvE’ers are an important part of the player ecosystem. They make significant contributions to the player driven economy, provide content for hunters, and contribute to the social critical mass. So, I am not one of those guys that hates care bears. However, I do believe that they should either learn how to become hard targets and practice proper risk management strategies, or go find something more their speed. Once again, I’d prefer it if Eve concentrated on delivering the type of experience that it is good at delivering, rather than try to poorly imitate what other games already do better.

Anyway, I’m not opposed to more PvE opportunities, as long as they have balanced risk to reward ratios. But it really sounds like you might be more interested in a 4x space game like. Master of Orion 2, Sins of a Solar Empire, or Galatic Civilizations III. Personally, I’m kind of interested in Starborne, but Eve already eats up most of my free time.

Anyway, “PvP avoidance” is a real skill that you can learn. The details will vary depending on what region of space you live in, but, for good or ill, it’s admittedly rather easy to avoid PvP in this PvP-centric game. In highsec, for example, you can avoid a lot of trouble by simply keeping your safety set to green and not anchoring any structures (which opens you up to war decs). So, your only threat after that is suicide ganks. But even then, you can reduce your chances of being ganked to damn near zero if you know what you’re doing. For example, I’ve done a metric butt-ton of PvE over the past 6 years, yet the last time I was ganked I was only about a month old. If you want to learn more, check out the section called, “How not to be Ganker bait” from the linked post.

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EVE is EVE and not Sid Meiers whatever
If you want to play that, go play that.

I support this idea, so long as I retain the option to obliterate your colony via orbital bombardment. If you pay your taxes, there will be no problem.

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Oh, btw, Offworld Trading Colony is free on epic until June 22nd. So, you might want to check that out.

No P2W

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Did you know that that feature actually existed in EVE at one point?

I used to have kill mails from orbital bombardments that had dust bunnies and planetary vehicles on them. They no longer show up on the kill board or even in game.

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EVE is not, never has been, and never will be a single-player PVE game…

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good game , to much dlc but good
me liek economy

also


AKA EVE ofline

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Nice idea for a game, but too cartoonish for me.

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