Hello EVE developers and company owners,
I would really like to first of thank you for continuing this incredible game. That being said, Star Citizen is competition on the horizon for you. It has some amazing visuals, and the 1st person game continues to evolve. I will admit I was devastated when DUST 514 was announced as a separate game from EVE rather than an expansion. The lack of 1st person content does keep it separated from the 1st person demographic. I started my first account in 2009 and it was an amazing game with 30k average player on and closer to 50k+ on the weekends.
EVE has a problem. The pay to play has harmed it’s player base. It’s really the only way the company can be profitable in a free to play model. These older players feel that they have lost unique assets or abilities due to this. On the new player side, the name is stale. The thought they recall with EVE is the old sub and wait model. The game is stale to older players who are neutral about pay to play.
So you really have a situation where:
-You need to reward older players with the ability to be rare and unique and acquire more rare assets.
\\ These micro models thrive on newer, better, and limited digital assets constantly being released. Especially assets that effect gameplay. Older players covet the idea of being in possession of a rare digital asset that other players can’t acquire other than through gameplay. Again, especially assets that affect gameplay and create an advantage. \\
-You need to figure out a way to freshen the name so it doesn’t bring that I’ve played that and it wasn’t that great memory during marketing.
-You need to pair this with an expansion of content.
\\ Star Citizen’s planet surface visuals are great and I know you can do better. The Dr. Who event gave me the idea of moving the anomalies right next to planet and moon surfaces all the time. It would look great. Another expansion I thought of was creating visually stunning nebulas/planets to survey and find rare artifacts in. You would in fact be mapping these unmapped locations for further review by the whichever faction you worked for. The factions would then send NPC’s in to take advantage of the resources making a variety of different gameplay modes available. Creating solid terraformed planets and suns that melt shields and armor when too close. In the end you are the developers so you have to create what you think is going to be big. \\\
I think the general view on space is that space is expansive, never ending. There is always something new waiting around the next corner. In fictional movie space it’s always something like a meeting with some random person at a spaceport bar who gives you a clue on ultra rare and valuable item some other massive empire is looking for. I really hope that your next expansion is something great that increases the online player metrics. One is for sure, you will have to create that wow factor and market it like brand new game in order to increase your omega base.
EDIT:: Let me expand on the nebula idea real quick and make one final point. Along with solid planets, moons, and suns that will melt some ships and some will melt all. Introduce a point and click warp feature and a hyper warp feature. Players could warp visually to the nebulas over a period of time. They can also choose not to revel any data to any faction and keep the location as secret and only accessible by capital jumps or a long warp. Sooner or later the nebula will fade.
The point is all of the greatest expansions had 3 things in common.
- They introduced new assets into the game.
- They introduced a whole new way to access those assets.
- All aspects(PvP, PvE, Indy, ect.) of gameplay were included.