Player Retention & EVEs future

[Captain_T_Kirk]

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.

1. They introduced new assets into the game.
2. They introduced a whole new way to access those assets.
3. All aspects(PvP, PvE, Indy, ect.) of gameplay were included.

[QuakeGod]

We already possess a rare asset that can’t be acquired other than through gameplay. It’s called skill. And being hundreds of millions of SP ahead doesn’t hurt either…

[Scarlett_LaBlanc]

@Captain_T_Kirk

Star Citizen is competition on the horizon for you

Star Citizen will be 10 years old this fall.
People that backed it back in 2012 who were in their late Teens or early 20’s have gone to college, graduated, got a job, got married and have kids that are now in school.

And they are still waiting for Star Citizen to release. I won’t say it’s vapor, but if you order something from Amazon and are still waiting for it in 2032, there may be something wrong with you.

[Uriel_the_Flame]

Stop trashtalking about ScamCitizen, they never said they will release this decade… or even century. Did they?

[Shipwreck_Jones]

I don’t think it’s a scam. I think the problem is that Chris Roberts is an ambitious creative type that needs a project manager to keep scope in check and say no to his less pragmatic choices. It’s a shame, the game has potential. But, at this point, I’m not sure that they’re ever going to unfuck it.

@Captain_T_Kirk

-You need to reward older players with the ability to be rare and unique and acquire more rare assets.

No thank you. I know aspirational goals can be a hook, but Eve is not a “checklist” MMO. Do the thing, get the thing, do the next thing. New toys are fun, but Eve is so much more than that, and I’d rather CCP not focus on the skinner box aspects of the game.

@Captain_T_Kirk

-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.

Yeah, first impressions are hard to overcome, even when people know that games are actively developed.

“This ain’t yo daddy’s MMO”… oh wait, it actually is. That’s why people sometimes call it a game for dads.

Hmm… “It’s not your grandpa’s MMO?” Meh. I’ll get the boys in marketing to workshop some ideas.

@Captain_T_Kirk

-You need to pair this with an expansion of content.

Yeah, different players have different priorities, but it’s been a while since the “Jesus feature guys” got thrown a bone.

Not exactly sure I follow what you said after that.

[Captain_T_Kirk]

Great replies and good point on Star Citizen.

@Shipwreck_Jones

Yes, EVE is not a checklist type of game, but improved items and new gameplay is what drives games growth. It’s more of a sandbox checklist game which you can check any box. Right now, CCP is literally trying to drive an old game into a world of new players. If you want a great example of a game lacking content and was on track to lose but found success through adding content, Sea Of Thieves which is a checklist type game.

Sorry about the confusion at the end. To finish I was probably adding my vision of an expansion and adding points to my statement on EVE needing a rerelease style expansion at this point. You know like oh wow its EVE Supernova or EVEolutions this is an amazing sequel to that old spaceship game. So, even though it’s still EVE, to the new player they think it’s EVE 2.0 a much newer game. You can’t put lipstick on a pig and call it something else, but you can clean and dress the pig up and then call it a petting zoo animal. Automatic censoring as a default option would make the environment more kid friendly.

EDIT:: Also, my vision of an expansion is really only filling missing pieces of previous expansions. CCP would probably need to go beyond that. Like, evolving ships which skill up and get stronger base skills over time and other off the wall ideas that are going to attract both the attention of the newer player and the vet players.