# The real reasons player population is declining **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [January 16, 2018, 5:54pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517 "2018-01-16T17:54:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 51
**Author:** ![Whitehound](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/whitehound/32/59604_2.png) [@Whitehound](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Whitehound)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:56am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1019 "2018-05-09T07:56:52Z")
> [@Salvos\_Rhoska](#): > > Applies to her, same as “people”. No, It applies to you, but this is also the very thing you’re trying to fight here, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Salvos\_Rhoska](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/salvos_rhoska/32/14128_2.png) [@Salvos\_Rhoska](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Salvos_Rhoska)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:57am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1020 "2018-05-09T07:57:33Z")
> [@Whitehound](#): > > > [@Salvos\_Rhoska](#): > > > > Applies to her, same as “people”. > > No, It applies to you, but this is also the very thing you’re trying to fight here, isn’t it? Applies to her, me and you, and everyone else. All of us are “people”. ---
**Author:** ![Whitehound](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/whitehound/32/59604_2.png) [@Whitehound](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Whitehound)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:58am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1021 "2018-05-09T07:58:54Z")
> [@Salvos\_Rhoska](#): > > All of us are “people”. Some seem to be a little more than this. ---
**Author:** ![Salvos\_Rhoska](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/salvos_rhoska/32/14128_2.png) [@Salvos\_Rhoska](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Salvos_Rhoska)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 7:59am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1022 "2018-05-09T07:59:42Z")
> [@Whitehound](#): > > > [@Salvos\_Rhoska](#): > > > > All of us are “people”. > > Some seem to be a little more than this. Some people are “more” than other people? ---
**Author:** ![Magnus\_Witchspace](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/magnus_witchspace/32/410729_2.png) [@Magnus\_Witchspace](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Magnus_Witchspace)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 8:07am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1023 "2018-05-09T08:07:44Z")
Yes. There’s no point having this discussion unless we can confirm the premise is true. A simple exercise in critical thinking. ---
**Author:** ![Salvos\_Rhoska](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/salvos_rhoska/32/14128_2.png) [@Salvos\_Rhoska](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Salvos_Rhoska)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 8:13am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1024 "2018-05-09T08:13:37Z")
Players leave the game all the time. Atm we just happen to have a situation where a roughly equal amount are running alts, returning, or starting. PCU also is not representative of players per se, just accounts. * * * The question of why players leave, remains eminently important. ---
**Author:** ![Rin\_Vocaloid2](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/rin_vocaloid2/32/90543_2.png) [@Rin\_Vocaloid2](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Rin_Vocaloid2)\ **Post date:** [May 9, 2018, 6:13pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1025 "2018-05-09T18:13:12Z")
> [@Salvos\_Rhoska](#): > > The question of why players leave, remains eminently important. Why any player leaves Eve Online (whether for a while or forever) is a question that has no definitive answer. It largely depends on the individual who is leaving. This means I have to look at the demographics of Eve Online. Here is a video of Historical Player Age Distribution over the course of an entire decade (2003-2014). [![](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/original/3X/0/a/0a6933b2286b8813c7859466caccd4a71a806188.jpeg "Historical player age distribution in EVE Online (2003-2014)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVWC6I-FLEA) The median age starts off at 26 with the highest percentage being about 24 years of age in 2003. At the end, it shows the median at 31 with the highest percentage being between 26-29 years of age. Unfortunately this doesn’t give us the complete picture. But I can deduce from social media as well as from how everyone talks around here and the kind of personalities that are popular around the Eve Online community that a sizeable chunk of the demographic are grown men and women who have families and careers. We know at least one of them works at NASA. Some of the others around here are engineers. Some are programmers as well as masters of spreasheets. Only a handful of us around here are dedicated streamers like Manic Velocity, Wingspan TT and Zarvox. As for me, I’m an aircraft mechanic. The rest of us, I don’t know. Based on what I can find, the only logical conclusion I can draw is that many players who leave Eve Online are not likely leaving because of the game but because of real life obligations. After all, Eve Online is only a game. Although this doesn’t mean that anyone who leaves is leaving because of that. There are admittedly players who leave because they found out the hard way that Eve Online is the most cutthroat MMO in the entire industry and that just because you bought something expensive with your credit card doesn’t mean it’s yours forever. ---
**Author:** ![Galaxy\_Chicken](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/galaxy_chicken/32/45651_2.png) [@Galaxy\_Chicken](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Galaxy_Chicken)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 5:34am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1026 "2018-05-10T05:34:37Z")
> [@Lily\_Inkura](#): > > Mr Chicken … if you would be so kind … do you have a position on whether there is or is not a player decline in EvE Online ? Nah, I don’t really concern myself with that. I just stick to muh miner killin’. I dont monitor the server numbers or fret over them. You’ll give yourself an ulcer doing that. Though, I will say this; As any business owner will tell you, stagnation _is_ decline, so it would seem that Salvos and Pedro aren’t actually disagreeing here, at least not in any consequencial sense. Both pose the same problem and probably require the same solution. We in the New Order believe that solution is The Code, visit [www.minerbumping.com](http://www.minerbumping.com) for more information on how to save Highsec and by extension all of EVE Online. Praise James 315 Edit: “Expand, or die.” - Ferengi Rules of Acquisition #45 Edit: Salvos is still wrong about everything. ---
**Author:** ![Salvos\_Rhoska](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/salvos_rhoska/32/14128_2.png) [@Salvos\_Rhoska](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Salvos_Rhoska)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 5:36am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1027 "2018-05-10T05:36:34Z")
> [@Galaxy\_Chicken](#): > > Though, I will say this; As any business owner will tell you, **_stagnation is decline_** , so it would seem that Salvos and Pedro aren’t actually disagreeing here, at least not in any consequencial sense. Accurate. If business isnt growing, its slowly dying. ---
**Author:** ![Gadget\_Helmsdottir](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/gadget_helmsdottir/32/374037_2.png) [@Gadget\_Helmsdottir](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Gadget_Helmsdottir)\ **Post date:** [May 10, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1028 "2018-05-10T19:14:06Z")
If they’re hackers… they’ll just take it back. –Gadget is just sayin’ ---
**Author:** ![Tian\_Toralen](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/tian_toralen/32/240450_2.png) [@Tian\_Toralen](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Tian_Toralen)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2018, 8:13am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1029 "2018-05-11T08:13:31Z")
No, it’s the opposite, EVE loses players because it’s losing it’s unforgiving nature and personality that made it different from other games. It’s a great simulator, but it has to account for the fact that players cannot be logged in and playing 24/24 that’s why we have things like vulnerability windows and reinforcement timers. But now it wants to cater for “the small guy” , he can only fly a frigate but he has a magic wand, so he can capture structures. This development meant a loss of EVE’s personality and realism, and for me - it lost 50% of it’s charm. ---
**Author:** ![Francis\_Geldere](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/francis_geldere/32/37283_2.png) [@Francis\_Geldere](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Francis_Geldere)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1031 "2018-05-27T19:51:57Z")
To the OP, you are complaining the fundamental concept of a MMO game. I would indicate that you won’t be able to enjoy any other MMO of this nature as they are all the same, unforgiving and unfair. You must be the one who needs to play the mind game, not let others play it on you. To the rest of the comments, there are numerous factors that make players leave and enter the game, but I think the biggest reason for a drop in the player base is due to the genre this MMO falls in. Different genre’s of gaming goes through different periods where they will gain and loose players. There were a time when RTS games were loosing players at a rapid rate, but now they slowly gaining players. Tycoon games were the games to have and nowadays there is little interest in tycoon games. For EVE Online to continue gaining players and increase it playerbase, marketing in exploding markets should be done to attract potential customers. CCP is a business and they have customers and we are the customers of their service and entertainment medium. CCP should get their marketing department in gear and use it to attact more customers in emerging markets, then we will see the physical increase of the playerbase and have more diverse opportunities in terms of communities available in EVE. ---
**Author:** ![Jorad\_Todako](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/jorad_todako/32/195448_2.png) [@Jorad\_Todako](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Jorad_Todako)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 8:09pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1032 "2018-05-27T20:09:34Z")
Is this thread not ■■■■■■■ dead yet ? Come on people ---
**Author:** ![Solstice\_Projekt](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/solstice_projekt/32/503293_2.png) [@Solstice\_Projekt](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Solstice_Projekt)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 9:18pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1033 "2018-05-27T21:18:47Z")
> [@Jorad\_Todako](#): > > Is this thread not ■■■■■■■ dead yet ? No. 😊 ---
**Author:** ![Vortexo\_VonBrenner](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/vortexo_vonbrenner/32/64874_2.png) [@Vortexo\_VonBrenner](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Vortexo_VonBrenner)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2018, 11:49pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1034 "2018-05-27T23:49:03Z")
It’s a Schrödinger’s thread, really. ---
**Author:** ![Algarion\_Getz](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/algarion_getz/32/356396_2.png) [@Algarion\_Getz](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Algarion_Getz)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2018, 9:43am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1035 "2018-05-28T09:43:56Z")
> [@Rin\_Vocaloid2](#): > > Based on what I can find, the only logical conclusion I can draw is that many players who leave Eve Online are not likely leaving because of the game but because of real life obligations. After all, Eve Online is only a game. Although this doesn’t mean that anyone who leaves is leaving because of that. There are admittedly players who leave because they found out the hard way that Eve Online is the most cutthroat MMO in the entire industry and that just because you bought something expensive with your credit card doesn’t mean it’s yours forever. This. EVE is a very time consuming game, the saying “1h of preparation for 5min of fun” is not too far from the truth. When your free time is limited you are better off with simple games like TF2 or Overwatch. Play 30min and then continue with RL … in EVE you would probably spend those (first) 30min waiting for fleet, traveling, making ISK, managing you spreadsheets, or what ever. Not the best use of your limited time. The vets grow older and dont have time for this anymore and the young players are used to casual games that are easy to learn and hand out rewards every 5min. They wont replace many vets. ---
**Author:** ![LulzHoodwinked](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/lulzhoodwinked/32/64216_2.png) [@LulzHoodwinked](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/LulzHoodwinked)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2018, 6:42pm UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1036 "2018-05-30T18:42:37Z")
Actually, the REAL reason why players are leaving are due to the harassment of haulers and miners. A recent study conducted by a very prestigious firm confirmed this to be true. The study also concluded that haulers and miners who buy permits were 90% less likely to force other players to leave the game. There was also another study done where it showed members of CODE. had a 85% increase of quality of life in game and irl. ---
**Author:** ![Karine\_Havenglow](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/karine_havenglow/32/424460_2.png) [@Karine\_Havenglow](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Karine_Havenglow)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 5:22am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1037 "2018-06-02T05:22:35Z")
So, finally CCP has entered (or jumped, your choice here) the Abyss? ---
**Author:** ![WhyYouHeffToBeMad\_IsOnlyGame](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/whyyouhefftobemad_isonlygame/32/272304_2.png) [@WhyYouHeffToBeMad\_IsOnlyGame](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/WhyYouHeffToBeMad_IsOnlyGame)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 5:35am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1038 "2018-06-02T05:35:13Z")
am I late to the party? ---
**Author:** ![Dracvlad](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/eveonline/user_avatar/forums.eveonline.com/dracvlad/32/444126_2.png) [@Dracvlad](https://forums.eveonline.com/u/Dracvlad)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2018, 8:20am UTC](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517/1039 "2018-06-02T08:20:24Z")
Well the answer as Salvos and Black Pedro have pointed out is that it is not declining, in fact it has in my lowly opinion shown a slight uptick. This new content is actually challenging and is attracting the older bitter and very rich elite players to partake and dare I say it have fun, yes they are! I am on deployment so as of yet have not done any of these sites but I have been keeping tabs on what people have been saying, reading threads about how to run them and what people have found… By all definition it is damn good PvE content and CCP have done an excellent job. And hell did I laugh seeing people try to mutate some purple mods and fail, and their reactions. And those new ships are so cool looking I wants them… One old player who drops supers on everything in the game said that he found these new sites a lot of fun, and you can tell because he has lost about 8bn doing them. But he can afford it! Nullsec is currently looking quite good, the reduction in fatigue is about right IMO, the Goons will soon push on up north so lots of blapping about to happen, the softening up of GOTG is quite artful. But WH space has become farmville renting land, hisec is so crushingly stale and lowsec? Well who cares about lowsec, level 5’s are dope in carriers though… Stop moaning and get playing, as I keep saying the carrier play is bloody good fun, I was hitting two Astrahus yesterday with someone gunning them and using fighters under the risk of a counter drop and I enjoyed it. I like this system so much, bloody good design CCP… But for christ sake do something about bumping in hisec, you can tell CCP are embarrassed about it as CCP Falcon keeps closing any threads where I lay out what happened to freighter ganking and CCP’s failures, I wonder why he keeps doing it 😛 Well I know why, but never mind… Actually shall I lay it all out here so this thread gets closed too? The game looks beautiful and if we can keep fleet fights within a level where the server does not choke up then they are stonkingly good fun, which is why I prefer to play in the AU TZ. And get off your bitterness about the loss of can flipping and get out and can flip regardless, you only go suspect, and most people don’t have the attitude to fight you anyway, stop acting like stupid gankbears. I am aiming that comment at a couple of people, you know who you are? @Mike_s_Salesman that was actually a damn good post, certainly what a number of the people I know who have played since the start of the game would agree with. @Salvos_Rhoska you should read that again. @Solstice_Projekt I am one of the three in your list aren’t I 😛 [Previous page](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517.md?page=50) [Next page](https://forums.eveonline.com/t/the-real-reasons-player-population-is-declining/51517.md?page=52)