Listen the people that it drives off are people that want to play games like Infinity Nikki where they brush racoons and make cutie outfits. Eve players demand crash and exotic dancers in there hulls screaming im terrible at this game in local.
I’ll be honest if I didn’t have to watch my back or cut deals or play areas of grey then what’s the point? That’s what makes me come back, the danger of losing months of years of work on a bad gamble is real. It makes me nervous, no other game comes even close to making feel anxious when I blow through Uedema with a load of compressed dark glitter.
Sure, I get that, I feel the same any time I’m flying anywhere with more than say 100 million in value (in ship or cargo). Well, I feel it a little in normal flying, as background tension, and then moreso in danger spots like unscouted jumps or high/low interface or passing systems with high kills.
The trick is not to remove danger from EVE, that’s pretty much the only thing it’s got going for it (aside from the large economy aspects, which is actually the biggest part of EVE).
The trick is to maintain as much of the danger as possible while also reducing major player losses due to mechanics abuse (such as mass wardeccing). If you can keep say 85% of the danger/risk while retaining 40% more players, that would be a huge win for the game. It also helps if you can add more gameplay options when doing so.
Old games die slowly over time, that’s natural, it’s no big deal. But addressing fundamental problems with the game can help stretch that lifetime out and make things more interesting in the meantime.
I remember when I started suspect hunting outside Jita. It was like…WTF, there’s 6 Tornadoes within range over there, and a bunch of Hurricanes over there, and a member of Safety alpha shotting people over there…and here’s me hanging about in my puny little ship. And it was exciting !
Like you, I’ve also taken expensive stuff through Eudama and loved the thrill of the risk. Sometimes I’ve done it solely for the risk…no other reason.
I don’t need protecting by the likes of Kezrai…who don’t appear to have undocked in years.
Capsuleers getting older and needing fresh and new sensory input could be another reason.
Most gamers grew up playing games that ended until the next chapter was released. The same holds true for MMORPG’s, there have to be new levels that requires the Capsuleer to increase skills to keep their game at top notch.
All the folks saying “we need industrialists for the PvPers to have ships” or “scarcity has hurt the game” blablabla are TOTALLY missing the mark. First of all. We have WAY too many industrialists. This game has been nerfed to the ground to the point that the only players it can attract anymore ARE industrialists and PvEers. It’s WHY scarcity happened in the first place because there wasn’t (and still isn’t) enough destruction to keep up with production. It’s the same reason they released trigs. To attempt to replace the destruction that used to be done by other players. PvE only players en mass without equivalent destruction are horrible for a game like this because you flood the market with goods but then also never lose money. Whatever good you would do for the market by increasing the supply of goods doesn’t matter because of the damage you do by never losing anything and having an ever increasing isk amount. It inflates the currency to the moon and raises plex prices to the ■■■■■■■■ we have now (I can still remember a month subscription costing 250mil).
The only way this game will ever “un-die” is if CCP makes massive revisions to the PvP systems in ways that FAVOR PvPers. IE: Un-Nerf Ganking, War-decs, and Suspects.
Industry pays. What should I do instead? Run security missions for ISK? Those are fun, but the payout sucks. The market has expanded past anything I could earn doing missions. Industry pays more because it’s directly linked to the market. Everything from mining to shipbuilding and exploration. It’s just better. I’ve done mining. I’ve done PvE combat. Now I’m training skills in scanning, hacking, and industry.
The reason we have the blue donut is because the game only attracts PvE players now. Any PvP interested player that joins very quickly quits the game. They used to have ways to make real profits WITH PVP back in the day. That’s why so many stuck around back then. That’s why Null was actually dangerous then. The game actually had dangerous players that could fund their playstyle WITH PVP. Y’all actually don’t realize how much of the mischief in all secs of space was due to the dudes who were super successful at high sec PvP taking their money and blowing it up in other secs. We simply don’t have that anymore. HS PvP is only profitable for the 1% of us who know every last mechanic and how to use it AND null and low have been taken over by PvEers pretending to PvP.
If you had a creative mind like the players we used to attract did, you would find a way to use a PvP mechanic in a way that PAYYYYSSSSSSS. Now all we manage to attract is irl 9-5ers who log into a video game to do the same thing they do in real life. It’s not just about the isk my guy, it’s about the fun you have along the way and I can assure you PvPing for all your isk is WAY more fun than industry or mission running. The issue is, the barrier to entry into all of the PvP professions is too high for anyone new to get into it because of repeated short-sighted nerfs to the PvP professions (IE high sec PvP).
When I started this game I made my money initially just stealing loot and salvage from mission runners. Step 2 was investing that money into a setup that could kill the mission runners when they shot me. There’s like 200 steps after this that all make increasing more money but this line of play is dead at step 2 now for a new PvP player (because of oppressive nerfs) and it’s PRECISELY why Eve is dying.
I know about PvP. I used to play Evony The King’s Return where a bad day of PvP could cost you hundreds of dollars to rebuild. The most I spent rebuilding was $300. I’ve also made some attacks that were very costly on others.
I know what I enjoy and I do what I enjoy. I don’t do industry because I’m not creative. I do industry because, right now, it’s what I want. I want a chill game. Eve Online losses are cheap. I don’t do anything that would result in a loss that I can’t undo with a $25 PLEX purchase.
And all your suggestions are to put these fish in a barrel for your high sec pleasure. My suggestion is to put null in a barrel for the people not afraid to put on their big girl pants to leave high sec and have at it.
You willing to take that step? Crossing the line to where your fish fight back?
That’s all fine. When it becomes not fine is when people adopt their chosen ‘playstyle’ and also an ’ I’m chilling out doing my thing…everyone leave me alone ’ stance in a massive multiplayer dystopian war economy simulator.
Gankers, wardecers, etc are all playing the same game in the same universe in which nobody is or should be an island unto themselves and nobody is safe. EVE is the totality of all these things.
