Why people play

[Siegfried_Tahl]

@Torg_Jupiter

Do we get surprising action? How is community play these days? What collections are there to gather? How is immersion encouraged, what about roleplay? And how is creativity encouraged in Eve?

I believe by answering these questions Eve will rise to new heights.

Hey, I even made a couple of topics on collectibles.
Display Hangar
Collectibles: Sets, Achievements, Checkboxes, Cards

@M_Cincinnatus

I would disagree with most of those points, as they are trying to take advantage of knowledge of human thought processes in order to turn games into an “addiction“, rather than making games for the sake of enjoyment. Game “addiction” ultimately leads to its own kind of burn out as well.

Richard Bartle claims that MMOs follow the steps of MUDs, repeating the same of mistakes. He wrote an article back in 2013 “The Decline of MMOs” (free d/l)

Ten years ago, massively-multiplayer online role-playing games (MMOs) had a bright and exciting future. Today, their prospects do not look so glorious. In an effort to attract ever-more players, their gameplay has gradually been diluted and their core audience has deserted them. Now that even their sources of new casual players are drying up, MMOs face a slow and steady decline. Their problems are easy
to enumerate: they cost too much to make; too many of them play the exact same way; new revenue models put off key groups of players; they lack immersion; they lackwit and personality; players have been trained to want experiences that they don’t actually want; designers are forbidden from experimenting. The solutions to these problems are less easy to state.

Can anything be done to prevent MMOs from fading away?

Well, yes it can. The question is, will the patient take the medicine?

The point is that unless it’s fun, unless the gameplay is intrinsically motivating players leave sooner or later. So the devs in those vids and articles mostly recommend focusing on making the game fun to play.

@M_Cincinnatus

Satisfaction is different than “fun” or addiction. And may be slightly different feeling for different players. The simple content of mining can be satisfying for many players. Mission running may be satisfying in that it can fulfill the “fighter” and “builder” all at once, with destruction of npc’s and looting the field which can provide all the materials for industry, a sense of “completion”. Wormhole hunting may also be satisfying even after waiting hours at the “watering hole” to finally be able to strike and nab their kill.

That is Self Determination Theory in action. Satisfaction and fulfillment of players psychological needs.

Autonomy - you decide when and what to do, which ship and fit to use. Competence - EVE activities are skill demanding, there is a ton of things to learn. Relatedness - the ore you mine, the minerals, industry products, mods you loot, ships you build, you do it all with a purpose, for a reason. You, your corpies, someone else will use it. Someone needs you, you need them in return. You depend on your fleet mates, they depend on you.