Why should I renew my subscription?

Communications Center General Discussion
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This is a serious question and not an attempt at trolling. My sub runs out this week and I’m asking myself this question. This is also not a “I quit EVE”-post since there are other ways to get Omega time. This is simply a story about what I think about the game and the question if EVE is still worth that I pay the monthly fee out of my own pocket.

This will be a wall of text, sorry for that.

I played this game for 10 years and I really feel connected to it. It is that one game I dreamed of back in the day when I played Privateer and imagined how awesome it would be if something like this was possible to play with other people around the world.

I love the freedom this game gives me and the awesome stories that emerge, and if you know me from the forums you know that I’m very passionate about this game and love the harsh reality of New Eden and the unique game-play EVE offers.

Yet something is wrong now…

To find out what I think is wrong, let us take a quick trip trough history:

I started out with 1 account and for a very long time that’s all I had. EVE was a wreck back then and lowsec fights with under 100 people completely desynced the game and made every fight impossible to enjoy. Yet I was fine with that, because I believed in the potential of EVE. CCP had big plans, they where mostly big talk and no delivery, but it was clear that they were enthusiastic about the game and dreamed big. The game had a future. Things where good.

And surely enough there came the wormholes, and it fixed the problem with the fights for me because there used to be only small fights. We explored them, we discovered how they work and we settled in those systems and enjoyed the changeing content. Things where good in the game and EVE was a lot of fun.

Then came the summer of rage. Big parts of the game where a wreck and CCP rather explored macro-transactions and space barbie than fixing essential parts of the actual game. We were all still passionate about EVE and showed them how wrong they are, and they turned around and fixed the game. The game actually became playable and with time even big battles got possible with tidi and more and more fixes. Things where getting better

At that time, after years of meditation and training in those wormholes I finally entered the endgame and joined the New Order of Highsec to gank miners. CCP continued to polish EVE, things where better than ever before. They removed learning skills and as a reaction I subscribed two new accounts. The game was in such good shape and it felt like CCP cares and still dreams about expanding the EVE universe. I valued the game and CCPs work and the money for 3 subscriptions out of my own pocket was well worth it. Things where better than ever before.

Then CCP even accelerated their development. Big plans where dreamed about once again, one universe, one war, player built stargates, new space and stuff to explore and do. Instead of two expansions we now had multiple expansions over the years as new features and improvements poured in to enhance our beloved game. Things reached ecstatic levels of over 9000!

And then it changed…

Suddenly out of nowhere came the Extractors. No one had asked for it. No one had any idea about it until CCP presented them completely implemented and ready to roll-out. The first addition of non-vanity items to the macro-transaction shop which they had promised would never be a thing in EVE. SP became a commodity over night. I hated it, I hate it to this day. It severely devalued EVE for me, it was a feature with the sole purpose of leeching more money out of players without adding anything to the game. It destroyed immersion. But it also gave me the option to trade my SP for game time. So I unsubscribed two of the accounts, created even a new one and PLEXed them from now on by selling the extracted SP. I keeped one subscription just because I felt that there is still some value left and I was ok with price tag for one sub. There was still a lot going on, tiericide was a big thing, constant re-balance and the new stations where just on the horizon to eventually bring us to that promised new space. Things started to dim a bit, but it was not the end of the world.

Then came the alphas, and I did not care. More importantly it became apparent, that somehow, over the last year (2016), development had stalled. It was exactly one year ago from now when I was asking on the forums why 2016 was the year with the least devblogs, why updates.eveonline.com was basically empty. So CCP Falcon came to the forums and ensured us that all was fine, and that they had big plans and could not wait to reveal awesome news at the upcoming Fanfest. I resubed that one account for another year, after all why should Falcon lie. However… things started to look suspicious.

And then there was nothing new at Fanfest except the refinery and some PvE stuff no one cares about. And some vague talk about an “Big Empire expansion”. And then nothing happened in summer. For 14 years there where always at least two expansions, and now there suddenly aren’t. CCP never announced why, they just ignored everyone asking as if everything was absolutely fine and nothing out of the ordinary. Things started to look seriously abandoned.

And then the “Big Empire Expansion” came with the refineries where the main feature is basically useless in Empire space and some other PvE stuff no one cares about. And yeah, SP are now sold directly form the cash shop. Things started to look more like an active store-front in an otherwise abandoned game.

And now I’m here, once again, looking at updates.eveonline.com and notice that it is barren.

It has some re-balancing stuff which I don’t even know if it’s already deployed, that’s how much I care about it and how much CCP cares about updating the site. And the only other upcoming thing in the future is the transformation of the outposts.

It’s as if the whole vision vanished over the last two years. Those big dreams you had about a virtual universe, a living breathing work of science fiction, the hearth of EVE, gone, and at it’s place they installed a macro-transaction cash-shop where you can purchase SP.

And I have to ask myself, why should I pay 15$ a month again? It’s as if the last value got sucked out of the game already and I can’t justify it anymore.

That’s why I wrote this thread, because here and now I ask myself: WHY SHOULD I STILL PAY A SUBSCRIPTION?

I may still play the game if I feel like it. After all I can just suck the SP out of the heads of my chars and get another month for almost free.

And still, after all of this, I still believe there is hope. CCP you still have the chance to turn this around. But I’m not sure if I can trust you. To be honest, I still don’t know if I should pay the sub or drop it, for the first time after 10 years… I honestly don’t want you to answer this post, but read it, understand it and then go and revive that old spirit you once had to dream big and share your vision of this great game we all love and feel connected to! I dare you!

And now dear reader, some things to consider before you write an answer:

  • This is not about PLEX and I don’t care that someone else pays for my sub. I just really don’t care.
  • If CCP just closes or moves the thread that will most definitely answer the question

EDIT:
Link to my answer: Why should I renew my subscription?

EDIT2:
Ok, thanks for answering my question @CCP_Falcon by closing the thread. I revert my previous decision and will not sub again.

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You should only pay if you want the benefits that come with the subscription. The subscription itself is no longer a barrier to entry. That is the implication of the Alpha model.

Now why don’t you head on over to the NES and by the newest SKIN bundle.

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You know there is even a post with the title and you obviously did not read it

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No I read the post.

It just wasn’t the least bit stimulating or thought-provoking. Nothing you said hasn’t been said before. I gave a response equal in value to that which I personally assigned to your post.

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Well thanks for your time then, I’m sure you are needed somewhere else now. Bye

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I think I’ll stick around actually. I’m interested to see if others see something that I do not. Perhaps my eyes have yet to open.

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Having started playing in 2006 to the current date, I concur with your observation that EVE has gone from one of the best online games ever, to just another bot-filled cash shop Korean MMO grindfest. Any game that starts out subscription-based and then later adds a cash shop and F2P goes downhill pretty quick after that. I used to subscribe to Elder Scrolls Online, until it went F2P and they added a cash shop. That was the end of that for me.

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Generally I find that your views about Eve are the complete opposite to my diehard carebear type. :wink:

However, this time everything you said resonates with me. This is exactly how I feel about Eve / CCP. The last year has been very poor, especially communication wise.

I once had three subbed accounts, I sold one character off just about a year ago and retired that account. The other two? well one I started subbing with PLEX in Spetember, the second is now alpha (and occasionally raided for SP to sell off).

CCP over the last year really seem to have put Eve in to maintenance mode (what is worrying is after the Valkyrie sell off what are they actually working on now?) So I have gone into maintenance mode myself, paying with isk so I can easily stop when they really f**k up.

My advice is do the same as me, pay with isk, I don’t think CCP are worthy of subs anymore.

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Hey there friend.

Grab an oar, same boat.

I have one account that I pay for directly. I have… more… that are just plexed. It didn’t used to be that way for me, I used to sub them all. But over the years this has changed, not because I needed to but because I feel less and less of that cash I send to CCP goes into EvE… and that is what I want to pay for.

I am still having roughly the same fun as always, so I haven’t left yet, but it is becoming more about the people than the game as time goes on.

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I have been playing eve for 14 years, and the last couple have made me ask that question every month.
I am a firm believer that everyone is free to play this game as they want. I do not fault gankers, AWOXers, or other “toxic” players for what they do. I accept the need to change my playstyle to deal with them. But I can’t stand how CCP changes the rules here and there and still do not fix obvious problems.
Without getting into detail about my game play, I feel like CCP is patching me out of the game. I have gone from a proud and lawfull multiboxer to a single account that barely sees any action. I am at the point where I rarely look forward to logging on, mainly because all the hype I see in dev blogs ends up being a let down or worse.

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This is the first time since 2009 that I haven’t had an actively subscribed account for more than a week or two.

The slow and inexorable erosion of risk in hisec makes my chosen playstyle feel less rewarding, not dying has become too easy; it’s no longer a challenge because there is less need to outplay my erstwhile predatory opponents.

I spend more time using the client as a pretty chatroom than I do undocked these days. Eve is becoming a pale shadow of its former self.

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If there is no value left, why even log in ever again?

Not trolling. Real question (albeit one only you need the answer to)

If there is still some value, just not $15 of your money worth, then you should switch to paying with other people’s $. The fact that you seem to need others input to answer the question suggests you already do not value the game highly enough.

Paying with PLEX is admittedly wierd, since you reward behavior you do not like with more money, but totally fine.

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In my case, the social side. Over the years I’ve made many friends and acquaintances in Eve, the client is how I stay in touch with them.

£10 a month for a chatroom just ain’t worth it.

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I get that. There is value, for you, but not enough to have you pay with RL money from your own pocket. Nothing wrong with that. Heck, you might be the prime demographic CCP was looking to tap with the Alpha Clone addition.

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I hope not, I think that’s kind of insulting TBH :stuck_out_tongue:

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Ccp made a deliberate decision to make eve softer to attract causal new players. IMO it backfired, driving away significant portions of its base. Of these changes, the absolute worst was the safety. So much for a cold hard world where htfu was the mantra.

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True enough.

With the introduction of SP trading etc and unlimted trials it looks like Greed is Good, the Gordon Gecko edition was more of a game-plan than an internal discussion. I reckon CCP are banking on alphas becoming cash cows.

The problem is that there’s nothing else quite like the Eve I used to play.

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:rofl: I love watching that.

I know it can seem a tough pill to swallow for the elderly (ingame) and proud, but if my grandfather can put away his RL racist conservative worldview, EVE players can put away thier disdain for Alpha players.:wink:

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When highsec became a no fun zone i moved to lowsec. Eve is still worth playing but it’s just not as fun as it was back in the day.

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Looks like pretty much everyone except you saw what you chose not to.

Excellent post @Ima_wreckyou it sums up a lot of what most of us have been feeling of late. One thing I disagree on, is that I would very much enjoy a reply from someone at CCP…

Linking @CCP_Falcon @CCP_Fozzie and anyone else who might have time to have a read (assuming they haven’t already).

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