First, a minor point before I get started.
The dev blog “Building Better Worlds” could
have lifted the
quote either from the Weiland Yutani Corporation logo from the Alien mythos, or the Operative from Serenity. In that movie the line is
uttered by a character who believes he is helping create better worlds, but
then finds out that his whole ideology was based on a naïve understanding of
what his superiors were actually doing.
I hope that was not what CCP was implying with the title…
title from a few places.
Ok, that out of the way, let’s get into it. After thinking and reading about the new
industry changes that are coming I think there are a few sides to the topic
that have not been talked about all that much.
It all boils down to getting new players while holding on to the old
ones. That is, after all, CCP’s business
model.
Access
First, we don’t know exactly what the new cost will be for the new
slot-less industry design. We know the
range (0%-14%) and we know it is based on the price of the finished good
(derived from the rolling average?). But
we do not know the break points, or exactly how it will play out. I am sure smarter players than I can tell you
more about this, but I’m not overly concerned.
The spreadsheet wizards will always find a way to win at Eve, and the
casuals will probably have some rude learning experiences. Nothing new to see here. But one thing the new slot-less system will
do, regardless of pricing, is provide a fast, immediate way in for anyone.
This is really important.
If you cannot remember what being a new player in industry is like, let me
tell you. You learn about Research and
Manufacturing, and maybe get a few BPOs to test things out. You look around High Sec and realize that any
stations worth using are either insanely expensive, full for a month, or
both. You start looking at what it takes
to get out to Low Sec and the open research slots there. If you are really smart, you realize you out
to be using a tech two ship to move your goods to avoid losing your
assets. You then realize that training
for those safer ships, for a new pilot, is not insignificant. The training will take weeks or months. So you have two options. Either wait for weeks to even start your
jobs, or wait for weeks to safely engage in Low Sec. Both of those options are terrible.
If CCP wants people to engage in industry, it needs to be
accessible. There needs to be an
obvious, easy way to at least get started.
The new changes provide this. Any newbie will be able to create an
account, train Research to I, and get down to getting down. Sure, it may be a bit more expensive, and
sure it may not be the long term way towards industry in Eve, but it is a
start. I can also think of no other part
of the game that is as prohibitive from day one as industry right now. You can run missions, mine, explore, haul, or
get into PvP within hours or days of starting an account. Again, you will not be doing well at these
tasks, and you won’t be using the same ships or strategies in a month or a
year, but you can start! This change
lets newbies start exploring industry in the same way as in any other part of
the game.
Think of a bike with training wheels. Yeah, the training wheels suck, but many
people need them to get started. Once
you get a feel for the bike, you throw the training wheels away. In a lot of ways Hish Sec space is the
training wheel of Eve.
Null Sec is Best Sec?
Second, the argument that this new system will push industry
players to null sec decries pushing players into a specific style of Eve. Sure, that seems like a logical conclusion,
but maybe it is not so bad. Currently
the tinfoil prognosticators say that a very small fraction of players actually
live in Null. I’ll go with that. But take a look at who has stuck around in
Eve for the long haul. The list mostly
consists of Null sec players, Low sec pirates, FW players, and Wormhole
residents. There are some high sec
players that have been around a while, but I would wager the age of those
accounts is a bit lower, and a fair number of those accounts are second or
third accounts of people living outside high sec on the main account. Go take a look at the blogs and Twitter. The space famous people who both help create
content and help create the community. They
tend to live in places that are not Empire Space. There may be a good reason to push people out
into the edges of Eve. That is where
they really start to engage with each other.
CCP has to keep players interested in the game. High Sec is not the place to keep
people. It gets boring and dull. About the only exciting way to live in High
Sec is to either do industry or play markets.
Neither of these, by themselves, provides a whole lot of
excitement. Other players provide
that. CCP seems to be tweaking the game
to push more people out of the middle.
FW got a revamp. WH space can
provide lucrative rewards. Null has
better isk if you know what to do, and it has all those big fights, and all
those really big ships. Gently prodding
High Sec players to move out and explore other options helps them learn the
game and build the connections that will keep subs coming in, and keep the
player driven plotlines going.
Seagull Space
Third, there is the future.
Null sec is kind of broken, or at least sov is. If CCP Seagull’s “new space” is any
indication, CCP is more interested in trying something new rather than just
burning the whole world down. Imagine
sitting in CCP’s shoes. You have a core
of hardcore long term players that live in the sov of now. Those players run or play in the player
organizations that tend to keep people playing.
You know that sov is spiraling into irrelevance or stagnation for long
stretches. But if you tear down that
whole system and replace it on a patch day, you may lose a whole bunch of
people who worked really hard to get where they are in the broken system, and who
have been paying good money or buying the PLEX that others paid good money for. Remember, someone paid for every PLEX in the
game. Even if you make enough isk to not
pay real money for Eve, someone else is paying that price.
Instead of tearing apart the sov system these players have
played in for so long, you could start laying the ground for a new system. You start trying to implement the little
things that will make it work. At the
same time you continue trying to herd players into the regions and player
organizations that will adapt to major change and create the community
connections that keep online games going.
You do all these little things, and then when the big day
comes and you open a new space, you have all the little pieces in place. You also have the safe haven for the invested
players. You have new opportunities for
new and old players. And you have a live
test bed for a long term solution to the old space too. Let players do as they will for a few months
or an expansion cycle. Then CCP can come
back and say “See how well this new thing worked? Well, we are going to implement that in the
old world too.” Or CCP can say “See how
this new thing almost worked, but didn’t?
We’re going to fix it and not touch the old world.” The process can continue until you get the
desired result.
At least, that’s what I hope is going on. I suppose we shall see soon enough, as the
dev blogs and Fanfest approach. I do
wish that CCP would be a bit more open about their plans. That might provide a light at the end of the
tunnel for players who see many of the new changes as an attack on their way of
playing Eve. I wonder how many people
would respond favorably to an announcement like this:
“Many parts of New Eden are old. The players, the game, and CCP have outgrown
what currently exists. This is not a
simple problem to fix. There is
entrenched code and there are entrenched interests. We want to build a better world, but to do so
will take time and effort, and there will be growing pains.
Our plan is to release a new cluster, linked to New Eden,
but operating with different rules that govern how players interact with the
universe. In this new cluster we will
pioneer that better world while providing a space for new and old players to
explore, build, fight and destroy. We’ll
take the opportunity to find solutions that work for all of Eve Online. By creating new space, we can preserve what
players have accomplished in the New Eden Cluster, and provide ample time and
space for creating new gameplay mechanics without completely changing the game
you know and love overnight. We invite
you to continue flying with us as we continue to expand and refine both New
Eden and the universe beyond.”
I would welcome something along those lines.
