Saturday 25 June 2011

Greed is Good



In case you missed it, here is a useful summary of the rage that is gripping Eve (it's good to see Jester back in action, btw).

I'm not a veteran Eve player - I've got less than 6 months in this game - so I have no attachment to "the way things were". That said, I'm very concerned about what has happened and wonder how it impacts my long-term prospects in New Eden.

To begin with, I'm dead set against any real money transactions that result in gameplay advantage. It's an absolute red line in any game I play. The day Eve introduces (or even announces) "golden ammunition" is the day I stop my subscription. And while I don't discuss my real life much in this blog, I will say that it's not because I can't afford micro-transactions. If I were so inclined, I could buy myself a titan this evening without batting an eye.

No, I pvp (in Eve and other games) because I enjoy pitting myself against other players - I enjoy the challenge and the conflict, both experiences that are generally (and thankfully) absent in my real life. What I have ZERO interest in is pitting my wallet against their wallet. I'd probably win more than I lost, but frankly, anyone who engages in that kind of behavior loses (edit - I guess that makes them losers, doesn't it?).

I'm also pretty appalled at how badly CCP is handling this. As someone who works in the private sector, I have loads of experience dealing with clients of all kinds, and I'd expect to be out of business in a year if I treated my clients the way CCP does. The fact that they endure is a testament largely to Eve's incredible appeal.

In the absence of further developments, I don't see myself leaving New Eden over this, but they have killed all my interest in World of Darkness, despite the fact that I played WoD (the roleplaying game) when I was younger. I'm also going to be keeping a much closer eye on CCP's plans for the future. Why would I continue to invest time in a game I may not be playing in six months?

8 comments:

  1. An excellent summary, man, and very much the way I feel about it at the moment. Kind of like CCP is with us, I am waiting to judge them on actions rather than words. Until then I will keep blowing things up.

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  2. Heh, thats a nice chilled out summary compared to the other forum rage. I canceled my 3 alt accounts. Gonna keep my main active for lowsec pew pew.

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  3. > I'm dead set against any real money transactions that result in gameplay advantage

    Then why are you still playing? Because anyone can already get advantage with real money.

    > Why would I continue to invest time in a game

    You shouldn't. I don't know why would you play any game where you feel like you're investing in it, instead of enjoying it.

    I love your blog, but all this pointless nerdrage makes me sick.

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  4. Taurean Eltanin, in RL, I also work in the private industry servicing small to medium businesses from two separate angles -- Internet hosting customers, and Internet hosting providers (we handle their administration and security).

    I'm starting to wonder if it is a cultural issue based on the regions for which management works or just a lack of understanding of capitalism; which typically only works well if you listen to your customers.

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  5. Hey guy, I ran across your blog (specifically the punisher plan) on the eve-o forums about a day ago. It's been a very entertaining read so far.

    My main (the name listed) has been inactive for about a year and a half but I have another day left on a trail I started a couple weeks ago to get my "eve fix."

    Anyway, I just wanted to drop an irrelevant response to the "anyone can already get advantage with real money" comment 'anonymous' posted up above. While it's true people can buy faction gear for an added bonus with real money it's nothing hard/intelligent work can't achieve. Also, the market itself regulates the price of items so losing them will eventually get more and more expensive as the supply drops.

    I figured I'd comment about you pointing a cyno frig as well. While I can appreciate the potential for the cyno cycle to complete and the frig to warp off the likelihood of that happening is rather small. Something for you to possibly try in the future is to not point the frig (since the cyno prevents them from warping - I killed a cyno fit vexor in a ratting myrm once) but to wait for the pod.

    Anyway, I'm really enjoying the blog and I bookmarked it for future reference. I guess that's a comment on the ability to be a part of the community without playing the game. :)

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  6. I am sorry to point this out (I am a market nerd, I have spreadsheets checkitout) but you can already buy your way into whatever you want in Eve. Say you decide to buy $300 in PLEX that would convert to (current market) 8 billion isk. which then can buy a usable PvP character and some ships. Personally i hold it as a point of pride that I don't even pay for my sub. But practically one must realize that if a person really wants to throw money at Eve they can get whatever they want. To me throwing money at a game to win = losing.

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