This post isn't about all the problems myself and others had getting the new expansion to work, you can read the post below this one for more about that. No, this post is about Phase One of the next phase of Eve Online: Incarna.
The Eve forums and Twitter are all a buzz about this expansion. In ways that no other expansion has generated, at least not the ones I've personally experienced in the last three years. Lots of anger and bitter talk and anger and... you know, anger.
I admit, I was pretty angry myself this morning when I couldn't even get into a ship and undock. That didn't last long though and it got sorted. So for me, and this is just me right now, Incarna is a HUGE success.
How can I say that? Well first of all I haven't in the past, nor do I expect to in the future, care one way or another about walking in stations. I've been saying it since the beginning, I fail to see the point. My game is in space, in a ship of my choosing, shooting other players in the face. That's all I do. Incarna, now that it is working, doesn't get in the way of that. Neither does vanity items, control panels, news feeds or how fat my butt looks in those pants.
I've sat thru ALOT of expansions that meant nothing to me, Incursions? I don't care. Time and time again these expansions have done little to help or hurt the fighter pilot. I was more excited about the new Scorpion than anything else, and it has been that way for a long time. Really since Dominion.
Besides CQ however, this expansion actually did stuff that I liked. The new Devoter skin is sweet as HELL! New turrets!? Kick ass. They even got rid of un-probe-able ships! Whoa. I even hear that the rats are tougher now, but I wouldn't know about that. All in all, with these and other modifications, the in-space game I actually care about feels much better. It even seems to run better.
I haven't even opened the Noble Store thingie and I don't plan on ever opening it. So the cost of items in that store mean nothing to me. From what I hear they are very expensive. Huh. I wouldn't know.
Now CQ is clunky right now. So after I played around in it for awhile I turned it off. Hopefully CCP will be busy working on making it less clunky and eventually I'll be able to stand right where I am in the picture above. That is as far into a station as Rixx will probably ever go. Nothing has changed for Rixx. When he is in-game he is in-space, or working on getting into space, or talking about getting into space, or waiting for me to come back so we can undock and get into space.
That was my personal perspective.
As to the rest of you, I do understand your frustrations. I suspect you managed to build this expansion up in your minds a tad more than the reality of it. I remember all the talk leading up to this and everyone was trying very hard to manage expectations. This was just Captains Quarters remember? This was a taste, not a full meal. I suspect those that are the most upset today are those that are mysteriously in stations when I come into a system. I've never understood station spinners and I don't now.
Everyone has to come to their own terms with change. Change destroys, annihilates and lays waste. It is a violent act. And it is natural. Some adapt, some learn to live with it, and some do not.
I can't, not would I presume to, tell you what to do, what to think, or how to react. That is totally up to you. Personally less vets in the game mean more pilots with less skill points than me, which is always a good thing.
I don't walk. I fly.