There seems to be a slight trend lately that I've noticed around the neighborhood, a trend that seems to suggest CCP is adding more and more PvE content (which they are) and that this is somehow a bad thing that threatens to destroy our precious EVE.
To that suggestion I say PFFT! (Which is my way of spelling the sound of a very large raspberry issued with some degree of associated spittle being flung forward from my puckered lips.) In fact, I say add even more PvE to the game. Bring it on.
Let me back up a minute and re-state the obvious for my long time readers and something the new guys might not know, I don't PvE. Oh sure rarely I might wander out and shoot rats, mostly if they happen to be on a Gate, or I might even get really bored and run a Mission or two, but I seriously never really do it. I play EVE to fight other players and that is pretty much it. When I am not fighting I am doing things that need done so that I can fight later, or better.
But I have nothing against PvE. I even understand why people like it. We all say this all the time, the great thing about EVE is the wonderful variety of ways in which an individual can play the game. In fact, there is no right or wrong way to play EVE. I have my way, other people have theirs. Sweet ain't it.
I even understand why CCP is adding more PvE content to the game. They're doing it because people like it. Other people that aren't me certainly, but there are people. And those people are important to CCP and to the future of this game we enjoy. The more people that play EVE the more likely it'll be around long enough for me to continue enjoying shooting other players! Many of whom are enjoying PvE content.
I know it might be difficult for the hard-core EVE player to understand this, but not everyone in the world has the time, the energy, or the dedication to play this game the way we do. In fact, the vast majority of potential players don't. The VAST majority. These players, the casual EVE player if you will, wants to get on and shoot things make some iskies and log off. That's the reality. PvE allows them the chance to do that. And have fun doing it. So they come back. So they pay for next month. And hopefully the month after that.
Their dollar is just as valuable as yours.
So I say keep adding more content CCP. And keep adding more players. Expand this Universe and keep growing the sandbox. The more targets us PvP players have the better.
The EVE Universe will continue to expand, the foundations are being laid right now. Incarna will be another big step towards that expansion. To me the goal seems as obvious as the hair on Rixx's head. To open the universe to different kinds of players, to grow not only the amount of players but the types of activities those players can engage in. Eventually, even the types of platforms on which they can engage in those activities. If I was giving business advice to CCP that would be one of the most important elements of that advice, expand or die.
And I am NOT saying everything is wonderful and hunky-dory in PvP land and that nothing is in need of serious effort on CCP's part. They screw up enough as it is. This game isn't perfect by any stretch and there are areas that need some serious love and attention, like Sov Mechanics for example. But all in all I don't see that more PvE content is an issue.