Once again my friend Rushlock has made a video responding to one of my recent posts, which you can read here.
It's a good video and I encourage you all to watch it and subscribe to his channel for more videos. I really enjoy listening to him discuss my posts and hearing someone else's opinions about what I write is illuminating to me. As with anything however, it can be rather limiting from a wider-angle perspective when you've written nearly three thousands posts over the years. That is just as much my problem as it is anyone else's of course. If I tried dealing with that issue in a more comprehensive manner my new posts would be little more than constant references to past posts. And no one wants that.
As an example, way back in 2011 I proposed a new way of introducing new players to Eve called, "Sanctuary" and over the years I have expanded and expounded on this concept in more and more posts. Like this one from 2014. If you don't want to go back and read those the essential concept is really easy to explain. Turn each rookie system into a stand-alone and protected instance for tutorials, guides, and hand-holding until such time as the player decides it is time to jump the gate and enter the wider universe. Many video games use a very similar approach to new players, showing them the world without consequences until such time as they pass a test, get a license, or whatever the specific task might be. For those players who are simply generating a new alt, they can just skip it. There is more to it, or could be, but that is the basic idea. And I would not be opposed to such a construction and I believe it would be extremely effective in helping truly new players better understand Eve before being exposed to the sandbox.
Over the weekend I finally got around to booting up the new Gran Turismo 7 for my PSV and that game does an excellent job of guiding you through the world and making sure you understand how it works before dropping you into more and more complexity. I could go on and on. Other games do this, Eve could as well.
The root of my argument however remains centered around conflict and consequences. What makes Eve so powerful is that core element. And while Eve as a construct may be subject to the whims and changing dynamics of the greater gaming universe, as any game would be that is approaching its third decade - that core element is the heart of what makes Eve work. Without it, Eve fades away. Eve might fade away with it. None of us can predict the future. But I do know this, without the conflict that rages in the heart of Eve it would no longer BE Eve - but something else entirely.
Last night my Wife and I watched an excellent documentary about the life of Tony Hawk. I highly recommend it and it is available over on Apple TV. What struck me was the up and down nature of skateboarding over the years. And how interest wained and gained over time and how that effected Tony's career as well as the entire skateboarding community. From an Eve player perspective it made me think of all those graphs and charts over the years that people bring out to show that Eve is Dying. They always have some pet theory about the reasons why and more often than not those reasons are suspiciously based around something they care about personally. Miners believe mining needs to be better. PvPers think PvP needs to be better, etc. This is normal human stuff here. Few of us are trained to look at customer data from a higher altitude. And while I certainly don't have access to any data directly from CCP my suspicions are that Eve suffers from the same long-term trends that other long-term activities do. Like skateboarding. Like anything else that is a long-term activity. Interest comes and goes over time. Peaks and valleys.
I do believe that Eve needs to continue to evolve and expand and grow. Of course I do. But I also believe that it needs to protect that thing that makes it unique, to cherish it, protect it, and keep it as long as it can - sacred. Everything we love about Eve comes from that dangerous conflict, the fear, the exultation at victory, the shakes, the guides, the endless debates, the wars, the story itself. And without that Eve will certainly fade away.
This I know.