My good friend CrazyKinux has jump started a new version of the Blog Banters over on his blog and this time he's calling them "New Eden Banters". This is a great idea and should help to keep the few of us still pounding out regular blog posts busy.
This month's topic: CCP just handed you the keys to EVE Online. You're the new Executive Producer — full authority over development, technology, marketing, monetization, and community. The only mandate: make EVE thrive. What's your vision? What do you prioritize, what do you cut, and what sacred cow do you slaughter first?
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I have to start this post by making it clear that this topic is insane. A total, open-ended set-up that I am stepping right into by sitting down to write an intelligent response. Even just typing these words I can feel the darkness closing in, the weight of oppression bearing down on me. My anxiety is growing as the words flow onto the screen in front of me. Not from the massive weight of responsibility the topic suddenly imposed upon me, but from the community I am now responsible for. I didn't ask to be promoted. And while I would gratefully accept such a position should it ever be offered - I'd like to think there would be more of a gradual build-up before I sit on the throne.
I'm not going to complain. But I think it is important to note that I do not get research or market numbers reported to my desk from CCP Games or any other third-party consultants. I am not privy to the numbers behind the game. All I know is what any of us know, what is shared, what can be gleaned from market reports, or otherwise told to us in casual conversation. So anything I say has to be understood to be pure supposition on my part. All of which means everyone reading this, if anyone is still left, just wants me to get on with it.
I wanted to talk about Eve bloat. And then, this week, the universe got even bigger. CCP has announced the addition of new star systems in a starter region called Exordium. 53 new systems. And that announcement has just added to the bloat. Since I started playing Eve Online back in 2008 we've added wormholes, pochven, abyssals, zarzakh, and countless other means of content like filaments, plex, evermarks, and a whole host of new ships and new abilities, opportunities, and structures that would have been unimaginable back in those prehistoric caveman days of lore. Good grief, and that isn't even a complete list. We have moon drills. And mercenary dens. And we still have POSes for goodness sake.
And now we have 53 new systems for rookies to pop into and no announced way of getting them out. So that has to be a major concern. It is for me. I can easily imagine that a certain percentage of those new players are just going to stay there. Despite the low earnings, low rewards, and all the flowery words about how pitiful it will be - some will stay. Because it has the one thing that so many people moan about constantly - no risk. It is consequence free space. And no matter how you slice that, some players will choose to live like that. Potentially forever. There needs to be a graduation mechanic and so far at least, I've yet to hear about one. This opens the door to horrible consequences down the road. What happens a year from now when several thousand paying subscribers start complaining about a lack of content for their chosen play-style - the Exordium Class?
So my first act would be to insure there is a defined and clear graduation mechanic to kick those lazy Exordium Class players out of their comfort zone and into the harsh reality of New Eden. Otherwise we've simply created a new player-class of consequence free players that will never stop complaining on Reddit about how boring their space is.
Otherwise Eve Online is better now than it has ever been before. We need to continue to develop the technology under-pinning our universe because it is always acting up, freezing, kicking us out, and experiencing horrible time-dilation during some really important moments. We need to invest constantly in better systems. We may need to port the universe at some point in the next decade - but that is a topic for another post. There is no end to balance issues that need balanced. Missing holes that need plugged. Old systems that need updated. And tons of content just laying around that needs attention. All of which is just more bloat. It happens after two decades.
I still believe that Eve Online's best years can actually be ahead of us. Call me crazy. Call me mad. But I believe it can be possible. This game is insane. And more people need to be told about it. So I think there is a tremendous amount of potential in marketing and branding. And I do believe that Exordium could be a huge step in the right direction if handled properly and planned accordingly. I could go on and on.
So yeah. I have ideas. I didn't ask to be in charge, but I'm ready to step up. Anytime. Just DM me. I can start tomorrow.
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