Something and Nobody

I don't want it to come across on this blog that I am negative about Eve.

I wouldn't play it if I didn't like it. And when I no longer like it, I will stop playing and writing on this blog.

Back in my day, you had to type in games from a magazine. And, invariably you would have to go in search of gosub that didn't, or amend a value that broke the game by returning infinity just at the point of victory.

So to find myself occasionally catching my breath at the beauty of my ship passing a temperate world with a cyclone at the south pole, is well worth the subscription fee.

However.... isn't there always an however.... I then find myself wondering why CCP don't make more of the game.

And then I heard the latest episode of crossing zebras, in which reference was made to the CCP forums being full of 'nobodies within the game' and the tinfoil hat podcast was equally scathing about players using the forum to provide feedback and ideas to CCP.

What was interesting was that after damning the nobodies on the CCP official forum, they then went onto say that they didn't read the forums.

Which kind of explains why they weren't aware that rather a lot of those posting are what in gaming lingo is refered to as 'bitter vets', essentially moaning that thet actually have to play some sort game to do things, and wouldn't it be better if this was all just automated? Or I am not having fun and therefore the solution is to nerf high-sec - presumably because they are 'nobody within the game' - and therefore what does it matter?

And of course it doesn't mater, as CCP have repeatedly shown - with numerous daft changes to high-sec that have not achieved it's stated purpose, and if anything have achieved the contrary.

The one that springs to mind is custom houses. The dev blog that announced the change to player owned custom houses claimed that the move would make for exciting high sec wars, and new PvP opportunities, and all the usual guff CCP come out with when they have run out of ideas. Yet instead from what I can see there are a whole lot of people collecting 17.5% of nothing - and occasionally someone (like myself) will experiment with PI, until they get fed up with the idea of paying a percentage of their profit to someone for no other reason than at an arbitrary date they happened to take advantage of CCP's ill thought out plan to bring 'content' to high-sec.

Yes I could declare war. I could try and negotiate a better deal. Or I could just take the path of least resistance, shut down the colonies and leave the planet to be another high sec planet without content, interest or income - though they do look pretty when you fly past them.

But then CCP were taking the path of least resistance in making the change to custom houses in the first place.

And in a sense CCP were dealing with the problem of 'somebodies within the game' breaking infinity....

but... I feel operation Croesus calling, so I shall leave this here and come back to my theme of a living universe at a later date.

Oh and while I think abut it - and this really will upset the 'somebodies in the game' - a simple way of improving game play and making PvP fun, would be to introduce a random element int he form of critical hits - with a chance that a lucky hit explodes the ship.

That should keep the meta-gamers steaming - and possibly not logging in....

Which curious, since the movers and shakers that appear to have the most influence on the game, apparently are the one's who play the least.

Which perhaps explains why they don't read the forums - as you have to an active account.

peace)