Ah, if there was ever a need for a (TM) in song lyrics that was it.
Rixx Javix over at Eveoganda revisted the hot-potato of Walking in Stations this week.
As I have said before, most people wanted WiS. CCP had teased us for years and it was something the majority of the player base were looking forward to. Remember this old video that got the fanfest crowd cheering? FFS Blogger, I cannot embed the HD version? WTF? Crappy cam capture below then.
Finally we got Incara.
- One dimly lit room.
- Loss of the hanger and ship spinning.
- Melted graphics cards.
- The NeX store selling $70 monocles.
There was much disquiet. 18 months of development neglecting the more important areas of the game for THIS?
Then it was made much, much worse.
- The leaked email.
- The Greed is Good newsletter.
At this point people went into fever pitch. Rioting nerds, shot monuments, unsubbing. As can be expected in situations like this everyone changed their tune. Suddenly nobody had ever wanted WiS. Yes a lot of the feeling was justified. However a lot of the feeling was also mob mentality. You're offended? Then I'M offended. You know the thing that happened on TV over the weekend. 8 people complained to the watchdog. A few days later a newspaper prints "Uproar over comments on TV show" and suddenly there are 80,000 complaints, 79,992 who never saw the piece originally but read about it. I think we need to take a step back and think about this sensibly. World of Darkness is dead, Eve is no longer a test bed for other projects.
Is it time to relook at WiS? We have a future vision don't we?
We need some limited WiS in my humble opinion. I beleive CCP did some customer research some time ago and found that a portion of people were put off not having an avatar. Avatar game play does not have to be meaningful. How long do you spend docked up spinning your ship? Wouldn't it be better to be down the bar with your corpies ready for when the FC says undock? It will also help CCP. How much clothing have you bought of the NeX? No real point is there when only you see it. I would expect NeX sales would vastly increase with WiS proper. NeX sales increase money for CCP and can act as an ISK sink (people likely to buy PLEX with ISK to convert in Aurum).
What I would like to see CCP devote some resources to:-
Station Bars
A place to chill with people. Yes, if 2000 people in Jita 4-4 all go to the bar Tranquility will melt. Thats why you follow the example of the Celtic Cross on the Wednesday before Fanfest. You limit numbers. Do instanced bars. When one is full another one spawns. All named and numbered so you and your friends can select the one where you plan to meet.
Corp Offices
How awesome could that be. Your corp offices decorated to your own style.
Space Houses
I think CCP are already looking into this in the upcoming POS work. ex-CCP Soundwave talked about these at Fanfest 2012 I think it was. Think houses in Skyrim or LoTRO. Apparently these things increase player retention.
There are a lot of other ways this could go but I think CCP just need to dip a toe in. Yes, I know there are plenty of people out there who don't give a toss about WiS. This is Eve, we all don't want the same thing do we?
Rixx Javix over at Eveoganda revisted the hot-potato of Walking in Stations this week.
As I have said before, most people wanted WiS. CCP had teased us for years and it was something the majority of the player base were looking forward to. Remember this old video that got the fanfest crowd cheering? FFS Blogger, I cannot embed the HD version? WTF? Crappy cam capture below then.
- One dimly lit room.
- Loss of the hanger and ship spinning.
- Melted graphics cards.
- The NeX store selling $70 monocles.
There was much disquiet. 18 months of development neglecting the more important areas of the game for THIS?
- The leaked email.
- The Greed is Good newsletter.
At this point people went into fever pitch. Rioting nerds, shot monuments, unsubbing. As can be expected in situations like this everyone changed their tune. Suddenly nobody had ever wanted WiS. Yes a lot of the feeling was justified. However a lot of the feeling was also mob mentality. You're offended? Then I'M offended. You know the thing that happened on TV over the weekend. 8 people complained to the watchdog. A few days later a newspaper prints "Uproar over comments on TV show" and suddenly there are 80,000 complaints, 79,992 who never saw the piece originally but read about it. I think we need to take a step back and think about this sensibly. World of Darkness is dead, Eve is no longer a test bed for other projects.
Is it time to relook at WiS? We have a future vision don't we?
What I would like to see CCP devote some resources to:-
Station Bars
A place to chill with people. Yes, if 2000 people in Jita 4-4 all go to the bar Tranquility will melt. Thats why you follow the example of the Celtic Cross on the Wednesday before Fanfest. You limit numbers. Do instanced bars. When one is full another one spawns. All named and numbered so you and your friends can select the one where you plan to meet.
Corp Offices
How awesome could that be. Your corp offices decorated to your own style.
Space Houses
I think CCP are already looking into this in the upcoming POS work. ex-CCP Soundwave talked about these at Fanfest 2012 I think it was. Think houses in Skyrim or LoTRO. Apparently these things increase player retention.
There are a lot of other ways this could go but I think CCP just need to dip a toe in. Yes, I know there are plenty of people out there who don't give a toss about WiS. This is Eve, we all don't want the same thing do we?
I used to like your blog... not sure now. CCP please leave EVE as spaceships, not station walks and pixel pubs. If I want to hang out at a pub, I will get my RL friends and go to a RL pub.
ReplyDeleteJust like things which mirror your opinion, he?
DeleteWiS... the little scratch on the roof of your mouth that would heal if only you could stop tonguing it, but you can't.
ReplyDeleteAs someone who came post incarna summer of rage I never understood it. As a photographer at heart, mine (heart) skipped a beat creating the characters. the detail, the tools for getting that perfect shot of your toon... wonderful. Then I got out of the character creator, in what is for me my avatar (the meat bag) and all I had was this miserable little hole in a wall looking out at whatever thing I was flying.
ReplyDeleteThat actually tuned me off. this amazing character customization tool, detailed expressions and... nothing. Now someone had actually paid for my first few months of eve time (they wanted people with cyno alts to move ships, and had some three month deal that was a steel they bought through steam, not realizing that it was only applicable to new players, and not wanting a second account found a mark) that saved the game for me. I would have never stuck around to get sucked into space if not for that. I still have my default set to captains quarters, and if I am dicking around talking with people I am more likely to have my avatar sitting on the couch than I am to spin my ship.
So, yeah I am in the WiS crew. To me it was almost promised when the first step was creating this incredibly detailed character. That it is in essence a glorified license picture is just a let down.
As for the NeX store I have bought things from it. frivolous things, and because I fall into the more money than time category I paid strait USD for the funds. Direct funding for CCP great. indirect funding through removal of PLEX from the economy still great. An isk sink? nope really not at all. The isk (minus taxes) is still in the economy just in someone else's hands. Clones were an isk sink. Repair costs at NPC stations are an isk sink. the transaction taxes, another isk sink. In all these cases the isk is gone. off to the CCP coffers never to return
AenE