http://seleenes-sandbox.blogspot.com/2011/06/black-friday.html
http://treborofthecsm.blogspot.com/2011/06/black-friday.html
So, WTF is going on? Let’s try and filter a little bit. I have held off on any comments for two reasons, I have been busy with the NC failscade trying to get my stuff out of Dodge, and it pays to wait a little when sh*t storms hit to see what filters out. My job involves filtering the anger and coming up with what people are saying and trying to find a way forward. I am not professing to be smart, just not stupid and I use common sense (which isn’t common right?). In fact I would say my management style comes from the movie saving Private Ryan to a certain extent (based on the little speech as to the worthiness of the mission). Basically problems stop with me and solutions begin.
I think EVE has just had its first heart attack. It’s had arrhythmias, palpitations’ and other warning sign, but its cardiac arrest time now. Like all things it a culmination of events. It’s Aurum and the cost of vanity items, it’s CQ and is lack of depth, resource hog monkey face avatars, its null sec nerfs (anomalies and JB’s, as well as poor industry options, RMT, unbalanced super caps) and the perceived CCP disconnect from its audience and CCP’s hidden agendas. The crunch is, is this a fatal heart attack? Or is it a severe warning, and who is the warning to, CCP or the EVE gaming community?I was watching a documentary on the cold war last night (couldn’t do much in null sec without a cyno) and noted from Winston Churchill’s speech about the Iron Curtain going up over Europe. It your statements aren’t bold, they just noise. So my bold statement:
This is the first heart attack before the imminent death of the patient. EVE, the game we know is dying and changing into something current players may not recognise in the near future.So let’s look at some theories, which if tested long enough become facts (Richard Dawkins and ‘the Greatest Show on Earth). Theory: CCP is moving EVE in a different direction from the existing game model.
Fact: The money trail shows what CCP is interested. It is roughly 40% Dust514, 40% Walking in Stations and Aurum vanity/luxury items, 20% EVE game development
Fact: The backlog of current game issues is so long that it will not be addressed in the next few years with the current resources assigned.Fact: MT are a normal way of generating large revenue volumes which exist in other gaming platform models, such as FPS and Virtual games. In fact games make more money than Hollywood and non-dedicated gamers make more money than serious gamers (so the $100 million per year for Farmville alone on FB is played by non-dedicated gamers and a bigger market source of revenue)
Fact: CSM is the voice of the players; it does not have to be listened to nor is it privy to major game direction/strategy or significant financial events related to the existing EVE game.Fact: CCP GM’s have publically stated, and taken action against outspoken players (both with and without good cause), to indicate that the general EVE gaming communities opinion is not valued.
Fact: one current area of CCP’s success is the retention of new players (who won’t know any different of how it used to be compared to the bitter old vets).The CSM is nothing more than a reflection of the community, a voice that is heard but does not have to be taken on board by CCP. The disconnect can be seen in the current attempts by the CSM to work with and communicate with CCP, and the way they were uninvolved in the pricing of vanity items. In fact you could say they were kept in the dark, and this was a deliberate CCP management decision.
I wonder if my note about the Sims dying and trying to pick up on this market for VR in space as a new market demographic. Smart, but a fail. CQ is not working. It is a resource hog for ugly monkeys (where did my cool avatar go) with real life prices for pixel vanity items. This may work in the dying Sims model, but not in EVE currently. Note, currently, this is where I expect to see a major change.Clear skies clearly showed what a group of awesome amateurs could do on their own time and resources. Compare the results to CQ with it years in development and you can see why it’s such a fail (Clear skies has multiple races, ships and stations for environments, we get one limited one for EVE after how many years?). But the fail may be for existing players, not for new ones. The new potential players know no different, and CCP is trying to attract a new demographic with a new model. VR in stations is not to appeal to the existing player base, but a new one. It is to be expanded and be allocated resources regardless of what the existing community think. It’s a business decision and model that CCP is pursuing.
Dust 514 is also a major commitment of resources from CCP that once again does not support the existing player base, and is in fact intended to deliberately appeal to a different market demographic.So CCP has put major resources into walking in stations and Dust514, neither of which are for the existing player base, but to attract a new market demographic. Existing issues have been around for a long time and we have all been asking for them to be addressed for years, and still no resources. Hmm, this indicates that it’s not important to CCP. That a new market will pay MT without thinking for Dust and CQ, as they know no different and it’s a model they are already familiar with.
It’s like CCP has said the game as it exists is great, but the big money is in MT and vanity items, and that’s not our current game demographic. They have sunk significant resources into this perceived new market and left the existing to stagger along as ‘it still works so it’s ok’. Then when the community complains (via forums, etc) CCP has slammed old vets (Helcity), ignored CSM and kept them in the dark and issued official postings that basically say ‘shut up you whiners we’re doing this anyway’. Hmm, doesn’t sound to me like they give a damn about the existing community other than as a platform on which to shift the business model for the entire business.What we have feared is also supported by the leaked newsletter. I totally agree with what Jester has to say (this is well worth a read): http://jestertrek.blogspot.com/2011/06/pebble.html . Taking it one step further, if you worked at a company and were asked to contribute to an internal publication, would you say the corporate rally cry or something controversial (severely limiting your career lifespan in the organisation). While it may be un-official it is the ‘allowed’ opinions internally. You try saying something against the culture of a company and see how long you enjoy the remnants of your job.
I think CCP believes the current gaming community as very demanding for a low revenue model. A better revenue model is what they are pursing and see this as growing pains and do not care about those they lose along the way. They think they are right, have a plan, and are awesome. They have patted themselves on the back and believe their own propaganda. But, you can’t dump the current gamer demographic without actually having the next one in place. This is one execution to soon, and it could well be the death of EVE.CCP doesn’t care as it no longer wishes to support the current gaming community. It doesn’t care if we all leave, it’s chasing new markets, and we are last century’s business model. If you emo-rage quit they will say, told you so, they were high maintenance and low financial rewards.
The crunch now is whether like a heart attack victim will the patient, CCP, listen to the advice (player base/CSM) and take action to improve its health, or will it say no, we’re right, your wrong and carry on until the next massive heart attack and its inevitable death? I am sure CCP is hoping the sims and FPS will save its business in time, uh-oh....
No comments:
Post a Comment