Blog Banter 38: Small improvements make a difference

 "In his recent "That's just the way it is" post on Jester's Trek, blogger Ripard Teg posits that the established EVE player-base has come to accept many of EVE's design idiosyncrasies, rarely questioning their purpose or benefit. Conversely, he also suggests that new players might not be so forgiving of these "quirks". In an interview with Gamasutra, Senior Producer CCP Unifex describes EVE Online's developers as "relatively hands-off janitors of the virtual world", underlining that he has only four content developers but "a lot" of programmers and engineers.

Has a culture developed where CCP has started to take player effort for granted - expecting the "social engine" to fulfil tasks that might otherwise be CCP's responsibility? Or should this culture be embraced as part of "emergent gameplay" with these quirks accepted as the catalyst for interaction?"

This is an interesting question, which is why I've waited a few days to blog about it.  The TL/DR of it is, yes, I believe that CCP does take player generated content for granted.

As we look at this though, it's not as simple as saying CCP needs to start pouring content into the game.  A sandbox, by its very nature, walks a fine line between the developers pushing their agenda and allowing the players to pursue theirs.

Imagine for a moment what would happen if CCP started focusing their development on storyline missions.  I'm sure we would get some great "quests," some great "raids," and everything else that every theme park MMO has to keep its player-base entertained.  Wouldn't it be fun if we could take part in this video:

Honestly, the story lover in me would love that.  We fly our ship and discover something, then we debark and explore it, get something valuable, and all of this within a well written narrative that keeps us engrossed throughout the end.  Honestly, in my opinion, this would be amazingly fun if done properly.

The problem with doing this lies in the amount of resources that CCP would need to put into it.  We wouldn't get PvP balancing nearly as often, probably no new ships (or one per new "raid" every year or so).  We probably wouldn't see mining, POS, and all industrial mechanics iteriated on for a much longer period of time.  CCP isn't EA or Blizzard, they don't have the resources to do it all.

So where is the razors edge in this?  Clearly putting content of that level is out of realistic reach of CCP (if they can even do it all at).

I ask you this question, what is the single most important thing to keeping players in the game?  It sure isn't the tutorial, nor is it the wonderful UI.  It could be the spaceships and the visuals, but honestly that will only take you so far.  I'm willing to bet big money that Eve University (and other noob-friendly corps) is probably the most important part of Eve's growth.  I know for a fact that I wouldn't still be playing this game had I not joined E-Uni when I started playing.

And there in lies the problem.  The single most important thing for Eve's continued success isn't anything CCP is doing at all, it's all with us, the players.  Simple things like convincing new players  to keep playing are completely abandoned by CCP and, in my opinion, that is a very telling sign.

So what should CCP do?  Again, they can't go WoWish with the content, but simple things they can do.  Create more engrossing epic mission arcs, infuse the Eve lore more into the daily game play (for example put more of the lore into ship descriptions, with links to further reading).  Voice acting.  Create a great NPC villain that everyone from day 1 can recognize (Sansha is a pretty poor villain from a game standpoint in all honesty).  Why not let the factions duke it out in highsec?  See faction navies fighting each other, and swapping territory (why can't Jita sometimes be in Gallente space?).  Do live events that span large areas and further the Eve story instead of just putting it in the expansion notes.

There are literally thousands of simple things that CCP can do to provide content on their end without destroying their core game philosophy.  Eve would be better for it.

Blog Banter 37: Don't cross the line

"EVE Online sits on the frontier of social gaming, providing an entertainment environment like no other. The vibrant society of interacting and conflicting communities, both within the EVE client and without, is the driving force behind EVE's success. However, the anonymity of internet culture combined with a competitive gaming environment encourages in-game behaviour to spread beyond the confines of the sandbox. Where is the line?"

Eve is real they say, but how real can we allow it to be? There are people in this video game I will freely admit I can't stand; but what would happen if I met them in real life, or found their real facebook page, or anything outside of the game?  The answer to that is simple, nothing.

Let's back up a little bit though, at first look this is a very simple question with a very simple answer.  Would you physically harm someone in real life over a video game?  Would you attack them in their social circle?  Taunt, ridicule, harass them?  Of course you wouldn't; and if you would, it's probably time you stepped away from the computer for a while.  There's more to this simple question than would first appear though.

As we delve deeper into this line of thought a few truths arise.  First, we all think we're way smarter and more important than we really are.  Second, the internet allows us, via it's anonymity, to be someone other than our true selves.  In an of themselves these aren't bad things.  It can be a great relief to come home from your menial job and enter a world where you're a bad ass and incredibly important.  All games do this for you, frankly that's why we play them.  TV does this, movies, books, they all allow you to take away the stresses of life while enjoying another reality.

MMO's take this escape, and put you into a world filled with thousands of others trying to do the same thing.  Just like in real life though, in Eve you can be unsuccessful.  You can be unimportant.  But it allows us to take out our frustrations on other people.  You can be a jerk, you can be a criminal, you can be the lowest society has to offer, and have fun doing all of it.

Thirdly, there is no true governance online.  You can do what you want, say what you want, lie, be a dick, whatever.

Let me ask you a question.  If you knew, for a fact, that you could rob a bank for billions of dollars and would never get caught, would you do it?  I'd wager that 90+% of the world would say yes.  I know I would, we don't do it though because we know for a fact that we will get caught.  The problem with the internet is, we won't get caught for being a douche-bag.  Our parents/girlfriends/wives will never know what we watch late at night.  Your friends won't know that you love My Little Pony (shame on all of you btw).

What happens when you combine people being their natural dick selves with no repercussions trying to fight a bigger dick, all in a world that encourages it?  Lines get crossed.  People say racist, homophobic, sexual, and all around stupid things.

The way I see it, the line is truly crossed when you bring up someones personal life into the mix.  I know we've all used the word "fag" to describe another pilot we've met.  The problem arises when we use that word to attack the person behind the pilot who is in fact truly gay in real life.  The line for acceptable online interaction is much further back than what it is in day to day life, and you need to be prepared for that.  What you can not allow yourself to do though, is get involved in other players real lives in a negative way.  That can range from physical violence all the way to personal attacks on the forums and in chat.  The moment you bring up the person, you've crossed the line.

Remember, they're just like you, trying to escape from reality for a bit.  So be nice, don't attack their personal lives.