(03-19-2014, 03:51 PM)Koninbeor Wrote: I'm not going to spend hours defending it simply because I don't devote that much time to forums. EVE has bad apples just like anywhere else. Because of the huge focus on PVP, the competitive spirit really shines through in the local chats. This does generally translate into a lot of taunting as players try to lure the competition into making stupid mistakes. This tactic works more often than it should.
CCP doesn't have lazy devs, they have devs that have to focus on different aspects of the game than other devs. Most MMOs are filled with servers that duplicate a world. This is preferable for a theme park environment because it cuts down on the lines for all of the rides. Too much traffic in an area slows things down, which takes away from your gaming experience. CCP has addressed this issue in ultra-crowded areas by introducing tidi (time dilation) into the game. During tidi, the functions of ships are slowed down (guns and defensive capabilities have a longer cool down) in order to place less strain on the server, helping to ensure that the environment doesn't just crash. Tidi does suck, I won't lie. Everyone hates tidi. Still, it's better than crashing servers. EVE has crazy awesome servers that have been upgraded recently, so it's more of an issue with technology in general than their equipment.
Anywho, when CCP creates or updates something, they have to take into account the fact that their changes will have an impact on multiple servers simultaneously instead of just slapping it onto one server and calling the work done. In theme park games, what is good for one server is generally good for all of the other servers simply because it's the same specs on the server duplicating the same information. In EVE, different servers handle a different level of strain depending on which part of the gaming world they support. EVE actually has two worlds. The first is the actual live world and the second is the test server. CCP accepts feedback from players as they test out changes on the test server.
The fact that anyone who isn't in your corp is your enemy is nothing more than a myth. True, anyone who isn't in your alliance (a collection of corps) is a potential enemy, and you should likely use caution, but it isn't a hard rule. Especially in high security space. If you kill someone in highsec then CONCORD (the police) kills you back. Quickly. There is no escape. You get blown up. In Lowsec or Nullsec... yeah, then you're fair game. Just watch where you go. I'm a part of EVE University, a well-known corporation that helps new players learn the ropes. Unistas (that's what most people call us) are typically seen as very easy targets and yet we don't have many problems with people ganking our members. We have several in-game chat channels for different purposes, Mumble channels, and offer classes that anyone in EVE can participate in. It's a great community that I'm proud to be a part of, and it's certainly the largest clique I've ever participated in. Lots and lots of friendly faces. If you go solo or join a small corp then yes, things can be rough. But being part of a small group is a choice. The larger corps recruit, most aren't difficult to get into, and nearly all have a place for you.
Oh I'm aware of EVE Uni, like I said, I played the game for a while. Â Luckily, the RP community friends I had showed me the ropes. Â I wasn't just talking about local, forums are the same way. Â Strikingly, people are REALLY sensitive on the forums to pretty much anything. Â It was a weird dichotomy, playing a game where everyone tells each other to toughen up, but it's really easy to hurt people's feelings (not talking about you here, you're alright, just a lot more of them there than here). Â Maybe it's because I'm harder to write off as a troll or a moron?
I definitely get the feeling CCP devs are lazy, though. Â It's not an issue of what they add; those solar systems are, as I intimated, pretty benign and empty places. Â It's not what they add, but the rate and pace they add it, as well as their responsibilities elsewhere. Â Essentially, they care if someone hacks your account or finds some really cheap exploit they don't like (there's a story there). Â Other than that, they don't have to regulate anything, which is probably a healthy chunk of our MMO cost of living. Â So without that, you'd think they'd make more ships, more kinds of anomalies, more everything. Â They don't. Â Last expansion (patch, for the information of others', you aren't charged for expansions in EVE), they worked through a few balancing issues, issued like three more ship models, and a new type of cosmic anomaly (using their hacking game and tractor beam collection sweepstakes >.<). Â For the same subscription, look at what we're getting from Square for our next, likewise-free, patch.
And EVE doesn't really have a graphical content excuse, nebulas sometimes change but they don't have gravity fluctuations happening in three-star systems or anything. Â It's all nice and stable and easy. Â They just don't feel the need to further develop. Â What they did I wouldn't call positive. Â Time dilation is terrible; nothing made a thousand-ship starfight more boring than everything happening at 10% speed, so we all alt-tab out while we wait for weapons to cycle (unless you're in a recon frig, where you HAVE to be watching).
If there was one thing that soured me on CCP, it was their handling of their last live event. Â The one that was supposed to gather people together to attack a pirate base. Â There's nothing easier; it's dungeonmaster 101: get the people together, go somewhere, fight something, come back. Â I'm kind of lucky I'm in the U.S. and all their events happen when I'm at work. Â Got to see footage of CCP leading people in TiDi in a horribly organized mess straight into the teeth of player pirate alliances, trickling them in slowly into systems that are maxed and locked, and essentially giving up. Â The response they gave was mesmerizing. Â I'm assuming you read it, but I wasn't surprised at the negative reaction to it. Â CCP dropped the ball and said, "Well, we didn't expect that, so whatever."
As soon as I saw that, I was done with them. Â It's their event, it's their game, it's their baby. Â They should have fallen on the sword for it and I'd have respected them. Â Instead, they kind of shrugged and said it was the players' fault that they didn't somehow overcome the organization they were responsible for putting together.
And actually, EVE University was setting up pirate raids in the Bleak Lands? (I think) to show people the ropes there, too. Â So, yes, since I'm not Eve Uni, I was going to be on the menu. Â You guys, as nice as you might have been, weren't any different than any of the other people that were online at the time trying to kill me. Â I mean, my corp wasn't as big, but the rules were exactly the same. Â Don't trust anyone, barely trust the corp members because people will alt in spies. Â Definitely don't trust anyone that isn't tagged, because if you assume they'll all want to kill you and take your stuff, 9/10 times you're right and the 1/10 you'll never meet.
Just the sort of stuff you don't need when contractors are screwing up the mechanical work and hoping you don't notice you'll fail inspection.
It's not a myth that everyone but the corp that profits from you wants you dead, you said it yourself, the game is entirely PVPcentric. Â It's all the content that's challenging or matters. Â About the only thing CCP did that I really applaud them for were the Sansha Incursions, and FFXIV FATEs are just downright more varied and entertaining.
I mean, if you ever get bored of PVP (and I did), EVE doesn't have anywhere near enough meat on its bones to keep you full. Â I tried pretty much everything after that, but there's really nothing it does that other games aren't leaps and bounds better at unless you like FFA PVP.
I did when I started EVE, obviously. Â I definitely don't now, not for a monthly fee. Â It's just not worth it when there are more lethal games, PVE and PVP, that don't charge you. Â If you aren't constantly meeting new people and making new friends, you might as well not be playing an MMO.
