Stay of execution....

So CCP Zulu has released another devblog, in which some answers, and an apology, are given.

My thoughts of Vanity Items

I think the problem with the price of vanity items, is one of sticker shock; that we were expecting much lower prices, that have eventuated. I know my own initial reactions were such. However on taking the time to think it though, and applying some economic theory; I can possibly see why they have done what they have done.

This however is going to take a bit to write up, so I will come back to that in a separate blog post.

My thoughts on Non-Vanity Items
'...there are no and never have been plans to sell "gold ammo" for Aurum...'.

Finally the words we have all been waiting to see... I am admittedly however one in the corner of thinking that "Gold ammo" is being used here as a catch-all for all non-vanity MT items.

Some are concerned that this is just means no Gold ammo, and it still allows for anything else, but I think that is slightly churlish.

Trust
For me, the biggest pain I have felt over the last few days, is the destruction of trust. CCP needs to sincerely make a massive effort to regain the trust of the community, and this urgent summit is a good start.

On one condition..... Don't NDA the CSM.

The general Eve populace need to have the CSM come back and be able to give us enough information to allay all of our concerns.

For now, my finger is no longer hovering above the "desub" button, but I'm still not comfortable with the present situation.

Help us CCP, we want to be able to trust you again.

PS. World of Tanks is fun, and worthwhile bit of fun to try.

Really...??

This is your response CCP?

200+ page threadnaughts, people protesting in game by capping out the trade systems, and you think this vomit suffices as a response?

My last post I said I thought you had reached the point of jumping the shark, but now I realise that does not even come close to describe what a monumental fuck up in motion we are witnessing here.

Protip - When you find yourself in a hole, a good first step is to stop digging!

Nowhere in your response is the elephant in the room (namely pay to win) addressed, more you dismiss it as all being about

1. The price of the current vanity items,
2. The way in which the player base have reacted.

Okay, to address the points, I think I speak for most people, when I say I don't give a rat's arse about vanity items, though maybe if it was more price sensitive maybe I would have got some stuff to "spiffy" up my characters, but to be honest this is all shiny pony stuff. But as long as it remains shiny pony stuff, I don't care... in fact it's a good way to visibly identify the "tools" in the game.

Of course we have reacted violently, we as players have a lot invested in this game, in fact for many of us it is a hobby (rather than just a game), so of course we are upset when you threaten that investment, or the way our hobby works.

Between my wife and I we have a total of 7 accounts, which we pay for directly, so that makes Eve one of our biggest expenses. At US$105 a month, this is more than we pay for our cellphones, our home phone, and our internet - COMBINED. Indeed aside from food, petrol and rent, it is our biggest sole expense.

We love this game, we want to play it as long as it is possible, but we're not comfortable spending that sort of money each month if we can't trust the developers.

CCP - you have lost the players trust, and with every response you are making it is getting worse.

Jumping the Shark

• US$65 for a Monocle?
• More for an in-game shirt, than it would cost to buy a shirt in the real world?

It would appear CCP has reached their "Jump the shark" moment

I initially looked at walking in stations positively, as a way to increase the appeal of Eve to a greater number of people, and also give us more options for how to intereact in the game. Many regarded it as a waste of time, but I held faith that it would be used by people in ways we didn't expect to create new gameplay to enrich the game for us all.

However it appears some people's greatest fears have proven true, and walking in stations has become nothing more than the thin end of the wedge...

With the release of the "Greed is good" PDF, it is become apparent that CCP will not be happy, until we get nothing from our subscription but the walls of the sandbox, and a thin layer of sand at the bottom. If we want enough sand to do anything meaningful, or indeed the ability to use "tools" then they will all need to paid for seperately.

We all subscribed to Eve, on the basis of it being a subscription model, of it being a fixed monthly cost to enjoy what was the premium sandbox game, one that allowed us all to do whatever we wanted. Now CCP want to change this, and they assume we will all smile and take it....

Another sci-fi game did this... it was called Star Wars Galaxies, CCP should remember this, after all it gave them a nice big influx of players who left that game in disgust, when it happened.

Please CCP, step away from the kool aid, step away from the edge of the cliff, step away from your NGE, DON'T JUMP THAT SHARK

We love this game, but you are making it too appealing to look over the neighbouring fences, to see what is available.

EDIT.
There have been some great blogs, articulating better than I, just how retarded this all is, so in the interest of spreading their thoughts here are links to some of them

• Warp Drive Active's "Macromistake" blog and comic
• The Hydrostatic capsule's "At the monocular level"
• A merry life and a short one's "The Noble Exchange/Red Light district"
• Ecliptic Rift's "Beginning of the end"
  
• Chocolate Heaven's "Is Eve dying?"
  

Deja Vu.......

Once again I find myself bailing out of a null sec home, towards empire as fast as my little warp drives (or jump drives) can carry me.

As is now common knowledge, the northern power that was the Northern Coalition has been quite effectively smashed.

The forces of the DRF and their allies have changed the face of Sov warfare, and unfortunately we (the alliances that make up the NC) did not adapt, or recognise the the severity of the threat until it was too late.

So here I find myself, for the fourth time in my eve career*, packing all my stuff into ships, and getting out of dodge. So far 95% of my assets are now safe, while the remaining 5% I burn by assisting with others moving, or doing some quick pvp in what is a target rich environment.

I must admit I am having some of the most fun pvping that I have had in quite some time, the pressure has gone, and so I can relax into the fights, and enjoy them for what they are, rather than worry about "winning".

As for the future, we'll see, but at this point I see no need, or desire, for my wife and I to leave our current corporation. It is a community of friends, and no matter what happens I know we will succeed.

Finally, a piece of truly genius satire (regardless of it's accuracy or inaccuracy), it is just too damn funny and even Vuk posted it himself (proof he has a sense of humour).



* Interesting fact - All four times I have had to evacuate, it is has been with Russian pilots hot at my heels.