Monday, June 27, 2011

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.


Link

Saturday, June 25, 2011

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.