Relevant:
http://www.graphicology.com/blog/2011/1/13/324-branding-should-have-a-backbone.html

"The point here is that more companies should do what Comedy Central did when they launched their new look. They gave people the reason(s) behind the move in a way that resonated with who they were and basically told people to deal with it. ...

"People don't seem to like change, even when it makes sense. But give them something that is smart and forward-thinking, or maybe even challenging at first and they'll eventually accept it. (Though if you ask them, they'll probably deny it.) Just remember Company X Brand Manager: at least they are talking about you and paying attention to your communciation design. How you respond (or don't respond) to this conversation is key."
 

It is true that if you want to do something innovative then you need to be prepared for resistance from people who have gotten used to the way things were.

Introducing a cash shop is not innovation however. There are very few games left without one. They are a known and for the most part accepted quantity. The only innovation here is the attempt to create a market for "luxury goods" by pricing items way way above normal expectations.

Let me restate that: they attempted to create a market for luxury goods by pricing CRAPPY items way above normal expectations. If they brought out a gold plated ship (think sparkly pony) and sold it for €50 there would have been some complaints but nothing on this scale.

This should have been obvious to them. A smidgeon of customer feedback would have shown them what reaction to accept.

I am a fan of EVE and I have no doubt that CCP will ride this through just as they have ridden through tough times in the past but I find it hard to believe that they couldn't see this one coming.
 

The dungeon finder?

I don't remember a mass outcry over the feature that spelled the end of WoW as a playable world and social experience. In fact, it was hailed and praised for being so great.

Didn't turn out so well.

Besides, the outcry over EVE is entirely justified. Mayhaps if it was so predictable, they shouldn't have gone ahead with it? They cannot appeal to the "silent majority" as Nixon did, since the silent majority either simply don't give a toss or would be fairly annoyed if they knew what was going on.
 

@mbp: The issue here isn't that they didn't see it coming. The issues is that they saw it coming and *did not care*. Winterblink said it well on WDA; CCP has fallen further out of touch with their playerbase and things like this do nothing but push players away.

@Tobold: I used to be a huge advocate of EVE as a solid, innovative game making great strides towards increasing accessibility and providing a polished, well rounded sandbox MMO experience. After the statements from CCP released both intentionally, and providing the unintentional releases are accurate, I don't know that I can in good conscience say those same things between the public statement and the allegedly leaked emails/internal newsletter
 

Well, given the kind of behavior CCP actually encourages players to engage in in EVE, I expect some treachery and double-speak from the company as well. It isn't as if EVE was a school for model citizens.
 

Im having a deja-vu experience here...If you are into blogging to win a popularity contest, sure, i see your concern. Otherwise you should not care. Bridging it to a previous post, focus on quality content not on the likability of it.
 

Otherwise you should not care.

Why should I not care about one of the biggest MMORPG stories this month, which is very deeply entangled with the much wider issue of how these games should be financed? And who are you to tell me what I should care about?
 

I was referring to I used to blog a lot more about ideas I have on how to make MMORPGs better. But the instinctive knee jerk rejection by commenters of absolutely everything new makes talking about new ideas a very unpleasant experience.

not the EVE bit, as i thought would be obvious.
 

The issue here isn't that they didn't see it coming. The issues is that they saw it coming and *did not care*. Winterblink said it well on WDA; CCP has fallen further out of touch with their playerbase and things like this do nothing but push players away.

Or maybe they are so in touch with their playerbase that they can recognize meaningless and ultimately irrelevant whining.

If people complain, but don't actually follow up by removing their business, why SHOULD CCP care? Whining, and $5, will get you expensive caffeine at Starbucks.
 

Are you just as admiring of his honesty knowing that he's talking about selling "I win" stuff in the cash shop?
 

Innovation? Putting a walkabout-mode then adding a pay for your clothes nickle and dime 'store' is innovation? I would hate see what 'copying to make more money from idiots'.
 

@Tobold
"But the instinctive knee jerk rejection by commenters of absolutely everything new makes talking about new ideas a very unpleasant experience."

Frankly, it's not what you say it's how you say it.

Case in point in your post on Codemasters Hacked. You state the following

"any determined hacker could in fact get data from pretty much any game company he wants."

When you frame the narrative with these kind of breezy statements you invite criticism of your foundational assertions. For example why couldn't the framing of the Hacking post be in the vein of "minority of game sites are getting hacked and there might be some under investment in security going on"?

I know we are all here to do mental recreation talking semi-seriously about gaming. But if a subject is broached perhaps it is better not to place it within a background context in such sharp terms.

Just a thought
 

Since then I received further "your data have been compromised" mails from Sega and EA Bioware. I'd say my statement was completely correct.

It doesn't matter how I say things, because MMORPG players are pseudo-religious nutters anyway. Most of the subjects you can talk abouts (every single game, business models, social engineering, hackers, piracy, etc., etc.) is a pet peeve for some people out there, and there is no way you can formulate any phrase without them foaming at the mouth.

Just read the comments in this thread: Half aren't about anything I said, but about what CCP did and I didn't write about.
 

[quote]Well, given the kind of behavior CCP actually encourages players to engage in in EVE, I expect some treachery and double-speak from the company as well. It isn't as if EVE was a school for model citizens[/quote]
Why is RP in WoW or any other fantasy MMO OK, but RP a Pirate/Scammer/Ninja in EVE its not?
 

A) Because it doesn't stop at the boundaries of the game.

B) Because some sorts of behavior can't be excused by RP. You don't "roleplay" being a ninjalooter, griefer, botter, or gold farmer in a fantasy MMO.
 

Just a few examples why Tobold is right baout Eve's system inviting odd player behaviours in Eve, even outside of Eve:

The largest fleet fights have been won with synchronous DOS attacks on the opponents team speak servers.

Large political shifts have been done by spies, bribing (even with real money) and even spying on CCP employees.

Large political changes have been done by gathering confidential information about the opponents from CCP employees.

Read the tournament experience and planning blogs of the teams and you see that this CIA behaviour is now part of the game without you can't really be top 3 in the game (as an alliance)
 

The main problem that I an many other EVE players who have cancelled their subs is that we didn't ask for this. We do not want game affecting items in the item shop, ever.

If anyone here has read the "Greed is Good" leaked internal newsletter can see that they are trying to capitalize on "monetizing social acceptance in online games." How does that help enhance the players experience?

They were stating that they sold experiences. Great! Now give me some content that will enable me to acquire that awful monocle naturally. Because, where is the ROLEPLAY when I just buy an item from the shop for aesthetic value?

As far as the interesting situations that happened in EVE, thats what makes EVE unique. Not to say that its good to have someone walk away with billions of virtual currency in an investment scheme (TITAN4U scandal).

Or is it what makes the game interesting that you can have the possibility of corporate espionage? I don't recall reading news about that happening in other games. We love that stuff, Heck, I love that stuff. I also love Murphys Law that states: If its not broken, don't fix it.

By any means, EVE is, in its current state, far away from being broken. However, if they continue with this arrogant stance and "stay the course" towards monetary transaction revenue model, they will break the community.

Community, that is the foundation of every functioning MMORPG running.
 

I got shouted WAY the heck down in various forums when I noted that this really isn't much of a big deal except to folks who were very happy with the market the way it was and who don't want to adapt to a tighter market.

1) The price of PLEX hugely affects anyone who isn't paying CCP for subscriptions, but is instead playing the game to pay for... paying the game. Why should CCP care about non-customers, again?

2) The future that many appear to object to, is: Pay to Win. Except that it already exists, so any MORAL objection to that, fails. (OMG, people will buy PLEX, trade it for Aurum, and use Aurum to buy ships, instead of currently buying PLEX, trading it for ISK, then using ISK to buy ships.) The only people who can object to this are the ones who SELL ships. Or the ones who envy others their RL money, and think it shouldn't be OK for RL money to make up for a lack of time spent in-game, generating in-game wealth.

3) People protested by being IN THE GAME, SPENDING ISK. (ie - by getting blown up a bit and wasting ammo.)

With the realID fiasco, I didn't jump around in Dalaran, shouting... I just logged out and canceled my sub. Easy. I know for a fact I was far from alone.

You bet your ass they track those metrics more intently than they track what people are saying on messageboards and forums.

Like the CEO said... it'll be interesting to see what people DO, despite what they're saying.
 

The protests on Jita and Amarr were not so much against the vanity items as the leaked memo citing future skill point purchases and "gold ammo" aka "pay to win". Since players can sell plex for isk and buy combat items with it, CCP already has Real MT. But skill point transactions would be a huge shift since it would allow new players to catch up to the bitter old veterans. Really though, I can't see CCP doing this. The protests last weekend were rumored to have ended with over 2000 subs cancelled -- based on speculation alone!
 

" But skill point transactions would be a huge shift since it would allow new players to catch up to the bitter old veterans"

Buy Plex, sell for ISK, go buy a character from the bazaar. Done. Already there!