Why CCP's Plan for a New MMO Is a Good Thing
There's been a lot of talk lately about CCP's new MMO project, which was revealed by way of a post on CCP's website about a job opening for lead designer. This comes on the heels of plenty of other news about CCP: Massive layoffs, the termination of virtually the entire EVE community team, CCP's abandonment of the VR market, etc., etc. In this post, I'll tell you why CCP's plan to develop a new MMO is a good thing for EVE.
But first, a few words about the mood of the EVE community. If you browse the EVE subreddit, you'll find the mood there to be particularly somber. One might think that all of those redditors had recently been ganked by members of the mighty CODE. alliance. No doubt many of them have, but there's nothing new about that. Why so much pessimism now?
I suppose it's a combination of things: CCP's downsizing, its failure to deliver any exciting new features, its failure to fix broken old features, its introduction of annoying chat buttons, the latest evidence that CCP isn't doing anything about bots, the decline in player numbers, the close of a year without any major wars, and nothing hopeful on the horizon.
I've been playing EVE almost since the beginning, and I have to say the current mood of the EVE community is unprecedented. During the Summer of Rage, people were angry, but at least they were animated and engaged. Now there's just a sense of malaise. Welcome to the Winter of Discontent.
EVE's problems may seem big, but they're easily fixed. CCP could restore the game and send it soaring to new heights. It wouldn't take much; it could be done in a long weekend. I wrote about how CCP can save itself and EVE Online in a simple, step-by-step program. So far, CCP hasn't taken my advice. No wonder people are so unhappy.
Enough of the gloom. Let's talk about why CCP's plan to create a new MMO is good for EVE Online. At first blush, it seems counterintuitive. After all, when CCP devotes its resources to a different game, that means less time and money gets spent on EVE. Right?
Well, not necessarily. Remember, you're assuming that CCP was ever going to put any of its resources into EVE. It's not, though; it hasn't for years. Review the history. CCP diverted its money from EVE subscriptions into developing World of Darkness, "Walking in Stations" (actually part of the foundation being laid for World of Darkness), Dust 514, and all the VR stuff. CCP has since given up on all of those projects.
You have to go back a long way to find a time when CCP was serious about putting its time and money into EVE. And no, Citadels and FozzieSov don't count. Both are failures. Combined with all of the non-EVE failures listed above, CCP doesn't have much to show for the last several years. It's a good thing the New Order brought the Code to EVE, or else what would be left?
An important historical reflection: Years ago, the dastardly carebear apologist and CSM Chairman Trebor Daehdoow, along with his chief disciple, Ripard Teg, aggressively pushed the idea of increasing safety in highsec as a way of boosting subscription revenues and allowing CCP to spend more money on new features for EVE. Trebor held it out as a Faustian bargain: How much risk are you willing to give up, as long as you get more features? Ripard "Jester" Teg went right along with him.
I boldly (not to brag) stood against these wicked men and their lies. I called them out on both parts of their deception: First, I argued that greater safety in highsec wouldn't boost subscription revenues. Second, I argued that CCP wouldn't use the money from EVE subscription revenues to develop more EVE features; they'd use it to fund other projects instead. I was proven 100+% correct on both counts. CCP's own scientific studies repeatedly proved me right on the first point, and CCP's many blunders over the following years proved me right on the second point.
All of this is a roundabout way of saying that CCP's new MMO project won't take away resources from EVE, because CCP was never going to put resources into EVE anyway. "Fine," you say, "So the new MMO won't be bad for EVE. But how will it be good for EVE?"
We don't know much about what this new MMO is supposed to be like, but the rumor mill says it will be a mobile game filled with microtransactions. That's speculation. We can be more confident in predicting that if this new venture fails, CCP will be in rough shape. Neither of those things really matters to the point I'm about to make, however. Caution: You might not appreciate said point, if you're too sensitive.
Here's the good news:
Once CCP has its new MMO, we can encourage bad EVE players to unsubscribe, and CCP won't lose any revenue because the bad EVE players can go to the new MMO.
I know this is a controversial topic. A lot of people get mad when we suggest that an angry, post-gank carebear should consider other games. Misguided critics say that we're hurting CCP by driving down subscription numbers and encouraging players to quit.
Now, for the record, I have never told people that they need to quit EVE, though I have told them that they need to leave highsec if they won't obey the Code. On the other hand, I have also said that it's not good for people if they play a game they don't enjoy, and that they're better off finding a game more to their liking if they're no longer happy with EVE. I've never understood why the carebear apologists think it's more humane to keep people paying for a game that they hate, when all it does is benefit some corporation's bottom line at the expense of the little guy.
With another CCP MMO in the gaming universe, we needn't concern ourselves with such things anymore. Our Agents ought to be free to openly advocate the mass-unsubbing of all the unhappy, maladjusted carebears who don't obey the Code. We can refer them all to CCP's new game.
Would CCP have a problem with that? Actually, they'd probably approve. The new MMO will almost certainly be designed to be profit-driven from day one, in a way that they wish they could've done for EVE, and almost did (remember the "Greed Is Good" article), before the Summer of Rage torpedoed their plans.
It's only natural that CCP's sole focus will be the new MMO's growth, and they'll be perfectly happy to see players go from EVE to the new game. This, in turn, will benefit EVE, because non-compliant bot-aspirants will leave highsec. It's a win-win.
And the CODE always wins. Always!
Labels: CCP, Victory
Ehnea Mehk January 13, 2018 at 7:18 PM
Two problems with your analysis there, Jamesy.
It was already proven that ganks and griefing do not chase away players. They might leave because of the learning curve, or won't have the patience to become a better player but they won't leave because they got ganked/griefed. CCP has a video about that.
Even if they did move to that new MMO, you're making it sound like the non-compliant "bad players" are taking up space, preventing "good" players from creating accounts. It's not a lineup queue at a shopping mart. The "good" players will come whether or not we have "bad" players already here. If these good players don't show up after the bad players leave, EVE is in even more trouble because subscriber revenue won't rise.
Your lack of education is showing. You were probably an alpha student also, doing the absolute minimun.
Your failure to support EVE financially invalidates any opinion you may think you have. As a freeloader, you really don't get a vote.
Nive try ehnemapoo. You sure spend a lot of time on this site begging for visits to your cringe blog. Tell us again about that bet you so totally won and all that ISK you make in your faction welfare plexes.
Alt 00 January 13, 2018 at 10:24 PM
Ehnea, believe it or not I have actually visited your blog, (half of which seems to be about our adventures together in Nakugard)!
And thinking about it, I should never have instructed you to leave. I'd like to invite you back now. Perhaps you could bring some of your friends? I'm sure I would enjoy meeting them, too.
Ehnea Mehk January 15, 2018 at 12:55 AM
Heu Alt 00 I never left. I still visit the first two belts --- that's why I still have secure cans floating there (they are the ones marked BIN xx).
If you log on at your usual time chances are good you'll see me mining without a permit as usual. I can't speak for Spacemen Of The Deep though: they don't mine in systems less than 0.6. I'm sure you know the reason why.
How big are you boobs, girlie?
LvG January 21, 2018 at 12:34 AM
ever heard the saying "one bad apple spoils the bunch" ehnniepoo?
that's what risk averse non-compliant players in eve are: bad apples.
that's why we use antimatter to turn them into applesauce.
I would rather play eve with 10000 people who all love eve for what it is, a pvp centric game, than 30000 players who think that shooting spaceships in a spaceship shooting game is "griefing".
Our Supreme Protector always has a way of looking at the bright side. :)
Wolf Soprano January 13, 2018 at 9:03 PM
Good read - as usual james hits the Nail on the head.
P.s - antigankers are failing so hard right now
Good boy, keep posting
ehnema thinks it's a numbers game. It's about removing whiney shitters who hurt the game by taking up resources when they cry to ccp for changes and safety. If those players stay and cry loud enough then ccp does stupid shit to shut them up.
Hey wait, maybe that's wbat this new mmo is, a way to shut the shitters up!
You should really check out that new game ehnemapoo, you won't be missed. I mean what do you care, you're not going to pay your share anyway, freeloader.
Calm down miners, go play another game that makes you happy, making us all happy.
They did, that's why eve is having subscriber issues.
Reaper of the ghetto January 13, 2018 at 10:57 PM
Remember the saying, those that lose the least cry the most.
If a venture explodes in highsec, does anyone hear the player screech?
I did not hear the gunshot that killed shardani's kid.
Who cares if a shitbag quits.
Still worshipping the codes greatest agent and child killer. Good job code.
Karma balancer January 14, 2018 at 12:18 AM
These alpha clones are nothing more than illegal migrants raping James 315 territory and turning high sec into a shithole country.
Take up catalysts and do your bit for the new order and exterminate vermon miners when detected.
Poor cryma is a racist. Good company for nazis.
Racist = won a logical argument with a lefty
Podgoo January 14, 2018 at 5:10 AM
I usually enjoy and agree with much of the codes body of work however this article is the height of stupidity and conceit.
In no way ever can any sub losses for any mmo in the history of mmo's be spun into good news.
What will happen is eve will definitely die due to this news, and the new CCP will inherently have more carebare protections built in from the ground up because that is what gets more subs!
The very people you say you loathe are the very people keeping your game going, take away that segment and the only thing you have achieved is a self podding for the rest of the pvp community!
Well, I am no expert on the revenue of EVE Online, but I assume there are two main sources of profit for CCP.
The first are players that are engaged with the game for a very long time, have multiple accounts for which they pay, and frequent the game daily to interact with other players, thus keeping them in the game as well.
The other are carebears who spend real money to get billions to buy expensive mods, bling-fit their ships and grind their way towards capitals or citadels or whatever.
Now, what do these things have in common with the Code? The first category of players neatly fit into what a productive, law-abiding hi-sec dweller should be, they are thus on the safe side. And the second category of high-revenue players? Well, without code, these sad individuals would have no reason to pump even more money into the game. If they never lose a ship, they never have to spend a hundred bucks to replace what they lost. That's pure profit for CCP.
So, all in all, the New Order is actually really good for the bottom line of CCP -- unlike degenerates that AFK mine for a couple of weeks on trial accounts.
Icey January 14, 2018 at 9:39 AM
too long din't read, but here is a head line "NEW MMO FAILED BECAUSE LACK OF CODE!"
So glad that the code is the only group paying subscriptions to keep eve going, good job. Keep it free for everyone who just plays to piss you snowflakes off. Elite players making you explode yourselves daily.
snigie January 14, 2018 at 6:33 PM
Calm down murder lover.
Apache January 14, 2018 at 6:33 PM
I still like how the genius's over at Elite did it. You buy the game. You can decide to buy the expansion. Or not. Regardless, there is a singleplayer mode. When the fucktards start crying about 'griefers and pirates', the devs snicker and point to singleplayer mode.
And the Code exists in ED, too. The devs over there love it.
Karma balancer January 15, 2018 at 1:44 AM
No they cried there too. You used to be able to gank and just buy a sidewinder to clear the wanted tag. Now you pay the full price of the ship you ganked in.
If you are like me you just keep the wanted tag or high wake out to an anarchy zone and jump in and out.
Community goals are great for ganking in ED.
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