It’s no secret that the last few months have been contentious. With changes to jump mechanics, and a massive revamp to the processes of owning and holding SOV, the players have been reacting quite effervescently. Some hated the changes, and some loved them, and recently CCP held a roundtable discussion with members of the CSM and select players to reiterate their position and vision for EVE. The reaction was somewhat expected, with a lot of difficult questions being hurled at CCP, with split reactions to the responses.
With players having a lot to say about the direction EVE Online has taken in recent years, there’s a lot to cover. CCP hoped to use this time to hear what players really wanted. After all, that’s what the CSM was for this entire time, right? Critics of the overall approach of the CSM as a popularity contest say that the biggest groups also tend to be the loudest, and that they will often argue for the express benefit. What happens when these ideals don’t align with the rest of the player base?
Several crucial points were clarified by CCP. One of the biggest was in relation to the jump range changes introduced in Phoebe. CCP feels that their vision for a more localized null-sec is being realized to a degree through these changes. The ultimate model for null is one of the self-sufficient empire. CCP and players both want groups to be able to compete on a similar level with other groups.
This does introduce the problem that larger groups will always be more able to adapt to changes, a common criticism of the centralization model that some larger player groups take to resource allocation. It would be up to smaller groups to find inventive ways to compete, if CCP is to be believed. They seem to envision some kind of asymmetrical warfare as commonplace in EVE, but it really isn’t. The proliferation of supercapitals will only increase in the future, and then the ability of smaller groups to PvP against larger ones disappears as they can’t hope to match the capital might of the big boys.
The primary form of content for Null players in this goalpost model is one of regional and small-scale conflict over local resources. But without access to resources, many players feel that groups won’t push for more wars. The push to engender scarcity into the game’s economy is a pretty hot topic for players, as they feel CCP would likely be too heavy-handed in their approach. Which brings up the second major point emphasized by CCP. Content creation quickly became a tense topic. With Sort Dragon and other players asking thinly veiled questions meant to express discontent with the way CCP has handled the changes thus far. CCP even dodged or declined to answer several questions that seem to hit to close to home so to speak.
You can find the soundcloud recording below:
