Category Archives: Blog Banter

Blog Banter 77 – The Malaise   Is there a malaise affecting Eve currently? Blogs and podcasts are going dark and space just feels that little bit emptier. One suggestion is that there may be a general problem with the vets, especially those pre-Incarna and older, leaving and being replaced by newer players who are not as invested in the game. The colonists versus immigrants? Is this a problem? Are there others? Or is everything just fine and it’s just another bout of summer “ZOMG EVE IZ DYING!” Another “Is Eve dying?” debate. Yeah, in some ways Eve is dying.  It is an old game.  Ancient, really, when you look at online games.  Player count in unambiguously down.  New player retention is poor, and it always has been.  But I think simply looking at those metrics ignores some aspects of Eve. Mechanically, Eve is in the best place it has been since I started playing about five and a half years ago.  It isn’t perfect.  No MMO is perfect.  But the devs continue to refine, improve and update all aspects of the game.  This work appears to be ongoing with little sign of stopping in the near future.  Structures are Continue Reading →

This month’s suggestion comes from Jakob Anedalle. “What do you think about using Sugar’s recent blog post as a kickoff for a Blog Banter. I think it’s a great open-ended topic: http://www.lowseclifestyle.com/2016/02/your-ideal-roadmap.html“ You know what? That’s all it needs. A great open ended topic! Banter on! I think a lot of intelligent folks are going to write about citadels, capitals, and the tantalizing new space CCP Seagull has teased, so I’ll focus on two other things: Immersion and Growing Eve. Immersion I play a lot of games, from silly throw-away titles to super-nerd-fest time sinks like Dwarf Fortress or Aurora. One thing that really drives my ability to get lost in a game is how far you can get lost in the setting, and the simple joy of being in the world the game offers. A few years ago, I would have said Eve was doing very well at providing an immersive space. But times change. Games like Elite: Dangerous are out, Star Citizen may be coming, and a host of smaller games like Rebel Galaxy have been trickling out. The spaceship genre is no longer just Eve. Eve is no longer providing a compelling, butt-in-chair experience, at least af far Continue Reading →

Blog Banter 61: The new This is EVE trailer has combined with a lot of community enthusiasm to generate a massive uptick on new character creation. There has been a lot of buzz about how to help and funnel those new players into fun and satisying careers in Eve. TurAmarth asks this question: “What would we encourage ALL new players to do in their first month to get them to subscribe long term, if we had to give out one set of advice for everyone (which we do if we’re giving general advice)?”  -Kirith Kodachi Response What should a new player in Eve do in the first month? That is a very loaded question. Each player coming to Eve comes from a unique perspective. They may or may not have friends or plans. Because of this I don’t think there is one sure fire thing to do, but I have a few general suggestions. Set Small Goals Eve is very open-ended, so it is common for new players to feel lost. If you start with a few small goals you make the initial path a bit easier to see. If you want to PvP, set a goal for number of Continue Reading →

Welcome to the continuing monthly EVE Blog Banters and our 54th edition! For more details about what the blog banters are visit the Blog Banter page. Today’s topic comes Diaries of a Space Noob blog and other sources: “Quick post. I was listening to a song and a question occurred to me. Where are the EVE heroes? Against a dark background surely all we have are anti-heroes? A lot of mockery is aimed at any who attempt to be white knights. EVE is a dark place and yet pretty much all other MMO’s try to place the player in the role of some form of hero, boosting the ego and taking the player out of the humdrum 1 in 7 billion that is RL. Why have I fitted into EVE? Did I never want to be that? So I guess my question is: “Do classic heroes exist in EVE? Is such heroism even possible in EVE? How would you go about being one without opening yourself wide open to scams? Is the nature of the game so dark that heroes can’t exist? How do you deal with that irony? What effect does this have on us and the psyche of new Continue Reading →