The forum post that backfired

!!! THREADNAUGHT ALERT !!!

Wow. I already knew that CCP was not exactly the greatest bunch of developpers to listen to its player base, such as ignoring the CSM which is supposed to represent us in favor of doing only what they think is right (if you can call a console game, an expansion half the player base doesn't care about, and a vampire game right... god I'm sick of vampires!), but this time I really feel like CCP has shot itself in the foot with a big-ass gun. Will Zymurgist still have a job on Monday? If it was up to the players I think he'd already be at the unemployment center.

For those who may want a TLDR version: CCP Zymurgist posted about the European Gaming Awards and asked the players to vote for EVE because it is totally awesome. The players (me included), who have been fed up with everything that is not totally awesome, and who see the new features that every new expansion brings, and how sucky they are (Apocrypha being the only awesomely good expansion, but even that had to be fixed a few times), has taken this post as a show of complete arrogance and disregard towards the players. Some players have apparently already quit over this, and a lot of players are starting to think about doing it. And if some long-promised space MMOs do come out, a lot of players will be looking at them with a lot of interest. I am one of those players.

Let's see... the best thing I like about EVE is the fact that in one persistent world where there are no shards anything can and will happen. EVE is PvP the second someone becomes red to you or targets you, and it usually happens within the first few weeks of playing. If it doesn't, or didn't, you didn't play EVE hard enough. But unlike some other players, I see no interest in the entire industrial side of EVE. Some of my best buddies are industrialists and I have no idea how they keep interest in it; I just want to fly around, blow shit up, and clear my brain from anything called work. Now, we already knew big fleets were affected by lag, and a lot of things in the game are in dire need of repair, but CCP not only refuses to listen to the players' pleas but are now asking for an award?! Sorry, that just doesn't work.

So am I quitting EVE and giving away my stuff? Well, I have to wait a bit at the moment EVE has no competition. But apparently some competition is coming in the form of Black Prophecy. Granted, there is no way BP can be as deep as EVE on all levels, but it does all the things I like to do in EVE which involve flying around and shooting stuff and/or people. The tentative release date is November 2010 so that's not too far off. It may be a free-to-play MMO but if the content is good enough I really see myself putting Cozmik on ice for an undetermined length of time.

And as for EVE Online? I seriously hope CCP wakes up and smells the coffee as it gets thrown into its face. EVE is still a diamond in the rough after much too long, and it seems like CCP is more into getting a bigger rough diamond than polishing up the one they already have. Or had, because Apocrypha 1.5 was the last best iteration of EVE, and it's only been downhill from there.

To CCP: please listen to what your players are telling you if you want to stay alive.

To Reakktor: you have an opportunity of immense proportion here, to become true competition for the only space MMO in existence. But please learn from the mistakes of the competition.

Fly hard, hopefully lag-less

o7