Increasing the Risk, Gradually

I haven’t posted anything in a long time but my hiatus is soon to be over.  I’ve been keeping up with Eve while I was gone and one of my favorite subjects has come once again to the forefront of conversation; should high sec be truly safe or not.

I’ve posted on this subject before but time changes all things and so to have my thoughts on the subject.  Well, I still think high sec should be safe for the game to expand i’s player base, but a lot of the other details have changed.

All games evolve over the years.  Some better or some worse.  Eve has changed some but the core concepts are still the same since I started playing three years ago.  Sure the ships are being adjusted and there have been a few changes here and there, but for all intents and purposes it’s the same game.

During this time the average number of players logged in has remained fairly stagnant.  Which indicates that while subscriptions might be up the people actually playing the game is the same.  The game essentially isn’t growing and I believe the reason behind this lack of growth is due to the hostile nature of the game casual players can't escape.

Barging into Space

Earlier today I did a post about Exhumers and the changes from the patch.  I went ahead and worked up some builds for the Mining Barges (Barges) as well.  The Barges have much lower EHP but I was very surprised to see the output is very similar  or higher to equivalent Exhumer builds.  Combined with the ability to insure on a T1 level and Barges might just end up being the ship of choice for mining in high sec.  For now I'll just list the builds.

Changing the Game

  Recent Dev blog activity indicates CCP is looking to change the game some.  Many people are looking forward to a pending SuperCap nerf to help even the playing field in null sec.  There is talk of long term plans for revamping null into something more friendly and more appealing to the masses.  UI modifications, font adjustments, and more fun with the API have all been talked about.

  What hasn't been talked about though is the idea that perhaps some attention should be paid to the 80% of the population (QEN Q4 2010) that lives in Empire.  Everyone knows that Eve is a game based on PVP and there is no such thing as a safe place.  Anytime you undock there is a chance of getting killed by another player.  This hardcore mentality is not new to MMO's, most games have several servers based on this concept, but Eve is unique in that it has no option to avoid PVP.  Thus the game ends up with a constant threat at all times.