Recently our industrial corporation in EVE Online was approached by a group located in a low security pocket to provide supplies (Alliance A). Normally, this would be a simple matter of taking and filling orders with various ship chassis and modules. However, the negotiations ceased when our alliance members notified the command staff that their miners had been attacked and destroyed while mining in high security by another entity (Alliance B) working with this initial contact to defend their contested space. Was it their fault directly? No.

Combative Industrialists do not fault any player for seeking PVP opportunities. However, we have a strict ‘no supply’ policy if a known buyer (Alliance A) is associated with a known aggressor (Alliance B). Realizing that the initial contact has no control over these wild cards it was unfortunate for both sides that a supply deal could not be arranged.

So i found myself wondering, ‘How can a PVP alliance, intent on holding a low sec pocket, not have some sort of industrial wing to supply their obvious need for materials of war?‘ Further, why would any PVP focused entity actively hunt the people they so obviously need to fuel their habits? Wouldn’t this simply drive up the cost of those combat ships and modules they use to wreak havoc upon their true enemies?

In addition, if you call out to a group to assist in defending ‘your’ space wouldn’t it be better to understand that their actions will directly reflect on your reputation and plans to remain in a specific area. If you unleash ‘rabid dogs’ on a region you had better be ready to deal with the consequences or the offending party.

The only sane answer i can think of is lack of diplomatic awareness regarding your ‘allies’ and their motivations. Consider it a ‘Butterfly Effect’; your decision directly effected an entire region of space thus making things much more difficult for you and your pilots in the long run.

As an aside, bullying industrial ‘carebears’ is one of the most idiotic play styles no matter how your demented psyche justifies it. At some point you’re going to need to buy something from the market, how the hell do you suppose that all gets there??

clipped from: MMORPG

There are two basic kinds of game players; those for whom the most important aspect of the game is winning, and those for whom the most important aspect of the game is playing. For the former, the end-game is **the** destination; for the latter, the journey and not some final goal is the most important.

One might also very loosely define the first category as hardcore players, and the latter as casuals.  For those whom winning is the most important thing, getting there first or among the first “means”, to them, that they win. Burning through any new content first is, to them, the major goal of playing any MMORPG.  These hardcore players tend to be much more focused and involved in the game, and in talking about the game, and in populating forums about their game, than casuals. This focus on the game leads them to take positions in the industry; hardcore players tend to become the developers and the fan-site gatekeepers of the industry.  The hardcore treats gaming like a career; the casual treats the game like a hobby, and so the former tends to drive the functional path of the genre as it develops, because theyr’e the ones that end up in positions to make decisions about the structure of future games.

The hardcores brought an energy and enthusiasm into a genre that quickly exploded in popularity, but then hit what appeared to be customer base wall a couple of years after World of Warcraft was launched.  Although many  millions of people play games online, like hearts or poker at community sites, those people were not gravitating towards online MMORPGs. It quickly became apparent that online MMOGs were competing for the same base of players. After World of Warcraft, few new players were being lured into the western MMORPG market.

The reason for this is simple; virtually all MMORPGs are essentially the same game with various minor tweaks here and there, like better graphics, more character customization, wings, pets, real-money stores, pvp, etc.  Since the bulk of western developers were culled from the powergamer mold, they essentially all think alike, and basically perfected their powergamer-oriented game with World of Warcraft.

Now, some may argue that WoW is not a true powergamer game, but here’s my perspective: the powergamer developers built and revised WoW over the years around a fairly simple maxim: alienate as few powergamers as possible while appealing to as many casuals as possible thereby maximizing profitability. Second to that is: throw in whatever other games offer that seem to appeal to significant players if possible so that WoW players don’t have to leave WoW to get the “stufff” the other game offers.

The reason new MMORPGs can’t compete with WoW when it comes to size of player base is simple: all those other games are simply revised versions of WoW.  They offer no significant reason to start over or go to  a game that might fail and be a waste of money, when playing in Azeroth is money in the bank.

So, why do developers keep trying to sell us on WoW variations instead of trying something fundamentally different? Why do we literally have hundreds of MMORPGs out there and maybe one or two is functionally different from WoW? Is it because they wish to copy WoW’s success?

No, the simple fact is that virtually all developers and idea men that gain entrance into the arena of game development must go through the same gatekeeping process, which means they have to be powergamers and have  a powergamer mentality, which in turn means that they can only imagine games that are WoW-like; roles that fulfill group functions, groups that have access to content that can’t be accomplished solo; raids that can accomplish content that can’t be achieved by groups; a linear path of progression towards a guild-raiding end-game comprised of exclusively superior rewards and content, all centered around career-level investments of online time.

To the powergamer, this is what an MMORPG “means”, and playing the game any other way, or for any other reason, is so alien to their thought process they can only muster contempt and ridicule for anyone that talks about offline progression or equitable solo rewards.

The powergamers that brought the necessary energy and commitment to the MMORPG genre to get it started have become the entrenched system, guarding the gateways and pumping out one failed attempt to draw customers away from WoW after another, becoming so desperate that they even offer their games for free.  That has worked to some extent, but it is pushing the game industry into a certain business model that a lot of gamers abhor: the cash shop. It’s hard to call a game with a cash shop a game, isn’t it? It would be like Green Bay buying yards in the middle of a football game.

And so the MMORPG genre is stalled out, not because there is no more room for new, different, successful games, but because the powergamer oligarchy cannot imagine outside of their theme-park, linear progression, end-game, group-oriented,online- time-centric box. If they could, then we’d have true sandbox games, classless models, solo-oriented games, and offline progresion models … but the fact is that we don’t, and the reason we don’t is simply because the developers as a whole can’t fathom that people unlike them would play a game for reasons entirely foreign to their mentality.

I have on rare occasions taken part in PVP style game play. Depending on the game it can be amusing. I enjoy FPS team based or solo hunt/kill style of play in various games like Crysis, Left 4 Dead and Fear to name a few. I don’t get the same thrill from Counter Strike style games as the motivation and settings are generally less than appealing.

I have engaged in PVP activities in EVE Online with mixed results and feelings about the whole affair. Solo PVP in EVE is fast and dirty. It’s a game of number crunching between skills, gear and ship bonuses. Toss into that knowledge of the entire EVE database of common fits you might face and you have a kill-to-thrill ratio unlike most other games i’ve known. Add to this that if you lose, you lose the ship and everything on it and possibly your pod if you’re in the wrong place when the ship goes pop. That’s real loss in game time, in game currency and general effort.

I have little time or interest in competing with other players over territory or ego so generally PVP in EVE is quite limited. We don’t live in low or null sec so opportunities are less than plentiful. This is how we like it since most of our membership is limited in time dedicated to being in a ship due to real life.

I have not tried the PVP in Star Wars: The Old Republic because i can’t imagine it being anything other than power players beating the crap out of noobs with their uber gear. It’s all about the buffs and hardware you’re carrying and there’s no real loss since you and your gear clone to the nearest medical facility. How does it enhance my game play? why should i care to pit myself against other players when the galaxy is quite varied in it’s content and threats.

Once i maxed my levels in Star Wars Galaxies i would hang out in Restus battlefield to farm tough mobs or just hang out with friends. The engagements quickly got stale and i returned to soloing Krayt Dragons, Rancors and Night Sisters but this was after they had obliterated my primary interest; crafting.

I am not a PVP player and i honestly can’t say that i ever will be. I think you need to have an aggressive streak to really enjoy PVP. Apparently i don’t.

So far, i enjoy the story and the variety of settings. The combat missions are fairly challenging if you’re not the correct level but still fall into a button smash fest.

Something about having to run from location to location makes the overall experience less than appealing to me. I enjoy the scenery but not that much.

I have been flying EVE ships for so long that jumping from one system to another has spoiled me on movement. Yes sometimes it’ll be 20+ jumps to get to a target system but it’s ‘fast’ based on what I’m blowing past in warp from gate to gate in a system.

The Star Wars mechanics lend themselves to button smashing and cool down timer familiarity. Miss the sequence once and you’ll spoil a well placed power stroke or blaster bolt.

I’m playing a Sith Warrior on one server and a Bounty Hunter on another. I did this so that in the event one server is full i can still get on and blow stuff up. My Bounty Hunter is part of a guild but it still feels like I’m all alone most of the time. I’m guessing it’s because everyone is working up levels at their own pace thus scattered across the universe. In EVE our corp may be small but we’re usually only a few jumps away from each other and willing to fleet up and grind missions or asteroids depending on what’s on the menu. Maybe the ‘community’ aspect of the Star Wars game will grow and evolve but it feels barren at the moment.

Overall i feel like this game is going to be a flash in the pan for me. I miss the original Star Wars Galaxies MMO but I’ll never be able to capture the same immersion in the setting and story so i will ever remain a Pod Pilot in the service of our galactic merchant empire in EVE Online.