CSM 7 is on more Eve Online player minds than ever before. This I think is a good thing, and I am particularly impressed by how much of a push there is by the Faction Warfare and Low-sec groups. To me, this is a good thing. As I have mentioned in the past, while currently Null-sec is the apple of CCP’s eye, I really think that if low-sec was done well, it could easily surpass and redefine Eve Online and even its playerbase. I kind of wish that what I am going to discuss becomes a blog banter, because I would love to see how each blogger feels about the issues on hand.
I am going to list what I think the three biggest issues should be this year, as well as some things that I think would be bonuses for success.
Priority One: Null-sec Soverignty Issues
Right now, Null-sec still has problems. The Sov system needs a massive re-work, something that allows options for both large invasions and defense forces, resource control, better distribution of assets, as well as giving smaller groups better options by removing the problems and challenges brought about by Supercaps. While I still think that low-sec is eventually where the focus of Eve Online should be, right now it isn’t there and null-sec is the breadwinner and still needs a lot of work. The big issues that still are on the table:
- Supercap Proliferation – Supercapitals are still being produced in such large numbers that no new alliance can get a serious foothold into null-sec without a fleet of these. Ideally, in my mind, Titans and Supercarriers should either a.) Take on a much more logistical role and scale back their combat abilities even more, or b.) Require that these Supercapital ships need more than one pilot to operate successfully. Both of these would not necessarily reduce their need/use, but it would reduce their ability to dominate the battlefield exclusively.
- Soverignty Control – Soverignty Mechanics suck. In many ways, even the old way had better options. To be honest, I have no idea where to begin on this. Ihubs, POSes, Stations, the whole thing needs to start from scratch, hopefully finding ways to make sov confrontation to work beyond the “n+1” model.
- Wealth Distribution – Tech Moons, Taxation, Supercapital Fleets – Time and time again we keep hearing about how the grunts on the ground, the typical null-sec player who doesn’t have multiple bot alts making him isk while he’s sleeping, often struggles to make enough isk to keep his PVP habit going. On the flipside, the leaders of many of these organizations, as well as industrial corporations, often siphoning ships, materials, isk, with no easy way of fairly distributing resources.. or even just documenting what resources the alliance is maintaining. Perhaps a system needs to be determined where players get more of the isk generated from sov, and can reduce their efforts in their own personal isk operations, but are required to spend more time maintaining that sov through various activities, unrelated to invasion and invasion defense.
Priority Two: Low-Sec and Faction Warfare Complete Redesign
While Low-sec and Faction Warfare are two different entities, they do tend to deal with each other more than most and both have the same problem: Purpose. There isn’t much of a reason to be in low-sec for industrialists and mission runners.. the very fuel of pirates. The problem stems from a conflux of issues, concerns, and doubts.. along with a number of tears. Faction Warfare on the other hand is supposed to be an aspect of Eve where people can pick up quick PVP fights in smaller gangs. Not sure where I read it but the amount of actual PVP’ers in Faction Warfare range around 9% to 15%, a failed mechanic if there ever was one. Most FW players just spend their time running plexes and making isk. Not really anything like it was meant to be.
A big, upcoming problem for low-sec and faction warfare is that there is a fundamental difference in how to do that. Many null-sec leaders, especially those running for CSM, would like to see low-sec to be a “null-sec lite”, in which low-sec carries some of the benefits and some of the heartache of sov control, so as to prepare ones for the supposedly better benefits of null-sec sov control. However, running counter to these arguments are the low-sec dwellers as well as some in the faction warfare group that say that null-sec can be all about sov control and sov entities, but low-sec should be something different. One big aspect they hope to achieve appears to be around getting pirate factions set up to work much like the major factions do, which would require ways of improving factions with all the pirate groups, some of which have no way to improve their relations.
Another downside that I see is the disconnect between those that like to pirate and the rest of the known reasonable universe. This group is a very vocal group that seems to think that the more freedom you give them to slaughter industrials and miners, the more industrialists and miners will want to line up in nice neat rows to be slaughtered. Often their proposals are pretty short-sighted to say the least.
Things that are also considered on this list:
- Bounty Hunting Changes – As everyone knows, Bounty Hunting is a staple of the Sci-Fi world, ever since Boba Fett came on the scene. However, the Bounty Hunting mechanic in Eve Online is.. for lack of a better term.. awful. Do whatever it takes to make Bounty Hunting a career choice.
- Crimewatch – This needs to be radically different, and fortunately, lots of CSM candidates are actually wanting to fix this, so that is good.
- Wardec Changes – With CCP basically saying that a major exploit is no longer an exploit to escape wardecs, the ability to wardec is no longer viable. On the other side of the table, the case can be made that wardecs are too easy of a tool for griefers to use.
Priority Three: Mining and Bots
Of all the activities in Eve Online, mining is by far the least interactive. You point your mining laser and shot a rock until its gone. The rock doesn’t move, you pretty much get all the material so long as you have enough space for it, and it goes on endlessly and repetatively. True, some people like the monotonous activity because its a way of making isk while you do things around the house.. like make sure the kids don’t catch themselves on fire or something. Nothing wrong with that.. but.. the mechanic is so old, so easily exploited by bots, that it just needs a complete redo.
There are already some great ideas out there, like having the asteroids.. well, move. As well as having to scan down asteroid belts in every system (shoot, would be kinda cool to have those ice belts move from system to system to system within a region or constellation…), much like finding wormholes or anomalies.. just much easier. And having to scan down asteroid belts do give a measure of added security.. enough of one that it might embolden more industrial types to take the risk.. particularly if better belts are harder to scan. But that’s just one thought of many being looked over.
2nd Anomaly From the Left 
This is a good summary of some of the bigger challenges for CCP developers. I would rearrange the priorities: 1) Low-sec/faction war, war-dec mechanics. 3) Mining (and pve content in general), 4) Null-sec sov mechanics. And to your list I would add: 2) New player experience.
1) Low sec is a wasteland, more so than null sec. Low-sec could be the bridge between a player moving from Hi-sec to null sec. It should be a place where a pilot can get his nose bloodied a little, before he decides to go into null sec and get his head bashed in!
2) New Player experience is awful. I’ve seen a number of players who have started their 14-day trial quit after realizing that it would be 3 months before they start making any meaningful income, 6 months before they can pilot a battle-worthy ship, and a full year before they’re able to really start to play the game. If I had it to do all over again, I probably wouldn’t.
3) Mining/PVE is the dullest content in the game. I don’t think missions have been updated significantly since I started playing 3 years ago. They’ve become so routine and monotonous that the folks who use bots can hardly be blamed for not wanting to run the content themselves. Incursions and Sleepers were a great new addition. The concept should be expanded.
4) Null-sec is broken and always will be broken. There is no solution that CCP can implement that will make null-sec dwellers happy. Lets face it, null-sec dwellers just aren’t a happy group of people.
Well, while I agree you aren’t going to get consensus from null-sec’ers about sov control.. it certainly can be better. Plus, most of Eve’s most vocal (both good and bad) and diehard (i.e. the money) players live there. So, it needs to at the very least needs to be more stabilized and make it difficult for massive coalitions to hold tons of space, while at the same time creating it to be more viable for better organized alliances to get a foothold relatively easily.
As far as Low-sec goes, to me that is where the real game is. I think once CCP figures out how to RP it as well as make it fun and inviting, CCP will having a new second coming. As far as it being a bridge between null-sec and high-sec, I’m not so sure that is the best either. Low-sec could be more than null-sec in its own way, and like wormhole space, it could be made into its own place. But for that.. it would need a massive, massive rewrite about the whole purpose of low-sec.
Null-seccers are definitely the ones who cry the loudest, are the most well organized and the best represented on CSM. There is very little doubt in my mind that CCP will prioritize null sec over all else.
BUT, if the questions is what SHOULD CCP focus on, I stand by my list. Low-sec is easy pickings, the new player experience will bring some fresh blood (and hopefully keep some of new players from souring on EVE). Hi-sec is home to 60% of the player base and that’s not going to change with new sov mechanics for null-sec.
Personally I’d like to see an increase in support and tools for player run events which offer free content for Eve at no cost to CCP. While the quality is often negligable with some better tools and mechanics Event Co-ordination could be a bonified profession (and more accessable to everyday pilots) which could help release some of the workload from the remaining community devs. If you’re thinking that theres already lots to do in Eve theres large volumes of apathetic players (mostly hisec and newer players) who may be able to find something new in Eve with the relatively controlled environments such as those offered by existing event runners. Not to mention the lazy players who can enter these events with little hassle or preparation needed. While I don’t have any current data the 5000+ regular customers of my old Ships Of Eve Events corp attests to potential interest in this area of the game.
Yeah, I think there is potential there. If I remember, there used to be a racing circuit as well which I thought was a pretty good idea.. just CCP was too enamoured with WIS to give it the support it needed as well as the tools.
Still, I think you need the foundations taken care of first.. and both null-sec and low-sec really need to be built up first into something reasonably solid, before we start adding very cool events like gladiator and racing events.. that can be bet on…