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My name is Hallan Turrek. This is my blog.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

I, for one, welcome our new boring overlords.

Said the shepherd boy to the mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
In your palace warm mighty king,
Do you know what I know?
A child, a child,
Shivers in the cold,
Let us bring him silver and gold,
Let us bring him silver and gold.
Noël Regney and Gloria Shayne Baker - Do You Hear What I Hear?

By the end of January, Incursion will be fully released and we'll begin dealing with the effects of the changes.

The Sansha invasion will likely be happening alongside what may be the biggest war in Eve history. Every major 0.0 alliance in EVE save the Drone Russians and the NC are currently engaged to some extent in the southern war. Will the released content get in the way of the player created content that CCP so regularly touts? Time will tell. I think this release moves us much further away from the game I started playing.

If the Incursions are a permanent fixture in the game, I think I may like the game a bit less. This is supposed to be a sandbox game, where you can do anything. Not a game where you either participate in 5/10/25 man raids or you can't play. And sure, we can ignore the incursions, but they'll be having negative effects on the system, and spreading if not dealt with. So far it looks like very difficult content with very little reward outside of storyline(and more cynically, the reward of not having to do that content again for a while).

I'm cool with that for a while, but after a certain amount of time it becomes WoW in space. Except for less really cool equipment for finishing the content.

CCP should never have focused a whole expansion on PvE content. PvE content to this degree makes you wonder why you'll pay 15 dollars a month to enjoy the same kind of stuff you could enjoy in another game that's free.

It's not all bad though. I'm able to see the CSM's influence behind a few "minor" changes like the Rockets, or the Faction Icons, or T2 ammo. CCP's getting behind the idea of fixing the low hanging fruit, which is a positive, since there are a lot of problems in Eve that can be solved with minimal time investment.

As always, and with anything, time will tell.

I love storyline stuff. I also have an affinity for carebearing that most other PvPers would find blasphemous... yet this expansion is my least favorite by far.

That cannot be good.

4 comments:

  1. I disagree with some of the stuff you have said about the Sansha Incursions. As a low sec pirate I welcome anything that will bring people into my space and make it more interesting. The fact that the new Sansha Capital BPC drop can ONLY be found in low sec will mean rich carebears and PVE'rs will come down to try and claim it for themselves, this opens a new window of content for people who enjoy PVE and for people who enjoy PVP.

    I am looking forward to the expansion for that reason. I think that revitalising low sec would greatly increase the playability of EvE and the incursions are a good step forward.

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  2. Yes, I see that the Incursion could go in either direction. It could revitalize lowsec, or it could hamper carebears' daily life in hisec, once the honeymoon period is over and lowsec/0.0 people no longer care if Sansha's influence spreads in hisec systems.

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  3. A lot of people seem to be in a rush to pass judgement on this expansion before it even comes out. I understand the concerns, but personally anything that adds a bit more depth to the EVE universe is good by me. Some may choose (or be forced) to change their playstyle as a result of this expansion, but they may actually enjoy the result. Too early to tell.

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  4. Only time will tell, but am quietly confident that the majority of people will be surprised at the end result. Certainly, anything that can bring more people down to low-sec is a good thing.

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