Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
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Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
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Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#2Live video of the Jita protest: http://en.justin.tv/deamosseraph It's really quite impressive!
Edit: there's another one at Amarr, http://www.justin.tv/dnah_pmip#/w/1381178160/2 but it's not as big.
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#3i don't know much about this, but it seems that they've introduced vanity items at "real world" prices. so you can buy, say, "designer" clothing for several hundred dollars. at the same time, the hardware you use in the game is staying at a much lower level. now obviously they can't charge realistic prices for spaceships, but the resulting contrast seems to be surprising a lot of people.
from a non-involved viewpoint it's an interesting take on what "price" might mean in post-scarcity environments.
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#4You know what the best way to protest a game is? Stop playing for a while and send an email.
I know this sounds absurdly little, but look at it this way: If you're out doing other things, you might find something you like and -never come back-.
This scares the bejeezus out of game developers who exist solely on the fact that people are addicted. If their playerbase actually went and did other things, they couldn't keep going.
So yeah, a few thousand people clogging up the arteries of the system is impressive, but having your numbers drop from 30,000 people at a time to 25,000 at a time is really scary.
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#5Emergent gameplay!
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#6You know what the best way to protest a game is? Stop playing for a while and send an email. I know this sounds absurdly little, but look at it this way: If you're out doing other things, you might find something you like and -never come back-. This scares the bejeezus out of game developers who exist solely on the fact that people are addicted. If their playerbase actually went and did other things, they couldn't ke…
Especially when the "protest" generates news, and gets the product name in front of casually interested gamers who might actually sign up for new accounts.
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#7You know what the best way to protest a game is? Stop playing for a while and send an email. I know this sounds absurdly little, but look at it this way: If you're out doing other things, you might find something you like and -never come back-. This scares the bejeezus out of game developers who exist solely on the fact that people are addicted. If their playerbase actually went and did other things, they couldn't ke…
One of the big problems with 'stop playing' protests is that gamers have to pay for a month of playtime in advance, and in many cases, they pay in 3-12 month intervals to save money. This is the case for World of Warcraft subscriptions, for example - they give you a discount if you pay up front.
If you stop playing after you already paid, the company isn't really going to suffer any immediate impact, and any visible dent in their metrics will probably be deferred until they see people not renewing subscriptions. A delay that large will basically kneecap any attempt at drawing attention to players' reaction to a change.
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#8You know what the best way to protest a game is? Stop playing for a while and send an email. I know this sounds absurdly little, but look at it this way: If you're out doing other things, you might find something you like and -never come back-. This scares the bejeezus out of game developers who exist solely on the fact that people are addicted. If their playerbase actually went and did other things, they couldn't ke…
One of the big problems with 'stop playing' protests is that gamers have to pay for a month of playtime in advance, and in many cases, they pay in 3-12 month intervals to save money. This is the case for World of Warcraft subscriptions, for example - they give you a discount if you pay up front. If you stop playing after you already paid, the company isn't really going to suffer any immediate impact, and any visible…
Also, Eve especially has problems with continuous commitments to your alliance. No spaceholding alliance would give up defending their space to protest vanity monocles and the possibility of microtransactions.
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#9When I played Runescape, we had similar massive riots over the removal of free trade and the old pvp system (wilderness pking). The pkers were on average decidedly less mature than the average player, so there was really poor communication from them, but also from the company Jagex, who struggled to explain the 'why' behind the changes.
Can anyone who plays Eve comment on how the company is responding?
Re: Thousands of EVE online players riot over microtransactions
#10You know what the best way to protest a game is? Stop playing for a while and send an email. I know this sounds absurdly little, but look at it this way: If you're out doing other things, you might find something you like and -never come back-. This scares the bejeezus out of game developers who exist solely on the fact that people are addicted. If their playerbase actually went and did other things, they couldn't ke…
That doesn't work when most hardcore Eve players aren't paying for it in cash, they pay for their subscription with in game currency.