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EVE Evolved: The day that EVE Online died
I think it's safe to say that this week has been an unmitigated disaster for CCP Games. Following last week's $99 license fee fiasco for third-party developers, CCP Zulu managed to claw back some player support with a segment addressing the issue during the alliance tournament. This week CCP followed up with the release of Incarna 1.0 and its long-awaited captain's quarters. Players logged in to walk around their private rooms and check out the various cosmetic items available for purchase in the new microtransaction store. It didn't take long for people to realise that something was fundamentally wrong with the prices on the Noble Exchange. At around $40 for a basic shirt, $25 for boots, and $70 or more for the fabled monocle, items in the Noble Exchange were priced higher than their-real life counterparts. As players made some noise about the ridiculous prices, an internal CCP newsletter all about the company's microtransaction plans was purportedly leaked. In it, plans to sell ships, ammo, and faction standings for cash were revealed, plans that strictly contradict previous promises on gameplay-affecting microtransactions. Shortly afterward, all hell broke loose as a private internal memo from CCP CEO Hilmar was leaked to the press. In the past few days, I've been contacted by dozens (if not hundreds) of concerned EVE players who are afraid that the game they love is coming to an end. I've even been in contact with an insider who is scared of the risks CCP is taking with the jobs of over 600 employees in four countries, scared enough to leak internal documents and emails. In this week's colossal EVE Evolved, I delve into EVE's latest controversy and shed some light on the biggest community flashpoint since the T20 developer corruption scandal.
CCP issues brief mea culpa, EVE CSM to meet with devs
It seems as if an olive branch has been extended in the escalating conflict between CCP and hardcore fans of the company's EVE Online MMORPG. Arnar Hrafn Gylfason, otherwise known as CCP Zulu, has issued an apologetic blog post as a followup to the controversial piece he penned last Friday. Zulu chalks up the confrontational tone of the previous post to the stresses surrounding CCP's recent data leaks and also advises fans that the company is flying the Council of Stellar Management to Iceland for meetings on June 30th and July 1st. More importantly for players chaffed by CCP's assumed about-face regarding game-altering microtransactions, Zulu finally answers the burning question regarding whether or not EVE Online will eventually see pay-to-win cash shop items. "There are not and never have been plans to sell 'gold ammo' for Aurum," Zulu writes, alluding to fan reactions to the Fearless newsletter leak. While CCP certainly isn't out of the woods yet with regard to this public relations nightmare, the fact that the company is acknowledging a serious breach of customer trust, coupled with the "no gold ammo" quote, seems to be having a calming effect on the community as it waits for details to emerge from next week's emergency CSM summit.
EVE Online controversy erupts in protests
Over the past few days, our inboxes here at Massively have been positively overflowing with tips and comments from readers about the ongoing turmoil in EVE Online. It all began with the Incarna update, which added an item shop to the long-running sci-fi sandbox. Players began to voice their concerns over the bizarrely high prices of items in the shop, with one particular item reaching an insane $68 US. Before this hullabaloo had the chance to so much as come to a simmer, an internal newsletter from CCP was leaked to the internet. The document outlined the introduction of microtransactions into EVE and mentioned that at some point, ships, ammunition, and so forth may be available for purchase with real-world currency. This naturally sent players into even more of a frenzy. The whole ordeal came to a head yesterday when CCP Zulu attempted to douse the flames by addressing the issues directly in a dev diary. The play backfired, however, as players took issue with the dev blog's tone and attitude toward the upset players. Not long after that, an internal CCP email was leaked explaining the reasoning behind the controversial blog post, which only added fuel to the flames. The result of this blazing hellstorm of controversy? Riots, of course. Players have gathered en masse at Rens, Jita, and Amarr to show their displeasure. As of the time of this writing, the protests are still going strong and show few signs of stopping. What will come of these protests, though? Hopefully we'll be finding that out soon enough. Be sure to stick with Massively in the coming days as our resident EVE expert will be covering the topic in his column this Sunday while we await response from CCP Zulu. Until then, be sure to go check out Brendan's appearance on EVE Radio for an in-depth discussion of the issues at hand.
CCP addresses EVE controversies in new dev blog
As controversy burns through New Eden like white-hot internet spaceship exhaust, CCP higher-ups have at last reached out to the EVE Online community via a new dev blog. The piece, authored by senior producer Arnar Hrafn Gylfason, tackles the week's two hot topics in brief fashion. First up is an attempt to quell the brouhaha surrounding the internal company memo that leaked earlier this week and brought to light some of CCP's discussions regarding future microtransactions. Gylfason defends EVE staffers, who he says were simply following orders by discussing microtransactions in ways that were "exaggerated purposefully to draw contrasts and make points." He also points out that EVE's future RMT implementations are not contained in the memos, as much of the discussion was theoretical in nature. Finally, Gylfason addresses the hugely controversial prices in EVE's new item shop, and despite the public outcry, he doesn't seem too apologetic. On the contrary, he intimates that the prices will stay and that CCP "will gradually introduce items at other price points, definitely lower and probably higher than what's in the store today." Stick with Massively for more from resident EVE expert Brendan Drain as he talks candidly with CCP about Incarna and the week that was.
