There are few games that are as reliant on their community as EVE Online. While the MMO market has become saturated with uninspired rehashes, CCP Games' sci-fi MMO has managed to carve a niche for itself. Unlike other games of the genre, the universe of EVE has been almost completely shaped by the players and their actions within the game. Whether this is the game's constantly changing economy or player-run corporations that vie for control in the expanses of space, the game's player-base is its strongest asset.
CCP Games and EVE Online have recently hit turbulence in their connection with the community. Despite the fact that the long-awaited Incarna expansion recently saw its release and players are excited about the announcement of DUST 514, there has been a state of unrest among EVE's community ever since an alleged internal document from within CCP Games was leaked to the public just under two weeks ago.
Detailed within this document were CCP's plans for the future of EVE, revealing their intention to further profit from the popular title. While micro-transactions have already been a hot topic within the community following the announcement that vanity items would be sold, albeit for a hefty premium ($70 for a monocle for your avatar), the document also contained details proposing the inclusion of micro-transactions for items which could affect gameplay, such as new ships and ammunition.
In a passage from the leaked document, it was stated that:
"As a subscription-based golden goose, Eve needs to incorporate the virtual goods sales model to allow for further revenue - revenue to fund our other titles, revenue for its developer: you."
For a company that has built a product that relies so heavily on the actions of its community, it's surprising to see that they view the players that have put in countless hours to make EVE into what it is, as just a way of making themselves even more money. For many, a mutual respect between company and player was assumed, but in one fell swoop, the leaked document damaged much of that connection.
While some sort of backlash was expected - and this isn't the first time for EVE Online - no one could have predicted the events that transpired following the document's leak. Jita, one of the game's largest trade hubs played host to one of the most awe-inspiring in-game protests ever as players from all around converged on a single point, an indestructible monument, and unleashed their most powerful weapons upon it in an attempt to protest the newly-proposed micro-transactions. Check out footage of the protest below:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGDDpNRabtI
As the number of protesting players in attendance reached the zone's capacity, players also moved to other major trade hubs within the universe, flooding them with activity and forcing CCP to shut down server nodes. It was through these actions that EVE's community proved just how much control they possess over the game's universe. That night, players managed to completely halt the game's economy.
Continue to page 2 for the results of the CCP and CSM meeting.
Even though this protest may have been vastly different from its large-scale, real-world counterparts, it's no less impressive that such a large chunk of the community was able to band together in order to let the developer know just how much influence and power they have over the game.
The real issue for the community though, is the lack of communication on CCP Games' part. Throughout the duration of the protesting and much of the leaked document debacle, communication and answers from CCP were sparse and poorly detailed. Rather than making clarifications regarding the allegedly proposed gameplay-affecting micro-transactions, players were met with an analogy of $1000 designer jeans to explain the inclusion of micro-transactions in a general sense.
This answer completely danced around the burning question in everyone's minds regarding micro-transactions that could affect gameplay. For a game so focused on community, this lack of communication between developer and players is inexcusable. This is where the Council of Stellar Management (CSM), a group of elected players who act as a bridge between community and developer, stepped in.
A meeting was to be held between CCP Games and the CSM in order to discuss the community's concerns regarding the leaked document. On July 1 when the meeting was completed, the community finally received solid answers from CCP Games regarding the controversy. According to senior producer Arnar Hrafyn Gylfason,
"It is CCP's plan that the Noble Exchange (NeX store) will be used for the sale of vanity items only. There are no plans, and have been no plans, as per previous communication and CSM meetings, to introduce the sale of game breaking items or enhancements in the NeX store."
Adding to this, he then stated that,
"The investment of money in Eve should not give you an unfair advantage over the investment of time. The CSM, under NDA, has been presented with CCP's plans for continued evolution of the business model and agrees that nothing they saw breaks this principle. CCP has committed to sharing their plans with the CSM on this front on an ongoing basis."
On top of these assurances that micro-transactions will not affect gameplay, they also promised to work to strengthen their lines of communication with the community so that something of this magnitude does not happen again.
While they have stated that the NeX store will continue to only sell vanity items, it's hard to know whether the leaked CCP document held truth or not. Even though they claim that they never had plans to sell gameplay-changing items, it's always possible that this was simply a move to abandon their previous idea. When met with such opposition, it would have been suicidal to continue with it and even to announce its existence could have been dangerous for the game's future.
It remains to be seen whether the whole debacle was the product of a fake document or not, but regardless of the reasoning, it stands to show just how much power and influence gamers can muster when they band together for a common cause. Whether CCP Games are at fault or not in this situation, it's more than impressive to see just how strong and united the community is for the game that they have developed. And for CCP, a loyal and strong community equals big revenue for a subscription-based game.
EVE Online is out now for the PC and Mac.