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EVE Online: CCP to Refocus, Reduce Staff by 20%
SBFord
Former Associate EditorMember LegendaryPosts: 33,129
The CCP blog has been updated with news that the company will be refocusing its efforts on EVE Online and Dust 514. As a result of the restructuring of the focus, the number of staff will be reduced by 20% worldwide and World of Darkness will be sidelined.
Following this reorganization, we must do a better job by focusing on these priorities:
For the immediate future, our mission is to enrich the vast EVE Universe by strengthening the continuous development of EVE Online while preparing to bring DUST 514 to market on the PS3. We do this in order to realize our ambitious and challenging plan of joining the two in a cross-platform, truly massive online world.
World of Darkness will continue development with a significantly reduced team. This team will continue to iterate and expand on the gameplay and systems they have designed. We will also redeploy creative teams in Atlanta to support the launch of DUST 514.
Read the full notice on the EVE Online site.
Thanks to Minsc for the tip!
Comments
So let's look at the circling the drain list of prerequisites,
1: Cash shop ... CHECK!
2: Significant drop in playerbase ... CHECK!
3: Developer numbers slashed ... CHECK!
All that's left is for them to announce the game is going freemium and yes I read his BS publicity spin about how he's sorry and to right the wrongs he's fired some developers that weren't even involved in the latest **** up that caused players to protest and leave en masse. Good job maybe next time he ballses it up he can totaly scrap WoD and move them all onto his PS3 project because that will satisfy the people pissed of with the cash shop items being force fed to them and the lack of development in EVE!
CCP is the new SOE!
"Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience"
CS Lewis
If I'm not mistaken CCP stopped carring about EvE, the game which was making them money and instead they decided to imtroduce cash shop into a game. I guess that should learn other comanys they should respect their playerbase.
CCP has pretty muched frozen development on Incarna, which means they've stopped NeX store development as well. They've just cut ~120 jobs from WoD development and are distributing the remaining to EVE FiS and some to Dust 514. Explain to me exactly how this signifies they are developing a F2P conversion?
CCP got a slap to the face and they have finally reacted. If they were the new SoE they would have just trudged along into bankrupcy.
noooo, CCP still has to:
-get rid of the sandbox and introduce a levelbased skill system
-delete all shipclasses except 6 because they are iconic
-introduce a new borked combat system
-introduce a expansion, then revamp the game to a completely broken game less then a week later
-introduce dungeons, claim they are bugged but proven by exploiters that the content still was in development.
-fk up AI so you can kill everything within 1 second
-bork up the entire storyline of that current franchise
-screw up the entire ingame economy
-buy out competitive MMO's to your own and let them die.
-say publicly to the community they want the WOW fanbois over the current community and if that means the current community will leave 'so be it' replying with 'they don't dare to leave our game' which is followed by a 98% exodus of all players
-make fake trailers of space content, show that of at fanfests but never relasing/developing it.
-store all your acct data on a 1970 data server and get it hacked and all your acct/credit card data in the hands of hackers
-promise to your community that it never happens again, followed by a 2nd hack less then 2 weeks later.
When CCP does all this: then they might be close into taking the reign from SOE.
"going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"
it sucks that many are suffering due to the mistakes of a few. but this is the way of business. Hilmar tempted us to speak through our actions, and we did.
overall, im glad this is happening. EVE was actually doing well before these antics, the population was steadily increasing, and they had an overall decent product. but people just dont care about the promises of WoD and Dust. we want to play EVE.
CCP screwed themselves royally. it will take them at least a year to bring the population back up. im not even thinking about taking their $5/month deal to return. theyre not getting a single cent until the game meets certain expectations such as:
- gallente ships / hybrids buffed
- factional warfare being meaningful
- 0.0 being meaningful
- improved aesthetics (i.e. re-skinned ships, nebulas)
EVE is hurting bad and it needs lots of TLC before people start coming back. the funny thing is, people have been asking for these changes for over 2 years, and this entire thing proved how big of douchebags the people in charge are.
I guess the rumors about their financial trouble turned out to be true. Good luck to those who are getting axed. It's never easy to be without a job, especially not during times like these. I hope CCP really did learn a lesson or two this time and somehow manage to recover. I may have my own personal issues with EVE as it stand and the direction they're going, but I wish them the best. I feel it would be a great loss to the MMO genre as a whole if EVE went down the drain.
I'm a big ol' fluffy carewolf. Be afraid. Be very afraid.
Dude, they have done EXACTLY what the playerbase has asked for.
How can you still say these things?
Besides, what significant drop in playerbase? Developer numbers ON THEIR OTHER GAME was slashed, not on EvE.
Just........wow.
Damn, i was so looking forward to that WoD mmo. Now it looks like it'll be more years away if ever. <Sadface> I don't care about CCP's other games, they can go burn.
sad news about WoD. I was looking forward to that..sigh. Oh well, as a current EvE player however it's actually good news. I wasn't around for SoE's idioticy with SWG, but I must say the analogy between CCP and SoE seems ludicrious. SoE intro'd NGE and never looked back. CCP's leadership realized their mistakes and are recommitting their resources to their original game.
I'm getting ready to take a break from EvE anyway, but the MMO world is better with it here. Xyson, Earthrise, and many other attempted sandboxes have failed and as of today, EvE is the only one going strong. It may have weakened, but would you rather see it fall? I know I wouldn't.
Even with all the other drama/nonsense that has been discussed, it still is the best sandbox available, imo.
Playing: BF4/BF:Hardline, Subnautica 7 days to die
Hiatus: EvE
Waiting on: World of Darkness(sigh)
Interested in: better games in general
http://eve-offline.net/?server=tranquility
You were saying?
Originally posted by Deleted User
So much of the game is centered around forced grouping that soloing is not an option, major design flaw in my opinion.
^
^lol
I can't really say i'm surprised. I found it odd that so many people here were getting so hyped up about WoD when it was clear that they wouldn't be seeing it for a very long time if at all.
You're reading the graphs backwards, you have to read them right to left instead of left to right. They clearly show decline. Whether it will stay that way is anyone's guess though, subs ebb and flow in all games.
People losing their jobs is very sad, the thing is some people seem to be blaming the dissatisfied EVE players, they say the whining, riots and rage quits caused this.
The only people responsible are CCPs managers.
They where the ones that bit off more than they could chew, a developer the size of CCP creating three games? Really? They also ignored all the warnings from the player base, ever since the whole “the statistics don’t show that polished content sells any better than increased content” and “we will put EVEs development on hold for 18 months” the players have been showing warning signs.
General satisfaction decreased and complaints increased, the captains quarters and cash shop pricing strategy, whilst minor added to all the frustration and many players simply said enough was enough.
As a person I have nothing but sympathy for the people losing their jobs, I hope they can get new jobs quickly, but as an EVE player I hope this restructuring will help the game.Only time will tell if it will work out, but if it does CCP will be stronger for it and may have a game which is much stronger and more profitable for them.
Currently playing:
EVE online (Ruining low sec one hotdrop at a time)
Gravity Rush,
Dishonoured: The Knife of Dunwall.
(Waiting for) Metro: Last Light,
Company of Heroes II.
I'm sad for anyone that got interested in WoD, but to be honest, the moment they anounced it I knew they were doing it wrong.
EvE is so frikkin huge with still SO much left to add and fix, they need every man and woman on the EvE team. Dust I found cool, untill it became a PS3 only title. Meh.
I'm not reading it wrong at all, the average has stayed at 40k~ since before through and after the RMT ordeal.
Originally posted by Deleted User
So much of the game is centered around forced grouping that soloing is not an option, major design flaw in my opinion.
^
^lol
Quoting for epic truth.
Originally posted by Deleted User
So much of the game is centered around forced grouping that soloing is not an option, major design flaw in my opinion.
^
^lol
People lose their jobs coz some boss wanted to squize more money out of EVE at all cost, how sad
So people should play games they don't like just to keep other people employed? Ridiculous.
How bout blaming whoever is responsible for introducing the changes and how they were handled that made players unhappy?
Well, so much for me ever touching EVE.
Without Incarna, I have 0 interest in the place.
How about maybe because their boss wants to continue to have a profitable company so he doesn't have to lay off more people and have the business completely fail due to insolvency? What a dumbass thing of you to say.
-----------------------------
Real as Reality Television!!!
Please. Don't be so dramatic. CCP was making plenty of dough to pay their staff. They saw what was happening in the industry and said "fuck it, let's get greedy. Let's throw in a cash shop". What they failed to recognize was how different EVE players are from the rest of mmo gamers. They didn't all line up, assume the position, and then thank them for offering them less for more (like we've seen with many playerbases in the past few years).
It's a terrible thing when so many people lose their jobs, but CCP did this to themselves, plain and simple.
"Mr. Rothstein, your people never will understand... the way it works out here. You're all just our guests. But you act like you're at home. Let me tell you something, partner. You ain't home. But that's where we're gonna send you if it harelips the governor." - Pat Webb
Can't say I find this to be a smart move, i think it's pretty clear at this point those who were pissed at CCP are not going back. They still continually trash the company. Yet here they are still trying to cater to them. This has been CCP's problem all along just as I was saying when this trouble started, they have no backbone to follow through, they always cave to those who want this game to stay as stagnant as it's always been. So much for a new spark of life in EVE, I hate to say it but I think this may be the beginning of the end for that game.
For every minute you are angry , you lose 60 seconds of happiness."-Emerson
No cash shops please, but the main thing is your whining... you all should have simply complained about the cash shop, walking is very important to me honestly.
It sounds like EVE was doing a fine job of paying it's employee's and funding there development of WoD and Dust, till! Say hrrm lets totally jack everyone around with! Cash shops and unfulfilled promises! I recently got there $5 offer to return. But, I dispise anytype of cash shop, cosmetically and most certainly P2W! Either or it is a sad deal, I like EVE alot, but I didn't have the time to learn the rigorous learning curve! Good luck to all those that got laid off, and to all those that play this game. Hope it works out for you!
I still find the premise of DUST and its PS3 only build utterly bewildering, I understand their thinking leading up to this, a non conflicting expand your playerbase in 2 directions in tie spin offs.
But as in WoD and Incarna if you bite off more than you can chew and then but restrictions on how you chew(in the case of DUST), your setting yourself up for collapse of revenue and customer loyalty, if your going to tie something in do it in such a way that brings new people but also excites the loyal player base, thus creating the worlds best advertising WORD of Mouth endoresment.
Even with CCP,s latest statements to placate the masses of still paying customers and I phrased that carefully, there is still a feeling they are still fudging and scrambling around a bit, they sometimes come across a bit lacking in focus and discpline and making plans up on the fly, as evidence I hold every expansion they have ever released to back up my statement.
I still sub, I still play I,m not bitching for bitching sakes i,m just questioning their work ethic and focus and I'm asking myself this is a top teir problem the one person that should be fired/layed off and replaced may be the person making these plans and providing the lack of focus.