exactly my issue.
In addition, Game rewards should be linked to in-game actions or even *cringe* micro-transaction or purchases from CCP
I also have also long thought that these 3rd party sites lotto sites are scams - how does one know which is legit and which is not? Does CCP really want to link up so close to them they could be responsible for any legal issues associated with them?
Edit - this last point is apparently being made by quite a few on the eve forums. Quite a bleepstorm over this.
I've also wandered about the nature of the lotto/betting/poker sites tied to EVE; I took a look at one during the Alliance Tournament and on one hand, it looked safe, but as a person who deals with aspects of cyber-security where I work, I'm always leery of financial offerings on the web.
To the issue about the ship and etc...On one hand, I'd like to say I find it neat that CCP is working with a player-run group and event. Yet, on the other hand, it kind of sends mixed messages with their current stance of player-run events and CCP actors being involved. Just my personal observation. I think a company that is willing to reward players for doing stuff to either enhance the gaming experience of a large population of the player base or to enhance the appeal and attract new players is pretty cool. I don't think a lotto or poker site is really enhancing the game itself and from someone looking at getting into EVE, having these sites associated with the game could turn some people off of it (that said, there really isn't much a company can do to prevent gold/isk/[insert unique currency here] sites from popping up promising vast riches so long as you provide said site with access to your account).
Again, I don't know CCP that well (I've only played four months, and have mostly just stuck to this forum and the IGS forum) so I don't know what their situation is like at their end. However, just from what has happened the last couple of weeks, it strikes me that there have been some major shortfalls in player-company relations/interactions. I've already said elsewhere that CCP ought to have had and maintained RP channels of their own to give all players access to actors and devs. Looking at this lotto thing, it strikes me that CCP could have saved some grief by running their own in game lottery/betting style channel and interface, especially with some of the concerns about whether or not using the API is a breach of the ToS/EULA.
One of the things that I did like about Blizzard and WoW was that over the years, Blizzard started to incorporate some of the third-party mods into the game itself, thus cutting down on the number of plug-ins and possible hacks people were running. I'm not saying that Blizzard is the best example, but they have dominated the MMO market for a while now and it doesn't hurt to look at the big dog and learn from both their successes and failures.
As to the Gold Magnate and other unique or uber-ultra-unique ships that have come into the game...those should be left as ultra rare. I mean, they re-skinned the Magnate for the 10th anniversery and called it something else (can't remember now, but Steff has one sitting in one of her hangars) so I can't see why they can't do something like that. Leave
the Gold Magnate alone and give it a new look and a different name.
