To qualify my answer (option 3) I would like to state the following:
1. This poll is obviously exceptionally limited
2. I support more about large capsuleer groups in ADDITION to iteration on existing PF
3. I perceive a lot of unhappiness with PF is due to one or two 'nexus' events where bad writers had the reins (he who shall not be named) and the frantic backpedaling that has been the prime driver of CCP generated RP since then.
Point 1 is a given, any poll is going to have a limitation issue as will any reductionist approach, it is why we have the capacity to post is response. In this case, the love/hate approach is a little leading IMO, but serves to get the point across.
Point 2, I think that RP suffers from a sense of disconnect in the power structures of the 'stage and props' and the actors who move within and upon them. We need more development of the back story, to build a convincing stage upon which we may act our our role play. At the same time if the players on that stage, be they role player or rabid internet douche (or both), are not at least partially defined by the very real power structures they create, we get a disparity between power projection, word-bloat and the general 'them and us' I see a lot between 'loyalists' and 'colonists' (or whatever else you might want to call the null-blocs).
A definition of the Empires that incorporates the capsuleers, without the current spooky hands 'their power is growing unchecked' would mitigate a lot of the issues here. Empires that have stood the test of time are apparently being threatened by groups less than a decade old, often younger. If this is coming to pass, then more detail would be nice - Rome didn't fall in a day and neither will the Empires, but null sec is fertile ground for a new type of structure to be explored by the players and incorporated into the rich PF we have. After all, there have been some far more sensible political and military decisions born of the necessities of victory in the game world, than there have been in the fictitious battles of the Empires - drawing on this to the benefit of both (retconning or evolving fictional fleet combat to involve tactics that demonstrably WORK in game) can only help role play become more relevant and in tune with the realities of day to day activity. This can be said for all scales, from solo frigate pvp, through skirmishes in FW, up to the maligned but required blob warfare of sov grinds.
Simply put, the lack of focus on capsuleer groups (large, small, whatever) combined with the lack of recognition of that middle ground of the Empire loyal capsuleer, is causing a lot of problems with the PF in general from a consistency and impetus point of view. It is evident players will define their own characters through role play (passive or active) no matter what - the game is just built in such a way that any action can be taken in a 'cause -> effect, make words' context. Shackling us to Empire descriptions may be fun for those of us that like to play with the stage dressings, but what of those who wish to build something center stage, all of their own, trying to keep it up as long as possible before others pull their creation apart? If we're going to develop the PF, I think that the interface between free-captain/independent colonies, the pirate factions and the CONCORD signatory nations need to be hammered out in at least the loosest of detail.
Point 3, he who shall not be named et al. This is an unfortunate state of affairs, because this guy shit the bed once and CCP decided to let him back under the covers despite finding empty packs of Ex-Lax in the bedside table, resulting in an initially warm current of PF stirring, followed by a wave of nausea and attempts to block the entire protracted, flatulent biological encounter from the collective memory. Damage is done, and to be honest, the community damage control of going ostrich actually worked pretty well IMO. You get the occasional person who likes to thrust this PF in our faces, because, like it or not, it is PF, but fortunately a majority are either hollow trolls that are easily dismissed, or individuals with the good sense to cherry pick and polish what can be salvaged. The primary issue on CCP's side is staying on the defensive.
To continue a metaphor, CCP love those damned bed sheets, and they don't care if the colour is bleached out so long as they can still claim to have those very same sheets to put on show. Thus the cleansing begins, not with the fire of retcon, but with the peroxide of back pedal. I applaud the CCP story team for their attempts, but the fact that every story except for a very few has been a response to 'people hate these characters, what do?' shows. Simply put, my trust in the ability for CCP to define their game in pseudo real-time fiction is shaken to the core. I trust that future Chronicles and EVE:Source will be fantastic, due to the largely unfettered collective talents of those individuals working on them, but the marketing machine and public-facing big selling RP of EVE is tainted by a very few nexus events that have since coloured almost every effort to rebalance the fiction. This has in turn shifted my opinion towards the reconciliation of 'what we experience as characters in the context of the game' and 'what we experience as characters in the setting'. Just getting more about the big four or pirates isn't enough - we need to know how we as capsuleers fit in in the loosest sense. Don't define us, but provide the springboard for descriptions of interactions with realistic power structures, in terms of how you might be received as a member of an alliance, a corp, or even as an NPC corp 'franchise' pilot keeping out of trouble.
To summarise, I do not feel that a concentration of the static or out of reach elements of the back story is advisable, simply based on prior experience. The bogey man capsuleer trope is getting old, and the only way to mitigate this is to start to define the loosest possible framework for why capsuleers would continue to be tolerated, and how CONCORD reconciles the capsuleer empire building, loyalist corp founding and piratical activity with the gains made from such. How deeply can a new system be exploited (does sov indicate colonisation, or is the outpost the largest metropolitan structure an alliance may hold? is colonisation restricted to skeleton crew and largely autonomous PI?)? Iterate on the back story, develop it and refine it by all means, but focus on that bit where we, the players of the characters, start to become relevant.
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Topic: How do you feel about the current state and direction of the EVE IP (Read 21428 times)