I played EVE on and off for... six or seven years. About four of those years enthusiastically. AT NO POINT was the game fun in solo mode. Not in the way Elite is. The ONLY fun thing about EVE was my Alliance and my Corporation. I'm still in touch with some of those guys even since I quit back in 2013 as ED took my time.
So why am I NOT in favour of Elite having player-driven content in the way that EVE has?
- It'd take up far far too much developer time in developing, balancing and monitoring player-driven content. CCP have done this basically by staying hands off as much as humanly possible when it comes to monitoring. Anything goes.
- It'd turn Open in a guild-driven area which is unfriendly for the lone pilot. The example I gave above of CODE and Emperor's Grace challenging people in their ringed off arenas would become the mainstay.
- People who have the free time would dominate the game in a way which in real terms is quite limited now.
- It would take Developer time AWAY from delivering meaningful content. You say 'Go Play Solo' but the Solo Game would suffer from lack of development as priorities shifted to developing, balancing and monitoring player-driven content in a way CCP won't do, but Elite MUST do to keep the game PG. I know technically that's point one again, but I thought it was such an important one it was worth mentioning twice.
Now I'm FOR giving players tools to organise ingame. Wings was the big update and it needs further refinement, balancing and debugging (apparently). Player communciations are a completely valid point to take up.
I'm also the first to criticise the content of the game. The game NEEDS more and better missions. It needs lore missions that make sense. It needs more ships, modules and variety. It needs exploration content added desperately. It needs junk littered through space. It needs a greater sense of 'permanence' and a sense that actions have consequences.
It is far far from perfect. And Frontier Developments and anyone who plays the game can tell you it needs more content.
That said it IS fun. I'm taking a break now, after 18 months of ED being my number one 'goto' game. No way do I blame the game for that. Just after 18 months I need a break.
We all agree the game needs improvement. But developing it down the player-driven content is the WRONG way to go.
Give us more. But give us the right more. This is Han Solo/Star Trek/Space Trucking/Game of Thrones in Space.
We need to develop THAT content more, not keep adding on wings to the house that isn't furnished properly.
PS. Despite the lack of Guilds and Player Driven Content I'm still meeting great people and making new friends. Shout out to Drew Wagar, Kris White, Cosmos, Liqua, Kevin Massey and Everyone at the Aisling Duval Facebook Group.