First, I would like to say how much I thoroughly enjoy playing this game. Ive been playing for a couple years now, which is far longer than I have stuck with any other game, so obviously you guys have done a lot right to be able to keep people interested for that long. The size of the game is magnificent, the game is visually breath-taking, and when coupled with VR the immersion is unparalleled.
The main purpose of this letter is to suggest an alternative way of looking at how to grow the economy in the game. Since I started playing the game and occasionally browsing the forums for help with the various issues that new players need help with, I noticed two common themes. There were many questions about how to go about making money and, inevitably, the topic of Robigo would come up (No, this is not going to be a letter begging you to bring back Robigo). Of all the responses, most fell into one of two categories: either in support of long distance smuggling runs and okay with the high risk/high reward payout, or firmly against the fast money. The thing that was bothersome to me was the haughty attitude and general rudeness of anyone discussing Robigo, but that will be handled later.
After Robigo was essentially shut down or “nerfed,” many people became extremely cautious about discussing trading and smuggling routes in the open forums. As one commander put it, “whatever gets discussed in the forums, the nerf bat soon follows.” As a result, trying to get any kind of information about trading was soon relegated to “check with eddb.io” and very little else. It seems that players are extremely unwilling to share information about any kind of success they are having for fear of that success being taken away.
It seems to me that the economics of the game are being handled in much the same way as one would handle a houseplant – prune where you don't want it to grow, and hope that it grows in other directions. I would humbly submit that this method works fine for plants, but does not work for the kind of economy you are trying to create.
Instead, I would like to suggest an alternative way of thinking: rather than thinking of the economy like a plant, think of it like a track team. If one runner is slower than the rest, you don't slow everyone else down to match them. Instead, you train and encourage the slow runner to increase their speed and become an asset to the team. In the same way, if there are areas of the economy that are out of balance, encourage other areas to expand and become more attractive rather than stunting the growth of an expanding area. This will also help with avoiding the game feeling like an endless grind – something that is a danger if the rewards keep getting cut back and players get less and less for their time and effort.
As an example, lets look at the Robigo system again. There were lots of players doing the long distance smuggling and that one specific area was overbalancing the rest of the game. Instead of shutting down Robigo, an alternative method would have been using the in-game mechanics that area already in place. Create a community event where “…Local authorities have been tracking an abnormally high amount of smuggling coming out of the Robigo system. As a result, any players who intercept these illegal traders and hand in bounties on them will be rewarded.” This serves to both dampen the amount of smugglers making the run, and encourages growth in the Bounty Hunting section of the game. (Yes I realize that community events usually last a week and smugglers would have the option of just sitting out for a week and coming back. However, what if you ran the goal for a month instead of a week? Most players would prefer to change tactics rather than sitting out a whole month.) The main point is that there are alternative methods, and the in-game economy would react much better to re-focusing and changing the area of growth rather than pruning back growth.
TL; DR: You want the in-game economy to grow. Instead of cutting back areas where you feel its growing too fast, re-direct that growth into other areas. That way you don't lose momentum (or player interest).
TO THE OTHER PLAYERS:
Seeing the rudeness, contempt and sheer arrogance of some of the responses on the forum was disheartening, offensive and almost enough to make me want to quit playing the game. This happened on both sides of the Robigo argument, neither group is innocent.
There were many players who felt that smuggling out of Robigo was too easy and made money too fast. You repeated over and over that getting the funds for the bigger ships that quickly cheapened the game, and lessened the experience.
To be completely honest, I find both those arguments perfectly valid. Its admirable that you have a code that you stick to, and your loyalty is impressive. Its perfectly fair to want the reward to be the worth the effort, and to avoid short-changing the experience.
Do not think for one second that this means you have the right to dictate to me how I should be playing the game.
The whole point of this game is that people get to make their own choices, and have to live with the consequences. If there are people who are willing to accept the higher risk in order to get the higher rewards, that is their decision. Yes they get paid more, but they also lose more when that gamble fails. Just because you would not make that choice does not mean that it should be denied to them. In real life, there are people who take huge risks every day – take the stock market as an example. I would never be willing to take some of the financial risks that some of the traders make on a day-to-day basis. However, they are willing to take the risk – some of them get the reward, others lose harshly. The same concept applies to the game.
The main purpose of this letter is to suggest an alternative way of looking at how to grow the economy in the game. Since I started playing the game and occasionally browsing the forums for help with the various issues that new players need help with, I noticed two common themes. There were many questions about how to go about making money and, inevitably, the topic of Robigo would come up (No, this is not going to be a letter begging you to bring back Robigo). Of all the responses, most fell into one of two categories: either in support of long distance smuggling runs and okay with the high risk/high reward payout, or firmly against the fast money. The thing that was bothersome to me was the haughty attitude and general rudeness of anyone discussing Robigo, but that will be handled later.
After Robigo was essentially shut down or “nerfed,” many people became extremely cautious about discussing trading and smuggling routes in the open forums. As one commander put it, “whatever gets discussed in the forums, the nerf bat soon follows.” As a result, trying to get any kind of information about trading was soon relegated to “check with eddb.io” and very little else. It seems that players are extremely unwilling to share information about any kind of success they are having for fear of that success being taken away.
It seems to me that the economics of the game are being handled in much the same way as one would handle a houseplant – prune where you don't want it to grow, and hope that it grows in other directions. I would humbly submit that this method works fine for plants, but does not work for the kind of economy you are trying to create.
Instead, I would like to suggest an alternative way of thinking: rather than thinking of the economy like a plant, think of it like a track team. If one runner is slower than the rest, you don't slow everyone else down to match them. Instead, you train and encourage the slow runner to increase their speed and become an asset to the team. In the same way, if there are areas of the economy that are out of balance, encourage other areas to expand and become more attractive rather than stunting the growth of an expanding area. This will also help with avoiding the game feeling like an endless grind – something that is a danger if the rewards keep getting cut back and players get less and less for their time and effort.
As an example, lets look at the Robigo system again. There were lots of players doing the long distance smuggling and that one specific area was overbalancing the rest of the game. Instead of shutting down Robigo, an alternative method would have been using the in-game mechanics that area already in place. Create a community event where “…Local authorities have been tracking an abnormally high amount of smuggling coming out of the Robigo system. As a result, any players who intercept these illegal traders and hand in bounties on them will be rewarded.” This serves to both dampen the amount of smugglers making the run, and encourages growth in the Bounty Hunting section of the game. (Yes I realize that community events usually last a week and smugglers would have the option of just sitting out for a week and coming back. However, what if you ran the goal for a month instead of a week? Most players would prefer to change tactics rather than sitting out a whole month.) The main point is that there are alternative methods, and the in-game economy would react much better to re-focusing and changing the area of growth rather than pruning back growth.
TL; DR: You want the in-game economy to grow. Instead of cutting back areas where you feel its growing too fast, re-direct that growth into other areas. That way you don't lose momentum (or player interest).
TO THE OTHER PLAYERS:
Seeing the rudeness, contempt and sheer arrogance of some of the responses on the forum was disheartening, offensive and almost enough to make me want to quit playing the game. This happened on both sides of the Robigo argument, neither group is innocent.
There were many players who felt that smuggling out of Robigo was too easy and made money too fast. You repeated over and over that getting the funds for the bigger ships that quickly cheapened the game, and lessened the experience.
To be completely honest, I find both those arguments perfectly valid. Its admirable that you have a code that you stick to, and your loyalty is impressive. Its perfectly fair to want the reward to be the worth the effort, and to avoid short-changing the experience.
Do not think for one second that this means you have the right to dictate to me how I should be playing the game.
The whole point of this game is that people get to make their own choices, and have to live with the consequences. If there are people who are willing to accept the higher risk in order to get the higher rewards, that is their decision. Yes they get paid more, but they also lose more when that gamble fails. Just because you would not make that choice does not mean that it should be denied to them. In real life, there are people who take huge risks every day – take the stock market as an example. I would never be willing to take some of the financial risks that some of the traders make on a day-to-day basis. However, they are willing to take the risk – some of them get the reward, others lose harshly. The same concept applies to the game.