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EVE Online has found itself waist-high in controversy. After documents were leaked with plans to bring in gameplay-altering micro-transactions, and the reveal of a $70 in-game monocle, many users took to protesting. Lucky for us, we got the chance to interview the game’s lead designer Kristoffer Touborg about the MMO fiasco, the future of EVE, and the upcoming PS3 MMO Dust 514.
Q: Could you talk about the decision to implement a micro-transaction system into the game after eight years without one?
Kristoffer Touborg: We’re seeing companies with similar products, who weren’t doing very well suddenly flourish because they found a better suited business model for their game. For us though, it’s more a case of needing to future-proof our game. We’ve been around for eight years, and we’d love to be here for decades to come. Sometimes, reaching that goal means changing.
For most companies, I think offering extra services to players who are interested is an integral part of responsibly developing a successful product. I have to stress the word “interested” though, as that was key to our strategy. The virtual goods store is a great way of people investing in something they love, but at the end of the day, they’re vanity items that players don’t need to buy to be successful. That’s not to say that selling other things is bad business, it just doesn’t really fit our particular product.
Q: Is it reasonable to think in the future high-cost micro-transactions will be more regularly seen in games?
KT:Definitely. People like shiny things; that doesn’t fundamentally change just because you use the internet. No game company would be doing this if there wasn’t some fundamental need to fill in your customers. 99 per cent of your players might think a 500 dollar pink leather vest or sparkling pony is silly, but there is still that 1 per cent of your users that think it’s the most amazing thing ever produced.
I really like cheaper items personally, because it allows more players to participate. An alternative route is to let people trade said items, which we allow our players to do. But yeah, high price items will definitely be in the mix; they need to be there to make the collectors happy and let the rest of us go “what a sucker” when we see someone wearing them.
Q: The issues surrounding the leaks seemed to explode across the Internet. Was this blown out of proportion?
KT: Yes and no. I think the average player had a lot of questions at the time that needed to be addressed. I think the reaction of “tell us what’s going on!” from the player base was completely justified. We should have been better at communicating with them, not just because it’s the right thing to do, but also because I think we could have killed a lot of the major concerns early on.
Then of course there were death threats, hate campaigns etc. which was defiantly out of proportion. It was a very small group of people though, the majority of the EVE community had relevant concerns that we’ve hopefully addressed since then. If not, we’ll try doing so moving on.
Q: Customers threatened to cancel subscriptions after all the drama regarding changes to the game. Does this deter you from making changes to the formula of Eve in the future?
KT: I think that’s a tricky question. I don’t think we saw cancellations because of what we did, I think we saw cancellations because of what the community thought we might do in the future. Or said differently; players were more upset at the prospect of buying gold ammo down the road, than a monocle today. Of course there was some backlash against the monocle, but the core of the issue was uncertainty of the future.
Overall, changing EVE’s formula needs to happen, we’re a live product that that needs to exist not just today, but also tomorrow. Part of keeping that product fresh and attractive is making changes to that formula. It’s tough, but it has to be done unless we want to fade away. What we need to make sure, is that chose changes to the formula are clearly communicated and that the players are on-board.
Q: Is that player-base even looking for new innovation in the game?
KT: Definitely, but at the same time it’s scary. Shaking up the game environment is crucial in terms of keeping the experience fresh. No one wants to repeat the same thing over and over for years. If that was the case, no game companies would make expansions or DLC. We need to make sure the playing field changes gradually so it’s fun and provides new experiences, even after years of playing.
The bigger those changes, the more scepticism of course, which is difficult but an integral part of what we do. Before you launch a feature, you’re basically selling people a promise, which is much more difficult than a done feature. There are a lot more people sticking up for captains quarters on the forums now, than before launch. We’ll see the same thing with DUST 514. I think players will love DUST once it comes out, but until then, there will be a lot of uncertainty and fear on how it will impact EVE.
Q: Dust 514 caters specifically to the console scene, do you think your PC gamers will migrate to PS3?
KT: I don’t really like the perceived split between PC gamers and console gamers. I play MMOs, Facebook games, I own a PS3 and I really need to get my hands on a Nintendo DS. I think plenty of EVE players will play DUST and I think plenty of them won’t have to do anything more extraordinary than walk over to their PS3 and switch it on.
Most gamers don’t play a single game for years, they use multiple products, sometimes at the same time. I play FPS games and I can’t think of a better way of melting two things I really enjoy together. I think what we’re trying is a natural evolution based on how people consume entertainment.
Q: With both Eve (on PC) and Dust 514 (on PS3) being compatible with one another, is cross-platform gaming the next logical step for MMOs?
KT: Yes, I can’t for the life of me figure out why this hasn’t happened yet. I think the fact that games are spreading to more and more platforms (Facebook, mobile, PC, console etc) only increases the need for cross-platform gaming. If you’re into a game, you should be able to access it, or parts of it, from any platform you own.
We’ve come too far to treat these as isolated platforms. Your tape won’t fit in your DVD player, but there isn’t any reason EVE shouldn’t fit in your phone as well as your computer. There are tons of ways we could make EVE better by letting you access it from more places.
Q: It was announced that Dust might go free-to-play in the future. Is that something that might come to Eve eventually?
KT: It’s something we talked about from time to time, as have our fans, but there are two pretty massive issues we’d have to tackle before we do: How do you deal with potentially increasing the playerbase by a factor of x in a very short time? And how will the payment system work? Those are the big questions, then there are tons of smaller ones. It would be a massive undertaking.
It’s a difficult question to answer really. I can’t tell you what the future will bring at this point, only that we’re always considering all options and trying to figure out how we can continue to run EVE in many years to come. As the business changes, so do we. The only thing we can really do is hope people stay along for the ride.
Q: Are modern MMO players less willing to pay for things?
KT: No, quite the opposite. I think that’s exactly the core of why F2P does so well. MMOs have been an extremely cheap experience for a long time. Monthly access to an MMO costs about the same as a cinema ticket, but you’re still getting a full month worth on entertainment, instead of 90 minutes of French art only your girlfriend understands. I think consumers know just how much they’re getting for very little money, which is why they’re probably willing to spend more.
I don’t think I’d have to look far down my credit card statement before being able to identify purchases that are much less value for money than some of the things I’ve bought in MMOs. I used to smoke cigarettes, and I’d certainly rather spend that money on buying virtual dresses.
