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Interview in a Box
MMORPG.com Managing Editor Jon Wood recently spoke to CCP's Ryan Dancey about the the upcoming release of the retail boxed edition of EVE Online.
| MMORPG.com: | Apocrypha won't be the first time that EVE Online has been retail-released with a box. Can you tell us the story behind EVE's original release? |
| Ryan Dancey: | CCP partnered with Simon & Schuster Interactive when EVE was first released in 2003. Soon afterwards, Simon & Schuster made an executive-level decision to get out of video game publishing and focus on their traditional publishing business instead (a decision unrelated to EVE). CCP negotiated a return of all rights from Simon & Schuster at that time, and has been self-distributing the game ever since. |
| MMORPG.com: | What led to the decision to re-release a retail version of EVE Online after so long? |
| Ryan Dancey: | Our market is maturing. The early adopters who form the backbone of EVE's success have succeeded in creating a true virtual world, and experience that we think a larger audience will find attractive. We can now leverage traditional brick & mortar retail as an additional way to reach new customers who might not otherwise be exposed to EVE through our on-line marketing. In general, a retail edition has lots of upside, very little downside, and we just felt it was time to invest the resources necessary to return to the retail channel. |
| MMORPG.com: | We know you're teaming with Atari for the project, can you tell us what role that company will play? What do they bring to the table? |
| Ryan Dancey: | We're grateful to be working with the team at Atari. They are bringing their contacts with retail buyers, and their knowledge of how the logistics system works to move a unit of EVE from a manufacturing facility to a local retailer's shelf. That's a core competency that we just don't have at CCP. They are also able to give us advice on how to maximize the impact of the packaging - to do the "little things" that are needed to get people to pick up that box and make a connection with EVE Online. They have helped us to shape the offer itself - what exactly will be delivered in the box, in addition to the basic installer itself. |
| MMORPG.com: | Will there be a retail box for Mac users as well, or is this strictly a PC endeavour? |
| Ryan Dancey: | The EVE Online retail product contains an installer disc that has both Mac and PC versions. |
| MMORPG.com: | Does CCP expect a significant rise in its player base once the game is visible on store shelves? |
| Ryan Dancey: | Yes we do. We always have aggressive growth goals for EVE Online, in keeping with a 6+ year tradition of consistent subscriber growth. The retail product will be a big component of growth for 2009 and beyond. That said, customers joining EVE from the retail experience will be only a portion of our total growth for 2009, most of which will continue to come from buddy referrals, online advertising, and our affiliate and partner programs. |
| MMORPG.com: | With EVE being a single-server game, is there any concern that a large influx of new players could cause issues at peak times? |
| Ryan Dancey: | The virtual world operations team is working overdrive to make sure that we have the capacity to handle the influx of new players. Following on the incredible success of StacklessIO, an advanced interprocess communication technology developed by CCP, which was deployed as a part of the Quantum Rise expansion last November, Virtual World Ops has been busy replacing the core processors of the EVE cluster with cutting edge "Wolfdale" blades. We just added a solid-state memory system called a RamSan 500 to the cluster to further improve database speeds. We're confident that by the time the retail customers arrive, EVE will be ready to handle the load. |
| MMORPG.com: | Do we have any idea, as of yet, how much the new box is going to cost, and what it will include? |
| Ryan Dancey: | The retail box will have an SRP of $39.95 in the US and €39.99 in Europe. In addition to the installer disc, the box will come with an exclusive Career Guide to help new pilots pick a career, and 60 days of game time (twice as much as the standard retail product for MMOs!) It will be possible to convert some of this time into PLEX, Pilot License Extensions, which can be sold in-game for ISK, or used in lieu of payment for game time. New characters created with the retail product will also receive a special shuttle with an expanded cargo capacity, and will have their faction standings enhanced so that they can dive right into Factional Warfare. And the game includes a VIP pass which can be given to a friend for an extended trial period, and if that friend becomes a subscriber, the retail customer will get an extra month of game time for free. |
What is PLEX in EVE Online? I'm really wondering :)
Its an item in game that you use and it extends your account by a month. costs about 330 million isk.
It's a Game Time Card. It's used like Game Time Cards in any other game as an alternative to credit cards to extend your game time.
The major difference from other games is that it's actually an item in game that can be traded there. Any Game Time Card you buy for eve can either be used directly to extend your time or be turned into a PLEX and used by you or traded to someone else ingame to use.
This system allows people who otherwise could not afford an eve subscription to still play the game by buying PLEXes from other players.
In a way it's RMT, you can buy ISK for out of game money and some people don't like them because of this.
The ingame price of PLEXes are completely market driven, supply and demand. It's been rising steadily as there are more people who wants to buy these than there are people selling them (specially since economic crisis where lots of people have decided they can't afford to buy these for real money anymore). The price for one month worth of time is currently howering around 300m isk.
Why europian box priced 1.5 times more then US?
Yup typical, welcome to the Euro tax system. It is about time there was a little thought went into cost across the globe rather than just plucking a figure from the sky and I bet you a few Euro that Atari have told them to charge that for the Euro box. I have had many run ins with Atari they are only bothered about money nothing else counts, their customer service and upper management are very difficult to try to have a conversation with as I have attempted many times. You play by Atari rules or none at all.
I pre-ordered this as I was hoping to start playing the game after having tried the 21 day trail they let us try some weeks ago, but as soon as I saw Atari were involved I have since cancelled the title, I refuse to fill there pockets at all just another SOE type comapny but in euroland.
This is the only way to vote by keeping your Euro in your pockets, I can see it coming Atari will even end up supporting CCP customer service and we will be dealing with them with our petitions...sod that.
Bandit.
I have to admit they have a nice offering for a retail version.
Even though EVE is not my type of game (I don't care for PvPs), I wish them the best of luck in releasing this game to retail.
(Hopefully it will drum up more interest in sci-fi MMORPGs instead of the dull fantasy games that's choking the market.)
I think CCP is doing an excellent job with the implementation of the retail box. The price is nearly on par with a normal subscription, so they are not ripping anyone off.
By selling 60 days of game time with the box instead of 30, they are doing a few great things.
1) They give the player a chance to flourish in-game before having to subscribe
2) The chance to sell PLEXes can give players one serious boost at the beginning of the game.
The buddy program (which is available outside of the retail box) is a great way for these new players to get even more free game time and to get their friends into the game.
The unique retail box shuttle is a pretty standard trick for MMOs, but it certainly can be useful in-game.
I am excited to see all of the new players in EVE and the market ripples that will result.
As far as CCP's partnership with Atari, I don't see Atari taking any control over CCP any time soon. CCP is all about having a quality product and being in touch with their player community. If customer service slides, I'm confident that CCP will fix it.
They need to open a new server if they want a fresh influx of new players. So that we can all start from scratch. I don't buy this 'you don't need to be uber' thing. It's what players in all MMOS strive for. In Eve you can't reach it, no matter how much you play. You can't catch up.
I have heard this same thing time and time again about Eve online...and it is the most false statement ever made about the game.
I can only assume that people who say you "can't catch up" simply do not understand how this game works.
Catch up with what exactly? Are you stating that you can't catch up to other players when competing in PVP, running a coporation, or ruling the entire gallaxy? What exactly is it that you people who complain about catching up are talking about?
PVP is not a one man endeavor in Eve (nor is anything else short of mission running in high-sec...and that is going to end soon), or any other game I have played in the last 5 years that has pvp. In fact, long gone is the day that even FPS games let you run around by yourself with any real success. PVP in any game these days is all about team work. Even someone with all level 5 skills for any given ship that they intend to pvp in will last about 5 seconds when that person is mass targeted, warp scrammed, webbed to a virtual stand still, and gang raped.
I really don't get what everyone is complaining about when they say you "can't catch up". While it may apply to games like WoW where it is all about the gear, EvE is about strategy and teamwork...no matter what you are trying to accomplish.
What a wonderful short repartee. I don't think I have seen a better explanation posted in response to the "can't catch up" whine.
Eve is most definitely a team game, it is only those who insist on soloing that have trouble understanding the actual game.
For the year and a half that I've played Eve, I've enjoyed being a high-sec mission-running lone wolf. Where did you hear that's going to end soon? If it did, I'd have to leave the game.
I pre-ordered this as I was hoping to start playing the game after having tried the 21 day trail they let us try some weeks ago, but as soon as I saw Atari were involved I have since cancelled the title, I refuse to fill there pockets at all just another SOE type comapny but in euroland.
This is the only way to vote by keeping your Euro in your pockets, I can see it coming Atari will even end up supporting CCP customer service and we will be dealing with them with our petitions...sod that.
The good part about CCP and EVE is that you don't need to buy the box set to get in. Just go to www.eve-online.com and download the game client and set up your account from there!
I think that's the better way to promote CCP and leave Atari hanging. :D
As usual we get an outsider's opinion that is complete hogwash thrown in. You might not be as versatile as another who has played the game for some time, but you can become very competitive in a few short months. Only a certain number of skills apply in any situation, so it is very easy for someone who specializes to compete with others with far more time in game than them.
Guys if you don't want the Atari box you can buy the client off Steam for 14 bucks and sometimes they have a weekend sale with the client at 9.99.
GL