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EVE

Online released ten years ago in 2003. For ten years

now, it has been known as one of the most difficult games to learn and

play. It

has also been the only game to see consecutive population growth every

single

year since its release. No matter who you are that’s no small

feat to

accomplish. It also wasn’t done by waving a magic wand.

CCP’s

community team works closely with their fans and

has made a habit of listening to them carefully. That doesn’t

mean there

haven’t been some bumps in the road. I can tell you from

experience that even

the best of teams will have the occasional mishap occur, whether caused

by a

change in the game or a miscommunication between the company and the

fans. Each

time, the team has worked hard to not only mitigate any damage, but to

repair

relationships. They take their fans extremely seriously and I think the

game’s

continual growth is a testament to this.

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Though

the game has seen steady growth, it can always use

more players. One of the big blocking points with people sticking with

EVE past

the trial period is the vertical cliff it has for a learning curve.

Needless to

say, the development team is always looking for ways to make the curve

less

imposing. Not all players feel this needs to be done. As a case in

point during

one presentation, a question was asked about possibly making the game

easier

for new players, at least so far in terms of not losing their stuff

when they

first venture out and get attacked. There was an immediate and heated

reaction

from nearly everyone attending EVE Vegas. Admittedly those coming to

the

convention represent the hardcore fans, but I was surprised at the

universal

vitriol that came forth at the suggestion.

Despite

the reaction of the

players in attendance, I think the game style="">is

going to be easier for new players with the release of EVE

Online’s next

expansion, Rubicon (just not in the ways other players are worried

about). Set

to go live on November 19th

of this year, Rubicon will be the 20th

free expansion for EVE Online. As far as I’m concerned, it

will also mark a

turning point in the game’s future growth.

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One

of the most common reasons

for players to quit EVE Online after they’ve made it through

the tutorial is a

nearly overwhelming sensation of “now what?” One of

the changes coming to the

game with Rubicon is a complete overhaul to the way skills are viewed

and this

is what’s going to give new players a goal when

they’re first starting out. The

ability to tell what's going on with your skills and how they relate to

your

abilities with various ships and as a whole will be much more visual

than it

has been previously. Rather than dealing with a massive set of nested

skills

that are buried further and further, players will now be able to look

at a

branching tree. This also makes it far easier for new players to see

what they

need to learn and progress in in order to fly the ship of their choice.



Rubicon

has a lot more than just

a revamped skills system to offer though. Here’s a quick

rundown of what else

new and existing players can expect to see added to the EVE

universe.