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EVE Devs Admit To Misconduct
RidinThoraxes writes "The Escapist has published a complete investigation of what they're calling Jumpgate. The ongoing scandal of dev-backed cheating in the game world is fully explored, complete with a confession from the offending developer, emails from their community managers, and an interview with the enterprising player who uncovered it all."
That's a very good perspective on the issue. However, without the pure capitalism they have in game, EVE just wouldn't be EVE. The game is built on how cut-throat it is. So it's all right that major power blocks control the economy, because that's just the nature of the beast.
However, when a DEVELOPER OF THE GAME comes in and deliberately tips the balance in favor of an alliance he's not only friendly with, but helped RUN, then there's a real problem. The economic model is no longer cut-throat and capitalistic, it's just unfair.
There's two main acts in any scandal like the one in which Eve is involved.
Act One: in which the offender denies everything, then finally admits the truth but tries to weasel out of doing anything about it.
Act Two: in which the story becomes so big as to affect the bottom line (this could mean stock price, subscriptions, or perceived loss in prestige and industry standing, which could limit future earnings). At this point, you start to see heads roll and something actually done about the problem.
Eve is right on the cusp of Acts One and Two. This little drama has become so common that it's become common behavior for corporations to wait to see if Act Two actually starts before acting positively.
As an Eve player and someone who has a fair amount of professional interest in MMORPGs, I plan to wait to see how CCP plays out Act Two before I give up on them and encourage other players to do so as well. But the clock IS ticking, and the intermission is almost over. You hear, CCP?
You are welcome on my lawn.