Recently, we reported on allegedly declining player numbers in EVE Online. Whether this is true or not – one thing is certain: EVE has a fanbase that cannot be compared to WoW or other conventional games. However, recently the creators of Crowfall have made headlines. The upcoming AAA MMORPG is supposed to be compared not to WoW, but to EVE Online. How is this possible? And what is actually going on with Star Citizen?
Star Citizen is not the same as EVE
EVE Online and Star Citizen are often compared. We have done it too. The games share a setting and offer countless features that promise a lot of freedom. But the big difference, which is still lacking in Star Citizen, is profound political aspects.
What do I mean by that? In EVE Online, any alliance can claim territory for themselves. This leads to wars. These wars are not arbitrary, but products of insidious alliance systems that have developed over more than 12 years of EVE Online.
There is Goonswarm, a largely hated ally that primarily recruits beginners as cannon fodder. Russian players have also banded together in a large block. Players and corporations steal each other’s members to gain a small advantage.
Diplomacy plays a large role and simultaneously ensures a close bond between players and their alliance. Spying is also common in New Eden. Far-reaching possibilities and sandbox features like these lead to bizarre stories, which the media also enjoys. Because there is always something to report about EVE – whether it’s outrageous mass battles in which spaceships worth hundreds of thousands of dollars are destroyed or thefts by individuals who have worked their way up in a corporation for months only to plunder the vault.
Maybe Crowfall will make it
The upcoming sandbox MMO Crowfall promises similar mechanics. Players must venture into foreign, dangerous areas to claim new territory for themselves – comparable to the EVE 0.0 space. There is also supposed to be a player-driven economy in this Kickstarter-funded game. This is, of course, not comparable to the WoW auction house but much more with the system in EVE: Players craft almost everything and then sell it. If one is skilled at it, the “profession” as a trader is one of the most lucrative. Let’s see if Crowfall can also establish a chain of extraction, production, and distribution of in-game goods.
Crowfall takes on the MMO genre and does not want to be compared to the classic WoW, but rather to provide completely new approaches. In recent weeks, gaming magazines have drawn parallels to EVE Online, and even the developer spoke of “It’s like Game of Thrones meets EVE Online“. A complex sandbox world filled with political intrigue.
However, building a solid fanbase like EVE, which has been built through Fanfest and fantastic CCP actions, will be problematic. Admittedly, EVE has been around for 12 years. But that too must be accomplished. With the very successful crowdfunding campaign, at least the foundations have been laid for Crowfall to emotionally bind players to the MMO.
Sandbox Best Practice: EVE Online
The media coverage of games like Crowfall and Star Citizen should therefore move away from a comparison with classic MMOs. MMO reimagined? Not at all, as EVE is THE example of an (almost) perfect sandbox world: players not only dictate the economy but also determine the territorial distribution of systems – politics, diplomacy, and espionage included.
Maybe we will see each other in a few years at the Crowfall fan festival – I would wish that for the title, which finally moves away from this worn-out MMO mode like Aion, WoW, Rift, HDRO or SWTOR and is more aligned with the sandbox genre. The developers can also learn a lot from the challenges that arose in ArcheAge. It is the most comparable to the sandpark MMO.
Another point that could prove to be a trump card: EVE players who are tired of the space setting finally get a new world that takes place in rural terrain and is even associated with a fantasy universe like Game of Thrones.
