Overlord

Very nice summary, you hit major points but I think you actually overlooked some of the very basic ones. I've seen articles on the beta weekend where people were amazed the game wasn't instanced or asking where were the henchmen.

It might seem silly but evidently these incredibly basic points need repeating. Sites like Massively can help educate these people who don't seem to know much of anything about the game.

Unfortunately, you may have to repeat these ridiculously basic points multiple times. And then repeat them again.

And we should still all be ready to reply to players on release who ask why they can't move around the 1-5 skills when they pick up a weapon.

@The Ogre As other have said there have been leaks of the current cash shop iteration. Do a search and you'll find them.

I don't find anything unbalanced or unexpected in what I've seen. The items are exactly what ArenaNet has always said they would be, cosmetic and convenience items.

@kahnbloodbane Very good comparison of where CCP puts their values. Mess with another player's real life, 30 days. Mess with their bank account, permaban.

@CricketB Agreed. Mittens hasn't learned anything from his 30-day ban. Heck I wouldn't be surprised if he has multiple accounts and CCP only bothered to ban his main one.

The real question is whether CCP has learned anything from this and this light punishment and the tone of the dev blogs it doesn't seem like they have. They'll just brush this under the rug like the other controversies they've spawned. I really have to work to convince myself that they won't be patting themselves on the back from the increased attention EVE receives because of this fiasco.

Thanks for the answers, some very good, specific questions. I was very interested in the description of the Iron Legion storyline. It's going to be tough to pick which one to chose and that's just for the charr.

The emotes video was really fun to see. The bouncing bug is really hilarious!

Very nice to hear how the stories branch depending on your choices. Story is an important part of MMOs for me and it's great to hear the attention ArenaNet is giving them in GW2.

"-we expect public presentations to be courteous and professional towards others."

CCP is aware of the playerbase they have gone out of their way to encourage, aren't they? And they invite the leader of a bunch like GoonSwarm to talk, what the heck do they expect?

Now suddenly they're acting as if they're concerned about courtesy and professionalism because this is something that will get them into real trouble. Nice.

Very nice to hear how the stories branch depending on your choices. Story is an important part of MMOs for me and it's great to hear the attention ArenaNet is giving them in GW2.

I agree that beta should primarily be for testing not for RP-ing but at the very end of betas I sometimes find it it amusing to start RP-ing as if the end of the world was about to happen.

I had one character go insane, spend all their money on ice cream and run around giving it away to others. One time my paladin openly forsake his vows, get drunk and dance naked in the streets (not that he was noticeable in the end-of-beta party). Another time a priest went around offering spiritual consolations that the world that was to come would be even more glorious :)

End of betas are those truly unique experiences and it's enjoyable to throw in a bit of RP-ing for fun.

In spite of all these 'strengths' EVE continues to appeal to only a small, niche market. This entire article is just a stream of accusations that the majority of gamers are all wrong. The article constantly implies that only the cool, little clique of EVE players *really* understand what makes a good MMO and everyone else is just too blind to see it.

I'm glad to see the MMO market expanding and supporting a wider variety of games. I personally think DUST 514 is an idiotic concept but at least CCP has the guts to pursue new ideas, and I respect that.

Only don't try to convince me that the majority of gamers don't know what a good game should be like. EVE has shown that it lacks the vital elements of a good game and it will never earn the recognition Call of Duty or Diablo or Batman: Arkham Asylum or WoW or any another video game that truly deserves to be considered a memorable in their genres.

Let EVE players enjoy the game but don’t try to suggest that rest of us are missing anything special. We’re not. We’ve passed our judgment on this game and it has been found to be seriously wanting. Others might be able to overlook its myriad of flaws, that doesn’t mean the rest of us have to do the same.