It is widely understood that the Russian portion of EVE has not taken the implementation of Fozziesov particularly well. While most dissent about the Aegis patch from the Western corners of the game has taken place on such forums as reddit, Russian backlash has taken the form of actual in-game protests. With the displeasure of this portion of the community looking startlingly severe, TMC sat down with UAxDEATH, the leader of Legion of xXDEATHXx and current CSM representative to get his view on the changes.
TMC: There has been a lot of information ( and disinformation ) spread about the Russian protests against Fozziesov. Can you clarify their intended purpose and message?
UAxDEATH: We as players want to show CCP that we are not happy about the recent sov changes, the direction of the game, and especially CCP’s inadequate and slow response to the problem. We want to demonstrate that we CARE about the game with these protests since it’s become more than a game for many—it’s more like a big family or a lifestyle. And these players understand that while game design and etc is solely the of role of CCP, it still has to follow a common sense approach and be responsive to the players. Especially when most of the developers are not playing the game at all.
TMC: Do you feel, then, that CCP has been unresponsive to player desires or is out-of-touch with the game?
UAxDEATH: Yes they are, they could pay more attention to it. Phoebe, were semi ok, but even that tho, nobody tested it before released and etc, remember how many patches it took to fix it more or less to semi acceptable level ?? The main problem that people who complain about the unability to hold or take the sov, is the same people who screaming in real life that there is to many rich people, and yet all they do just sit home watch TV, and collect walfare. So its the same story here, even if you would give them that sov for free without fight and etc, they will find a way to whine about it or lose it some stupid way.
TMC: How has Phoebe/Fozzie affected the Russian alliances?
UAxDEATH: Most Russian Alliances are very unhappy with the changes as EVE players and have united in order to bring CCP’s attention to this matter, regardless of in game political affiliation. Meaningful fighting has pretty much ceased completely, which is the opposite of a sovereignty system that was supposed to create more fights than ever before!
TMC: How do you define “meaningful fighting?” Can you give a little more specific context to those who might not be aware of day-to-day events in Russian-dominated space?
UAxDEATH: Well CCP likes to brag on media portals and about huge fights that happened in the single system or so, with more than 4k people involved in same time bla bla bla. But in order to evolve into the such fights, they have to start from the small fleet engagement, and they have to be meaningful, such as war for claim and etc, for profit and etc.
TMC: What is your opinion on the first line of changes to Fozziesov released on August 25?
UAxDEATH: Well it’s a VERY SMALL amount of progress, compared to what needs to be achieved and tweaked. To even begin to fix this gameplay, EVE needs more tweaks and well-thought out changes to bring fleet fights back to sov warfare. The current design discourages groups from fighting each other along every step of the way. Most established groups now aren’t fighting for sov because it isnt fun and it isn’t worth the work it requires. Players will always find the most efficient way to do anything in game, and while dominion encouraged groups and capitals to speed up a grind, now it encourages the opposite: 1 player with a throwaway entosis ship on an alt, alt tabbed playing other games. Whatever changes are made need to encourage groups to fight each other again!
TMC: Many would argue that this is not too different from Dominion Sov, which saw very few Sov contests that did not involve at least a few dozen Supercapitals, effectively shunting out anyone who could not use large amounts of caps. In effect, Dominion Sov has managed to discourage Sov Warfare just as much as you proclaim Fozziesov has. Would it be reasonable to state that CCP is trying to move away from the paradigm of one B-R followed by a year of stagnation before the next “huge fight?”
UAxDEATH: Well its very easy to check the statistics, of fights and participation in those fleet fights over the sov – CCP has it all. I’d say CCP is moving away from the “server unable to comply”, where they trying to cool down the things in nullsec, in order to either stop or remove fleet fights at all.
TMC: What is your opinion on the Imperium campaign to Providence taking place this week? Do you think that this is an adequate method for “mass testing Fozziesov?”
UAxDEATH: GemiCo gladly teamed up to participate with other alliances to demonstrate just how broken the current sov design is, and how it is not only failing to meet the stated design goals of the system for fun, but is actively discouraging sov warfare and pvp. It may also create a player backlash from the Provibloc residents who have spent years developing their space only to watch it disappear within a handful of days, and this player backlash may force a reaction from CCP who can bury their heads in the sand unless confronted with proof that things are not working.
UAxDEATH has also directed TMC towards a petition post made by himself and signed by a number of leaders in the EVEcommunity, which contains information about their specific greviances.