Is there a quota for how many sci-fi spaceship MMOs with playerbases angry over exploits we can cover in a week? Because if so, Elite Dangerous already met it. If not, EVE Online requests a moment of your time.
The EVE subreddit is smoldering with post after post on what players characterize as a serious botting problem, exacerbated by a recent post in which a player claims that in a brief span of time, his group was able to easily take out eight Nyx capital ships allegedly belonging to a single corporation well-known among gamers for botting.
One redditor summed up the community dismay that cheaters and cheater money rules the game, quoting another’s estimate that bots pull in a tremendous amount of ISK (in-game currency) monthly and lamenting the perception that CCP lets the botting go on (or even encourages it).
“I feel completely worthless as a customer,” Loroseco writes. “I feel like my effort over the years has been for absolutely nothing. I feel that I’ve been cheated out of making a fortune because I felt compelled to obey the ToS that I agreed to when I started playing.”
“I feel that I am completely unappreciated as a customer because, CCP, you’d rather rake in the cash than make our efforts as honest players feel worthwhile. I feel that you are ignoring this issue because you wish to take advantage of an already-diminishing player-base in order to squeeze as much cash out of us as possible before you inevitably kill the game with one of your terrible decisions. You know that there are a lot of us out there committed enough to continue playing despite the gross disrespect you show your customers; I hate to admit it, I’m one of those people. But for fucks sake, please at least explain yourself. Come out here and tell us why you’ve chosen to forsake your playerbase in return for one last payday. I thought this game was CCP’s passion? Where did that go?”
Worth pointing out is the fact that CCP Games recently slashed its community team down to almost nothing following what was apparently a forced pullout of the VR industry and the sale of a pair of its studios building other games. While it’s not certain that those layoffs have affected bot-hunting efforts in the land of internet spreadsheets, it’s clear from player reports that the suspected botters have been operating with impunity for quite some time. We’ve reached out to CCP for comment.
