EVE Online MMO Destiny Shaped by Player Input

EVE Online has always been one of the more complex and weird video games in the MMO space and the fact that players have a say in how the game is developed, via the elected CSM, has significantly changed how the title moves forward.

John Turbefield, who works for the Research and Statistics division at CCP, talked to Gamasutra about the way player driven decisions have affected EVE Online, saying they have changed “things such as the skill queue and the removal of the learning skills as examples of things that were greatly affected by input from the CSM.”

He added, “They are a key reason for the increased priority given to lag-fixing efforts and for our move towards a more 'staggered' release cycle where we release expansions to EVE in parts rather than all at once.”

The CSM is elected by the entire player base of EVE Online and the members then meet in a virtual manner and debate the most pressing problems affecting the MMO.

Twice a year the members are also taken to the headquarters of developer CCP, in Reykjavik, Iceland, where they get to meet the developers of the game and talk to them about the problems they have identified and about how the future of EVE Online should look.

The development team has made it clear that the CSM has no actual decision power, but a lot of the issues that they have raised have been addressed and the initiative has meant a closer connection between CCP and its player base.

Robert Woodhead, who is a member of the CSM, has said that the council often struggles to balance the requirements of high level players, who desire more content and a smoother game experience, with those of the newcomers and a general desire to make EVE Online more open and accessible.