EVE Online at Ten Ton Hammer - Taking MMOG Gamers to the Next Level!

Alliances often face stagnation and decline during periods of peace. This has often been simplistically explained that ‘peace sucks’, but one can always find combat in EVE with only a modicum of effort. I’ve increasingly come to believe that the enemy of alliances isn’t peace, but choice. Outside of the context of a war forcing a group of players to work together and behave in certain ways, ‘what do I do today in EVE’ often devolves into ‘play some other game’. Similarly, alliances and corps which keep their players busy tend to be much more popular and active than those with a hands-off, lassies-faire attitude towards the game.

In EVE, as in modern society as a whole, what we think we want is often not what we actually desire. We think we want choice and freedom and the ability to do anything at any time, yet in practice people want to be given some kind of purpose and a direction. That doesn’t mean that people want to sign on to an authoritarian organization which micromanages and abuses them (see OWN Alliance) but that we should be mindful of the anxiety and effort pointless decision making causes - and the strategic risk which stems from this, with members quitting or not logging in because of it.