And so it continues...

Yesterday I was informed a mail was making the rounds, purported to be from CCP Hellmar (CCP CEO). That email was really really not good, and I hoped, for the sake of trying to find solutions, that it wouldn't get released to the world... The cat is out of the bag: http://www.evenews24.com/2011/06/25/ccp-hilmar-global-email-shows-the-reasoning-behind-ccp-zulu-devblog/

In that mail (that I couldn't confirm comes from Hilmar, so it may be wrong), we hear several things:

[the latest expansion: CQ] rolls out without a hitch, is in some cases faster than what we had before, this is the pinnacle of professional achievement.

The pinnacle of professional achievement... The turd that lets me dock up in 90 seconds, has lighting issues all over the place, disabled cynojammers, broke effects in wormholes, removed implants from people's heads... Ok...

After 40 hours we have already sold 52 monocles, generating more revenue than any of the other items in the store.

 So, going by these figures, CCP made, at most, in the first 2 days 15,000$. And they call that a success.

This we have done after months of research by a group of highly competent professionals, soliciting input and perspective from thought leaders and experts in and around our industry.

And yet, a few weeks before release, they still didn't have a pricing plan to communicate to the CSM. I repeat, not that they didn't do it, they didn't HAVE it.

We went out with a decisive strategy on pricing and we will stay the course and not flip flop around or knee jerk react to the predictable.

Sooo, in essence, that says "fuck you guys, you can shout all you want, we won't budge". This explains Zulu's devblog, and paints a bleak picture as far as negociation is concerned.

However, he also says this:

I can tell you this is one of the moments where we look at what our players do and less of what they say.

Since dialog is conditioned to actions, let me ask all of you, readers, to protest in Jita, Amarr, Rens. Jetcan shuttles, shoot monuments, rename all your ships, whatever is necessary.

Also, if you have a subscription, cancel it. I don't ask you biomass your characters, I would rather see a resolution to these issues than stopping playing the game, but the only metrics CCP has easy access to is subscriber numbers. So cancel your subscription, and if you're about to lapse, buy a plex with that same CC. The non-permanence of your account will in and of itself send a strong message.

Will keep you informed.