Save Capsuleer: An Open Letter to CCP, PyjamaSam, & Roc Wieler

Dear Readers,

On October 17th, Capsuleer, the Eve Online iPhone/iPod touch application that we’ve all grown to consider an inalienable part of our gaming experience, will be shutting it’s doors for good. In a press release by creators Pyjamasam and Roc Wieler, the two cite escalating costs and a frustration at the breakdown in communication between themselves and both CCP and EON Publishing over possible endorsement as the primary reasons for their decision.

To mimic the majority of the feedback already resulting from this: This. Sucks.

Capsuleer is the single most used app on my iPhone. It’s blog feed has kept me both up-to-date and entertained through more boring social obligations and vocational doldrums than I can count, and to think that after the 17th it will cease to be is downright depressing.

The ever-resourceful Nashh Kadavr has started a petition that he plans to send to CCP by the 15th, urging them to re-open negotiations with the Capsuleer team, and I strongly encourage you to head over there and add your name to the list.

What started as the second part of this post has sort of morphed into more of a letter, so I decided to roll with it. The following is an open letter to PyjamaSam, Roc Wieler, and CCP Games. Please: tweet, blog, Jita-spam, and forum-warrior the shit out of both Nashh’s petition and this letter.

To: CCP hf, PyjamaSam, Roc Wieler

To begin with,
Sam and Roc; I’m ashamed that it’s taken the circumstances in which we currently find ourselves in order for me to write you and congratulate you both on the success and brilliance of your creation, Capsuleer. The amount of support and praise the two of you have received over the past few days since your sad announcement is both well-deserved and long overdue. The Eve Online community as a greater whole owes the two of you a huge debt of gratitude for the incredible time and effort that you’ve put into giving us what CCP has yet to: a doorway into New Eden once we step away from our computers.

You see to many of us, Capsuleer is more than just another iPhone/iPod touch app. It’s our connection, our tetherline, to the greater Eve community while we’re on the go. Of course, we use it to check skill queues and wallet balances, as it’s leagues beyond any other Eve monitoring app out there. But we also use it to stay connected to the world of Eve, and all those creative and endevorous types who make a point to write about, comment on, and expound upon the game we love on a sometimes daily basis. As a member of Crazy Kinux’s Eve Blog Pack, I hope I can speak for a lot of us when I say this simple and streamlined ability to instantly feed so much of this Eve-inspired creativity into a hand-held device is one of the things that got me blogging about Eve in the first place.

Hearing that that doorway will be closing soon is saddening to say the least; sad not only for the loss of such a great tool, but also for what appears to be a lack of hope, and subsequently, a lack of opportunity to help. A HUGE portion of the Eve Online community is behind you on this, and we’d all love a chance to show you.

You’ve stated that one of the biggest factors in your decision is escallating costs. Obviously, there isnt much of a chance of an agreement with CCP, EON, or other parties by the 17th, but what would it cost to keep Capsuleer alive for say, another year? Give us a number, open yourselves up for paypal donations, and I guarantee you’ll hit your mark. You also have an incredible app that you currently offer for free with a giant built-in market; put out an update and charge 99 cents. Hell most of us would pay five times that! What I’m saying is don’t give up on this, because there are a lot of us internet spaceship geeks out there who’ve got your backs in any way you need it.

To CCP; as a longtime loyal subscriber with multiple accounts, I ask you to not overlook the importance that Capsuleer has to your customer base. To many of us, this app has become as integral a part of the game as EVEMon or EFT; and letting this fade away would be a serious blow to the community as a whole. To put it in strictly monetary terms: this application gives a large portion of your paying subscribers constant connectivity and access to YOUR PRODUCT. Unless you’re selling cigarettes or porn, you can’t buy that kind of reverse target-marketing.

Again, I recognize that an agreement probably won’t be made to determine Capsuleer’s fate by October 17th, but please, start talking.

Thanks for reading, and thank you for your time. To Roc and Sam, take a bow sirs, for a hell of a good job.

-Aiden Mourn
CEO Suddenly Ninjas, TEARS Alliance

http://podlogs.com/findersandkeepers

Again, sign the petition, and spread the word. Thanks again for reading.

o7,

-Aiden

~ by Aiden Mourn on October 8, 2010.