Skill Discussions

Referencing the original post, I have to be honest as well:

The first month was fantastic, completely overwhelmed by the options and it was a blast learning the mechanics and becoming involved in the game on multiple levels. Then came the second month - the awkward middle ground between the initial "shine" of the game bringing the fun, and the realization that in order to achieve anything worthwhile, it takes a bare minimum of a year leveling.

I work in sales, and CCP has a solid business model. It's based entirely on time, and the less time player spend training, the less money CCP makes. Pushing for alts and charging PLEX (2, really?) to transfer a character, or charging money to train more than one character at once, seems more like a business ploy than a favor for the community.

It seems nowadays the only "fun" I get out of the game is reading about the stories other players have, particularly those with the years of experience to fly decent ships. Of course you can fly cheap frigates, but you'll never reach a competitive level and be able to participate in the grand schemes that make EVE so attractive to new players.

Just like the original post, I had a group of 5 friends playing the game - all quit after the first month. It's incredibly frustrating knowing that abilities are limited by the time (and by extension, money) you've invested in the game rather than skill or short-term investments.

Again, not bashing the game, I'm still here and want it to get better. But my game experience at this point consists mainly of sitting and waiting for skills to complete rather than actively doing things. In my opinion, the game is intimidating for new players not because of the learning curve, but because to train the BARE MINIMUM skills (e.g. standard certificates) you're look at several hundred dollars investment and at least a year.

I look forward to the day when EVE veterans can send out 5 invitations, and 5 of them keep playing.

While I appreciate your perspective, I disagree that the issue is the skill training. I think there is a major misconception (especially from other games) that you NEED a certain "base level" of skills to be competitive. While it is true that you gain an advantage, or level the playing field once you ascertain some mythical base level, EvE functions in such a manner that "winning" and being competitive is more a matter of player knowledge, situational awareness, and teammates than character skills.

So you have been playing 2 months and you are telling the devs how the game should be?

try playing for 10 years, THEN tell the devs how EVE should be,

Source: CCP's QEN_Q3_2010 (pg 10.). Graphs & further context exist on earlier pages.



Context:

Quote:

What is noticeable right away is the fact that characters with a lower total number of skill points account for a higher portion of lost ships. What is also noticeable is that a majority of all final kills in null security space is made by players with more than 50 million skill points. This is in stark contrast to low and high security space, where less than 40% of the final kills are scored with characters that have 50 million skill points or more. As an example, only 35% of all kills in low security space are made by players with more than 50 million skill points and only 35% of all kills in high security space are made by players in this same category. The distribution shows clearly how characters progress within EVE, where pilots move from high security space to low security space and then finally into null security space as their skills and experience grow. Assuming around 20 million skill points per year, these numbers would suggest that it would take the average player around 2 years in order to become competitive in null security space, but that once they have reached that level they are fully competitive with other players.

So you're suggesting that CCP's own numbers & results are incorrect?

I'm saying from my own experience. I know many pilots that are with less than two years. Can you link the article where CCP posted this. If you linked it before my apologies.

I think IIshira was suggesting more that CCP's supposition that the kill:death ratio of low SP and high SP players in nullsec has to do with SP itself misses entirely the point that players who've been around long enough to have high sp have a lot of player knowledge and player skill.

Me having such a decent killboard record isn't because I've got 40m+ sp, it's because I L2P early on by reading forums and watching pvp vids and seeing "how it's done". Garmon tought me about 30% of what I know with his vids, for example.

But even before watching his stuff, I was flying a T2 fitted Rifter in lowsec hunting turret-based cruisers... I knew not to toy with Caracals, Vexors or Arbitrators, but everybody else was a victim :yar: Moved on to hunting BCs and newbie BS pilots in my Wolf. When I got tired of killing people that way, I was hitting Battlecruisers lvl 4 so it was time for solo pvp in lowsec with a Hurricane.

The real problem these whiney kids have is not being able to grind at the keyboard for instant rewards. I mean wow... 6 months to play th entirety of an MMO? Thanks for letting me know NOT to try SWTOR!

Also, they just can't handle the thought of losing their precious pixels. If getting blown up just meant ghosting back to your corpse and picking up where you left off, the whole experience would be pretty worthless. Like that other game all these people or better-suited to but oh, so bored with.

I know "because of falcon" is passé, but can we still say gb2wow? Or is it gb2swtor now?

From a newbs perspective SP does matter quite a bit, but part of the joy is watching that skill count down and getting ready to fit a T2 Blaster, tank, etc. On the other hand, there is plenty of pew pew to be had by low SP characters and it can be an absolute blast. Just running from a small gang chasing you can be fun and helps you get better (dscan skills, learning the map, etc.).

I think the whole definition of "Winning" and "Losing" should be tossed out when discussing Eve. If you already think in these terms, then I pity you as a player...there is plenty of "win" a new player can achieve, but you must be bold and have goals worthy of a challenge.

Skills are just options. Be focused in your pursuit of a goal. Once that goal is obtained, your skill tree will naturally be at a point to pursue another...if in fact you actually need arbitrary skills to "win" in your mind.

I'm ok with 90% of gamers leaving EvE. It seems like there are still more then enough players and enough new ones trickling in that stick to keep things rockin.

I have something like 12 mil sp (thanks to the split of destroyers and BCs) and I do just fine in pvp for my experience level I think. Even when I die it is still a blast (unless I get smart bombed...that gets old, but doesn't happen much).