Player Features and Ideas Discussion

The issue isn't that players can't do anything, rather they don't know what they can do with what they have. Even if you gave them these skills they would still think themselves useless in the grand scheme of things and want more skills to play on a "fair" playing field with other players. The way the skills are set up allows anyone to catch up to the longest playing vet in just a few days or weeks with focused training. That is enough for now.

If you can get them into the social aspect it doesn't matter (at least as much) that they have low skills. You can run missions with friends, clear belt rats in high low or even null sec (and as a noobie its actually EASIER because your clone costs are nothing so you don't even have to get your pod out). Ninja loot/salvage is another legit profession as is exploration which are solo activities. Going into a wormhole can teach new players tons and be a lot of fun, or null sec alliance that has a ship replacement program so you can stop worrying about the financial cost of pvp.

It takes a big step to push into the social area of Eve and really open up what the game has to offer. However with most players being given directions not just in other mmo's but nearly all other games as well they just don't know how to react to a sandbox that doesn't have a step by step trigger by trigger experience for players.

i dont like the idea of giving new people skills for missions--or goals done through anything but training the damn things.

I have made 5 different characters, and trained 7 (character market, hello!) and ... it's the painstaking process of developing a character than causes you to understand eve...

now that may sound like something a bitter old vet like me would say... but it's true nonetheless.

I have tried, a few times, to get coworkers to play this game (i work with 250 people, a few tried, none stayed), and their number one reason for not staying, was their perception (a right one) that it's too technical. One guy that i got to play for 6 weeks, just couldnt get his hear around what missiles did, or how they did them. to me, it seems like a very simple thing, but he wanted attributes--like WoW or something, just 5 things that he had to deal with--10 at most.

eve is complex, it's a bit technical, and it's harsh--if you cant be arsed to figure some of it out, even a niche part (industry, as an example) then you shouldnt stay.

no one i know personally has stayed in this game, because they dont want to learn new things...

and i dont want a person like that in my EVE.

i started this game with 6k skill points, i could hardly undock! i didnt even have mining OR gunnery skills--it was a huge effort just to get off the ground floor--there were no mining ships, the only t2 ships were interceptors, no one could afford, or dream of battleships in my corp for MONTHS, bpos for simple things cost a fortune, t2 mods cost 10-25m EACH, it was HARD--there was no tutorial, there was no hand holding, free isk--we even had to learn skills to learn skills (learning skills!)--

the HARDER eve is, the better.

if anything, i think there needs to be a way to help people communicate/join corps in this game. to 'test' fit and fly with friends. Most get in really aweful corps when they're new, and THAT kills the game for them. there's no one to talk to, ask questions to, they're alone--they should be forced to stay in a newb corp for the WHOLE trial, or 2 weeks, if they dont have a character with mroe than 1.7m SP (about a month's worth). THAT would help retention, imho.

we all know EVE can be a brutally hard and time consuming game, however, when i fly in a fleet and i see someone in a t2 cruiser i take comfort in the fact that they have (probably) spent enough time in the game to know how to use it.

if this is indeed supposed to be a sandbox emulating the concept of what the future might be, what you are suggesting is the equivalent of your mum taking you to your first day at work and sitting next to you so that the 'bigger boys' don't pick on you.

besides its not like there aren't entities out there that cater for new players, eve uni, brave newbies etc etc, they have fun don't they?
i believe CCP supporting these entities (as they have done in many ways) is the best way to go, not handing out free skills and thus devaluing said skills.

If they remove tech 2 and anything bigger than a cruiser... Eve would be harder