Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Couple of things...

First, EvE is not meant to be single-player at all. The sooner a player interacts with others, the sooner he will learn what EvE is really all about.

Second - assuming that you are referring to teaching new player the core mechanics of the game, if I had to sit through 7 days of shooting little red crosses and unimpressive structures surrounded by red crosses, I'd quit after 10 minutes. Missions, AI, NPC interactivity would need to be completely overhauled for this to have any merit.

I think the tutorials should be very short and new players should be encouraged to join corporations and interact with other players in order to learn the game in more depth.

I wholeheartedly disagree with the OP.

I've just started a new character, done the tutorials and then started the SOE epic arc (which I was kind of pointed at although I can't remember how). If the tutorials were any longer I'd have just quit them. The SOE epic arc, though, is excellent for new players.

I don't believe any more than this is necessary although I do think the tutorials should bridge into the SOE epic arc which should point players at player owned corps at the end of it, or at the end of the tutorials as an alternative to doing the SOE epic arc.

There simply is no need for persuading players that EvE is a one player game. That's not a tutorial, that's misdirection.

I personally disagree. (And I must stress that this is my personal opinion as a player, I am not a games designer, I am not trying to tell CCP how to do their job, just sharing my thoughts.)

For some reason many developers in the past few years, now CCP included, pretend that the only interaction a new player has with the game is through the tutorials. They feel the need to explain every tiny bit through lengthy series of "do this, trust me" instructions and/or throw a huge wall of text at the player.

Now I don't know about others, but when I get into a game, especially such a complex one, I tend to do a little bit of reading on it. I knew EVE was advertised as extremely complex, I spent about two weeks browsing the official website, forums, and guides before I even registered to get a feel of the game. Even if one doesn't do this research beforehand, all these resources are readily available - in EVE even without tabbing out of the game through the IGB.

In my opinion the tutorial should explain how to use the UI - how to undock, how to fly your ship, how to shoot at things. As far as I remember that was what it was like when I started. Then there were I think three career agents to show off the various career paths, and off to the real game. The tutorial shouldn't be explaining game mechanics - especially as complex as tracking or fitting ships. These should be explained on the game's webpage in a quick guide, and then in great detail through manuals and gameplay guides.

(Going off on a tangent here, but still related to the NPE - these kind of things are ridiculously difficult to get to from eveonline.com. Personally along with the links "One universe", "The Sandbox" etc. at the top I would add one for "Guides" or "Game Mechanics" or something.)

Quite often showing too much is even worse than showing too little. If the game doesn't explain a mechanic, the player looks for another source of this information. But if the tutorial provides a half-arsed explanation, the player is under the impression that he already understands it, and is content with what he knows. However in fact his understanding is lacking at best and misguided at worst.

The tutorial also shouldn't be explaining how to do things efficiently - as in, how to fit your ships, how to run missions, etc. This is something for the player to explore and discover by themselves. Trying to imprint a certain way of doing things to people early on has the same negative effects as I pointed out above (lack of detail leading to misguided understanding), but also ruins the sense of discovery, trying various approaches and seeing what works - basically everything that makes a game a game, and not just following a set of instructions you read off the screen.

This is not about making the game more difficult for the sake of it being difficult (or conversely easier for the sake of being easier). The information should be readily available,but it shouldn't be forced onto the player in bits and pieces however CCP thinks is the best. I don't like being told by an NPC to fit a web and use it on another NPC. I want to read a little about what webs do, why is it a good idea to use one, and when should one be used.

EVE is a really ****** game solo. We should encourage player to player interaction from the start, because that's where the X factor is.

I suspect the prime reason for many people quitting during or after the tutorial is that they have not interacted with other players. Seriously. I would not play this for more than a day as a single player game, not during a tutorial, and not in any period of time after it.

Eve is MEANT to be experienced as a community. The fact of matter is that everything that you do matters. If you create a single player campaign then you have lost that.