EVE General Discussion

I just think about how hard eve was back when almost non of this existed when all the bittervets started.

I would quit. You would quit. Your mother would quit. Your uncle Dale would quit. My uncle Dale, he would quit too.

Let's be brutally honest here- there are two 'New Player Experiences'. There's the canned CCP provided NPE that lands players in the no-mans zone of mission running and hisec mining. Then there's the rebirth when you discover player organisations, PVP and the whole social element.

That second one is not something CCP can provide. As hard as CCP might work to tantalize, push, simulate or cajole players into discovering that side to EVE, it's not something they can do by themselves. The real pull comes from the community welcoming in new players and working with them to have them become participants in the ecosystem.

All the fuss over CCP providing a better NPE experience is a distraction from the real failure- the community. I'm not saying that there aren't people out there who make a stellar effort recruiting and trying to show new players how to really enjoy EVE. Anyone who does that knows that its hard dealing with ignorance, people who aren't patient or suited to the game, or interested in what you have to offer. Wading through newbie systems looking for promising new players is a soul-draining experience. No wonder people that attempt that are in a dwindling majority.

The truth is, it's just difficult to babysit new players. People prefer things that are easy- flying with people they know, doing things they're familiar with. It's easier to stick to nullsec and surround yourself with pilots who aren't climbing that initial learning cliff. It's easier to treat new players as a disposable source of amusement and not care if they ragequit the game and it's easier to shrug that behaviour off as none of your business.

So, here's my crazy theory on how to turn it around. It's really simple and, if your initial reaction is 'that's stupid' or 'I don't want to do that', think about why you feel that way and how that makes you part of the problem.

Everyone should endeavour to have a newbie friend. Just one, you don't need to surround yourself with a seething mass of fresh faces, you don't need to recruit them into your corp and hand them the keys to your kingdom, just be their friend- share your knowledge, your experiences, hear about their frustrations and concerns, develop some empathy for the problems they encounter and help them towards having an engaging and enjoyable experience.

Every player who's stuck with EVE has a story, has wealth (and I don't mean ISK) and sharing that wealth is what's going to retain newer players more than anything else. Everything CCP does to foster a better NPE can't force those connections, we have to be willing reciprocal participants in pulling new players into our community.