Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I think this idea has real merit, but i'd like to add one thing.

I know that Factional Warfare is not an exclusively PvP experience, but Player vs. Players is definitely a big part of Factional Warfare, and I think that having the "PvP-focused" NPC corporation for each of the four factions feed directly into Factional Warfare could be a good idea. It would help to bring more players to an under-appreciated and fun aspect of EVE online, one that is a good way to transition into further PvP activities, especially because of the excellent market for faction goods allowing new players a way to both learn PvP and make money, since for most new players, those two activities are mutually exclusive.

I like this idea, I love the restructure, and I think linking the PvP focused NPC corp into factional warfare would be a good idea.

Ignore the fact that I am in the same corp as the OP, but I very much agree with this idea. Think of the EVE vets who played at least 2-3 trial accounts (myself included) over a span of YEARS before they finally made a commitment to play when they had a better understanding of what this game actually is. If it weren't for a couple of players going out of their way to reach out to a newbie and explaining what EVE is I most likely wouldn't have stuck around due to frustration. Nothing will beat a teacher/mentor relationship but having the in-game infrastructure to backup or help create that phenomenon will only help EVE grow.

As much as people say "noob corps should be war decced," that is only favoring the ones war decing the noob corps (this could go into a whole other conversation about high sec war decs in general.) War deccers get easy kills and new players get frustrated, and then the EVE elitists all cry "well you gotta learn the hard way!" when that is completely counterproductive. Do you realize that they WILL be perma war decced by the major groups? It's like grabbing a 5 year old's hand and mashing it into their face while saying "why are you hitting yourself, bro?!" Players can learn about war decs in their own time in player run corps, but it's not a crucial aspect of PvP mechanics. Yes war declaration is a game mechanic in EVE but it's not a fundamental mechanic that you can translate into -every- PvP environment in EVE, thus not a fundamental thing to force new players to learn about through experience. (and honestly how many war decs are actually fun to be a part of? not many)

Also keep in mind that EVE has been growing over the years, so it's especially important that the new player experience continues to improve. The current tutorials are so much better than what they used to be, but as a new player I would still be very lost afterwards.

I agree about the whole marmite thing, but I think War Deccing and the experience of being war-decced is an important aspect of life in Eve Online. It's not possible to run a corp and escape without a decent war dec at least once a year. It changes the dynamic within the corp and forces players to change their focus or adapt to other play styles over the course of the war dec. Also they might actually like engaging in combat.

Make no mistake I am no uber player or a pvp god and having gone through the mill of almost 9 months of constant war dec last year I can say that it was a catalyst that forced me to try new things and engage with other aspects of Eve Online, which occasionally included putting up a decent fight to the aggressors.

So perhaps there should be some restrictions, perhaps the sub divisions can only be war decced by the sub divisions of other npc corps though this doesn't stop the marmite collective having alts that jump in newbie corps.

Perhaps an additional refining idea may be to have sub divisions of the parent corp that can only form up and last for two weeks or some other pre set time limit before having to be disbanded. Allowing those players to exit out and join other micro-corps. etc. I am aware that your original idea was for players less than 14 days old, but I don't see why it can't be expanded for a longer period as the curve learning curve is still steep despite CCP best efforts to reduce it.

See, I do like the idea of exposing newer players (specifically ones interested in the PVP aspect and in the PVP noob corp) to the war-dec mechanic.

As you guys have mentioned, the general idea of making NPC/noob corps war-dec capable is a bad solution. Griefing people just getting into the game would become too much of an issue. Likewise, alts sitting in the NPC corps just to get the silly fights would also be something to avoid. Avoiding the later would require some restriction on player age in the specialized NPC corps (though this then encroaches too heavily on player-owned corps, and is not a graceful solution), but the former seems a bit easier to tackle.

So, how do we expose new players to the war-dec mechanic while trying to avoid seasoned players who are simply looking to be dicks? While it has some issues (which I'm sure people will point out), one possible solution could be within the PVP subgroup - introduce them to both real PVP and the war-dec mechanic. One day a week (random or specific, though a set day may interfere with people who can only play on specific days of the week) or one week per month (may be a bit harder to work with in the case of trial accounts, I personally think one day is better) the NPC PVP Secondary Corp is at war with the other faction's PVP SC's. Of course, warn the player ahead of time (same as with regular war decs) and teach them what this entails.

To me, this would seem to introduce war aggro mechanics decently. At the same rate, if you keep the notifications and mechanics consistent, it can help people understand wars in player-made corps. Last, with it only being one random day per week, the fighting would be inconsistent enough to discourage taking the time and effort to use alts for free fights. If they do, they're more likely to help organize fleets of n00bs to slam into each other, and this creates RvB-esque emergent player-driven scenarios, all in a positive manner (introducing fleet mechanics, and encouraging people to learn to FC).

I haven't thought of drawbacks too much, so if anyone sees glaring issues with this solution to introducing war mechanics, feel free to speak up. I think trying to introduce these mechanics to new players by primarily involving other NEW players is the best way to go about this. In the case of older individuals who still wish to take part in this, I generally find the community would actually help more than hurt it if constant easy kills are inconvenient due to inconsistency. I find this more likely than we'd like to admit. With all the Reddit posts after B-R where n00bs are blown up and given money and advice for the future, it's quite apparent that, contrary to popular belief, most eve players enjoy helping newer players: we just also like to pew them.

This is a great idea and the game wholly needs a makeover in the early stages of the game,.

looks excellent

players who leave the rebirth corporation should be able to re-join within the 14 day window

players should be able to join the advancement corporations of other factions.

It seems a bit complex with different starter corps and secondary corps for each faction. Furthermore it doesn't get people into player corps which is where they need to be. Hear is my suggestion:

Tutorial for the importance of player corp and where to find one.
Leaving a player corp automatically moves you either to your personal corp (i.e Jacid's Corporation) or the faction warfare corp of your race.

Why:
Promotes player corps
Keeps sandbox
provides custom guidance through player corps that newbies needs
Stops older characters from abusing NPC corps

My 2 Cents

Maybe this idea can help increasing NPE. I'm not sure about that. All active chars I made run tutorials what are improvable and need improvement. But I never thought about searching corps out there, because corps have rules and inforcements for professional specialization. Hey, it's sandbox! If I have to do anything because a group of players need it, I won't like to do that anymore. I am a solo player and I like solo playing.
I don't agree. Sandbox is to let anybody do, what he likes to do. This will have consequences in many ways, of course.

Forcing anybody to any corporation after he fulfilled omniprofessional tutorial is a fault in my eyes.
If anybody wants to play without any corporation, he should be able to do that too.
Maybe it's an outlaw status and not easily done in hisec systems. Moreover it'd prevent me from founding a 1-man- or char-parking-corp.

Whatever. I'm against forcing players to do anything any group of players want him to do. There are enough enforcements to new players already. And "force" cannot be called in same sentence as "sandbox".
So player corps are not desirable to all players equally.