Player Features and Ideas Discussion

TLDR; Add a MOTD in rookie systems to ensure that rookies and vets alike are aware of the rules.

I should start off by saying that this idea will not change the current game mechanics, or any of the rules surrounding rookie systems. Its only intention is to provide new (and old) players with knowledge about the rules in these areas.

I'm sure some of you have spent some time in a rookie system, either while you where a new player your self, or have returned as a bitter vet to help assist new players. And i'm also sure more then one of you have encountered people in these systems who does their best to grief new players, either via tricking them into getting flagged or baiting them.

There is already strict rules in places to help prevent people from doing this, but sadly the people who do it often goes unnoticed because no one reports them, largely because they don't know that what just happened is actually against the rules.

Thus this is my proposal.
Add a MOTD in all the rookie systems stating that scamming and griefing new players in those systems are against the rules. Add a link to the rookie system wiki and maybe expand it a bit by making it more clear what is and is not allowed by including some of the information given by GM Spiral in this post.

This should hopefully help on three things.

First off a new player who suddenly finds them self's tricked into a situation that causes them grief in a rookie system will be aware over the fact that they have the right to report the person who tricked them. This alone will help discourage players from messing with new players in these systems.

Second it will ensure that older players who are not aware of these rules will not unintentionally get their accounts banned because they broke rules they where not aware off . While im aware that its rare for someone to be banned right away, its still a "black spot" on their record that could easily have been avoided if they where aware of the rules.

Third.
I have lost count over how many arguments i have witnessed (and participated in) about whether or not scamming and similar is allowed in said rookie system. The usual argument is that unless its a starter system its allowed, which seems to be a common misconception. If i were a new player i would feel slightly uncomfortable if one of the first things i saw was a bunch of angry vets ripping each others heads off arguing about basic rules.
Having the MOTD in every rookie system (not just the starter system) would hopefully close to eliminate this argument because the proof would be right there and near impossible to miss.

And since i'm here...
I havent done the tutorial in a while so this might have been added already, but if not it might be a good idea to include something about how to file a support ticket.
There is a limit to how many times you can say "F12" before you start to wonder how its possible that so few new players know how this is done

I like the idea. +1 More ideas in NPE the better.

given that ****ing with people in one can get one banned i dont see why this is not the case.

True, a lot of people may not read it but, there a lesser excuse for not knowing of it if it's stated in the system motd.
Like, right now the rules are hidden away on a Wiki page, not refered to anywhere.

To hell with immersion , ccp don't come down on us for much, there are soo few rules in this game but
"dont **** about in these systems" is one of the hard and fast ones.
+1, especially given im doing exactly the sort of thing that would get me in trouble in one of these systems.
I wouldn't ask for a flashy warning sign, just a small denotation that its a rookie system,
hell if i was aware i was in one i might be inclined to chat with the newbies, offer them help (genuine) and such.

If you can't see the difference between NPE and carebearing, there's something very seriously wrong with you.

So it's hard to pick good targets in these systems. Isn't eve meant to be hard?

There are mission hubs all over new eden if you want to screw with carebears, knock yourself out. If you want to skate on the edge of rookie systems, then do your homework.

Alternative solution: implement OP's suggestion but remove the protection from the sisters of eve arc. Once you're out of the newbie system you need to be learning the skills to avoid scams and avoid people messing with your activities.

I quite like this idea, and not just for the main reason of getting rid of the "I didn't know it was against the rules" excuse.

The other thing that would be good about this is the indirect warning to new players: "you may be safe now but the rest of the universe is open season."



I'm a goon and I love theft, scams, grief, and taking lollypops from babies. But I also want it to happen on a level playing field. The thing I've noticed after reading many, many stories about this stuff is that there are players who genuinely don't know that Eve allows behavior that all other games have strict rules against. You might think it's impossible, but the advertising for the game doesn't exactly put that front and center. And plenty of other games make claims about being cold, dark worlds -- they have a plot line that's 5% grittier than the norm or something. Eve is the real deal, and in that way is pretty much unique these days.

When I see a story about some guy that bought $100 of plex and then gotten it scammed or blown up, I think that guy was an idiot and shake my head. But I also think that CCP is pretty awful for putting a big banner ad for plex in front of a newbie's face -- "SELL FOR CASH IN-GAME TO GET A HEAD START!" -- but keeping or have it lost or stolen in small print.

This is an elegant summary of many of the games NPE problems.