Player Features and Ideas Discussion

You mean to train drones to level V I assume? I'm fairly sure I was flying my algos with rails and 4 drones inside my trial period. And the incursus and tristan I flew before that gave me a feel for them prior to that. It wasn't hard to work out what was required and if they can't manage that then they are really going to struggle with anything above basic manufacture/explo/combat.

If CCP want faster access for folks they need to provide Empire backed official training paths for combat, explo and mining. Anything outside this takes a much higher investment in time and player+character skills.

Players should never be able to do everything at first otherwise where's the progression? And dropping 1-2 mil SP on trial players is simply going to lead to instant gank/cyno alts.

Ed: I wouldn't even consider drones to be a primary weapon system due to their unique pro's and con's for the purposes of character generation. They should be a more advanced option that someone has to choose to invest more time into. Perhaps roll drones and light drones together though as you won't really use one without the other.

What my main point is, the drone skills is inconsistent with how every other weapon in the game is handled for fitting purposes. Drones have bandwidth which represents hardpoints, but also requires additional skills to use said bandwidth.

Restating my example.
Imagine if the gunnery skill was changed to allow the fitting of 1 turret per level, this is also combined with the fact that you will also still have hardpoints on your ship limiting how many you can fit on a particular ship.

You misunderstand my point.
That comment wasn't to say removing those mandatory/skill wall skills should be what they do for newbros.

It was to say that removing these skills will allow newbros to start flying and flying competitively much sooner.
This will help to increase retention, as the sooner they can become involved, the more likely they are to stick around.
Not to mention, this reduces the learning curve a bit.



As far as my suggestion for training.

I think that all rookie ships should be able to do everything.
Missiles, all turret systems, mining, shield or armor tanking, etc. etc...
The training system then needs to take them through all of this.
I also think there needs to be a rookie training ground.

Once they've picked their preferred race (through experiencing the training program) they are then sent on one final mission.
An impossible mission in a null sec system (null sec system will also be part of the training program, same with a low system)... They're sent on this un-winnable mission, to which they get caught in a bubble and podded, so that they get the feeling of loss and death that Eve provides. (possibly by a drifter DD, so they know not to F with drifters)
Then, they're given the Character creation screen and are spawned in their racial system.


See, this is the problem with Eve... You start out slow, and it takes so long to get involved with so many things that it's almost tedious to get there... Newbros don't get to experience much within the trial period, thus they have no sense of direction or progression, as unlike other games, the path is not laid out for them in stone and writing.

We need to allow them to experience things in the beginning that will give them that sense...
The training system needs to happen in a small bubble where they can experience everything Eve has to offer, with just a little taste...
Allow them to see a Marauder pounding on NPCs, to see a Carrier launch a full flight of fighters, to see a large battle with Titan DDs going off.
Give them a sense of awe and wonder early on... They don't need to fly these ships, as seeing the size and scope of them from the seat of a rookie boat will be amazing. I remember the first time my rookie boat bumped a battleship... The size of it alone, compared to my ship, was enough to excite me.

So, to recap.
Remove all the mandatory/skill wall skills to reduce learning curve and increase playability.
Create a separate training grounds with a high, low, WH, and null system.
Take Newbros through a training program within these grounds that allows them to do and/or see everything Eve has to offer.
Change rookie boats to allow any fitting style to be achievable and take newbros through all these options, as well as how to fit for what, and show them what ships are in that progression line.
Allow them to PVP (including dropping a bubble and/or Cyno), give them experience with trade, industry, exploration, ect. etc...
Then take them out to a no win situation and kill them.

From there, they pick a race, and are spawned in hub with some starting skills...


Edit... Oh, and of course the training can be skipped by a vet, with an option hidden somewhere that isn't obvious, so true rookies don't try to skip it.


If CCP wishes, they can make this training grounds the new free trial. Once you finish, the game is no longer free.
This will help to cut back on trial account ganks, as well as allow players that don't have a lot of free time to still experience everything, which they likely wouldn't have in a 2 week window.

Edit 2 - This would also mean that when a rookie player shows up in rookie/recruitment chat, you know they're a paying player, which many of us take as a good sign.

No, I don't miss your point. You've said it twice now. And I still stand by my statement. Some of those skills are not useless as you say, some of them are necessary walls even. And some of them would be okay being granted to new players at level 3 or so, that would allow them more than sufficient of a 'glance' or 'within tolerable fitting limits,' while still leave a window to emphasize specialization, or choice to specialize. What you consider useless here isn't useless to others. I don't think you're wrong in a couple of those, looking at you jury rigging, but I think you are WAY off the mark in a few others, looking specifically at the engineering skills, drones, and advanced spaceship command.

And that is your opinion. Mine differs. I see them at level 3 as generic. I see choosing to train them farther as a choice. Scouts don't really need them, traders don't need them, haulers don't need them.

Maybe you should go have a talk with the Gallente engineers behind the Tristan and the Algos.

These ships also work with 4 drones.

Rule #1 of Summoner's Rift: Don't feed.

And only allow them to sit in the queue after the pre-req skills. It would be nice to set up a full training path in advance. Pre-defined plans could be written and exported/imported for corp doctrines/new player assistance.

What? You want to remove one of the few things that makes this sandbox a livable sandbox, a thing where players can truly shine and shows what they have learned and are capable of? CCP has in comparison far less expertise about the game, let alone teaching capabilities than actual EVE players.

Quite the contrast should be the case: CCP should make Eve University (I cannot think of another independent, not-indoctrinating institution with such a positive reputation and respect) or other institutions of comparable reputation and scope mandatory for newbies to join or participate in lectures. With this, the game does not only show player activity and player involvement to the new players, it also gives them first hand experience of player interaction from players for players. Obviously, if you just create a new alt for your cynos or caps, you can opt out of this program. The fact that CCP seemingly (judging by the response to the question as well as player responses in this thread) mostly think about skill book and skill point subsidies only proves my points.

Furthermore, if newbies do not know what to train for or how to train for what they want to fly, they should ask. Social interaction is the current decade's major mantra, hence I so no reason why people, who write tons of crap on Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and the likes, should not be forced asked to communicate with other players or look things up on the internet.