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Reduce the number of NPC corps players start in. I seen plenty of good alts perform work in it in training newer players and encouraging joiniing othe rcorps.

You know... I read this, I laughed. Then I proceeded to post a long reply... went AFK, came back to polish it/shorten in, Posted.... gone. *Sigh* My own fault, should've remembered to copy/paste to notepad before posting.
Anyway..... later on decided to post a a much shorter reply using my phone.... post..... gone again...... right.
So I just figure I share the irony of the situation, even though this post will probably disappear as well lol

When I first started, what probably hooked me in was meeting a couple of fellow noobs in our NPC corp that wanted to form a frigate-based corp to go out and kill battleships. Within a week of signing up we were out trying to do that, having fun (but generally failing).

Maybe what could help players to form those contacts would be a group-based Epic arc that points players towards forming a fleet, getting on EVE-Voice and stumbling into some deadspace pockets together. Maybe once they complete the tutorial they are given a mission offer and invited to an appropriate form up chat channel. After a few hours together some of those players might decide to stick together afterwards and so form their first social links.

I'm in a NPC noob corp so I'm answering newer player's questions on a daily basis. I'm gonna share some of the more common problems.

1. I really should not have to post this pic as often as I do: http://i42.tinypic.com/10s8bc4.jpg
Make the client ask a new player if he wants to join a specific language channel and give him the list to click on one. Then he can at least get help in his own language.

2. Many noobs have trouble finding the SoE arc in Arnon. Either they don't know it exists or they don't know where/how to start it. Nudge them towards it a bit more firmly, maybe make the location more visible somehow.

3. An often asked noob question: "I just finished the career missions (or SoE arc), what now?" Make them understand the nature of the sandbox and maybe give them a few tips how to get popular careers started.
Missions: Quite a few noobs have trouble getting L1s started cause they don't even consider talking to some random agent. Nudge them towards the agent finder and make it clear that you don't have to join a corp to work for its agents. Also explain agent standing and what you need it for.
Mining: A very regular question is about the usual progression of mining ships (mining frig -> destroyer -> mining cruiser -> barges). Also how to find different asteroids.
PvP: Explain that it's a good idea to start out with a cheap, small ship in lowsec. Explain that it's definitely not a good idea to wait for your "powerful" BC or BS to visit lowsec for your first solo PvP experience.

4. Explain system security levels better, I think that's barely in the NPE at all. On a related note, explain what yellow players on the overview mean and that they are not legal targets in highsec, because that gets asked every day by someone.

5. Make some sort of tutorial for the directional scanner. And while you're at it explain overview settings better. A common problem for noobs is that they can't find something because it's not enabled in their overview.

6. Bit of a controversial point here: Don't try to make noobs leave the NPC noob corps at the first possible moment. I can only speak for SWA here, but at least in SWA there's vast knowledge about all parts of the game and a very helpful attitude towards noobs. I think you'd have to look very hard to find a player corp as suited to teach noobs the basics, except Eve Uni maybe.
I see it quite often that noobs ask how to join (or worse: create) a player corporation when they have no idea about the game or what they want to do in it yet. I believe this can lead to serious frustration and players who after half a year into the game still haven't found anyone to explain them what makes good or bad ship fits. The reasoning here is that if they join the wrong corp too soon, they might very well be more socially isolated than they would be in the NPC noob corp.

7. Explain that you can manually steer your ship by double clicking in the direction.

That's all I can think of right now.

Edit:
8. Specifically explain in the tutorials how to acquire new skills by buying them. I think even in the new NPE there are some skills required for the career missions which you don't get handed for free (IIRC Industry).

This. x9000.

How CCP finds it acceptable to run a forum service that repeatedly chews up user generated content is beyond comprehension.

No other forum engine that I have used w/in recent times exhibits this behavior.

How do you think that a new customer will feel when their post saying "hi" or asking for help on a specific topic gets trashed? Like spending their hard earned scratch on an EVE subscription or GTCs? Think again.

The competition for entertainment dollars and personal gaming time is stiff and the current alternatives are beating CCP in terms of QoS, responsiveness, communication and even pricing in some cases.

tl;dr - Don't let the current state of these forums impact customer acquisition and retention.

Getting into a cruiser (cruiser skill at level 3) takes about 3 days of training for a noob, add another 1 or 2 days for all the module prereqs and low levels of support skills and you're good.



The epic arc, which can be run immediately after the career missions gives out about 10m in rewards. As far as I'm aware most noobs use mission running as their first source of income which is completely viable if you have a very basic knowledge of how to fit ships. So nobody needs to mine in his first days if he doesn't want to. The lack of even basic fitting knowledge might be an actual problem for many noobs though, so that's what could and should be improved in some way.

Rather than focus on what knowledge we need to impart to new players. I thought I would talk about how the NPE should make players feel. You will find that the way players feel (excited, terrified, confused) is far more important for getting them to invest in the game than the quality of the knowledge we seek to impart.

Generally the new player experience should begin in a simple environment with which a player is already familiar (avatar) and then guide and acclimatise then to their new environment (flying in space).

My suggested approach is to use different environments to acclimatise players. Hence the first environment they encounter (clone vat room) should be about movement and meeting Aura. Beginning the game in the clone room helps to teach players the most important lesson of EVE, which is: you are going to die. Death is such an important part of EVE that you want new players to understand that it is a normal part of game play from day one.

Another way of making this point could be to begin the game with the players first death, when they discard their original body and join the ranks of the immortal capsuleers. You could do this with a video (similar to the awakenings video) after the player has created their character. Perhaps you could show a Caldari character shooting themselves in the head as a test of military resolve and as a display of their dedication to the state. An Amarr character may sip poisoned water as part of an religious ceremony. A Gallente character may die in a laboratory at the end of a needle. A Minmatar character may die to escape a prison.

Showing this 'first death' in this manner, is an opportunity to establish the 'feel' of EVE, and also to begin to show how the four empires differ in their attitudes.

Once players have exited the clone room, they then learn how to connect to other players and NPC corporations in the captains quarters (or in a multiplayer establishment once they are implemented). This is important for two reasons. Firstly because player are more likely remain subscribed if they are part of a social group, secondly because EVE is about social interactions (even when conducted down the barrel of a gun). They key concept to convey to new players, is that if they want to be successful, they need to connect to other players.

The next step is to get them into space. Getting their first ship should feel like an exciting moment. Don’t just have it sitting in the hanger already. Have it granted to them by an NPC as the final part of their induction into the ranks of the capsuleers. The player is about to exit from the safe confines of the station into the limitless expanse of space. It should feel like a big exciting moment. They should feel like the world is starting to really open up before them.

Players first space based missions should be about instilling a sense of wonder. A sense that there is already something else to discover. Have them unexpectedly come across a wormhole during a seemingly routine mission. Have them encounter the Sansha during a courier mission to a customs office. Introduce them to the pirate factions by a note slipped under their door in the CQ.

What is most important, is that you don't want them to finish the NPE and think 'is this it?'

I've done a lot of thinking about the New Player Experience in EVE for quite some time now. In fact, I recall giving a lot of feedback on the changes made previously (which were mostly ignored or lost in the plethora of responses) and I'm going to basically re-state them all here now.

First, as has been said may times already by others earlier; walls of text are BAD. Show me what I need to do in a video. For all of those non-English speakers out there, PLEASE make the videos in multiple languages. You already have localized clients so it shouldn't be too hard to have someone translate the text and to find an appropriate "Aura" to read it in the local language. Along with this, having more than one "Voice of Authority" in the tutorial is very bad. It confuses the one trying to learn, and distracts ones attention when it should be laser focused on the subject at hand. My suggestion here is to use your starting station as an actual school and use both the in station and in space aspects together. Have the new player go to a classroom where they are shown how to do something (like probing down an anomaly) then have to go out into space and perform the activity. Show them what to do, then have them actually do it. How do I pilot my ship. How do I target something. How do I configure my overview. How do I warp to something. You get the idea....

Second, the "Career Agents" aren't actually part of the tutorial. They are an introduction to the MISSION system. As such, they should NOT be trying to teach anything but simply show what kinds of things will be asked of a player IF you choose to pursue one of those mission agents. These are mostly fine as is, except the current "Scanning" and "Advanced Combat" agents should be folded correctly into the previously mentioned tutorials that they actually are. Also, they should check a pilot's skills to make sure they actually can do what is required of them, and if not instruct the pilot to "come back when you know how to..." whatever it is they need to do. Like "Come back when you know a little something about Industry (Industry skill to level 1)."

Third, EVERYTHING that is currently available in the help channel "Tutorial" section NEEDS to be covered in some way by an actual tutorial. Not all of it needs to be done right after creating your character and entering the game for the first time. For example, there needs to be a way for a player who wants to run a corporation to find an IN GAME Tutorial for running a corporation. Perhaps a "Class" offered by the many NPC corporations / Universities called "Corporation Management 101" or something that requires a smallish ISK fee to take like a real University would charge. You would then have to go to the correct station, decant from your pod, walk to the classroom and sit through the "Lecture" video showing you how to do what you want to do. (Note how I'm giving you something to make walking in stations actually useful here)

Fourth, again to re-iterate what others have already suggested, having some sort of "Ship Fitting" tutorial, with an EVE Fitting Tool like item IN GAME to try out various fits would be beneficial to everyone. As would the ability to sell and buy fits on the market. We can save them save them for personal and corporate use, why not allow us to make some ISK selling them??

Fifth, most new players leave the game because they get frustrated. Something happens, regardless of what that something is, that makes them think "This SUCKS" and they leave. Part of that is a feeling of "I can't do anything" or one of "No body cares what happens to me" which is totally part of the EVE experience the veterans grew up with. This is the #1 thing that needs to be fixed, but I don't think there is an answer to this that won't fundamentally alter the game. Simply forcing people to join player corporations WILL NOT SOLVE THIS. Creating a absolutely secure sector of space WILL NOT SOLVE THIS, simply delay it until they leave that super secure space. This goes way beyond the simple loss of a ship, or being podded. Having something early on that points out the many (and quite cleaver) scams, cons, ganks, etc. that can and will be purpatrated against the unwary may expose some of the hazards. There are so many out there that I fear a single tutorial about this topic would require a multi gigabyte download all of it's own though...

Sixth, and something not really related to the New Player Experience but I'm gonna say it anyway, you all truly NEED to re-do the entire missioning system. For years now you have been saying you know it's broken, but it would take too long to re-do all the missions to use better AI. Well, you might as well bite the bullet and decide one of the next expansions is going to be the one where you make PVE exactly the same as PVP. Start with the level one missions, and work your way up. Part of the problem with the combat mechanics in EVE is that PVE is sooooooo different from PVP that there is nothing that can bridge between the two. Make missioning a solo / small group PVP emulator and "BAM!" problem solved. You already have the AI to do it, you simply need the will to go ahead and implement the changes, and actually do it. It may take multiple updates, but afterward everyone will be better. No more people whining about "but I didn't have a PVP fit ship" because all fits will be PVP fits. If you have to simply delete all the current missions and make entirely new ones. That won't hurt me at all, at least not till I run out of ISK from replacing all my ships ;-)

OK, I'll hop off my soap box now, and hopefully someone at CCP will actuall listen this time :-)

Let new players know the only way they're going to learn how to play the game is to join a corporation as soon as possible and start asking veteran players questions. Discourage new players from trying to figure anything out on their own, they end up with multi-tanked ships and mixed guns.

Change the little notifications that pop up for jumping into low or nullsec so they're not so scary, encourage their adventure into space with greater risk. This is a game that ultimately revolves around PVP, so make them feel like this is the case.

Get that part of the site up you guys were talking about where you can upload fittings and rate them, have it include combat tips from actual veteran players. Too many newbies still go to battleclinic for fits, and the better resources require you to read 10 page threads of ponyfagging and annoying sarcasm.

One major concern for my corporation is this: We're turning down new people... Out of fear

Why? Because if we haven't worked with them it's highly likely they are either spying alts, corp thieves and avoxers...
I can handle people being spies, corp thieves and useless, but the game mechanics makes a corp unable to take care of avoxers.

• If a spy can make me believe he's a good pilot for my corp and keeps himself active and trusted he deserves the information he gathers. If I tell him something super secret it's my fault and I can live with it...
• When you recruit a new guy it's my fault if he takes whatever he has access to and I can live with it...
• If I accept a guy that can't handle himself I can try to help him get better. If not I can kick him and live with it...
• If I recruit a guy he can instantly go out and abuse his blue standings to kill high value targets and I can live with it...
• But when I want to kick the player for not respecting corp policies the game mechanics tell me that i CANNOT KICK HIM as long he is undocked... It is pretty hardcore difficult catching and podding an avoxer while having a director spamming the kick person button and hope he makes it before the bastard undocks... And thats only even an option if he doesn't have roles.

Result: Alliance kicks a corporation until issue has been solved and a lot of people are forced out of their brotherhood for at least 24 hours because it sucks to be neutral in nullsec...

In my opinion it's fine to have rotten apples in the game, however if corporations don't have the tools to handle these situations you'll see many corporations refusing to take in new people. I know this was made to avoid griefing, however it's just causing more grief...

Pinky