Khanum
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Posted - 2009.03.13 04:17:00 -
[1]
After reading every post here---I started a new character from scratch, following the path laid out by the Devs (tutorials, missions, etc.).
As background, I've been playing Eve for a while and have done just about every career angle (except mercenary and pirating). I use specialized alts for mining, hauling, capital ships, snipers, cyno's, etc. (and I use multiple accounts)
I see what the devs were trying to introduce here. Frankly, despite my WTF on 50K of SP... now I understand a little better having gone through it. It actually works fairly well.
@goons -- who want their paying website customers to jump into the swarm immediately. Go actually take a look the newbie path. The tutorials and missions are setup so if a person picks the combat/pvp agent after basic training he gets trained on the basic mechanics of pvp in eve... optimal range, falloff, etc. It's not forcing them to do PvE missions--it's using the missions to train the pilot how to fight using the rats as training dummies. At the same time, it's consistently rewarding the pilot with new ships and modules, and then training them in the basics of using them effectively. Very elegant.
a few other points---
Eve is not going to turn off new players in the first couple of days, but problems will continue with respect to retention in the first few months despite these changes.
To that end, I agree with the "set everyone's learning skill tree to V and then hide it" recommendation.
I will go a step more and say do the same thing to Engineering V, Electronics V, and Navigation V.
If it's a skill everyone must train (regardless of path) to be effective, what's the point in the skill in the first place? I get it when everyone in Eve was flying around in frigates and cruisers at launch. Now it's just a nuisance, both in terms of time and the player's psychology. Skills should promote uniqueness and specialization... not feel like a wall of work.
Lastly, CCP has the right idea with 2x SP/hour modification. It needs a much longer duration. If a new player is willing to stick it out, you need to shave 2-1/2 to 3 years off their skill training time to get them nearer in capability to the more seasoned players who have been here since 2004-2006. As it stands, new players figure out quickly that they never have any hope of catching up--both in terms of economics and combat skills. They will always be dominated. That needs a fix.
The yin for that yang? Give players the ability to train two characters at the same time when they reach a certain high SP benchmark... about where someone would be who started playing in 2006. Three characters training at the same time at about the 2004-2005 level.
I recommend anyone who has significant heartburn over this, spend the time to actually test it for yourself. If your like me, it will not sell you on it completely, but will provide some better insights.
My 0.02 isk.
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