Primaranth
Zener Tech.
Skynet 7
0
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Posted - 2012.07.31 23:55:00 -
[1] - Quote
Hmm...so I wrote a big long post chock full of all sorts of good feedback for new players (much probably off topic)...and then the forum ate my post when i tried to preview it. ugh. I guess that is my punishment for not getting to the point. So here is attempt #2 in far fewer words.
- The tutorial is a good system, the improvements, given a month of work, are great too.
- Read post #36, paragraph 3 about long skills time. Great illustration of a key new-player problem.
- And thus, the biggest hurdle to getting new players to stick, in my humble opinion, is the skill system when you start. Even having to wait a few hours to get a few basic mods is enough to turn off a new player for good. The first week of skill training is *huge* with respect to what it opens up in the game, even more so if a vet can advise a new player on how to get the biggest bang for that time.
- While the problem may not be as critical for a new player trying the game on their own, I think the problem is much larger when an existing player tries to get a friend to play EvE. We get embarrased when we have to tell them how painful the first week will be because of waiting on skills once they are in. They usually never return.
I propose a simple fix that should be possible to fit even into the August 8th release even:
Credit a new account 500k of unallocated skill points (the system is already in place). Let new players decide where they go and instantly train them (have to buy the book first obviously). This way I can get a friend into the game and into some actual fun within 30 minutes, not several days (if they ever come back that is).
If a simple unrestricted credit opens of too many exploits (like insta cyno accounts) then I'd suggest a few restrictions that shouldn't be too severe of coding work:
1. Can not allocate points to level 5 skills (noobs can have a lot of fun still with no level 5 skills).
2. The credit only applies to the first character on a new account (or rather once to an account regardless)
Implement this and virtually all wait-for-skills-new-player-emo-rage-quits--over this reason--should go away. Maybe even only 250k points would be enough. We're talking a free couple weeks of skills to get new players that might be around for years. It's a no-brainer to me.
Cheers |