Executus Primus
Black Phoenix Legion
The Fourth District
6
   |
Posted - 2012.11.17 18:34:00 -
[1] - Quote
Making it too easy on new players is the wrong way to go IMHO. Making something easy/dumb for players is never a good substitute for making something interesting. That is especially true for eve players, which arguably like challenge, otherwise they would have choosen one of the 123124124123 easy mmorpgs with instant gratification.
A good new player experience is an experience, in which a player can enjoy the game with the toolset that is supplied at the start but at the same time has something to look forward to (longterm). If you just spoonfeed every skill to a new player, EVE will become one of those MMORPGs which people join for 6 month and than get bored/burn through. For this reason a new player should NOT be able to fly a t2 hac in 3 month with perfection. He should fly a stabber in 3 month, enjoy that, be usefull and effective. At that point he should look forward to the vagabond.
I do believe that one reason why so many players stay with the game so long and have so many alts is the skill system that takes time. People are forced to focus and plan. Complexity in this regard is good, because the question "what if i train this and do that" never can be instantly done. There is always something to look forward to. A good character feels like an investment into the game, much like the time someone invests into other games to get "epic items" feels. If you just equalize all that, the people who already have invested will be very very pissed off without really doing anything for the new players.
The buff to T1 hulls is in my opinion a HUGE step in the right direction. You dont need skillspoints for a basilisk if you can join a fleet in an osprey effectively. The general rule of thumb should be that more skills should provide a diminishing return of being better. That was true for modules for the most part, but not for ships, but that seems to be changed now. The UI probably needs some overhaul, but i don't think you can fool yourself here. Eve IS a complex game, you won't be able to explain all the finer points of the game through a tutorial. Removing the finer points on the other hand would be a bad idea. Instead of dumbing down the game, the goal should be to get a new player interested in figuring out these finer points, since they are a major part of the attractiveness of the game in the first place. |