Siest Pelan
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Posted - 2005.07.15 07:39:00 -
[1]
 Originally by: Jaabaa Prime
How can we help new players into the EVE universe ?
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Very good question Jaabaa. I've tried my hand at getting few people interested in EVE, and they all drop the game after a few weeks/months. The primary reason is not what I expected (being killed by pirates, long traveltime and so on) - they all say that the game feels like it has awesome potential, but they don't know how to unlock said potential.
EVE is very much about shaping your own game. Join a corp, do stuff, be an evil pirate, a wealthy/poor industrialist, an adventorous miner going for the rare stuff, a protector of good and slayer of evil, a researcher, a spy, an explorer. The problem for these players is that they end up either mining until their eyes pop out, or they do mission upon mission, until they are bored out of their skull. They are a bit afraid of doing any sort of PvP, because losing their ship/wealth/whatnot seems like losing several hours of gameplay.
They would love to explore, produce, mine, build, hunt, kill, rescue - they just don't know where to start and how to go about it.
Learning pure game mechanics is possible for all but the dumbest players. Learning WHAT to do with your time in an open game like EVE requires imagination and perhaps someone guiding your hand a bit.
I think that the best way to keep new players hooked on EVE is to get them in a corp as soon as possible, and when we have them in the corp, then take our time to show them the vast universe of possibilities that is EVE. Help them figure out what they want to do with their game.
It's kinda like having kids. At some point they start thinking about their future life. What education to get, what job to get, where to live. Big questions, and most kids needs their parents to help them answer those questions. Newbies in EVE are like kids, standing on the brink of adult life. They need guidance from more experienced players. Sure, they also need tutorials and solid documentation of how the game works, but as with kids and their parents, the most important part of getting new player primed for EVE is showing him/her what the possibilities of the game is.
CCP should provide us with solid documentation/tutorials from a technical point of view. Experienced players should take it upon their shoulders to teach these green players what they can do in EVE, and how they can do it.
Basically any corp worth it's own weigth in salt should have a few people dedicated to helping newbies become attuned to EVE, because without new players, EVE will slowly die.
It is easy to lure new people into EVE - it is much harder keeping them there. At least that is what I've come to learn.
We who know a bit more about the game need to take some time of from our own projects and gang up with a newbie in a newbie system and show him the ropes. Take him out and show him what EVE can be. Make them feel that their presence in the corp matters NOW and not 6 months and a few billion ISK down the road.
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