iskflakes
460
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Posted - 2013.05.23 01:52:00 -
[1] - Quote
Summary: I think you should work on other things. Scrap certificates so you don't have to maintain the code.
Justification:
Certificates are inherently useless both to new players and to old. They are equally complicated to the skill system, which is the reason they fail as a means to help new players. As a new player I remember avoiding them completely and just training what I wanted. I was actually very confused about this extra tab that appeared when I looked at ships, that seemed to be related to skills but wasn't really. I eventually figured out it was a SECOND view of the skill tree, but did nothing, how pointless is that? By the time I started to play seriously I knew what skills I needed to make a fit work, and so certificates were again pointless.
A player could in theory use public certificates to let them prove to another player they had mastered a set of skills. However, this is currently done via EVEBoard which is much more convenient. If a CEO was recruiting a new corporation member and wanted to check if they could fly an interdictor, it's much easier for the CEO to just see if that person has the relevant skills than to try and work out what all those certificates mean.
If you absolutely have to fix certificates rather than scrap them do this:
1) Have a huge green box which says "You should train THIS next", and a button to automatically populate your skill queue with recommendations when it becomes empty. Put this on the skillqueue UI, not the certificate one.
2) Reduce the number of certificates drastically
3) Reorganize the requirements, they were apparently created by somebody who has never played the game
4) When listing certificates recommended for a ship, list the actual skills each certificate contains under its name. I have no idea what skills go with what certificate and I'm not going to look it up.
5) Simplify UI
Other "bling" features:
3) When you undock a ship have some text appear at the side of the screen saying "Competency: Elite", this would give all players a basic reason to claim their certificates
4) Rename certificates to "achievements", people are familiar with what that means. Let people link them in chat and compare number of achievements (or achievement points).
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Would you feel comfortable with any of these options? Which ones do you like? Options outside that list may be considered as well, if expressed in a constructive manner.
The only feature that seems useful is the bragging rights.
As another topic for you guys to voice your feedback to, what information would you feel worried about if it was displayed as public by default and why?
Do not display skills publicly. I don't want people to know if my neutral alt has cyno skills or not, or whether he can use a covops cloak, or whether my freighter alt can actually fly a freighter or is about to kill you.
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