Brian Kith
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Posted - 2007.02.22 16:56:00 -
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I see a lot of discussion about the impact of these changes on newbies, and as one of those newbies I'm very happy to see that the longer term players are cognizant of those issues.
Here's my $.02 on the whole thing.
I think the problem that you're running into here is a systematic problem. Most "new" players simply can't afford to lose a ship. Any ship! Yes, insurance helps, but it doesn't always cover the entire hull cost, let alone the various items.
As I said, I am new to the game. However, I recently experienced my first lost ship, a Cormorant. In the overall scope of things, I realize a Cormorant isn't much of a ship, but look at it from the point of view a new player.
I lost my Cormorant, and I was fully insured. It *still* took me over two hours of running around to get back to the point I was before I lost the ship. Find the hull. Find the fittings. What fittings did I have? Gah - they are scattered all over the friggin universe!
All told, the loss of a single, low calibre ship cost me about 35 percent of my savings and two plus hours of time. Sure, I realize that three million ISK is pocket change to an established player, but it was 35 percent of my entire bank account as a new player!
This is a systematic problem. I can only imagine what the cost would be to a player who had a capital ship. Sure, they have more means to deal with it, but the real challenge is the percentage of their total bank. Players can't afford to lose their "best" ship, they just can't.
Is there a solution? I dunno. I hope so. Making smaller ships more valuable in large scale PvP is a pretty important part of this I think. In this way, a pilot wouldn't always be risking his "best" ship in those battles. Maybe an established player can't afford to lose his Capital ship more than once, but he won't bat an eye at losing a Merlin or 20. The thing is that the Merlin must have VALUE in the battle.
I know that everyone "wants" to be in their Capital ship. They also don't want to lose it. The smaller ships need to be far more valuable. Not in terms of ISK, but in terms of real tactical value to the PvP encounter.
It truly has little to do with new player versus veteran. A veteran in a Merlin will still destroy a new player in a Merlin, the skill set owned by the veteran player will make him far more powerful. The problem is that the Merlin flown by a veteran will still have no real value in a large battle when compared to a Battlship flown by the same veteran.
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