Blog Banter 33: Improved Mini – BWAHAHAHAH Just Kidding PvP Tutorial

Blog Banter 33: The Capsuleer Experience

Like mana from Valhalla (yes I know I’m mixing my religious metaphors), the latest Dev Blog by CCP Legion asks questions which make for perfect Blog Bantering. To quote him “…we want to make the first days, weeks and months in EVE enjoyable and not just something ‘you have to plough through in order to get to the good stuff’” and the newly formed Player Experience team will focus on “…where and why people lose interest in EVE…”.

“We invite you to pour your heart (or guts) out and tell us what you think is good or bad with the current new player experience and what you think could be done about the problems.”

For this blog banter I will focus on mining.  Just kidding I want to talk about a series of PvP tutorials, they will take place in a system that had been forgotten that the player will reach through a “Just Discovered” stargate.  The first will talk about the rules of the road in highsec and help players understand how safe they aren’t.  This will include talking about ganking, can-flipping, and other dirty dastardly tricks people like me play.  Let me run through a scenario.  Your nooblet starts in a station, gets a mission from the PvP agent to transport a package contained in a shiny new hauler that is given to the player.  The mission spawns a stargate in deadspace just for that player.  The stargate takes them to a system that has no visible stargates (each player will have a stargate spawned for them as they come in, bookmarked through the mission) and one station.  As the player comes in through the stargate they are attacked and suicide ganked by rats.  This attack will cause a concord spawn, which will then talk to the player and explain CONCORD’s response program and how it is punitive in nature and not protective.

This gate will not allow the player to leave just yet, and the CONCORD pilots direct the pilot to the station, where a new ship awaits him.  This ship will be a racial frigate that a new player can fly.

I’m going to digress here for a moment.  One of the most infuriating aspects of the tutorial is the player getting new modules and not the skills, books, or any hint how to get to use them.  Especially bad with missiles that have a skill for the launcher and the missile.  Watching a friend play the tutorial lately I was stunned to see this happen multiple times.  Either this ship will be fitted with “civilian” version of the model or more skills need to be given to new players at level 1.  I have no problem with players getting a bit more to start out to let them start at the ground floor of multiple branches.

Back to the tutorial.

Let’s take what will likely be the most difficult of the frigates to go with (remember you start with racial frigate 2) and do a Condor

[Condor, PvP]

2x Standard Missile Launcher I

Warp Scrambler I
Small Shield Booster I

Power Diagnostic System I

Every race gets something similar active tanked, nothing blingy, just straight up get in there and pew pew.

You are directed to go help secure a wreck that has components to repair your stargate home.  This mission takes place in a new feature.  The Arena.  On entering the arena the player is added to one of two fleets.  I should point out all new players in EvE will be sent to the same system to ensure that the arena isn’t dead, and there should be advisors in system as well to help out.  Upon joining this fleet you have kill rights on all people on the other side.  Go crazy folks, after a certain amount of time in the area, or upon losing your ship, or scoring a certain number of kills your mission completes letting you get back to business.  The goal isn’t to make stone cold killers, it’s to keep people from panicking when they see red on their overview.

Each mission spawns a new ship from here on out.

The next mission is a bit more directed.  You are sent to a site where another player is guarding a can.  You steal from the can and place it into your own container for pickup.  Hijinks ensue.

The next mission?  Go out, blow up some rats and guard a can until it gets picked up.  You will NEVER GUESS what happens next.

Both of these complete for both players when a player ship gets wrecked in the site.

The purpose of these two missions is to familiarize players with can mechanics and point out just how unsecure they are.

The penultimate mission will be a tutorial in how to escape being podded.  It will talk about session change timers, aggression timers, and all the fun factors that keep you from jumping or docking.  You will be sent in to another ambush.  When you land, scram frigs, cruisers, BS or two.  The frigates will be on top of you, the others closing fast.  CONCORD will communicate that they are unable to respond in time, and to prepare for pod ejection by selection a celestial and warping away (spamming the button if necessary) as soon as the ship is destroyed.  Once the player has escaped they are directed to land on the station, at this point they get a shuttle, a certificate, a decent isk reward for the whole chain and a bookmark to a working stargate back to the “normal” tutorial system.

Obviously it is a rough idea, it will need some refinement, but I don’t get paid for this.  CCP’s Player Experience team does.  Make it happen gents!

I'm using it every time I can