Blog Banter 33: Improved Mini – BWAHAHAHAH Just Kidding PvP Tutorial
Blog Banter 33: The Capsuleer ExperienceLike 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.”
[Condor, PvP]
2x Standard Missile Launcher I
Warp Scrambler I
Small Shield Booster IPower 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!
Posted on February 17, 2012, in Blog Banter, CCP Hijinx, PvP. Bookmark the permalink. 4 Comments.
Supported. 🙂
Between this post and last one, I think I should be reading you more. 🙂
It needs a lot of polish, but while I will freely admit to occasionally indulging in a little griefing I do support getting information in new players hands in an effective manner.
The public/group mission would be hilariously entertaining – essentially a temporary baby-RvB set up. I’m sure there will be potential for griefing, but then that’s sort of your point, isn’t it.
I totally get the principle of delivering a brutally honest PvP experience from the outset and it would definitely encourage a generation of more informed rookies. I’m not sure quite if the can-flipping linked missions could be implemented though. Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of intertwining player missions, but it’s a bit of a gamble that there will be another rookie player available – off-peak quieter TZ players might get an early taste of the famed EVE waiting mechanic.
Nonetheless, I’m loving the principle.
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