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Game Feedback: 2 types: Bored or So much to do!
Monkiboy
Member Posts: 13
I find it interesting that whenever I check the feedback about the game on the Eve online profile on this site- there are 2 distinct types of praise or criticism:
1) Bored/Lonely (I can read a book, watch TV, do homework, go off and eat dinner) while playing
2) So much to do (it's overwelming, never ending, infinite possibilities)
I guess I'm finding it interesting that CCP's failing- is really engaging people early on and showing them the possibilities inside the game.. They dont really show what is possible- they just show the minimum with some nice graphics- they rely on the customer figuring things out.
I tend to feel that the initial tutorial is very modest- basically suggesting "hey- here- become a miner! or kill NPC rats! enjoy and good luck with that!"
I wonder if this is part of the reason why the above distinctions are so evident?
Perhaps, if new players were invited into player run corps from the beginning it might make it less boring for them.. and possibly less overwelming. I tend to feel the NPC corps are less about community- it's more that everyone was dumped there by character creation.
One problem I see, especially with corp recruitment, is most PvP corps want the mythical "experienced player" I muse- because recruiting NEW players is very tough and time consuming. There is also little incentive from CCP for us to do it. You do get the homegrown experience beneft at the end of the line- but the common aspiration of corps is to recruit experienced PvP'ers and that's a really tough thing to do. We seem to be missing the middle step.. where they learn about the game and figure out what they want to do. Some people (I think) like being left alone, others though seem to need more help but there is little coming.
Im interested in your thoughts people..
How could CCP address the issues raised above in points 1 and 2? and are there big issues raised in the feedback that I've completely missed (I know I have btw) that you think should also be raised to a top level?
Monkiboy
Zoners, Curse Alliance
Comments
Quite a few MMORPGs out there are pretty standard format. You have a fancy avatar, sword and a newbie area where you can kill monsters. When you've levelled enough, you get out into the big word and buy a bigger sword from the nearest shop. Then you head out to a lowbie area and kill monsters there. As you make XP and levels, you get new nifty tricks, spells or special attacks which allow you to level faster.
As is obvious, EVE doesn't work like that at all. This, and the "infinite possibilities" approach will make the game appear as somewhat overwhelming. For some, like me, that is a very good sign in a game - a promise that you'll enjoy playing for a long time. AO has a little of that trait, with the complexity of its character development, but in the content side it's pretty standard.
Currently, for a new player however, you have two obviosu choices in what to do in the beginning: agent missions and high sec mining. The problem is that both of these are damn tedious and boring. If a player doesn't realise that there's a wide galaxy out there with lots of other things to do, this will give a pretty bad picture of the game.
What could CCP do?
They should create at least more options for newbies to do in the beginning. Some more lenghty "quests", perhaps a bit like multipart story-oriented missions might be in order. With the "dungeons" hopefully coming in in Shiva, it might be possible to add some more or less random generated "dungeons", spawned for those individual "quests." Focus should be in showing the possibilities of the EVEverse.
The tutorial missions are downright spartan. Yes, it's good to show the very basics but the tutorials aren't really interesting. They should be more engaging, fast paced and robust.
One thing that is completely left for a new player to learn on his own (or with the help of more experienced corp mates) is the market economy and using it to your advantage. Quite a few friends of mine made nice amounts of cash just hauling goods like missiles and ammo to places where they were in high demand. After that, they noticed that producing the missiles and ammo was more cost efficient, bringing in more profit. Understanding that experienced players will always pay some extra margin for the stuff they need if it's readily available (instead of 1+ jumps away) was the key.
Aye they need to work out a good way to show the full potential of the game at the start. People just either give in and get bored or realise the potential and go find it. Maybe thats a good thing in one way, as itll cut down on the l33t ers and co, but there willl be less people. It acts like a filter if you get my meaning. But it should still be fixed as its limiting the expansion of the game. Maybe if they recruited players to help new players get into the game. I now they do this already to some degree but I think they should do alot more.
Garrbut/Tulewin 65 Shammy / 46 Warrior (EQ - retired)
AndyRoo Thorax Caldari Thorax pilot (EVE)
Garrbut/Tulewin 65 Shammy / 46 Warrior (EQ - retired)
AndyRoo Thorax Caldari Thorax pilot (EVE)