Eve Online

[svartalf]

Fanfest 2014, and so it begins! 21mins 40s in http://www.twitch.tv/ccp/b/524762943

 

[svartalf]

... Same video (it's 4 hours long) first panel is at 1h20m http://www.twitch.tv/ccp/b/524762943

 

[svartalf]

Economist starts talking at 2h22m22s.

 

[svartalf]

Ship and Mod balancing at 3h18m

 

[svartalf]

Well fuck CCP, they monetised their best marketing opportunity. Dick heads!

 

[svartalf]

Free stream is here, but there is no free archive that I can find - doubtless some kind soul will upload the panels to youtube.... doubtless.

http://fanfest.eveonline.com/en/stream/free

 

[svartalf]

As someone else said, Eve always had the best trailers, here is another amazing video:
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFTUazuGdTw

I have not idea what this means, looks like Valkyrie and Dust integrated into Eve. I have no idea what the gate is, as I missed the keynote. All will be revealed Soon™

 

[SilverHood]

As someone else said, Eve always had the best trailers, here is another amazing video:
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFTUazuGdTw

I have not idea what this means, looks like Valkyrie and Dust integrated into Eve. I have no idea what the gate is, as I missed the keynote. All will be revealed Soon™

They announced a while ago that there would soon be more space added to EVE... All I remember is that it tied into the Sisters of Eve implant set, Ascendancy, which greatly increases warp speed. Maybe you need that set to use the gate, or all systems on the other side are NPC space with 500 AU warps, so you can't bring anything bigger than a cruiser hull without sitting in warp for 10 minutes.

 

[svartalf]

They announced a while ago that there would soon be more space added to EVE... All I remember is that it tied into the Sisters of Eve implant set, Ascendancy, which greatly increases warp speed. Maybe you need that set to use the gate, or all systems on the other side are NPC space with 500 AU warps, so you can't bring anything bigger than a cruiser hull without sitting in warp for 10 minutes.

I guess this is the Sisters of Eve thing, but I don;t understand what it means.
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHH_MHd0c94

 

[svartalf]

I just watched The Prophecy again. Hearing someone saying, "Valkyries! intercept Those troop carriers"... Didn't spot that last time. I wonder if it really will all come together one day...

 

[SilverHood]

I guess this is the Sisters of Eve thing, but I don;t understand what it means.
View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHH_MHd0c94

Ghost sites were a new exploration site added that dropped Ascendancy implants for manufacture. Reading fanfest news, it seems that these gates are player built.

 

[svartalf]

This is encouraging.

One day I might give Eve another look ... but I'm still bruised from last time - (several years ago).

EVE Fanfest 2014: EVE's plan to remove tutorials and reinvent the new player experience
by Brendan Drain data:image/png;base64,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 on May 6th 2014 10:00AMSci-Fi, EVE Online, Culture, Events (Real-World), Expansions, Game Mechanics, MMO Industry, News Items, PvE, Events (Massively's Coverage), Dev Diaries, Sandbox, Subscription, MMORPG0


When we asked you what you wanted to hear about at EVE Fanfest 2014, the biggest area of interest was EVE Online's New Player Experience. Every player who's ever signed up to EVE following news of some huge battle or event will remember the frustration of his first few days in the sandbox. A new player's first experience of EVE is wading through windows full of text in a succession of boring tutorial missions that could take you hours or days to get though, followed by being ejected into the big bad world with very little direction. If that's been your experience of EVE, you might be interested to know that something's finally being done about it.

Developers revealed during Fanfest that of all those who sign up to EVE and pay for a month's subscription, 50% of them don't renew and a further 40% or more end up in solo professions like mining and mission-running, which have the highest rate of player turnover. Only between 5% and 10% of those who sign up will ever get into the kind of gameplay that attracted them to EVE in the first place. CCP's response? Completely remove the tutorial.

Read on to find out why killing the tutorial could be the best thing that has ever happened to EVE's new player experience.

What's wrong with the tutorial?

The blame for players failing to assimilate into EVE has been placed squarely on the tutorial mission arc, which teaches players to rely on the direction provided by missions much as in a themepark game. When the tutorial ends and the new player is dumped into space on his own, he'll usually experience a "what now?" moment that can lead him to quit and say the game is boring or to cling to the direction provided by mission-running and never do anything particularly sandboxy. Naturally, this doesn't match up with expectations new players have from tales of big heists or battles like the Bloodbath of B-R5RB.

By getting rid of the tutorial, CCP will no longer be funneling players into missions or away from the sandbox gameplay they're interested in. Developers are then free to replace the tutorial with something that better matches the expectations of new players. One developer I spoke to even said that CCP would like to eventually get rid of mission-running completely from the game and replace it with a more immersive PvE experience. Newer PvE modes like wormhole anomalies and incursions don't rely on pages of text and are very popular, so it's natural to think the rest of EVE's PvE will go that way eventually.

Part of the reason for abolishing the tutorial is to remove extrinsic motivators like ISK from the new player experience. Players already come to EVE with their own very powerful intrinsic motivators; they sign up because of an article they read about wormhole theft or a video of a huge alliance battle and want to be a part of something like that. CCP's new plan is to let players find their own ways toward whatever goal they come to EVE with through something being described as "opportunities." The core idea is to simply highlight all the opportunities that are out there in the EVE universe and let new players engage with them at their own pace. This should fix the "what now?" scenario so many new players encounter without forcing them down one particular path.

So how will the new feature work?

The example used by many of the developers I spoke to on the topic was Minecraft, in which players find unknown items or see them named in achievements and then naturally head straight to the Minecraft wiki to learn more. CCP wants EVE to adopt a similar philosophy by giving new players just enough information to find out what they need to on their own via Google. Rather than try to explain the practically infinite different paths players can take in EVE or roles they can fill, CCP will make sure that job will fall to the players and members of the media who already do a good job at it.

It sounds fantastic in theory, but I'm told that this feature is still very early in development. Developers I spoke with after Fanfest confirmed that there are several competing designs right now, some involving the System Scanner and others that are similar in design to the ISIS Ship Identification System. Perhaps the most promising suggestion was that a new notification system could pop up a context-sensitive message when something happens for the first time, such as when you first approach a stargate or target a player. Players could then explore the gameplay at their own pace and in any order they want, rather than try to memorise pages of text from a pre-set series of tutorials.


One of the major themes running throughout Fanfest was that the game should be easier to understand and interact with for all players, which in turn will help bring new players into the fold. Developers plan to do this in the upcoming Kronos expansion by replacing EVE's dreaded spreadsheets and windows full of text with contextual UI elements and information-packed tooltips.

In the same way that ISIS has helped new players see ship options they never knew existed, it's hoped that Opportunities will show all players the gameplay options open to them that they might not have considered before. If you've ever had a hard time getting into EVE or just couldn't get past the spreadsheets-in-space user interface, the day is fast approaching when you might want to give the game another try.



Tags: ccp, ccp-games, eve, eve-fanfest, eve-fanfest-2014, eve-online, eve-online-fanfest, eve-online-fanfest-2014, event, event-coverage, fanfest, featured, iceland, internet-spaceships, massively-event-coverage, reykjavik, sandbox, sci-fi, spreadsheets-online

 

[Ctuchik]

It's not only the "what now" moment that makes so many new players quit again. It's just as much (if not more) the insane douche bag attitude from the existing players that drive them away.

Get rid of the scumbags and EvE might actually be an enjoyable game.

And lol at using minecraft as an example......

 

[Z^^]

http://gyazo.com/390d11d5e084871fe306d9d2af96301c my first <3

 

[Z^^]

http://treci.eve-kill.net/?a=kill_related&kll_id=23597995 Had the most epic fight ever..




And another unrelated short pvp gank video..
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCRnzMxg-04

 

[Z^^]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNagFxWqmSk
oh man eve is a beautiful game.

 

[Ctuchik]

So just watched a podcast about gaming in general (co-optional podcast) and they happened to discuss the goons rather pathetic implosion and humiliating defeat. And having not really paid any attention to the game at all in years i decided to go find out what exactly happened..

And oh my god is it a gold mine of pure comedy.. And reading about those events firmly convinced me that Mittani has actually gone absolutely bat shit crazy, i honestly don't think that he lives in the same world the rest of humanity do any more..

Anyway for those interested here's the major links i found and they seem to be pretty unbiased even though they are reported by a member of Imperium (former CFC)..

PART 1: WTF is going on? The Answer. • /r/Eve

PART 2:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/Eve/comments/4cdmmc/wtf_is_going_on_the_answer/d285qxe/


I was literally crying with laughter a few times.. Especially at Mittanis reaction to the name of the war. I suspect that even CCP were starting to get really bored by that alliance attitude...

 

[Ctuchik]

Lol, got curious about this new free to play feature they had and logged in to see what's what and instantly regretted it.. I can literally not use a SINGLE ship i own. EVERY SINGLE ONE requires a subscription. Well truth be told they may have done me a favor there, if i could fly those ships i probably may have started to get back into it again and i know all too well how that would have ended...

 

[Adari]

Wait, CCP isn't a charity?!

 

[Ctuchik]

I wasn't expecting them to be. But i wasn't expecting them to only let me use the basic frigates and cruisers either. And i certainly wasn't expecting to see 80% or more of all my skills disabled. Or the fact that even though you CAN buy and fly ships with rocket and missile bonuses on them you cant USE rocket or missile launchers unless you subscribe..

Which is going to be really painful for the new Caldari players that buys a Kestrel thinking they can use it's bonuses, because why would CCP let them buy it and then not let them use the weapons it was designed for?

Hell i couldn't even produce a stable PvE fit for the arbiter fgs. Sure i could use all the modules but the subskills needed to make the fit WORK was all disabled so the cap bleed was horrendous! I couldn't even fit an afterburner on it, let alone a MWD which i never go to lowsec without...

CCP didn't make this game free to play, this is WoW starter edition in space. That's basically what CCP have done, they let free players level up to 20. But in such an annoying way that you're either gonna feel forced sub or ragequit.

 

[Adari]

How were you not expecting any of that? They have communicated it quite clearly.

"The most important thing to know about Alpha clones is that they may only use a specific set of skills and skill levels. To begin with, we are planning that the Alpha skill set will be focused on using tech one Frigates, Destroyers and Cruisers. Alpha clones will only be able to use ship and weapon skills native to their faction. If you have skills trained on a character in Alpha State, which are not part of the Alpha skill set, those skills will be locked and unusable until Omega state is reactivated. Characters will start the game with the same 400,000 skill points as they do now and will be able to train freely within the Alpha list. A fully trained Alpha will have roughly 5 million skill points."

Its basically 2 months of sp for a new player, for free. No limitations to buying/selling and flying anywhere you want. That is a lot better than a level 20 character you can have in 4 hours that is then unplayable.

 

[Ctuchik]

Like i said earlier, i haven't paid any attention to EvE in years. But that's rather irrelevant, when a game goes free to play returning players generally really don't expect most of everything you have done or own to be locked behind a subscription paywall.

Sure i can accept that my toons can only use weapons or ships native to them, i should have logged on my caldari toon to check but i didn't because i was too pissed off. But on the other hand i then feel like i should at least be able to use MOST ships and weapons native to my toon. Not just the ones at the bottom of the barrel and one slightly higher up.

But regardless i still don't view this game as free to play just because you can play it for free. You could play it for free before this as long as you had enough ISK to pay for the plex...

When i hear about a game that goes from sub to free to play i think of games like AoC, SWTOR, STO (now SECOND on my list of worst F2P model ever), EQ2, DCUO, ESO, Wildstar etc etc. Neither of those games are anywhere near as restrictive as this is. All of them offer a subscription as well, but they are mostly only for faster progression and a little bit of monthly RMT credits to spend in the ingame store. Some are a bit more generous but the gist of it is that free players can and should be able to use pretty much all the existing content available and they only have to pay small amounts for new content that subscribers get for free as long as they stay subbed.

CCP could have easily done something similar. And in such a way that it wouldn't need to cost the existing subscribers anything extra at all...

This game doesn't give you much of a choice in how you want to play. You either sub and get everything or you don't and accept that you'll forever be stuck in mostly inferior ships of which neither can use effective fits. Or maybe you can but it's currently so hard most free players won't bother with it.

And regarding this being better then WoWs starter edition, not by much it isn't... Simply because the general idea behind the two is exactly the same, both games offers free trial accounts, they are just limited differently... But the goal is to make you buy a subscription and the limitations are designed with that in mind. But at least Blizzard don't try to hide that fact.

Ok so i read their FAQ about this and are they really trying to blame the restrictions on botters and multiplexing?

But whatever, at least this time it didn't cost me 15 euro to log in and remember how it always ends..

 

[Z^^]

Maybe i've been fighting some off you im in the culture now.

 

[Raven]

Good read

Meet the most honest man in EVE Online | PC Gamer

Resubbed to have a look about, got about 50 days to get into the ship I want.

 

[BloodOmen]

The last thing I remember about Eve was mining an asteroid at 2am while listening to Scorpions - Winds of Change and drinking a bottle of jack daniels :x

 

[Himse]

I just downloaded & started playing, hard to get my head around it all! But getting there.

 

[Z^^]

Join newbie corporations there is alot of stuff you might wanna ask and just logged in listening to random crap gives you a better graps of some mechanics in eve, I was in eve uni, but there are many newbie friendly corps.

 

[Marc]

You still playing Z? I havent logged in since we got our asses kicked in the casino war (im in goonswarm).

 

[Z^^]

yeah im in peeL now.

 

[Marc]

Anyone here still playing?