I'm in no way a perfect blogger. I can not compete with the likes of other bloggers who very eloquently present well thought out statements and idea's.
This idea is what it is, I'd like to share it, all I can do is share it in my own way. I've been doing that a lot of late.
Adjusting and enhancing the new player experience has been talked about for a long time, the last year and a half at the very least has seen great debates and statements on new player numbers and what can be changed to retain players.
I have an idea to shake things up.
I don't wade through the official forums but from searching on the web I've not come across anything like it.
Two things happened to shape my idea:
1. Dust 514. I did a good bit of research on it and over the last year I've been keeping an eye on it, so the free to play model has been on my mind.
2. Civie mods were also on my mind. I'm a collector. Gathering all my civie modules into one container with an ibis is how I use these, messing about with fittings etc.
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| Current Civi items |
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| Ibis 'Civie' fit on an older charecter |
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| Mods used on that Ibis fit |
Apart from being a collectible junkies "thing" these civi
modules are of little use. Normally beyond a pilots first steps in
eve... maybe even the first 10 minutes, these modules become trash fodder. Some on rare occasions get sold for horrendous
amounts via contracts to people like me. Or they are used by EFT warriors.
A browse of Eve central will bring up a lot of 'Civilian' items, I presume they are already listed in game, only a few may have art or have a physical form. But if its correct then more items wouldn't be all that hard to implement. Maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway.....
For me experience 1 + experience 2 = Lightbulb (Civvies in space..... Free to play.....)
A free to play section of eve that incorporates the basic tutorials, wrapped up specifically as the civie side of internet spaceships. Training skills / fitting ships / using mods.
Think of it as a pre-trial free to play experience.
Stop screaming - Hear me out!
Once you pay the subscription/game cost as normal, you get a few free weeks as you do already with the current trial system. That's how you move from low life Civvie to upstart Capsuleer with all it's privileges.
How could it work......
There could be some new skills, not many but say the 5 basics electronics, mechanics, starship command etc.
Maybe not the normal skills but all civie versions (Civilian Mechanics, Civilian Electronics etc....), just to give a taste of skilling things and would work better with the tutorials imho. ( skill books given free as part of the tutorials )
Ship wise there would be access to A rookie like generic ship, maybe 1 slot for H/M/L, A hauler, no hi, 1 mid and 1 low (you get the picture).
The civie ships would have no bonus's whatsoever, you wanna use the frig for combat / mining / salvaging or hauling, that's fine you can fit it that way, these are generic jack of all trades master of none ships.
One generic version for all races ( Different only in ship skin ) and they can only use the civi mod's and only the civie mods.... limited but not bad.... workable...
There would be a way of going from free to play ( civie ) to a capsuleer.
So If you wanted that honour and privilege of becoming a capsuleer you can choose to enter that life ( then you start to pay after the usual few free weeks). There could even be an in game scene that gets the player to pay for the game/sub in game as if they were paying for the first capsuleer clone.... now that would be immersion!
So... What would a civie pilot do.
The tutorials to start with,
The current lvl 1 agents would probably be too hard to get through as a civie, so maybe new civie agents available only in certain systems.... as for combat/hauling and mining they would be limited.
The civie-skills would only take a short time to be 100% complete to lvl V ( civie end game if you like ), that can all be completed in 3 weeks..... like a carrot to get you into the real skills and goals of the pod life. Maybe the best ship you can get would be a starter noob ship... Ibis.....
Maybe gain sec status in the normal way
Maybe civi's can only travel in .5/.6 and higher space....
Maybe they can only join the npc corps.... ( and not leave their racial corp until they become a pod pilot ). .
Maybe civvies can't be attacked at all by capsuleers....
Lots and lots of options.
To test the civi gear I did a level 1 mission in a "civi" ship - Ibis "noob" ship + civi gear fit.
It handled well enough. took its time and it seemed to be worth the effort, not just an enter mission and release drones afk maneuver. Funny to see these frigs regen some shields between my volley's. And to not have enough cargo space to haul the mission item in one go was educational.
The next test is to use a new character and see how that works out. ( long finger and not done yet )
The new civi character would still be available after the civi skills are trained and can be flown and used regardless of paid subscription. ( only this civi mode is free ), the universe would be so much more populated. But civi life would be restricted. A whole other mini eve universe in the same space.
This would open up a new pve opportunity for Eve.
Give a real pve experience, a true "story" of being a "normal" person and wanting to become a pod pilot that can make a difference in the universe.
I feel it would open up the eve world to populate the space lane ways, adding that extra layer of believability and complexity to make the world seem a little more detailed and more real and alive.
Maybe ccp would balk at the extra server load....
Just my thoughts.... I think it would add more to the game than it would take away.
A browse of Eve central will bring up a lot of 'Civilian' items, I presume they are already listed in game, only a few may have art or have a physical form. But if its correct then more items wouldn't be all that hard to implement. Maybe I'm wrong.
Anyway.....
For me experience 1 + experience 2 = Lightbulb (Civvies in space..... Free to play.....)
A free to play section of eve that incorporates the basic tutorials, wrapped up specifically as the civie side of internet spaceships. Training skills / fitting ships / using mods.
Think of it as a pre-trial free to play experience.
Stop screaming - Hear me out!
Once you pay the subscription/game cost as normal, you get a few free weeks as you do already with the current trial system. That's how you move from low life Civvie to upstart Capsuleer with all it's privileges.
How could it work......
There could be some new skills, not many but say the 5 basics electronics, mechanics, starship command etc.
Maybe not the normal skills but all civie versions (Civilian Mechanics, Civilian Electronics etc....), just to give a taste of skilling things and would work better with the tutorials imho. ( skill books given free as part of the tutorials )
Ship wise there would be access to A rookie like generic ship, maybe 1 slot for H/M/L, A hauler, no hi, 1 mid and 1 low (you get the picture).
The civie ships would have no bonus's whatsoever, you wanna use the frig for combat / mining / salvaging or hauling, that's fine you can fit it that way, these are generic jack of all trades master of none ships.
One generic version for all races ( Different only in ship skin ) and they can only use the civi mod's and only the civie mods.... limited but not bad.... workable...
There would be a way of going from free to play ( civie ) to a capsuleer.
So If you wanted that honour and privilege of becoming a capsuleer you can choose to enter that life ( then you start to pay after the usual few free weeks). There could even be an in game scene that gets the player to pay for the game/sub in game as if they were paying for the first capsuleer clone.... now that would be immersion!
So... What would a civie pilot do.
The tutorials to start with,
The current lvl 1 agents would probably be too hard to get through as a civie, so maybe new civie agents available only in certain systems.... as for combat/hauling and mining they would be limited.
The civie-skills would only take a short time to be 100% complete to lvl V ( civie end game if you like ), that can all be completed in 3 weeks..... like a carrot to get you into the real skills and goals of the pod life. Maybe the best ship you can get would be a starter noob ship... Ibis.....
Maybe gain sec status in the normal way
Maybe civi's can only travel in .5/.6 and higher space....
Maybe they can only join the npc corps.... ( and not leave their racial corp until they become a pod pilot ). .
Maybe civvies can't be attacked at all by capsuleers....
Lots and lots of options.
To test the civi gear I did a level 1 mission in a "civi" ship - Ibis "noob" ship + civi gear fit.
It handled well enough. took its time and it seemed to be worth the effort, not just an enter mission and release drones afk maneuver. Funny to see these frigs regen some shields between my volley's. And to not have enough cargo space to haul the mission item in one go was educational.
The next test is to use a new character and see how that works out. ( long finger and not done yet )
The new civi character would still be available after the civi skills are trained and can be flown and used regardless of paid subscription. ( only this civi mode is free ), the universe would be so much more populated. But civi life would be restricted. A whole other mini eve universe in the same space.
This would open up a new pve opportunity for Eve.
Give a real pve experience, a true "story" of being a "normal" person and wanting to become a pod pilot that can make a difference in the universe.
I feel it would open up the eve world to populate the space lane ways, adding that extra layer of believability and complexity to make the world seem a little more detailed and more real and alive.
Maybe ccp would balk at the extra server load....
Just my thoughts.... I think it would add more to the game than it would take away.
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