The first time I played Eve (2006ish) I remember being flummoxed by the so called tutorial. Back then EVE's new player experience left much to be desired and a fledgling capsuleer was thrown in to the harsh universe of New Eden with little more than a noob ship, a few meagre isk and a handful of barely adequate skills. I didn't get very far on that first attempt and I recall my career ending in a blaze of glory as I flew my newbie frigate into 0.0 and was promptly podded.
My second foray into the game in 2008 was more successful and I ended up sticking around. I still remember having a relatively slow start however. Money was tight and a lot of early training time was spent on the learning skills.
The changes made since 2008 have revolutionised the new player experience. The tutorial missions are comprehensive and helpful. The career tutorials in particular shower newbies with isk, ships and skill books. Getting rid of the learning skills has been a great success in my opinion particularly since they adjusted up attributes so learning is much faster anyway. The skill certificates are also a good idea pointing new players to useful batches of skills. Sadly the in game interface for certificates is clunky and could scare off a newbie. Nevertheless it is still a big improvement.
Eve still remains a deep and complex game and there is an awful lot left to learn once you have finished the tutorials. The new player chat channels are still filled with "What do I do now?" requests. Nevertheless the game has never been more accessible. The famous learning cliff has softened and is perhaps now more akin to a steepish incline.
My second foray into the game in 2008 was more successful and I ended up sticking around. I still remember having a relatively slow start however. Money was tight and a lot of early training time was spent on the learning skills.
The changes made since 2008 have revolutionised the new player experience. The tutorial missions are comprehensive and helpful. The career tutorials in particular shower newbies with isk, ships and skill books. Getting rid of the learning skills has been a great success in my opinion particularly since they adjusted up attributes so learning is much faster anyway. The skill certificates are also a good idea pointing new players to useful batches of skills. Sadly the in game interface for certificates is clunky and could scare off a newbie. Nevertheless it is still a big improvement.
Eve still remains a deep and complex game and there is an awful lot left to learn once you have finished the tutorials. The new player chat channels are still filled with "What do I do now?" requests. Nevertheless the game has never been more accessible. The famous learning cliff has softened and is perhaps now more akin to a steepish incline.
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