Alphas and Free to Play

Love them or hate them - Alphas aren’t going away. In fact, it’s probably what saved EVE back in 2016. So assuming they’re not going to change that radically, what could be done to improve the Alpha/free-to-play experience in EVE?

First thing’s first: What can’t change:
• No multiboxing between Alphas and Omegas
• No red (criminal) safety

What could (emphasis on “could”) change:
• A cap on ship types to cruiser (maximum); no more battlecruisers or battleships.
• Expansion to include any and all ships up to cruisers - including tactical destroyers and strategic cruisers (still limited to one mining frigate).
• Level IV for non-specific Alpha skills (from Level III) and up to Level III for specialization skills (such as sub-systems, T2 weapon specialization, etc.)

This would slightly reduce the competitive gap between Alphas and Omegas (IV vs. V), T2 weapons and T2 hulls (III vs. V specialization). Alphas lose access to battlecruisers and battleships but gain access to T2 hulls and weapons, and up to IV skills.

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I don’t think Alphas need any more than they have. They already have access to ships to try all sorts of gameplay in EVE.

Omega is supposed to be an attractive option compared to Alpha, which is good because people paying for Omega means there is money to keep the servers of this game running.

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The idea was a tradeoff, ie: give up larger ships, get access to a few smaller ships and a few more trainable skills. The free skill point and maximum skill point cap remain unchanged.

Seems like all too much to give to Alphas in my opinion, and am saying that as someone who is Alpha on all accounts (and only PLEXed to become Omega to train the expanded Alpha skillset on my main and also to get on the EVE monument with my main and this CEO alt, so basically once a lifetime events).

I think a lot of Omegas could go full on Alpha if they could use those two ships efficiently so CCP’s bottom line would feel it considerably.

Of course no factual evidence just my educated reasoning.

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Yep, Strategic cruisers are some of my favourite ships.

If I could fly my favourite ships without having to be Omega, why would I pay for a subscription?

I think the current design is better, where Alphas have access to many T1 ships but feel like they could get an upgrade no matter their choice of ship by going Omega. In other words, higher tier versions of ships shouldn’t be available to Alphas.

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I would give alphas more money-making opportunities. Because let’s be honest, at the moment alphas mainly earn money by ratting and doing missions. It’s not particularly creative or thrilling when you’re doing it day in and day out for many hours. A career as an explorer raking in heavy billions from relic & data sites with null or WH space isn’t really for alphas due to the basic lack of access to cloaking. Production & manufacturing? That’s the domain of multiboxers. Trading? Well, possibly… but again, as a hauler it’s a wretched task, as gankers are just waiting for a transport ship with a cargo that exceeds the cost of running a gank operation. Extracting from planets? Not for alphas. Mining and gas huffing? A misunderstanding when you can only use Venture. PvP? Requires experience, which you gain by dying, and dying is expensive in EVE. Where do you get the money for that?

So everyone opts for ratting and mission running because they offer the greatest return relatively quickly, which in the reality of ever-rising prices in New Eden seems the only sensible choice.

I know, in EVE you’re the smith of your own fate, but to play with ease, you need ISK and here we run into some very monotonous options.

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Love it or hate it, you will never be able to buy skillpoints.
Love it or hate it, CCP will never turn into an RMT seller.
Love it or hate it, the training skills are here to stay.
Love it or hate it, WIS is a thing and it ain’t goin’ nowhere.
Love it or hate it, skill queues are never going to happen.

See where I’m going with this?

No such thing as Alphas aren’t going away. They most certainly can and probably will at some point.

I look forward to the day that happens.

Mr Epeen :sunglasses:

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Nothing needs to be changed. It’s free to play. They don’t need real power. They can already use the Society of Conscious Thought ships and the Ventures. What more do they want?

Alphas should never be allowed to pilot a T3 cruiser. It’s way too much power for the likes of them. They wouldn’t be able to handle it.

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Keep the Alpha experience as is or I’ll have to redo my alpha strategy and I can’t be bothered, especially since I’ve extended Omega into April 2026 and therefore don’t need to use it for 14 months.

Just stop arsing about will you.

If an Alpha wants another mining ship, tell him or her to buy a Praxis.

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I think I may start a new character for the sole reason of becoming an elite Praxis miner.

Mr Epeen :sunglasses:

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DScan pane notably absent

All possible iterations of Alpha will still be getting more than they pay for.

Alpha is the proverbial gift horse.

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there are two types of ‘alphas’: those who test the game to see if they like it and those who abuse the advantage of playing for free.
I would start reasoning from this premise.

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28K EHP on a Praxis is probably sacrilege and could be solo ganked by a Talos or a Tornado, and as that video is 5 years ago and that Praxis fitting is now closer to 200m ISK either of the attacking ships would be cheaper.

Note that key skills were still capped at IV and III for T2/T3 hulls. So would you want to fly a partially neutered T3C as an Alpha or a full T3C as an Omega? Just asking.

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How neutered would it be exactly? They’d have to let Alphas have access to a lot of advanced skills and equipment just to buy one and put it together. They’d have to open it all up to them

An alpha running L3’s and blitzing and being paid to run missions from USIA can certainly PLEX to Omega I’ve done it.

Alphas. Give 'em an inch, and they’ll take a mile…

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Well, yes, and the more you give to Alphas, the less incentive there would be to go Omega. Which means Alpha has to be kept just at the level where it provides enough experience for noobs to decide if they like the game…but not so much that the incentive to go Omega is too weak. Personally I think the current level is about right.

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