Eve Alpha accounts are the scourge of Eve veterans and not.
They allow no costs ahead
No repercussions for kills
And multiple other things that further un-balance the game.
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My proposal is to limit them to Exordium only space, and at the very best, allow them to use a special shuttle, which can not dock anywhere (especially Jita).
If the Alpha player do not get back into Exordium for more than 24h, the ship will explode, with the pod. This Special Shuttle integrates the pod with the ship. I forgot to tell.
Every Alpha killed outside Exordium would re-born in Exordium, without the Omega pod experience.
Omega account will be unable to log in, and use any Alpha pod, or ship.
This would break the concept completely and should be disallowed as well.
Let Alpha players get a good idea of what this game had to offer so they feel like they want more of it and become paying Omega players.
They cannot experience most of the game in the tutorial zone besides the bare basics. Thry cannot try any PvP at all, for example, nor try flying in dangerous parts of space, both of which are some of the most interesting parts of the game.
Unless your intention is to get fewer players to become paying players, and to scare away many potential new players by locking them in some of the most boring content of this game that is doing missions and mining in safe space, I do not see how this is going to help.
Some players may like mining ores ordo missions without threats, but others may prefer to try faction warfsre or null sec fleet combat before they become Omega.
We could use more paying players. This is a bad idea.
I don’t think alphas are primarily used by new players, because we have so very few of them that CCP resorts to desperate, ineffective measures like Exordium. I see them used to sit in empty null systems to provide a heads up of approaching neutrals. They’re used to seed ships in wormholes. They’re used to farm SP. They’re used for botting. They sit in Ospreys on gates to shield boost the omega account.
Something needs to be done about them while still providing new players a legitimate trial of EVE. Exordium needs PvP mechanics, maybe some sort of limited FW plex and a proper PvP tutorial, and to otherwise be closed off from the rest of the cluster.
They should neuter the heck out of Alphas (frigates and destroyers only) and introduce a low-cost Delta clone to take its place (50% PLEX cost, with Alpha limitations).
No. Alphas are the fodder of the Eve vets, if you are getting blown up by alphas, then you have serious issues.
Great idea, so the new Exordium is turned into a sanctuary for new and old alphas. I see 2 things happening from this idea. New players enter and find less than nothing to keep them here and they never buy omega. The gankers with no clay pigeons to shoot at, look for other PvP games to inhabit.
Finally what about people like myself who sometimes I am omega and sometimes my account is alpha? Do I just materialize in the alpha prison? If they took your suggestion seriously, I would be setting off for Call of Duty or Battlefield.
That has to be the nuttiest idea yet. Which means FC might actually make it happen.
How do you accurately answer that question when all characters are forced born there. Its not like its a separate content addon that people can review. Any and all new characters have to be there in the beginning of their eve lives.
Its not a question of fail, meet or exceed when the option of choice isnt there.
I am asking in the Introducing Exordium thread, how is it doing now? I am getting vague answers there because the jury is still out. If it were a rousing success, you know for a fact, FC would be tooting their own horn about it. This is one reason I suspect it fell short or hasn’t convinced the new player population to stick around. Anyway, if you have proof one way or another, please post it over on the proper thread.
As for turning it into a wildlife preserve, it is not a great idea from where I stand. My real life work is protecting people who can’t protect themselves. Most of the time they are victims of circumstances beyond their control. The ones I really do not care for are the A list celebrity types, who place themselves in harms way, and expect one of us to eat a bullet. That is exactly who would end up residing inside your Exordium space haven.
Let’s not write the “How to Cheat” guide here in the forums. Yes, people do cheat in such a way – multiboxing alphas – or it would not be an issue. This is another soar spot between alphas and omegas, and a topic without a clear answer. The best answer I have is to get rid of the alpha/omega division, make the game sub with a trial offer, or go true free to play placing the omega package as buffs, cosmetics, and fast tracking offers only. This would mean a blanket ruling of multiboxing for all or multiboxing for none.
Up until today, just a few hours ago, I thought they had the option to duel in there. I investigated and found they cannot shoot anything other than an NPC. The NPE is a cold welcome to an area where you do nothing but learn to fly and mine. When I download a PVP game, I expect to PVP that same day. I don’t see this welcome area helping new players in the least.
Nobody wants that. But we do agree that it’s “cheating”? Fine!
I am not a fan of balancing or changing games around the fact that “some people cheat”. CCP/FC should focus on catching those people and closing the loopholes they used. But otherwise concentrate on designing the game as they want it to be, independently from the fact that there may be some cheaters.
While you could take your time, you can also get through the tutorial and leave Exordium all in the first day.
This also can explain why you noticed the player numbers in Exordium are pretty low, people could be moving on fast, through those shipcasters to FW space for example.
I’ll give you another reason why I think Alpha’s should be restricted to Explorium only.
When now there is any ship or overall mechanic “balancing” going around, it has to take into account all Alpha’s accounts as well as Omegas. So a “balance” act, pushed by the overtake ( I don’t have access to exact data, so accept it as a presumption ) of Alpha’s numbers or weight; will inevitably impact Omega’s also.
With time, I think it has become so prevalent, or in other words, using Alpha’s and then upgrading to Omega’s with some flash Plex sale etc, that the whole fabric of Eve changed to a degree of complexity and social behaviour, that for a long time it has been perceived as the only pathway possible.
And this is the fundamental error that thinking there is no way back is now superimposed it has gotten to be prevalent and quasi-dogmatic to face.
Exordium is but a shell right now, and I haven’t access to any data, not just Exordium.
