They get handed skillbooks in the NPE as mission rewards, and then get sent away from the starter station before they have to actually shop for themselves.
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It appears CCP was testing code with the latest Guardians Gala event to let players buy items from structures in space. This UI could be adapted to agents in space. For example, remove all high sec NPC skillbook orders and if players want to find a limited number of cheaper books they must search out these agents in low secâaway from the stations and gates.
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This is one of those changes that appears helpful on paper, but is actually either pointless or benefits players that are not part of the claimed target audience.
Actual new players are mostly in high sec, mostly within 6 jumps or less of a school/university system, arenât willy-nilly acquiring new skills for injection all the time (thereâs little point in acquiring new skills while you are still training up the last set of skills you injected). ISK is tight, many things are already training, and you have plenty of time to hop around and learn how travel and markets work.
For myself, the sense of going out and getting a new couple skillbooks to inject was one of the few actual âprogressionâ feedback points I got in EVE.
What this will actually accomplish is killing off most of the skill trading market; not benefitting new players because they will fly over a system or two to avoid the surcharge, and cause less travel and marketing skill development among low to mid-level players.
The only group I see benefitting from this are comparatively wealthy players who are parked in low/null/WH space, farming away on their ISK farms, and who donât want to travel anywhere to grab a skillbook they might need. Those people will just pay the surcharge and likely wonât even look on the market at all to see if a cheaper version is nearby.
Fiddling changes for the sake of fiddling doesnât make much sense. Unless youâre a fiddler, I guess.
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I know Arrendis understood. Arrendis even provided an example that STRONGLY hints, without actually admitting, they know exactly what I meant to say.
Arrendisâ passive aggressive comment did ultimately serve its intended purpose, which was for me to clarify my statement, it is just that the passive aggressive BS could have been left out of Arrendisâ comment and the result would have been the same.
What is this âmassive burdenâ new players face?
I donât see how it is difficult to understand that if I want to learn something new I need to go buy a book from somewhere. Isnât that we all do at the start of every school or uni year?
To find such a mechanic difficult to understand or burdensome would require a new level of moron.
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Or I looked at your response and then back at your earlier statement to try to figure out what else you could have meant.
If it ainât broke, donât fix itâŚ
Basically: now you can shop Amazon instead of having to find a local bookstore. Thatâs what everyoneâs mad about, being able to buy skills like they currently buy music.
It should be noted that whenever Goons are shiptoasting hard to defend changes, said changes are almost certainly of little to no benefit to the rest of us or the game in general.
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Since the original post asked for our feedback, I recommend you provide a grace period for skill book retailers to sell the books back to NPCs. In the real world, market adjustments happen. In a game we pay to play, market adjustments should be done with a bit more deliberate consideration of the paying customersâ investment of fortune. Just like people donât want governments choosing winners and losers in the marketplace, your customers donât want you picking winners and losers in the in-game economy. And thatâs what CCP would be doing if you didnât allow for a buyback, even a reduced buy back given that there will likely be a few weeks notice before actual roll out.
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It should be noted that whenever people canât actually support their claims and get called out for being evasive and trying to coward out of actually addressing the topic they start trotting out the GRRGONS nonsense.
I love all the counter arguments saying this shouldnât happen because of market PvP/making isk for tradersâŚ
So basically you are saying that you want to make isk at the expense of the new guy. Gotta love bottom feeders who knowingly take advantage of new players.
Itâs not really the mechanic Iâm concerned about, it is rather that the premise of the argument for the change.
The devblog calls it âone of the more complex systemsâ and âconfusingâ . . . . . really? Wow!
Name me another major MMO where you have to shopping to spend your XP.
Name me a human who finds buying a book to learn something new complex or confusing.
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Arrendis? But would he really qualify as a âhumanâ? 
We have literal market scams in EVE because the market is confusing, has a whole bunch of skills associated with it, and hidden mechanics. Therefore yes, the market is complex & confusing.
Skill training discipline is part of the gameâŚsomething you learn early once you get involved with it! This is a mistake, just my humble opinion.
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Itâs not the âbuying the bookâ, itâs the âopen market, get faced with JESUS CHRIST WTF SPREADSHEETâ. Weâre used to it, but if you compare this to vendors in other games, or even the auction house (ie: the player-based economy), ours is a lot more dense and opaque, and thereâs no real introductory walk-through.
How many people screw up and buy crap in lowsec, then get blown up trying to go get it? For ships etc, thatâs fine, but this is effectively adding a layer of âok, so open up your talent trees and STEALTHED ROGUE STABS YOU FOR OPENING TALENT TREES HAHAHAHAHAHAHAâ
Which is kinda ridiculous.
Can confirm, am actually an incredibly sophisticated AI left here in the EVE-O forum software by the Triglavians during the splintering of the 2nd Jove Empire.
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