I know you used to have a test server where people could train and run ship fits on. There were issues with how players used it. The problem is I feel that using capital ships and cynos is too tricky without practicing and you have no way for someone to learn how to do it other than trial and error. I want to fly a Dread, use crab beacons, and have a third alt deal with rolling wormholes. I have to do my best after reading up on it to make the big leap.
But this leap is very big for me. I pay 20 dollars and month for 3 accounts, and 15 dollars a month for 6 alts. How can you rob me blind of my money, and give me no where to practice how to play with even a titan? I have a good character. I bought it from the character bazaar with around 2500 dollars in plex. I don’t like how you don’t allow me to practice and even if you don’t want a test server the least you could do is make a server that doesn’t compromise players in real life so I can spend 10 bil for a Revelation navy issue, 300m for a cyno, and 5 mill for a hauler to roll wormholes to learn how to crab do it without losing this in game.
I have paid CCP probably over 5k dollars in business, and I just want to know why you won’t let me learn without losing 50 bill in dreads along the way.
I am an awesome customer and don’t cheat or buy isk from 3rd parties and I know that you have a 20 year old game with tons and tons of player investments over time, and you are charging cut throat rates. Please give me a way to grow in the game more safely and let me learn how to use cynos, rorquals, titans, supers, carriers, dreads, and all the other good stuff in a real life working server for practicing this stuff.
Maybe you don’t need a new server but you could have an AIRS pilot program for capitals or an in game tutorial for using capitals that could be just as good?
SISI (Test server) exists for the purpose of CCP testing new feature before they go live, not for the whims of Players. Nothing is preventing you from doing you experiments on TQ - like the rest of us.
The Cyno mechanics are straight forward, you fly the Cyno ship to the desired loc and light the Cyno and then Jump to the cyno with the Capital Ship (Jump Freighter, Dread, Force Auxiliary, Carrier, Super Carrier, or Titan). You’ll need a Cyno to jump back as well or travel by gates.
You may not like it but that is just how it is. Again, SISI does not exist for the whims of the Players.
EVE’s subscription is no more expensive than any other MMO with subscriptions - also this has not really changed for the 20 years it has been running - taking inflation into account the price could have been $40 a month if not more.
Ok. Do you know how complicated it is to do crab beacons safely? You have to setup the beacon in a safer spot, roll wormholes, make sure your cyno is setup at the right distance, and know how to play if you get hot dropped by blops. Doing this thing right without incurring a 40 billion isk bill by going through 5 dreads is not a good gameplay experience. It is true that a lot of people who don’t have the skills only play subcaps. How do you suggest going about practicing beacons so you don’t blow 50 bill. You might be able to do it, but how do you know everyone else can to. It is a feature that is nice to have a test server. And why can’t it be part of the game. You says you don’t need it? Fine for you, but I say I need it. Maybe go by a vote to see how many people want some semblance of a test or practice server.
And if what you say is true, that ccp made a test server only for testing additions to the game, are you saying that is breaks the game to have it or it shouldn’t be a part of the game? Some people like to test and tweak and learn that way. There is nothing wrong with a test server being a part of the game.
Imagine if I want to run t6 abyssals. Is there anyone who can do t6 abyssals without practice? Yes but very few.
This is a big part of the game, t6 abyssals. How do you think to open that content to everyone? It is to expensive to learn without practice and you don’t empathize with players who will never be able to do this content because there is no test server.
What CCP does in the gae is not always the best, but you take CCP doctorine about how to setup the game as law. And it is law, but that doesn’t mean they are right. I am saying CCP is wrong not to have a test server. All you have to say is that CCP doesn’t want the game that played. Put it to a vote.
Also, I want to multibox 2 marauders to solo C5 sleeper sites. I have to have 3 characters. 1 to scane for WHs and sleeper sites, and 2 seperate marauders. Multiboxing is very important and some people cannot do it safely without practice. I want wormhole content and it is just trial and error to do it with a 6 billion isk each for 2 marauders, and a scanning ship? Do you know how many vets earned their stars to play really skilfully from the test server?
I am relatively new but it isn’t fair that I cannot get to the content without a test server.
Also, what if a test server is a bad idea? It isn’t advertised a lot and letting new players practice on it wouldn’t be common because it takes reading about the game to know you can learn there. I know the tutorial in the beginning for getting new eve players allows a scripted story to get players up to playing the game. This game is really complicated. There might have to be storylines and tutorials for Capitals, Abysals, Incursions, Wormholes, multiboxing (don’t hide that multiboxing needs tutorials, because the only way to play a lot of this game is by multiboxing.) So how do you expect people to multibox without practice? It is practically a requirement for unlocking content.
Having said that, EVE is a 22-year-old game. Any question you could possibly ever have, there are 137 million instructional videos for on YouTube, as well as hundreds of guides online…
I guess OP has pixel fear because he’s afraid of the consequence of failing his training exercise on the live server. Maybe goon / karmafleet leadership doesn’t take lightly when it comes to cyno related (or any other kind) losses on their killboard.
The test server was blocked from public access because it is mirrored from the live server, and certain groups were using it as a form of recon to scout out the locations of citadels and other infrastructure in enemy territory. It was also being used as a platform to test out bots before attempting to use them on the live server. Also, some players were just being asshats in general and killing other players in designated non-PvP zones. Long story short, there are a multitude of reasons why CCP discontinued public access to the test server.
All I am saying is, when the Airforce trains pilots to fly F-16s and F-22 fighter jets, do they strap in anybody into the cockpit to do his best with how fast he can learn and hope for the best? Nooo! They give him years of training with being a copilot, being in a training simulator, and perfect flight instructors to explain every step of the way.
Same with Eve. This game is very hardcore and people need more tutorials to get the hang of flying Capitals.
The only reason you say these things is you are the top 1% of humans that can learn this way. If the game had more practice opportunities, then you could expect 30% of people to play it. It just needs to be new player friendly in any settings; like caps and cynos, and wormholes etc.
Your best bet at this point is watching videos posted by others, and/or looking for a corp that’s willing to teach or practice some of this stuff while having a fleet available for protection. Or starting such a corp yourself.
isn’t the whole point allowing people to fly those?
Expert Systems give a character access to a set of skills for a limited time. The purpose is to let someone try out an aspect of EVE before committing to it.
