Can’t you just count to 3 above your last post?
People keep talking about keeping players by “changing x”, namely the original design of the game and how it affects highsec in some degree. Rather than addressing the more immediate issue with retention.
Actually what you said is ambiguous, so I covered all the options:
As specified, it’s one post after “3 above my last post”.
On the other hand I was using a ListIterator in a program yesterday, and I may be temporarily over-precise in my use of “NNN before” and “NNN after” a reference pohnt 
The solution is really simple…
Look what other succesful games do and copy it…
What some people here refuse to take note of is that the expectation a player of today has is another one like it was 2003…
All they see is the change and the amount of adaption they need to go through if those changes were made and so they drive a course of even denying the need of a change because -for them- it would be a lot of work to keep their actual status…
I’m going to go ahead and assume you meant something more specific than just “copy it”, given the history we have of games trying to just copy something successful and how poorly they’ve performed (including the mobile market in a general sense).
From every person new to EVE I’ve helped their opinions of EVE have been similar - they’ve heard of the grandios large scale battles in the game, be it from a person that plays or an article and decide to check the game out. They find themselves intimidated, confused, or lost by the open-endedness of the game, the overall design of the UI and it’s various windows, or the substantial amount of information they happen across as they do the tutorial (or discover by chance).
They feel as though they should avoid any sort of player confrontation due to being new, or feel as though they’ve messed up with skill training in some way due to the real-world time requirement it uses, and either decides to reroll using a new account and starting over or simply stop playing. Others simply just don’t find it’s the game for them for one reason or another.
As far as them joining corporations go, they might have gotten the short end of the stick and got themselves stuck in a corporation that takes advantage of them, have a terrible experience as a result, and stop playing. Or they put their eggs (ISK) in one basket (an expensive ship they can’t replace), have it blown up (usually in null where the rental corps try to mass-recruit to pay their bill) and have the experience flatline their morale and stop playing.
So with all of that said -
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A redesign of the UI could be useful in getting over the initial “shock” to the game, it’s just a matter of exercising creativity to make it work.
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Some of what’s been mentioned in the last CSM Minutes or the AMA thread a few weeks ago (cleanup of inactive corporations, expanding on the game’s tutorial to provide a better introductory experience)
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A possible change to skill training as a whole (also mentioned to a degree in the CSM Minutes in the form of the removal of attributes), though this should have its own thread if it’s going to be discussed.
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Probably some of the mystical spaghetti code that can’t be changed because it would break everything. I’m sure CCP’s devs have wished they did x differently on more than one occasion.
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Pushing the reminder that they will lose the ship they’ve just invested money into, which could be done through a mission (be it a tutorial, agent, mission arc, whatever) that branches based on if their ship is blown up or not). The first thing that comes to mind is basically a tutorial segment where the player joins a faction warfare corp (and is given a ship and mods to be blown up), initiates a scripted event in deadspace that branches based on them getting blown up or not (with a reimbursement being the reward) , and ending with leaving the FW corp to continue whatever they were doing. So like one of the military agent missions, but more involved.
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Well yes but in reality it’s not feasible since CCP efforts are divided to making other games too plus realization of some work projects seems slow with EVE .
There’s also that elephant in the room that Star Trek online has-‘everyone is a captain’ or in other terms we’re nearing the point of everyone can fly everything including the biggest toughest and strongest ships
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Yeah, that does cause issues. Plus as I said there’s suggestions in there that could likely break things depending on how it was originally worked into the game.
Though I wouldn’t say “everyone flying the biggest, toughest ships” is the right way of looking at that particular problem, since that has more to do with the gap in playtime between newer players and those that’ve been a part of the game since 2003. That’s something a change to the skill point system could possibly benefit from, but again should probably be it’s own topic separate from this since there’d be varying opinions on it.
This doesn’t work well with niche products.
Would you tell Gordon ramsay that he should make mcdonalds food instead of what he does now?
What happens to all his existing customers?
Why don’t the people who want mcdonalds goto mcdonalds?
CCP should just start making burgers. McDonalds is successful and mainstream, so they are clearly doing something right and worthy of copying.
Honestly, that sounds like the only solution if CCP wants to compete with other companies. Making games is so 2003.
“CCP - if you don’t like our burgers then HTFU. Contains 100% Fedo meat.”
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Sounds like you’re talking about the Warhammer 40k approach - give every studio out there a license to use the IP to make a spin-off and make money from those games’ sales.
I don’t think a lot of people would like that though.
EDIT: Mc’D the corp is successful, their endless franchisees however, that’s a different story.
I see my jokes are bad and are taken seriously.
I apologize. I have a bad sense of humor.
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Nah, joke was good.
I just had to bring that up since CCP is starting to try that idea too with the currently defunct War of Ascension and the possible Echoes.
Inb4 ‘Game of War themed EVE’ on mobile.
I think a very long elaborate tutorial campaign would keep players engaged at the start however it would be a monumental task something that would make you use different ship types for different roles maybe even going as high as cruisers
I’m assuming that was the initial idea with the previous tutorial - the whole you’re a new pilot that hasn’t graduated yet and assist in taking down a drifter hive. That plus the seeker investigation and some third thing could provide that additional less basic information.
Yea but it’s too short in my opinion.I think you should start in a station first be shown the hangar how to activate your ship and fit it how to put ammo in the guns.Then maybe undock be shown celestial objects how to warp
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While I am not going to say a longer tutorial campaign is a bad thing it still does not really solve the main problem of people leaving. They might stay a little bit longer, but once the campaign is over the people who don´t stay for what kind of game EvE actually is, still are going to leave.
If you want to grow the playerbase you need to give people long term motivations to stay. Which most MMOs simply do not have. At least not for the people a “hardcore” game like EvE would appeal to.
Did CCP not at some point mention that the worst retention rate is with the “Level your Raven” crowd?
A campaign might keep that kind of player longer, but they still won´t be interested in the player interaction part, which is exactly what kept so many players in the game for years.
You could make them team up.Basicly rookie help but only rookies put missions in and instruct them to get another player make a fleet then maybe they’ll make a friend and things will evolve further
Could you elaborate on this part? Not familiar with the ref.
As long as it isn’t mandatory. Jagex finally made their Shield of Arav quest one that could be completed by an individual, noting that there’s an issue with forced co-operation.
Even if mandatory it’s not so bad.They’ll get the feeling of team work out of it
If I recall correctly, back when CCP did one of their player retention rate studies a couple of years ago, to see which kind of players sticks to eve for a long time, the people who simply grind missions are most likely to not stay in the game for very wrong.
“The level your Raven” expression comes from times when Ravens were seen as the ultimate mission grinding ship.
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