PSA: How to annoy and scare away new bros

Corporations & Alliances Corporation & Alliance Discussion
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As someone who’s played on and off again for years, but never really made any progress, stuck somewhere between “noob” and “bittervet”, I’ve compiled a list of some sure fire ways to turn people off from the game:

  1. Use jargon that needs explaining, without explaining it
  2. Make sure to let them know they’re using the wrong ship
  3. Fit a ship for them, and tell them to use it. Make sure to include many modules which they’ve never used before
  4. When they say “I’ve never used any of these before” let them know “it’s easy just turn 'em on”
  5. Explain how it’s their fault when they died, and that they just need practice
  6. Let them know anytime they want to do anything that’s not top tier gameplay, it’s “not worth it”
  7. Tell them “don’t start a corp you don’t know what you’re doing”
  8. Generate negativity, make sure to constantly and consistently be saying things like “no”, “don’t”, and “never”

I can appreciate what some players are trying to do, but honestly? Just stop. Stop trying to explain all the mechanics you’ve learned over 10 years to someone who just started a few weeks ago. It’s been so long since you’ve been a new player, you’ve forgotten what it’s like.

Most new bros struggle with even identifying which solar system they’re in… the interface is straight up disorienting to a new person. But that’s ok, they want to learn the interface. They want to learn how to identify enemy strength, they want to learn how to gauge what they can do right off the bat and what needs time to work up to.

The reputation of this game being extremely unforgiving is a great appeal to a certain kind of person… the kind of person who loves a challenge… Call me crazy, but IME, those kinds of people absolutely abhor being told what to do, and would rather trial and error it out, because that’s the fun part.

Just once, JUST once, I want someone from a corp to tell me “oh, you have an Atron and wanna do PVE? Ok, let’s fit that as best we can with what money you’ve got” instead of “no you don’t wanna use that, use this”. I’m sure there’s people out there who do this but in the ~ half dozen corps I’ve ever been in, they seem to all be the same.

Any other new-ish bros feel the same? That they don’t’ want to join a corp because… well… corps just aren’t fun the way most players run them

What are your guy’s thoughts? What are some things that we as current players should avoid doing to keep newbros coming back?

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  1. Tell them “maybe Eve isn’t a good game for you.”
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I’ve heard that before, makes my blood boil

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Different people like learning through different means, and many players like learning through community knowledge. Thus, I don’t think vets should stop dolling out advice and knowledge just because some people like learning through experimentation. Listen to their advice, or don’t. No need to get upset about it. And, if your leadership gets mad at you for “doing stupid stuff” and painting the killboards red, you can always go somewhere where they don’t care.

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All the private messages with newbros telling me how insufferable vets are says otherwise

I’m not kidding dude, make a new account and pretend to a new bro, and while you’re in a “training session” ask one of the new bros in that session via a private message if they understand what’s going on. Guarantee they won’t, and they’re just being quiet to be polite.

I’ve seen this enough to believe this is the norm, and I think this is why there are consistently less than 25,000 players on Tranquility… actual new bros do not stay very long

The number 1 complaint I hear is something to the tune of “this guy is so full of himself, like it’s great he can pull down several million isk per run but I’ve died each time and I don’t think I’m learning anything”

Sorry if I sound like groundskeeper Willie right now: “Damn EVE players, they ruined EVE!”

So yeah, my advice to new people is simply “avoid anyone who tells you how to play”

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Btw I know to do this, only took me this long to figure it out, but new bros don’t know this, we tell them “listen to the community”

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I say it sometimes, and I do it when they have expectations for the game that don’t align with what Eve actually is, and that is leading to nothing but anger and frustration for them. Of course, I’ll still try to give them useful advice, but I’ll also tell them that if they don’t want what Eve actually is, maybe they should find something more to their tastes.

Unless, of course, you think we should remove PvP from highsec and stuff like that in order to make them happy. :stuck_out_tongue:

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they have expectations for the game that don’t align with what Eve actually is

I feel like they expected a spaceship game, and they seem to get bored after hour 3 of sitting in station waiting for the rest of the corp to decide what to fly lol. At least that’s what made me quit the first time.

This IS a spaceship game, just some older players really do “play to win”, and that’s not necessarily fun for everyone (note, having them IN the universe playing to win is very important, we need an ever-present threat of other humans)

That’s why the corp I started is less of a corp and more of an “association of contractors” lol. We buy our own ships, fly our own fits, and literally just try new things for fun haha

But make no mistake, I ain’t no carebear, if they remove PVP from highsec it’ll be a sad day indeed lmao

If anything I wanna see more incentives to push players OUT of high sec, I want less resources in high sec (makes sense because everyone and their mother lives there because “space scary” lol)

Risk vs Reward. Right now it’s too comfy in high sec imo lol

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Well, next time you come across a player like that, instead of telling them “maybe you should reconsider playing”, send them my way

This game needs fresh blood more than anything else, a newbie quitting is a tragedy (especially now that it’s free to play lol)

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Why push someone “out of hisec” ?
What’s wrong with playing in both? They both sure have their appeal.

I’m not in a corporation yet and I’d prefer to get a mentor rather than a gang of players who’ll treat me like a child.
If someone tells me “this is the wrong ship” or " wrong module" or " don’t do it that way" I’d expect them to at least tell me why and explain it to me like I’m adult.

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Why push someone “out of hisec” ?

perhaps “push” is the wrong term, maybe incentivize?

Basically, I want Nullsec/lowsec to have more valuable stuff/give even better loot. It doesn’t mean people will be removed from Highsec, I just believe in more risk= more reward, and that’s what makes this game fun. It’s good for PVPers because it’ll drive more people out there, and it’s more fun for miners/explorers because it ups the challenge and reward.

I’m not in a corporation yet and I’d prefer to get a mentor rather than a gang of players who’ll treat me like a child.

If you can manage to find a corp that doesn’t treat you like a child, let me know, and I’ll join with you. I have yet to find one tho, so against the advice of the community I started my own. It’s been the most fun I’ve ever had in this game. The veterans here can tell you everything about PVP, but not much about “how to have fun” lol

You may find that your “mentor” doesn’t have time to explain it, so they just send you an EvE Wiki link which raises more questions for you that it answers (this was one of my experiences, then when I asked about it, they couldn’t really explain it). Essentially people know less about this game than they think, myself included.

My advice? Don’t be afraid of soloing. Learn to play the game, don’t just learn what buttons to click in what order. Trial and error is your friend, there’s a reason to “never fly something you can’t afford to lose” haha. And don’t’ take this game too seriously (like I did early on, got burnt out real fast). It’s a sandbox, not a job lol

If you want to just chill in voice comms and bounce ideas off a small group/shoot the sh*t with us, hit me up in game :slight_smile: We’re around Jita, 7pm to 11pm (usually) Eastern Standard time. Trying to break out into wormhole space/nullsec

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For every point you raised a situation I experienced came to my head. I am not sure if we are still in the “collect the garbage” mode or want to look for solutions. However, onboarding works pretty good if somebody who recently joined is onboarding new members. They are simply more connected to the initial struggles than old time silver backs.

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Jita is kind of far from me. I’m setting up around Amarr VIII, looking to ease into Low and Null.
Training coming along nicely, now flying a destroyer with missiles.
I’m Minmatar but I like amarrian ships. The Amarrians maybe douchebags but their ships are solid and, with the right modules, not so slow.

I still have much to learn sigh

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Hahah no worries! Yeah Amarr space is a bit of a drive. Well either way I’ll add you in game when I sign on later and we might bump into each other. I’ve been considering taking a long, dangerous journey across New Eden just for giggles lol

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I traveled from Minmatar space to Amarr space. Nice view :slight_smile: But I need to get familiar with all-sec neighborhoods I’ll be operating in.
Do come by. We can fleet together, have fun and you can show me the tricks you’ve learned.

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I agree, having a newbie/casual player involved in the recruiting process will probably help

I guess I don’t even like to use the term “recruiting”, it sounds so official and serious, like as a new player I hated the idea of being “recruited” without even knowing the buttons, but the idea of joining a TeamSpeak server to chat with players while I figured it out was much more palatable

I guess it’s all in how we phrase it

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In some cases it may be the kindest thing you can say…

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Funny how it’s always unattributed, unquoted, ‘private messages’ that are used to support these specious arguments…

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24:38 With the new implants maybe it is now possible to fit Logithron? :sweat_smile:

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I included a quote, and there’s another person IN THIS THREAD agreeing with the points I’ve made

There’s nothing specious about it, and your attitude right here is an example. You’re 2 years in, you’re an experienced player, and all you can do is tell me how I’m wrong.

Case in point, I’m not trying to be a dick about it, but you’re making it very easy to point out.

Do you at least understand where the new players are coming from?