Whereas a Alpha can use T2 and faction Hobgoblins and Hammerheads etc he/she has no right to use even a T1 sentry drone.
I can see no logic in this, anyone know why?
Because âfreeâ is very very different to âpaid forâ and therefore Alphas, absolutely rightly, should get less. A lot less.
You get what is essentially an unlimited-time free-trial of a great game so damn right you do not get Sentries. To be frank about it, Alphas should not get T2s of any drone nor a great deal of the things they currently do. You want to play a game for free where you do NOT get swamped by fkn ads like every single other free game on the market AND THEN you want the same things that people who actually pay get?
Take your entitlement and do one.
I genuinely hope that Alphas get less and less over time and I hope that time is not long either.
You want it all? Pay for it you scrub.
23 Likes
Because thereâs no reason people who wonât pay should get it all for free - cough up or shut up !
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I agree but why donât CCP simplify things by limiting Alphas to T1 only?
3 Likes
yea thats right
i would have limited Alphas to T1 no faction
no gila, no strat, no battleships at all âŚ
no T2, faction, deadspace modules
5 mill sp limit and 20mill sp cap
JuuR
4 Likes
Prior to the introduction of Alpha clones in 2016, EVE player numbers had fallen from peaks of over 40k players to the highest peaks being just under 30k. A 25% player loss in under 6 months (roughly, although seasonal variations make part of that).
Since the introduction of Alpha state, player numbers grew for a while, then stabilized, and are back to hovering around fairly low, mid-2016 values again.
If you know anything at all about F2P models, you know that the âfreeâ players are just there to provide background activity and socialization for the paying players. You wonât get more money out of them by limiting what they can do, and assuming the server can handle the load (it can, since weâre near the lowest points of player volume), having them around isnât draining much from CCPâs resources. (The tickets they file for support being the main drawback.)
Alpha state has access to plenty of tools and options already. They donât need Sentries, or jump drives, or T3 destroyers to enjoy the game. They need a more enjoyable game, not more gear.
You get more players and more payers by making the game more interesting, more satisfying, more engaging for the target audience. For 10 years now CCP has been using various clubs and fences to try and herd the player base into the stages of the game that their stats show âpay the most moneyâ. The primary effect of this has been to cause half the player base to quit entirely.
CCP needs to throw out their âelectroshock therapyâ style of thinking, and realize that a variety of goals, incentives, rewards and more importantly, interesting gameplay are what is needed to attract and retain and monetize both new players and old.
9 Likes
It makes you less efficient farmers. Alphas arenât meant to farm the crap out pve like they arenât meant to be effective miners.
Youâre there to go out and blow stuff up.
You canât use t2 hammerheads as an alpha anymore.
1 Like
Because itâs not that complicated. Itâs an arbitrary line thatâs drawn because that gives ccp flexibility with alphas.
If they arenât allowed ANY t2 then they wouldnât have t2 small and medium guns which are quite important for pvp.
True, but they can use faction Hammerheads. Seems crazy to me. 
Because thatâs not how CCP wants Alphas to work?
They did not intend Alpha to allow you to use all T1 items and ships in the game.
Alphas can do a lot more than when the Alpha Clone was first introduced.
Theyâre no longer limited to their race-only; they can fly all races and factions, they can now fly battleships, they have access to some T2. They can now get access to use up to 20.5 million skillpoints worth of Alpha skills, whereas prior they were hard capped at the 5 million SP point.
Itâs a free-to-play account state and so youâre not going get access and privilege that the paying Omega account state will get you. Itâs designed to give a very generous taste of what EVE Online is about. If youâre wanting access to Omega-only skills and benefits then itâs time you decide if thereâs value there enough for you to actually pay for the product youâre enjoying.
Itâs never a âgood lookâ to be complaining about what youâre not getting for free what others are willing to pay for.
5 Likes
CCP: âweâre removing L4 missions and T2 medium drones from alphas coz you freeloaders are making too much iskâ
Also CCP: âbut you guys can still use gilas with faction drones to farm abyssals as much as you want because weâre dumbâ
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I donât think Sentry-Drones make Ratting easier than Normal-Drones.
Maybe itâs because Sentry-Drones greatly facilitates Fleet-Alpha-Strikes.
Seeking to further restrict Alphas ability to get ISK is foolish.
We need to make a proper distinction between Alpha-Players and Alpha-Bots.
EVE need Alphas to keep a healthy population, to attract new players and to replace the Omegas that left with a new generation of paying-players.
So far ccp are only using skill books for restricting items. So the way that faction equipment has the same skill book as normal drones makes their availability linked.
I donât think faction drones are a huge issue anyways. Pirate ships on the other handâŚThereâs a good reason to change the way alpha restrictions work.
Why do you talk about Gila in plural form?
Also access to battleship skills on alphas was/is a mistake. Iâd rather they take them away (the only one available will be Praxis) and give âFuel conservationâ instead (at level 3).
1 Like
Iâm returning to Eve for a few years, so I could be completely off base with this due to changes⌠but I remember being told never to use a drone boat until you could use T2 drones because T1 drones are awful. T1 direct weapons and missiles are decent in comparison.
The idea behind the alpha pilots is to actually get people to experience the game. Its hard to experience how drones play with just how bad the T1 drones.
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âŚyou would realise they are not what people claim as they let you have a game for âfreeâ but it is almost impossible to get anywhere in it until you pay through micro-trans crap. The âF2P modelâ is based on âNot F2P but trickle-financeâ.
Like crack - the first one is free then youâre hooked.
Cause i think theyâre all a problem. Guristas and Sansha especially.
Absolutely agree. Alpha nav skills suck. Iâd give em frig, cruiser and bc 5 too.
2 Likes
Heres the reason why, old doctrines used to be domis with sentries, all domis assist to pilot X, when X shoots so do all sentries, granted now only 50 drones can be assisted it is still the same issue of 10 domis with one other ship hitting F1 to alpha targets.
If you had ever seen the alpha clone slurry that we have to work with, you would understand why their skills suck.