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CCP discusses NPE in EVE Online expansion
With only a few weeks to go until the launch of Dominion, the EVE Online team has got to be pretty busy. CrazyKinux was lucky enough to get a bit of time with Game Designer Eris Discordia to talk about the details of the NPE - New Player Experience. The discussion covered some interesting ground, such as how CCP is working to keep the NPE easy for players to use and understand, how far it's come since 2003 ("You started in space and you had to shoot a drone and that was pretty much it."), and how they would like to see it improve from here on out. They also talked about the reasoning behind the way the NPE is set up, as a crash course designed to get you through the basics and into the game, rather than a more scattered, drawn-out approach. It's an interesting read for any veteran EVE Online player, and a valuable one for anyone new to the game. The full interview can be read here, and a big thanks to CrazyKinux and Eris Discordia for taking the time for it!
Patch 3.3 PTR: New tutorial system to be bigger, better
Patch 3.3 has had a lot of awesome small tweaks aimed at improving the starting experience for new characters and new players, likely in preparation for Cataclysm. In addition to streamlining the first few levels, Blizzard has added something else to the latest patch notes: A new tutorial system. According to the patch notes, the tutorial windows will now be larger and contain pictures and other visual cues to better direct new players where to go, what to do, or what buttons to press on the UI. In addition, new tips have been added, and other existing tips will appear at more opportune moments. With this, we have yet another good example of Blizzard's preparations going into Cataclysm. Despite having somewhere north of 10 million players, they aren't resting on their laurels, but are adjusting their game to invite in even more players, making it easier for them to get into the game, and ushering in a new era of the newbie (in a good way) for the expansion.
Looking ahead to WAR's second year
Although we've seen celebrations for some time now, with the Wild Hunt event and a couple of special scenario weekends, Warhammer Online's actual birthday came and went at the end of last week. Executive Producer Jeff Hickman took the opportunity to sum up some of the things that the development team will be focusing on, moving forward into year two: "In addition to the four new careers, numerous Live Events, the medallion system, Keep upgrades, city siege improvements, and other new features, we're now turning our focus to improving balance, performance, and the Tier 4 game play experience."Also on the cards for improvement is the "new-player experience", an area that many MMOs have fine-tuned later in their life with excellent results. The birthday celebrations haven't quite wrapped up yet either, with the "Isha's Sorrow" event taking place over the coming weekend in the Temple of Isha scenario. It may have been a bit of a rocky first year for Warhammer Online, but we'll hold out hope for year two. Happy Birthday WAR!
EVE Online devs seek your input on improving the New Player Experience
EVE Online can be a daunting game to get a handle on. Still, the New Player Experience (NPE) that greets rookies today is far better than the early tutorials that some of us at Massively, and no doubt a number of our readers, experienced 'back in the day'. There are many careers and mini-professions a player can choose to pursue in EVE, but conveying this in the NPE -- and guiding these new players towards these playstyles -- remains a challenge for CCP Games. This is the focus of the latest dev blog by EVE Online developer CCP Soundwave. He explains how player feedback has made those first weeks of gameplay a much smoother learning experience for the game's rookies. However, he notes that they're continuing to improve the NPE for the next expansion. To that end, CCP is seeking input from the players on these questions:
An angle on EVE's New Player Experience and the game's harsh realities
There are few MMOs on the market today that can seem as intimidating to a new player as EVE Online. Some of this comes from the infamous things people have heard about the game, tales of deception and betrayal, but there is a fair amount of complexity to EVE as well and no shortage of digital villains prowling New Eden's thousands of solar systems injecting risk into the game. The first days and weeks of gameplay experienced by many pilots has led to more than a few descriptions of the experience as an initiation of sorts, conjuring up images of hazings, an analogy that actually holds true in many respects. Anyone who sticks with the game learns through trial and error that the setting of New Eden, by design, can be quite harsh. Even if you're not into PvP, it pervades EVE Online; at the very least players who are to succeed in the game must ultimately learn to adapt and evade the more malevolent players, if not defend themselves from attackers directly.While EVE will likely never be as easy to get a handle on as some other MMOs out there -- the game's depth and complexity actually being a major draw for its subscribers -- CCP Games has taken steps to better ease new players into New Eden with the New Player Experience (NPE) which was part of the Apocrypha expansion launch. But is EVE's New Player Experience, which does not separate rookie pilots into a safe zone to learn the ropes, the right way to introduce players to the game? This is the focus of a WarCry article by Steven Croop titled "Aura is Aura by Any Other Name".
The Black Rabbits Academy teaches piracy in EVE Online
Among all the massively multiplayer online games on the market, EVE Online is perhaps the most complex game running, which is part of the title's appeal. The learning curve has, in the past, dissuaded some MMO gamers from really digging in to EVE, but that curve has been getting a bit less steep as the tutorial improves. The Apocrypha expansion's New Player Experience also aims to make those first weeks in New Eden easier. That said, the best resource available to new EVE players is the game's playerbase itself. It's always best to learn from others and when possible, with others. That's one of the unique things about EVE -- players form corporations for various purposes, one of which is to provide schools or academies where various facets of the game are taught by experienced players. Players can learn alongside others who share similar interests. You want to learn the ropes of the game? You can join EVE University and take part in their organized classes or listen to speakers on various topics in New Eden. Want to learn how to kick ass in PvP? Take a class at Agony Unleashed and they'll turn you into a killer in no time. But EVE University and the other training-focused corps tend to focus on the more 'legitimate' aspects of the game. But what if you want a training course that lets you learn about and become part of New Eden's criminal society? There are options.
EVE Online developers discuss Apocrypha expansion's impact on the game
EVE Online's recent deployment of the Apocrypha expansion brought major changes to the game. Apocrypha is the largest expansion they've released to date, incorporating wormhole exploration and modular ship designs, in addition to a new NPC race into the fabric of the game as we know it. BattleClinic, a site best known for its player-built tools, guides, and as a hub for sharing and commenting upon ship setups, caught up with CCP Games at GDC 2009. They spoke with Halldór Fannar Guðjónsson, CTO at CCP Games, and Gabe Mahoney, VP of Engineering. Given how significant Apocrypha has been from the standpoint of the players and CCP alike, the interview focuses on the expansion.
EVE University celebrates fifth anniversary
Anyone who's played EVE Online for any length of time is likely to concede that it can be a complex game. While the developers have taken steps to better guide new players into EVE's setting of New Eden through the New Player Experience and the EVE Careers Guide, it's really the playerbase itself that can be the greatest asset to a new pilot. There are several player corporations (guilds) in EVE Online that can help show new players the ropes. Perhaps the real pioneer in training corps in the game is EVE University who have celebrated their fifth anniversary this month. Darian Reymont from EVE Uni writes an excellent description of what the institution is and what it offers to the playerbase, found at the EVE University homepage: "A unique concept in the universe of EVE, the University was - and remains to this day - one of the few truly altruistic organisations in New Eden, supplying free education in all facets of EVE life to any and all who seek it. From humble beginnings as a place where experienced capsuleers could share their wisdom and experience with a handful of new pilots, the University has grown into a mammoth undertaking. Regularly scheduled lessons, supported by weeks of recorded lesson content and thousands of instructive forum posts alongside hundreds of millions of ISK spent every week provide students with the most comprehensive education that can be found anywhere in New Eden."
EVE Careers Guide available as free download
A major strength of the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online is that there are no classes and certainly no professions that a player is locked into. EVE's professions are freeform, but this can lead to new players being unsure about what to do (or be) in the game. The title's developer CCP Games is attempting to remedy this. One of the resources that complements EVE Online's New Player Experience in the Apocrypha expansion is the "EVE Careers Guide", which introduces new players to the gameplay possibilities in New Eden. It's largely put together by Benilopax of Warp Drive Active: Industry podcast fame and Richie Shoemaker (aka "Zapatero"), the Editor of E-ON -- the official magazine of EVE Online -- who we've interviewed at Massively in the past. The EVE Careers Guide is a PDF file with interactive links throughout to navigate between sections, providing a comprehensive look at the game for rookie pilots. Zapatero welcomes new players to EVE Online, explaining the game in broad terms: "Many have found their own path in EVE by taking turns that are wildly divergent from what its makers envisaged. EVE is about relationships, prejudices, trust, greed and creativity more than it's about spaceships, trade and combat. New Eden is a very human universe, and with almost 300,000 people making up the population, it's a very dynamic one. Yes, it's harsh and uncompromising, frustrating and callous, but it's also illuminating in scope, vast in stature and utterly unique."
Varying perspectives on EVE Online's new player experience
The sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online has long been known for its harsh setting but also for its (almost) equally unforgiving learning curve. That is, until the Apocrypha expansion launched, bringing EVE's New Player Experience (NPE) with it. CCP Games aims to slowly ease new players into what is a rather complex game, giving them a feel for what they can already do and what they want to do in New Eden over time. So how well does the New Player Experience for EVE Online tackle the difficulties of learning how to play one of the most complex MMOs on the market? Writing for Eurogamer, both Jim Rossignol and Oli Welsh write about the New Player Experience. Rossignol, from the viewpoint of a veteran player, and Welsh from the fresh perspective of a rookie. The end result is an overview of how EVE has changed, including a revamped tutorial and Neural Remapping (attribute respecs), as well as Epic Mission Arcs that allow players to make choices in how EVE's mission storylines progress.
Massively's EVE Online Apocrypha expansion hands-on
var digg_url = 'http://massively.joystiq.com/2009/03/06/massivelys-eve-online-apocrypha-expansion-hands-on/'; Massively got word that EVE Online lead game designer Noah Ward, aka CCP Hammerhead, would be in New York City last week. We jumped at the chance to find out more about the Apocrypha expansion, and Ward was kind enough to give us our own hands-on demo while answering our questions about where EVE Online is heading. We were pleasantly surprised to find that EVE's lead writer Tony Gonzales was on hand as well. Fans of the game's backstory will know him for writing The Empyrean Age novel, which chronicled the events leading up to New Eden's factional warfare. Apocrypha will be the most significant expansion in EVE's history to date, introducing new -- and some controversial -- features while revamping existing aspects of the game. Ultimately the aim of CCP Games with Apocrypha is to make EVE accessible to more gamers while adding depth for the existing playerbase. The Apocrypha expansion launch will coincide with EVE Online's retail release on March 10th. Leading up to that date, a number of the CCP developers have dropped info about what's on the way through dev blogs and the occasional interview, but the expansion seen as a whole is mind-blowing. What we have for you here is the most complete look at the Apocrypha expansion offered to date, in one place, and much of it from the developers themselves. We've tackled Apocrypha in four parts: the New Player Experience, Epic Mission Arcs & Tech III, True Exploration, and the Sleepers.Strap yourself in and get ready for Massively's exclusive hands-on with the Apocrypha expansion for EVE Online.%Gallery-47038%
Getting back to basics with LotRO's new player experience
We appreciate a developer who goes back to earlier content and improves upon it. And to that end, our appreciation of those who go back to the very beginning knows no bounds. That's why we're quite pleased with Turbine for rolling out their "New Player Experience" changes with the free Volume II: Book 7 update to Lord of the Rings Online.If you'd like to know exactly what all the changes are going to be about then take a look at this developer diary focusing on the Dwarf and Elf starting zones. Much of the changes are quality of life stuff, like reducing travel times and removing all newbie instances to avoid any load screens. Turbine's also added quest rewards for specific races and classes, and even tossed in dyes as rewards to alleviate the tedium of seeing equipment clones running all over the place.These changes (and others) are all great improvements. With the new quest tracking system coming at the same time, Lord of the Rings Online is shaping up to be an all-around friendlier MMO experience.
EVE Community Spotlight: LaVista Vista part 2
The first CSM seemed to have a very difficult job, given that they had to structure their operating guidelines as they went, and of course deal with skepticism from the playerbase. Do you think the situation is different for the CSM now? Vastly different. A lot of time during CSM1 was spent on administrative stuff which was often inefficient. We now have a structure which works fairly well, even if it leaves some things to be desired. We are yet to reach our max potential, which won't happen for another few CSMs I'm afraid. But CCP has certainly realized that the CSM is a useful concept and is useful for them. I think in the future we will see more tools for the CSM being implemented as Xhagen manages to tie up enough people at the office so that they will commit to doing these things which will benefit the CSM and community. Once we have streamlined ways of doing things, while leaving us room for being creative, there's immense potential for a CSM which will not only work great while people who have experience with being on it, but once an ENTIRELY new set of people take office and start working with this foundation that is built. Continuity is EXTREMELY important. The idea that an entirely new set of people will take office and there's no real guidelines or continuity gives me nightmares. That's why I think it's important that CCP in the future is even more helpful towards the CSM and that there is more communication. We have build a solid foundation for now. However it's not hard to tear down if people aren't taking responsibility.
New EVE Online characters will initially train skills twice as fast in Apocrypha
Massively recently mentioned a few of the changes coming to EVE Online through the New Player Experience, part of the Apocrypha expansion which rolls out next month. Of particular interest, or concern, to some EVE players is CCP's decision to reduce a starting character's skillpoints to 50k from the current 800k many existing characters began with. CCP Games apparently hopes to clarify this decision, and thus stave off any torches and pitchforks, with today's dev blog. EVE developer CCP Flatboy writes,"In Apocrypha, new characters train at double speed until they reach 1.6 Million SkillPoints. That is all."The reason that new characters will get this boosted skill training rate is to compensate for the fact that, for simplicity's sake, new characters will begin with less skills. The New Player Experience is all about reducing the complexity that someone just starting out can find themself mired in, and having more control over how the character develops.
EVE Online launches Apocrypha expansion site
EVE Online developers CCP Games have launched a new site for the sci-fi game's Apocrypha expansion, slated for a March 10th launch. The site has a teaser trailer, screenshots, wallpapers, and concept art related to Apocrypha. In addition, there are brief video presentations from three key developers involved with the expansion: Lead Game Designer Noah Ward (CCP Hammerhead), Associate Producer Arend Stührmann (CCP Whisper), and Senior Producer Torfi Frans Olaffson (CCP Torfifrans). Their presentations range from discussion of Tech III to how wormhole exploration and the New Player Experience will add something fresh to the game:
The lowdown on EVE Online's New Player Experience
Among all the massively multiplayer online games out there, with their respective learning curves, EVE Online perhaps has the deserved reputation for being the hardest MMO to get a grasp of. Much of that confusion is because the game itself is such a departure from your standard fantasy MMO, in almost every respect: open world/single server, PvP can happen everywhere, a harsh setting, and a UI that's a far cry from anything a player has seen in World of Warcraft.The EVE in-game tutorial has been revamped a few times in order to make it easier for new players to get a handle on things. What is currently offered is a noticeable improvement over the tutorial of a few years ago, but CCP Games is in the process of completely reworking a player's first steps into the game's setting of New Eden. EVE Online developer CCP Fear's latest blog is, in his words, required reading for anyone interested in the game, new player or not. He says, "I want to get one misconception out of the way. This blog *will* concern you and everyone else. If you have played for a year, 6 years, 3 months or a week, you will want to read further than this. Chances are there will be changes that will affect you!"
Next EVE Online expansion named Apocrypha, launches March 10
The other day we picked up on a video interview with the CEO of CCP Games, who announced a firm March 10th release date for the next EVE Online expansion -- but until today, that expansion wasn't given a name. CCP Games announced the "Apocrypha" expansion this morning, and a bit of what it'll bring to EVE.The Apocrypha feature page isn't up yet -- so more details are likely to emerge -- but thus far they've confirmed two new game mechanics will be coming to EVE in March. Wormhole exploration is an upcoming feature that will allow EVE's explorers to discover new technology, used to create the next iteration of ships in New Eden -- Tech III. These modular ship designs will potentially allow for thousands of different configurations of ships to suit different purposes, and are a far cry from the Tech I and Tech II ship hulls currently flown in New Eden. In addition, Apocrypha will bring Epic Mission Arcs. The release states: "These branching, far-reaching mission strings are full of meaningful stories and more intelligent and deadly adversaries."
CCP reveals Tech 3 coming in EVE's March expansion
CCP Games revealed some details on the as-yet unnamed EVE Online expansion, slated for release in March of 2009. "The unnamed expansion will introduce 'Tech 3' modular ship designs, branching epic mission arcs, further improvements to the new player experience, and exploration of uncharted space through unstable wormholes," writes Oli Welsh, reporting from EVE Fanfest 2008 for Eurogamer.Welsh also reports that the exploration system of EVE Online will be revamped dramatically, now allowing for 'true exploration' where EVE's pilots will use "new skills and modules to travel through wormholes into all-new, unconnected space. There they will find unique stellar phenomena and the resources and artifacts that will lead to the third level of technology in the game universe, Tech 3 -- the first such update since Tech 2 was introduced back in 2004," Welsh adds.
