Good job I noticed that message to press X. Is this some kind of IQ test? My first taste of the game is jumping from a great height and the game wants to know if I can read and press a button?

And how, great one, would you, a new player, know how to press X without it saying so, and ending in you being splattered on the floor?

You already RPed pretty well that new players usually don't read the controls before diving into a game.

This seems more written like the experience of a slightly bitter and cynical vet then a real new player. Having run newbies through dust, there are problems but not the ones you say there are. Also never met anyone who was "slightly confused" on the ability to add spaces to names.

So basically you wanted to find a flaw instead of acknowledging the fact that CCP has implemented some form of tutorial that was sorely missing from a game for quite some time.

It's interesting that some members of the community like to always jump back to the "new player experience" as a reason to complain.

I'm on the ground, so now what?

There's a big spaceship thing floating in the sky with a red symbol on it and explosions happening on it. I'll go check that out. I run for a while and then can't run any more. After a bit I notice what looks like a stamina bar. At some point someone in a jeep with blue tags smashes into me but I'm OK.

Eventually I see a red shaded area on the map in front of me which looks bad. Maybe I won't go in there.

What is that red "A". I'll head for that instead,

See another player with a red chevron; all the others have been blue. He's looking the other way. Aim & fire. Kill !!!! Sweet.

Suddenly the game says "mission failed, MCC destroyed". What does that mean? How did I fail?

OK, there's some kind of stats screen. Poke around for a bit. Holy **** - looks like the guy at the top of the leaderboard got 29 kills and 2 deaths!

What now? Nothing obvious.

Eventually I try "to merc quarters" because it is about the only thing left. No idea what it means.

Oh - objective completed. But I failed the mission? Oh well. I get 10 "militia minmatar medium frames". WTH is that? Gibberish. Also, that's a scary face in the little picture.

Hmmm... next objective is "create your first fitting". Wonder what a "fitting".

[You're basically calling new players idiots whether you know it or not.

Sorry if that is the impression I'm giving. It honestly isn't my intent.

There are new players?

Well it sure seems like it if you say "nothing obvious" when you get to the scoreboard, as well as being insulted by the "press X" bit which means you would have been equally insulted if those doors you tried said "Press X to open," some things you get pretty spot on like skipping through intro pretty fast, but some things seem less like a player trying a new game and more someone who is totally unfamiliar with FPSes in general.

*shrugs*

To each their own for interpretations.

Well it sure seems like it if you say "nothing obvious" when you get to the scoreboard, as well as being insulted by the "press X" bit which means you would have been equally insulted if those doors you tried said "Press X to open," some things you get pretty spot on like skipping through intro pretty fast, but some things seem less like a player trying a new game and more someone who is totally unfamiliar with FPSes in general.

*shrugs*

To each their own for interpretations.

To give the revamped new player experience a try I decided to imagine what it would be like coming to the game for the first time. I have no idea how successful I've been, but here it is anyway.

So, I start the game and get the character selection screen. Gender is easy enough, but race & bloodline? I pick something at random. Name is simple enough, though was slightly confused by the ability to have spaces in each of the first and last name.

Keep pressing X until something happens: a few lines of backstory about implants or something, and an objective. OK, sounds simple enough. I need to fight a battle, cool.

Follow the instructions and get to a screen with some options: tutorial is saying something about "public contracts" but all I see is "Battle academy", "Factional Contracts", "Corporate Contracts" and "Other Contracts". Must be under "Other Contracts". Nope. OK, well I'll try that academy thing because it sounds like a good place to start.

I select this and some stuff that looks like a map or something flashes by, far too fast to see. Then there's a long waiting screen.

Now I'm in a room with a big hole in the floor; looks like a long drop. Better keep clear of that. There's a door at either end. How do I open them? No idea. Wander around this empty room for a while, but can't see anything to do.

Oh well, I might as well jump out of that hole and see what happens.

Good job I noticed that message to press X. Is this some kind of IQ test? My first taste of the game is jumping from a great height and the game wants to know if I can read and press a button?

When I first started the game I read all the racial information and made a considered decision, I bet you did too. So why assume nobody else is capable of that?

Everybody who plays the game has to start somewhere, no need to be a **** about it. I guess the tone is supposed to be light hearted giggles but you just come off as condescending.

Yeah, that's the kind of feeling I had when I read the OP.

Overall, I see this an opportunity to help CCP improve on the NPE.

I like that CCP is trying to improve it and it's a good start in regards to how it is at the moment especially since the tutorial is objective based which means I can choose any method of completing the steps. But it's far from complete.

First of all, the list of objectives in the objective-based tutorial (go to battle finder, complete a mission, etc.) need to be expanded to include something like capturing an objective and counter hacking an objective that has a virus upload in progress. There should also be installations such as turrets and supply depots with special chevrons to lead players to them to see how they work.

But the most important part that is needed for the NPE is a training room of sorts with some AI-driven mercs for target practice as an added option. A training room is a very good place for a new player to start without ending up being stomped by veteran players. It's also a great place to test out weapons, vehicles, and conduct experiments.

A tutorial for new players, as opposed to alts, might consider holding your hand through the first drop...