Aerius Corius
FACTION WARFARE ARMY
FACTION WARFARE ALLIANCE
29
   |
Posted - 2014.02.26 19:27:00 -
[1] - Quote
Academy can't really be redone until the militia weapons and suits are fully fleshed out - then you have grounds for zero isk and minimal sp rewards. There needs to be a few more 'free' starter fits but most of the militia gear is well priced and needs to stay as such. New players should be enabled to try out more than four weapons to quickly get a sense of what they like. Some have proposed removing militia outright, a simple gun range, but I want to remind everyone that these do nothing for a new player - possibly new to shooters even! (Playstations are much more known for their platforming than shooters afterall)
THE ACADEMY
You can make isk and sp in normal matches with the starter suits - so why give isk in Academy? Academy needs to be a learning experience, nothing more, with...
-Militia gear ONLY allowed.
-10,000 isk rewarded regardless of outcome, flat 1,000 sp reward for victory, 500 for defeat (makes it not worth farming compared to normal matches). isk reward serves purpose of allowing new players to buy other militia items not free (such as CR or a HMG, not currently provided but would be based on opening line)
-Kills are not tallied for overall leaderboards. WP is tracked for the purposes of the match to help new players get a sense of their contribution, nothing more.
Upon reaching a set amount of UNALLOCATED skill points (not WP, also,I don't remember where players start anymore), you can no longer enter Academy matches except...
1) As a squad leader leading a squad of three or more players below the unallocated total aforementioned (in other words, as an instructor). This enables corporate leadership, or just friends, to train each other in the Academy without introducing more than 4 veteran players into a match (four squads of four players each, 1 Vet to 3 Noobs)
2) Corporate Academy Match - This would be a feature that allows a corporation to make a private match that rewards zero sp or isk and, again, still only allows militia gear (severely minimizing isk lost but keeping the isk sink in place). Corporate members could form squads and choose team one or two and compete against each other for training purposes. Again, no kills tracked for leaderboards, no isk, no sp. Match leader can execute match whenever - does not have to be full.
CCP has indicated they want corp matches so this is in line with that. It would certainly be a great tool for training.
There will still be griefers who are skilled in real life as shooters that will makes alts for laughs - you can't prevent this and its just the way things are. The above mechanics though at least deincentivise griefers somewhat and buy new players more leeway with forced equality skill and gear wise.
NPE TUTORIAL EXPERIENCE
(This is not PvE Content - Just a Tutorial. Save that for some other thread please)
As for a NPE Mission Tutorial, I totally support this and it could be really awesome from the perspective of an MCC.
1) Start in your room on the MCC (as we normally see it) and get movement and sight controls sorted.
2) Proceed to armory to pick up that first AR and grenades
3) Proceed to bay and jump into battle (tutorial stops you mid-flight to show inertial dampener and explain how it works - notably its reusable if you get in a dropshop later)
4) Target practice and Hacking Practice
-Other weapon types could have target practice mini-missions accessible from the the main menu that show off the strength and weaknesses of weapons in a short time after the main tutorial finishes.
5) Tutorial returns to merc room to explain SP and how the skill tree functions. Player allocates some starting sp to their Light Weapon skill to reduce CPU cost.
6) Tutorial explains fittings and how SP drives a lot of what and how things fit, citing the skill just trained and showing a 'before/after' of how that skill affected their AR and the overall suit's fitting.
7) Introduction to marketplace to buy (with starting allocated money) an LAV
8) Vehicle Tutorial starts from MCC Bay (to reinforce dropping from sky and basic deployment), then explains vehicle summoning, usage, target practice (by changing to turret in rear), and vehicle recall.
-A dropship tutorial could be made separate to this 'Arc' of missions, accessible from main menu. Same for HAV.
9) Weapon and Suits Tutorials and where to find them in the main menu for more in depth understanding. Could even reward 10 militia variants on the first playthrough - like a 'starter pack' to use in Academy.
10) Other Resources and how to access tutorial again (always repeatable, no reward) such as corporations and joining them, the leaderboards, news and events, and chat functionality in particular joining the rookie channel, and the aforementioned 'other' tutorials for specific weapons and vehicles.
11) Final Main Tutorial: How to join matches in the Academy and Normal Matches, the types of matches and their parameters.
-End Tutorial-
It's a lot, and it could be interrupted and not continued by choice (just like in EVE) - but Dust IS a complex shooter, don't undersell it and take time to explain it. By building a really intuitive NPE and Tutorial System, the longevity of new players will drastically increase and, thus, the health of the DUST community with them.
So - your thoughts? What do you want to see in a tutorial structure and the Academy which is intended for training, not farming? Don't cite griefers - explain how you would deal with them. This thread is dedicated to NEW player experiences (NPE) so please present all ideas from that perspective: how it benefits a new merc.
That guy you killed with 0% shields?
Yeah, I sniped him - go team.
Oh, you didn't know...hmm.
*CCP: Display Assists!!!
|