Perhaps this should go in the suggestions forum, but as it is more of a tweak for the community rather than the game mechanics, I thought it would be better served here.

I've been seeing this question constantly from new players. Perhaps the answer to this question could be explained in the tutorial mission...

Then again, a lot of people are also having trouble interacting with the mission computer and jumping between sectors, so maybe this wouldn't help all that much anyway.

It is nice to see so many new people at any rate.

We actually started our own FAQ to help this these questions/ See the sticky at the top of this forum.

Yeah, but it needs to be more obvious in-game.

Definitely needs to be a little more obvious. Especially stuff like if you're UIT make sure you are at a UIT owned station and not a Corporate owned station and if you are in a group, leave it first :)

thanks to the folks in 100 who helped me figure it out :)

I think players should start out @ like lvls -/-/-/- or -1/-1/-1/-1 and then they have to take license tests to get 0/0/0/0

In addition/or when the msg comes up "You can get a license now" it should also say "And to get your new license you must go to a station and cancel the current mission. After cancelling the current mission you will have access to the license test."

OR, even better, just not have the tests be missions, I think THAT is the most confusing part for new ppl.

I have in my notes to do exactly what you suggested -- tell people exactly where to go and what to do to get their first license test.

Yeah.. we were going to have "testing missions", in which you had to perform some test ("fly here and kill this thing"), but you're right: we should rethink the whole thing if we aren't going to. Might as well just gain it automatically. The "license tests" would probably be redundant to the entire combat mission anyhow.

Opinions?

It'd be good just to have the Mission Computer tell the pilot that they have attained a new level and should return to a dock owned by their nation to be "decorated". The fee, if any, could be a testing fee, a processing fee, or whatever. The Mission Computer could simply congratulate and decorate them immeditaely upon docking - or it could even be a seperate screen on the station interface that comes up automatically when a license is earned.

I think I answered the license test question 7-8 times last night, and that was with other players (CrippledPidgeon for one) answering the same question for people I didn't get to.

i think it makes sense to have to take a test to get the license, but then it should be made a *test* and not simply a 'fly to station, drop everything, click here, pay money, tada!'. so if license missions would actually be a test (even if it where a skill testing question or two) it would make sense, otherwise, yeah, levels should probably just be gained automatically. thats my thoughts on it anyhow :)

Something else license related: if you're someone like me who plays the combat mission for extended periods of time without licensing (I jumped from 0/0/0/0 to 3/3/1/0 to 4/6/3/0), it's a bit of a hassle to have to buy every single license mission (so instead of jumping straight from 0 to 3, you have to go 0,1,2,3). It'd be nice if they'd charge you for all of the license levels, but you only have to buy for the highest level. Or maybe be able to choose which license level you want to go for. Maybe if you're jumping from 0 to 3, and you don't have enough money, you can jump from 0 to 2 instead...

By the way, I don't mind answering other player's questions, but the licensing question comes up every 10 to 20 minutes. Maybe there should be something in the tutorial? Until then, I'm binding a quick generic explanation to a command.

I'd Like a test like, killing a Artemis in a bus if you want to skip to level 2, killing ack-tech 5 in a Wraith with bus guns for level 4.......stuff like that, so Lazy guys can skip levels if they have the skillz.

Hmm, but then things would be totally player dependant, and experience points wouldn't really have much of a meaning in game. As far as I understand it, experience points represents your characters relative experience in each field, and henceforth their ability to pass a test.

I'm not against having "License Tests" in game, but I definitely think there should be an xp requirement. Perhaps a little more could be added to the License Test itself, perhaps a test of knowledge on the weapons one would gain with the next level?

At any rate I definitely think more should be added to the tutorial. Right now the game asks a lot of new players to figure out things on their own. I think a series of tutorial missions would be in order, each one designed to teach the player about a single game feature.

There could be an ion storm tutorial, a wormhole tutorial, a trading tutorial, a grouping tutorial, a cargo capture tutorial. And the tutorials themselves should be more interactive than reading paragraph after paragraph of green text... I get the sense from the questions we get in game and elsewhere that not an insignificant amount of people don't even finish the tutorial or don't absorb the information too well. Tutorials ought to be more the type of thing where you meet a lost NPC in space who teaches you about grouping and the dangers of ion storms or a wise traveler who takes you to a wormhole sector and teaches you about traveling in between systems. This would be a lot more interactive than simply reading about it from the mission computer.

yes, but to a point. I dont think most pirates will fly all the way home just to buy a license :)