Dropping a new player into the open game after training is too directionless for people still not sure what they want or can do in the game. Instead the game should offer 4 options after training.

The first is to join the military. Users who select this are taken from the training sector to their respective areas around or in Deneb and coached a bit into how Deneb works. In short time they're participating in large capital ship battles etc. Exciting. So long as they are joined in the battle perhaps they are given slightly above-license ships/weapons so they dont die so quickly.

The second is to become a trader. Similar to military, after some slight coaching they are given access to above license trading ships while they are active in the given trading missions. These missions wont be retarded and send new players out into sedina and odia, but they may send serco and itani to uit and vice versa.

The third is to become a miner. While coached a bit, these player's aren't transported automatically anywhere but would get miner missions that offer above license access to beams and a few missions that tell them where to hunt for things like helio and ap and xith.

The fourth is a non-option. You choose to go at it the way the game currently is.

These types of specialized roles would be available thru license level 3 across the board. The focus on one particular aspect of the game and giving an incentive to keep at that one aspect lets new players ease into the sandbox nature of the game while providing an amount of instant gratification not possible by grinding from the get go.

+1!

With recommended starting points like mining and trading for iOS/Android use. This could slowly evolve and those roles would get more status, weapons/beams/ships/faction standing.

"Mining workers needed!"

+1

Sounds like a great idea. It would give new users (particularly mobile users) a greater view of the game and point them in the direction they want to see themselves in.

+1!

semi +1

Most of the new players rarely go through the tutorials and hate to read stuff. I think they really won't read such choices and nor will they enter the so said coaching program to get more acquainted with the game mechanics of the specific field.

Definite +1. Some guidance toward important licenses like combat 3 and trade through missions may really help retain newbies unused to sandbox gameplay, and the grind from licenses 0 to 3 is one of the worst.

However, including option 4 is a must. The game is a sandbox after all, and some players may resent being guided.

We could achieve the same effect if the mentoring system were better advertised, and we ensured that we had mentors on hand for all the various aspects just covered.

Mentoring is a fall-back for the overly wordy tutorials.

To be good at mining you should use a ship with multiple large ports. There is a limited selection of ships with multiple large ports, and those require either high trade licence, high faction standing, or at least some combat/weapons licenses.

The fastest way I know of to gain trade licences and faction standing is to do bulk procurement trade mission, which requires a good trade ship. A good trade ship requires a good power cell. most good power cells, that are readily available, require combat licences. The heavy power cell requires combat licences 3. The fast charge power cell requires combat 4 and trade 4.

The fastest way i know of for a noob to gain combat licence 3, after completing training and the pilot test mission, is to do the beginner combat mission, and go kill 200 dentecs. you actually get combat 3 just short of 200 dentecs, but if you used only small port weapons, you should be so close to light weapons licence 3 that i recommend killing the 10 or so extra dentecs to get it, even after the mission has ended.
At combat 3, hive skirmish missions become available, and are the fastest way to gain combat/weapons licenses that i know of.

Doing just about anything other than combat, before combat license 3, can be counter productive, because of the equipment and missions that become available at combat license 3.

A couple of notable exceptions are the mining tutorial, because it requires so little mining to complete, and the first courier mission, because it is a single, in system, round trip.

So I am not opposed to your idea, unless it distracts from gaining combat 3, first and foremost.

The biggest problem is the ordeal of going strait out to kill 200 dentecs in a row. You can log out and back in without disturbing the mission, but it is just a long mission. I am a vet, and it takes me most of an hour, using a single plasma hx, and even high end weapons/cells do not significantly reduce the time compared to a single plasma hx w/ low end cell. Aborting and retaking the mission is less than ideal, because of a minor penalty at the start of the mission.

I am all for your idea, after combat 3. but most of the noobs i see having the biggest troubles, are pre combat 3. fix that.

Maybe one of the early missions could give a UC as part of the payment.

The overall purpose isn't really to jump licenses fast. That would damage the meaning of license levels. It's to expose new players to things that the higher licenses offer so long as they participate in the area they chose.

It's more like, yea you can buy yourself a plane and be a pilot if you spend the time, or you can work for Delta and fly a plane while you work for us. During that course, you gain skills and license points etc, but the normal rules apply when the intended missions aren't active. So there is no way to game the new setup to circumvent having to progress through the licenses like anyone would have to currently. But the nature of being able to do things early you normally wouldn't will give you a headstart in those respective areas the player has chosen.

If the main concern is Deneb is too hard and even getting to UIT from Serco or Itani and vice versa is too hard for users below license 3 because those players are just too inexperienced regardless of their ship and weapons, then we should start another suggestion thread about how to approach inexperience players surrounded by experienced players because the current method is not working well.

There is really nothing more important than getting more players to stick around and want to play the game and enjoy the time they spend on it and that's not done by separating them from everything because they suck too much to do anything. A better solution needs to be found to address their inexperience without walling them off from the content and activity the game currently has to offer.

I would like to see a 'magic' system that new players can't leave until they reach 3 combat and 3 trade. All new players would start in this system and as part of the training / missions available learn about the different nations.

When new players reach the point where they are ready to leave the starter system, they would at that time be forced to choose which nation they want to be a part of and would exit through a one way wormhole into the primary capital system of their chosen nation. An introduction to the ships and personalities of each nation should occur during this experience.

Once they leave, they would be unable to return. Also, the damage protection magic would be in place during this time, removed only for duels. These players would have access to channel 1.

This would consolidate all of the new players into a single pool which would hopefully alleviate some of the 'I never see anyone' complaints, as well as get them started well enough that they are not completely lost when they encounter a hostile in the primary universe. Of course, there should be plenty of warnings when they are about to leave about the dangers that exist beyond the beginner wormhole.

-1 Fluffy.

+1