New EVE Online characters could start with 1-2 months worth of skills already learnt

EVE Online NPE

CCP is considering an interesting new way for players creating new characters to start their life in EVE Online’s universe. The developer is proposing that all new characters start with 2 million skill points to sink into core skills, to help give them a boost and a quicker start to their new galaxy-faring life.

CCP’s idea comes in response to player feedback on the New Player Experience, which suggested that starting skills are a huge barrier to entry. Talking on the EVE Forums, CCP said: “ Nothing is set in stone yet but it seems likely that we will try and move new players towards starting with significantly more SP. Maybe between 1 and 2 million.”

Highlighted by Reddit user Ohh_Yeah, those 2 million skill points would typically take between one and two months of play to accumulate.

The skills likely to receive the boost are the “core” skills, which are useful for all ship types in the game, and are eventually maxed out by every player. This means there would be noot boost in the training for specialisms, which is the main area of interest for most EVE players.

Core skills cover areas like a ship’s shields, armour, capacitor, and targeting range.

The announcement of the proposal has lead to some vocal criticism from a small selection of players. “They argue that the skill system has always worked in the past and that making the early months of EVE easier is a slippery slope,” explained Ohh_Yeah on Reddit. “Critics of this viewpoint suggest that the current skill training system was more effective in the early days when the average skill points (SP) of the playerbase was lower. Now that the number of characters who are proficient in nearly everything rises rapidly with each passing year, asking new players to spend two months specializing in only one form of gameplay is out of touch with reality.”

How would you feel about new players being handed two million skill points? A suitable cure to the difficult new player experience? Or a terrible idea that will lead to further problems?