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Clone States - The next steps

Posted: Thu Nov 02, 2017 3:49 pm
by Forum Admin
http://community.eveonline.com/news/dev ... ext-steps/

  

Hi Clone People!

If you were with us at EVE Vegas or watching it from home, you should know by now that we have some big plans for Clone States coming up. It’s time to start sharing the details of that plan so you can begin preparing for the release later this year and so that we can gather more feedback in time to make any last-minute changes.

Let’s start by going over the results from the introduction of Clone States in 2016’s EVE Online: Ascension expansion and then talk about why we want to make changes at all.

The Good

All in all, our results have been very positive. Introducing Alpha clones increased day-to-day activity in EVE, increased new player numbers, and encouraged many former players to come back. Clone States improved the discussion around joining EVE for the first time, both in the media and in our community, where Clone States is supported and advertised as a great option for trying EVE for free at your own pace. And, importantly, EVE’s economy and gameplay ecosystem are intact and healthy despite some concerns before launch about potential abuse by free accounts (with Ghost Training as a speed bump:/ ).

The Could be Better

We have these great signs that Alpha access to EVE is something the world wants, but, on the other hand, we also see evidence that the current Alpha experience is too restricted to hold players long term. Being an Alpha is often described more like an infinite trial period than a true free experience, and our data seems to back that up. New players decide if the game is right for them very quickly, then either leave or subscribe rather than playing as an Alpha long term. Of course, more Omegas is fantastic but we think many of the players who leave might be willing to stay around if subscription didn’t feel like a requirement.

Expanded Alpha Set

That’s where the new skill list comes in. By expanding the amount of skills available to Alphas, the free experience will be much deeper and more powerful. We hope that with a stronger free experience, we see more players staying around to play as Alphas even if they can’t subscribe right away. This makes EVE even stronger for all pilots, for as we know players are the content in New Eden.

Let’s go over some of the highlights from the new Alpha skill set and talk about why we chose this list, then you can find the complete list at the bottom of the blog.

Tech II Small and Medium Weapons



Comparing Alpha ships to their Omega counterparts can look pretty brutal right now due to the lack of Tech II weapons. By adding them to the Alpha set, not only will DPS potential be much closer between Alphas and Omegas, Alphas will also pick up the extremely important utility granted by certain Tech II ammo variations.

Battlecruisers



The most obvious restriction that Alphas face is ship size. Even though EVE is unique in its design to allow even a frigate pilot to make a difference in any battle, the reality is that big ships offer capabilities and experiences that can be hard to get in Frigates and Cruisers. With Battlecruisers and Tech II Medium weapons available, Alphas should be able to make a big difference in any part of the game.

Battleships



Yes, Battleships! Battleships are some of EVE’s most iconic ships and the most common aspiration for new players. We see them as an essential part of a deep EVE experience and so we want everyone to be train to fly them. We’ve also heard loud and clear from the CSM and from the discussions surrounding the announcement at EVE Vegas that Battleships are widely considered powerful and this might be scary territory for existing players. That’s why we’re holding back on Tech II Large weapons for now, and it’s also why we will watch behavior post release very carefully. If we see negative effects, we will make changes. We hope that isn’t necessary though and we believe that granting access to Battleships for Alphas will be exciting for everyone in New Eden.

All Factions

Being restricted to one faction had some important goals at release, but it also had some big drawbacks and we’re going to let it go. Alphas will now be able to train Ship Command skills from all four factions and will also be able to train all weapon systems. Not only does this open up cross training, a key component of EVE progression, it also opens up pirate faction ships which are some of the most powerful ships in the Tech I arsenal.

Supporting Changes

We are making one other very important change to the way Alpha Clones work in this release to support the expanded skill set: Free Alpha Skill Training will stop when a character reaches 5 million total skill points.

Training after 5 million skill points works normally, that is, you can train skills with Omega time or Skill Injectors. Any skills you’ve previously trained which fall under the Alpha set can be used at any time, regardless of Clone State. It looks like this:



As we looked at adding more skills to the Alpha set we realized that bringing along free passive training up to the new Alpha cap, like we did the first time around, would cause problems. The more free training we give away the less valuable skill points become, which is not good for existing players, scary for CCP, and inevitably harmful to game balance and the game economy.

By stopping training below the current skill extraction limit, skill points keep their value and new players can invest in them at their own pace without being required to subscribe every month to use the skills they’ve already trained.

And that’s it for today! Look below for the complete list of new skills and please let us know if you think it’s missing something or if there’s something that doesn’t belong!

Thanks for reading,

Fly Free

Team Size Matters

 

Revised Alpha Clone Skill Set for the December 2017 Release

Total SP:  20,443,989





Skill Name



Skill Level



Skill Group



Skill Rank



Skill Points





Armor Layering



1



Armor



3



                                                750





EM Armor Compensation



2



Armor



2



                                            2,828





Explosive Armor Compensation



2



Armor



2



                                            2,828





Hull Upgrades



5



Armor



2



                                        512,000





Kinetic Armor Compensation



2



Armor



2



                                            2,828





Mechanics



5



Armor



1



                                        256,000





Remote Armor Repair Systems



3



Armor



2



                                          16,000





Remote Hull Repair Systems



2



Armor



2



                                            2,828





Repair Systems



5



Armor



1



                                        256,000





Thermal Armor Compensation



2



Armor



2



                                            2,828





Corporation Management



1



Corporation Management



1



                                                250





Drone Avionics



4



Drones



1



                                          45,255





Drone Durability



4



Drones



5



                                        226,274





Drone Interfacing



4



Drones



5



                                        226,274





Drone Navigation



4



Drones



1



                                          45,255





Drone Sharpshooting



4



Drones



1



                                          45,255





Drones



5



Drones



1



                                        256,000





Light Drone Operation



5



Drones



1



                                        256,000





Medium Drone Operation



5



Drones



2



                                        512,000





Repair Drone Operation



2



Drones



3



                                            4,243





Heavy Drone Operation



4



Drones



5



                                        226,274





Amarr Drone Specialization



2



Drones



5



                                            7,071





Caldari Drone Specialization



2



Drones



5



                                            7,071





Gallente Drone Specialization



2



Drones



5



                                            7,071





Minmatar Drone Specialization



2



Drones



5



                                            7,071





Electronic Warfare



4



Electronic Systems



2



                                          90,510





Propulsion Jamming



4



Electronic Systems



3



                                        135,765





Weapon Disruption



4



Electronic Systems



3



                                        135,765





Sensor Linking



3



Electronic Systems



3



                                          24,000





Target Painting



3



Electronic Systems



3



                                          24,000





Advanced Weapon Upgrades



3



Engineering



6



                                          48,000





CPU Management



5



Engineering



1



                                        256,000





Capacitor Emission Systems



4



Engineering



2



                                          90,510





Capacitor Management



4



Engineering



3



                                        135,765





Capacitor Systems Operation



3



Engineering



1



                                            8,000





Electronics Upgrades



5



Engineering



2



                                        512,000





Energy Grid Upgrades



5



Engineering



2



                                        512,000





Energy Pulse Weapons



2



Engineering



2



                                          2,828





Power Grid Management



5



Engineering



1



                                        256,000





Thermodynamics



4



Engineering



3



                                        135,765





Weapon Upgrades



5



Engineering



2



                                        512,000





Controlled Bursts



4



Gunnery



2



                                          90,510





Gunnery



5



Gunnery



1



                                        256,000





Medium Energy Turret



5



Gunnery



3



                                        768,000





Motion Prediction



4



Gunnery



2



                                          90,510





Rapid Firing



4



Gunnery



2



                                          90,510





Sharpshooter



4



Gunnery



2



                                          90,510





Small Energy Turret



5



Gunnery



1



                                        256,000





Surgical Strike



4



Gunnery



4



                                        181,019





Trajectory Analysis



4



Gunnery



5



                                        226,274





Small Pulse Laser Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Medium Pulse Laser Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Small Beam Laser Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Medium Beam Laser Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Large Energy Turret



4



Gunnery



5



                                        226,274





Small Blaster Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Medium Blaster Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Small Rail Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Medium Rail Specializatoin



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Large Hybrid Turret



4



Gunnery



5



                                        226,274





Small Autocannon Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Medium Autocannon Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Small Artillery Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Medium Artillery Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Large Projectile Turret



4



Gunnery



5



                                        226,274





Rocket Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Heavy Missile Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Light Missile Specialization



3



Gunnery



3



                                          24,000





Heavy Assault Missile Specialization



3



Gunnery



5



                                          40,000





Medium Hybrid Turret



5



Gunnery



3



                                        768,000





Small Hybrid Turret



5



Gunnery



1



                                        256,000





Medium Projectile Turret



5



Gunnery



3



                                        768,000





Small Projectile Turret



5



Gunnery



1



                                        256,000





Leadership



3



Leadership



1



                                            8,000





Torpedoes



4



Missiles



5



                                        226,274





Cruise Missiles



4



Missiles



5



                                        226,274





Guided Missile Precision



3



Missiles



5



                                          40,000





Missile Launcher Operation



5



Missiles



1



                                        256,000





Light Missiles



5



Missiles



2



                                        512,000





Heavy Assault Missiles



5



Missiles



3



                                        768,000





Heavy Missiles



5



Missiles



3



                                        768,000





Missile Bombardment



4



Missiles



2



                                          90,510





Missile Projection



2



Missiles



4



                                            5,657





Rapid Launch



4



Missiles



2



                                          90,510





Rockets



5



Missiles



1



                                        256,000





Target Navigation Prediction



3



Missiles



2



                                          16,000





Warhead Upgrades



3



Missiles



5



                                          40,000





Acceleration Control



3



Navigation



4



                                          32,000





Afterburner



3



Navigation



1



                                            8,000





Evasive Maneuvering



3



Navigation



2



                                          16,000





High Speed Maneuvering



3



Navigation



5



                                          40,000





Navigation



4



Navigation



1



                                          45,255





Warp Drive Operation



3



Navigation



1



                                            8,000





Biology



3



Neural Enhancement



1



                                            8,000





Cybernetics



3



Neural Enhancement



3



                                          24,000





Infomorph Psychology



1



Neural Enhancement



1



                                                250





Industry



5



Production



1



                                        256,000





Mass Production



3



Production



2



                                          16,000





Mining



4



Resource Processing



1



                                          45,255





Ice Harvesting



2



Resource processing



1



1414





Mining Upgrades



4



Resource Processing



4



                                        181,019





Reprocessing



3



Resource Processing



1



                                            8,000





Gas Cloud Harvesting



2



Resource Processing



1



                                            1,414





Salvaging



3



Resource Processing



3



                                          24,000





Armor Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Astronautics Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Hybrid Weapon Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Launcher Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Shield Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Projectile Weapon Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Drones Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Electronic Superiority Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Energy Weapon Rigging



3



Rigging



3



                                          24,000





Jury Rigging



3



Rigging



2



                                          16,000





Archaeology



3



Scanning



3



                                          24,000





Astrometric Acquisition



2



Scanning



5



                                            7,071





Astrometric Rangefinding



2



Scanning



8



                                          11,314





Astrometrics



3



Scanning



3



                                          24,000





Hacking



3



Scanning



3



                                          24,000





Survey



3



Scanning



1



                                            8,000





Science



4



Science



1



                                          45,255





EM Shield Compensation



2



Shields



2



                                            2,828





Explosive Shield Compensation



2



Shields



2



                                            2,828





Kinetic Shield Compensation



2



Shields



2



                                            2,828





Shield Emission Systems



3



Shields



2



                                          16,000





Shield Compensation



4



Shields



2



                                          90,510





Shield Management



4



Shields



3



                                        135,765





Shield Operation



4



Shields



1



                                          45,255





Shield Upgrades



4



Shields



2



                                          90,510





Tactical Shield Manipulation



4



Shields



4



                                        181,019





Thermal Shield Compensation



2



Shields



2



                                            2,828





Connections



2



Social



3



                                            4,243





Criminal Connections



2



Social



3



                                            4,243





Diplomacy



3



Social



1



                                            8,000





Distribution Connections



2



Social



2



                                            2,828





Mining Connections



2



Social



2



                                            2,828





Negotiation



2



Social



2



                                            2,828





Security Connections



2



Social



2



                                            2,828





Social



3



Social



1



                                            8,000





Amarr Battlecruiser



4



Spaceship Command



6



                                        271,529





Amarr Battleship



4



Spaceship Command



8



                                        362,039





Caldari Battlecruiser



4



Spaceship Command



6



                                        271,529





Caldari Battleship



4



Spaceship Command



8



                                        362,039





Minmatar Battlecruiser



4



Spaceship Command



6



                                        271,529





Minmatar Battleship



4



Spaceship Command



8



                                        362,039





Gallente Battlecruiser



4



Spaceship Command



6



                                        271,529





Gallente Battleship



4



Spaceship Command



8



                                        362,039





Amarr Cruiser



4



Spaceship Command



5



                                        226,274





Amarr Destroyer



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Amarr Frigate



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Amarr Industrial



1



Spaceship Command



4



                                            1,000





Mining Frigate



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Spaceship Command



3



Spaceship Command



1



                                            8,000





Caldari Cruiser



4



Spaceship Command



5



                                        226,274





Caldari Destroyer



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Caldari Frigate



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Caldari Industrial



1



Spaceship Command



4



                                            1,000





Gallente Cruiser



4



Spaceship Command



5



                                        226,274





Gallente Destroyer



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Gallente Frigate



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Gallente Industrial



1



Spaceship Command



4



                                            1,000





Minmatar Cruiser



4



Spaceship Command



5



                                        226,274





Minmatar Destroyer



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Minmatar Frigate



4



Spaceship Command



2



                                          90,510





Minmatar Industrial



1



Spaceship Command



4



                                            1,000





Anchoring



1



Structure Management



3



                                                750





Long Range Targeting



3



Targeting



2



                                          16,000





Signature Analysis



3



Targeting



1



                                            8,000





Target Management



4



Targeting



1



                                          45,255





Broker Relations



2



Trade



2



                                            2,828





Marketing



2



Trade



3



                                            4,243





Trade



3



Trade



1



                                            8,000