Dont be afraid to die!
Eve Online player Grey Gal.
Eve Onlineis an immense game with nearly two decades of player-driven history and lore behind it.
To the uninitiated, beginning your life in New Eden is daunting to say the least.
And when I say in a spaceship, I mean it: youre apparently the soul of the craft.
And if you die, you have to be reincarnated in another spaceship?
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But, the point is that Ireally wantto learn more about the game world.
Right after I go murder some pirates, learn about the economy, and upgrade my ship.
And fight some players.
And join a PVP group.
The list goes on and on.
The next person to play the tutorial after me might decide to be an engineer or a merchant.
Im a merciless pirate hunter hellbent on ending slavery in the galaxy.
Yes, I dare) theperfecttutorial.
And, if Im being honest, most of them suck.
It doesnt bog down the first 15 minutes with pages upon pages of command descriptions.
What more could you want from me?
ButEve Onlineavoids this trapping.
Ill be honest, I dont really know what everything on the screen does.
Theres like fifty little buttons.
Rather than teach me everything,Evestutorial taught me a handful of things to do.
Its like I showed up for my first day at work and went through orientation.
Nobody expects me to remember everything, but Im eager to see what happens next.
EveOnlinealso respects my time.
At no point in my life have I ever beeneager or excitedfor a tutorial.
Im looking forward to experiencing the game and its tutorial is my gateway.
Its like standing in line for a ride.
Sure, the ambiance is nice, but I want to get to therealgame.
To that end, the tutorial could probably be completed in 20 minutes.
I took longer to explore the interface and soak up the ambiance.
When I was finished I had to force myself to stop playing.
I playedEve Onlinemore than a decade ago, but I was never able to really get into it.
Over the years Ive seen the news pieces covering themassive player-lead warsand incrediblerecord-breakinggaming feats.
I wanted to dive in and give it another spin, but I always had reasons not to.
The current tutorial dismisses these worries by focusing on the one thing that matters: you.
Eve Onlineis a massive game, but its tutorial focuses on the little things.
Youre just a ship with somewhere to go.
Grey Gal told me about her experiences over 12 years as a player.
I wanted to find somewhere to report for duty and get started.
Its tutorial has everything I need and nothing I dont.
I hope other developers, across all gaming genres, are paying attention.
