Clone States – The next steps


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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

           

 

 

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