Djavin Novienta
Country: United States
Character Created: 2011/07/03
Corp/Alliance: EVE University/Ivy League
Reddit: musicmage4114
Eve-Who: Link
Eve Forum Posts: Link
zKillboard: Link
Media Appearances
Talking in Stations - Soundcloud - YouTube
Ballot Statement
I am a member of EVE University who works with new members to help direct their learning. I live in highsec space, and my focus is the continued improvement of the New Player Experience, a renewed focus on PvE content, and a greater integration of lore into everyday gameplay.
Among other roles, I am an Orientation Officer at EVE University, which means that I see firsthand the positive effect the new Inception tutorial has had on new players. I will encourage CCP to continue to improve and expand upon this tutorial, so that EVE can be made more accessible to new players.
Much of EVE's PvE content, particularly agent missions, cosmic signatures/anomalies, and COSMOS missions, has been left largely untouched for many years. I will encourage CCP focus more resources on improving the PvE aspect of the game, so that PvE activities will be more engaging, varied, and more closely tied to game lore.
"The story of EVE doesn't happen until players get involved." This is an excellent sentiment, but the story of EVE is often relegated to one-off events, short videos, and Chronicles, when it could be used to facilitate gameplay. I will encourage CCP to implement more frequent and impactful in-game events that can slowly but surely change New Eden around us.
I am Djavin Novienta, member of EVE University, and I would like to announce my candidacy for CSM XII.
Myself
I first began my career as a capsuleer in 2011 and quickly found a home in a small highsec corporation. EVE was my first foray into online gaming, and it has always occupied a special place in my heart. After piloting for about two years, I took a long break from my piloting career.
I came back to EVE September 2016 and immediately joined EVE University. The game had changed a lot in the time I’d been gone, and I felt a little lost and in need of some help. I’ve since gotten back on track and now spend the majority of my time helping other unistas begin successful careers in New Eden.
If you look up my character info in-game, you’ll see that I carry the vanity title of “Cariest of Bears”. I received this title at my own request and it is one that I wear with pride. I’m not a competitive person and I don’t particularly enjoy PvP. When I’m in space you can find me either mining, missioning, running Incursions, or exploring. However, most of my time is spent on various support roles within EVE University: teacher, Reimbursement Officer, Orientation Officer, and Wiki Curator. I have taken on these many administrative tasks for two reasons: first, to contribute the community in a way that does not involve combat, and second, because I honestly love it! I’ve found that in EVE, administration is my gameplay, and I truly enjoy teaching classes, editing the UniWiki, and helping manage our ship replacement program.
My Goals
Continued expansion and refinement of the New Player Experience and other tutorial content
With the release of Ascension, it has become even more important to ensure that EVE is accessible to new players. As an Orientation Officer at EVE University, I’ve seen firsthand the positive impact that the Inception NPE has had on new players, but I think there is a significant amount of room to improve even further.
A few things things that can be done:
Establish a list of essential knowledge for new players. This list should answer the question: “What should all players in EVE know, or know how to do, and where can they go with it?” Any future tutorial content should be centered around imparting knowledge from this list.
Make more information readily available in-game. With the removal of the in-game browser, most information about EVE is no longer accessible in-game, and requires opening a separate browser window. Additionally, now that player-run sites (such as the UniWiki or the Fuzzwork suite of tools) have become the primary source of information about the game, there is greater cause for concern that information found on such sites may not be accurate or up-to-date. For example, I can say from experience that the Wiki Curators are still scrambling to scrub all mentions of warfare links and off-grid boosting from the UniWiki even three months post-Ascension. There is very little means of verifying information on external sites other than going into the game and verifying it for yourself. Some ideas/options that can be implemented:
- Additional/expanded tooltips
- “Active help” popups, perhaps similar to those utilized by games such as Final Fantasy XIV. These could appear upon first exposure to different game mechanics such as agents, low- or nullsec, Incursions, etc.
- Distinction between base ship & module stats and bonuses or effects from skills
A renewed focus on PvE content, both reworking existing content and adding new content.
NPC mining operations were a welcome addition to the vast array of PvE content that EVE has to offer. Unfortunately, the majority of the PvE content in-game has existed in its current state since its original implementation. There are many ways that this area of EVE’s available activities can be improved, but here are a few specific ideas:
- Implement opportunities for solo player participation in Incursions. Options include reducing the strength of Incursion rats to make them challenging but soloable with proper preparation (perhaps weakest in scout systems, strongest in headquarters), and implementing solo combat sites as cosmic anomalies and/or signatures.
- Increase the drop rate of faction tags and make Data Center missions repeatable, and/or allow players to turn in tags to any corporation for a standing increase (particularly useful for trader characters with plenty of ISK but few combat skills).
- Rework COSMOS missions and increase the stats of Storyline modules to match the difficulty and cost of producing them.
- Add Security missions with diverse win conditions. Currently, Security missions are based entirely around combat, and the only thing needed to complete them is a sufficient tank and passable dps. Different win conditions, such as providing reps for a besieged freighter, or tackling a battleship so NPC allies can destroy it, could encourage mission runners to maintain a number of different ships and reward them for training a diverse skillset.
Reinforce the idea of New Eden as a living world, and smoothly integrate EVE lore into everyday gameplay.
While the lore of EVE is substantial and generally available to anyone interested in it, most of that lore is completely separate from gameplay. In some egregious cases, that lore is even directly contradicted in gameplay (see: any reference to a “console” while piloting a ship). On the large scale, more frequent in-game events in the vein of Crimson Harvest and Purity of the Throne can be used to signal changes in New Eden. On the small scale, the “little touches” can subtly reinforce the idea amongst players that New Eden is a living and dynamic universe. Some ideas to be implemented:
- NPC “bestiary”: Having a little more information about who you’re fighting can be both interesting and provide a method of teaching new players about enemy resistances and weapons. Allow enemies to be more than just Enemy Pilot #728 (unless you’re fighting Sansha’s Nation, that is).
- Unlockable journal entries for expeditions and complexes. Epic Arcs already have a whole journal section devoted to recounting their lore. Expeditions already tell a story; adding that story to the journal would give them more impact (and make players want to run them again to follow them to completion!)
Contact Me
EVE-Mail or private convo
/u/musicmage4114 on Reddit
@musicmage4114 on Twitter
EVE University Mumble (our “private” server has a Public Lounge linked to our Student Lounge - I’d love to talk to you!)
EVE University Forums
My User talk page on the UniWiki