Basically the tutorial is made to branch out for players to select their intended reason for being attracted to the game in the first place. Some players come to be king of PvE and farming/factories, while others like the Open PvP aspect of the game.
Right now, you need to grind astroids for hours and hours before PvP becomes available, and this while still having to risk all that work to get to a place where you can test it out. If you're unlucky, you'll die and lose the ship in your first PvP encounter and you are put into the gameplay.-loop of PvE again - mining. For PR purposes towards youtube and twitch content to promote this game towards PvP players, I suggest this:
Focus on building gameplay loops that work for most players. You've got the tutorial today that is heading into the PvE gameplay loop where you learn how to make the Laborer more effective miner, you learn to build stations, and I guess they will make factory tutorial as well later etc.
What I suggest is that after the initial steps within today's tutorial, you get the option to choose what you would like to be trained in. If you like PvE and its mining,factory,station etc focus, then select it and continue with how today's tutorial is being made. But if you like PvP, you are put in another direction.
After you've received the Laborer and have tested out mining, once you come back to learn about crafting, you get to choose what direction you want. Select PvP and you would be tutored in how to remove the container crates, craft/buy a weapon and place that to the ship instead so that we build the early Laborer into a PvP oriented ship instead.
As for gameplay loop that fits PvP players way earlier than currently, I suggest introducing "sports" which would include betting.
My example:
1. Between Orion stations there is a Fast-Travel Station (FTS), and new players who have selected PvP as their preferred gameplay style are guided towards this FTS after the Laborer have been re-built to fit early game PvP.
2. Once there, players are told that this is a Battle Royale (BR) style game, and that to participate, they would need to spend some money to insure their ship. Costs depends on ships costs. The bigger the ship, the bigger the costs for insurance and participation to enter the sports of BR.
3. X% of the money spent from players, is put in the games price-pool. The rest is for insurance, and money-sink for the game.
4. This would work like gambling, and online poker tournaments for example. The more people who participate, the longer the list of "In The Money" placements, and the more money is there to be won/lost.
5. Once registered, you get a countdown timer before the BR starts, and when its down to 0, everyone gets transferred towards EOS where there is a BR Station where the battle will be held around - the transfer would look like current FTS, and the time spent in transfer could be used to form tactics between friends, groups of players etc.
6. While tranfering, player stats are shown. Numbers of players who have entered, and how many times they've played, how many wins/losses etc, and odds.
7. Now players and spectators can place initial bets.
8. You become a spectator through announcement if you're at an Orion station, or by traveling to the RTS and enter as spectator. This won't require money for any insurance. Spectators are placed in the middle of the BR Station, and can look at the battle through binoculars - placing bets on the outcome.
9. Price pool which consists of a percentage of insurance-costs and bets from everyone is always shown, and odds is calculated through stats/insurance costs, as costs is an indicator of how far a player is within the game by which type of ship they've entered with.
10. Last man standing, and last player wins a big bunch of the price-pool.
11. Everyone else, gets a Blue Print of their ship that works one time. Rebuild, and buy it and you can enter it again - until you've out of money, and are forced back into the PvE gameplay loop.
This would make it possible to create PvP content for Youtubers and Twitch players who is attracted to this game through its PvP features earlier, and it would provide excellent PR for the game to attract more players.
Player oriented e-Sports would result out from it, and politics as well as tactics would form. 50% of players would be able to progress in the game through this alone, as it works just like gambling. The "house" is the game, and it takes some money out as a money-sink, the rest is built to make the price-pool that would make such a sport exiting for players to enter and try their luck.
How would such a game-type progress over time?
If 19 Laborer PvP ships enter with 1,000 cash for insurance, and suddenly someone pumps the price-pool by 10,000 - they know a big ship have entered. How should they react? Above 50% of the price-pool consists of 1 ship. Should they work together to take it down first?
What if a company decides to enter with 20 players, place bets on 1 of them, and use 19 as a shield to try and protect the one player who holds a big majority of the price-pool towards him? How would other players react? How would other companies react? Would they build a group of their own, and try and counter it? Would it force the rest of the ships to try and figure out who was protected, and kill and release that huge price-potential of that player into the price-pool?
Could the devs purposedly jack the price-pool by placing bets on Twich-Youtubers to **** around with them a bit? Making them HUGE targets for everyone else, and challenge them? (Free PR for the game).
The BR Station could be built in a way to offer a ton of different tactics to arise over time. Offering some infantry PvP tactics would be possible for example if the BR station was changed to offer interiour. Would players try and park their ship to win the game "infantry style" on foot within the station? Suddenly the next tactic to arrise would be explosives to just blow the station up. Tactics that would require average higher costs and thus risk per insurance, but thats the fun of it. People would try and solve the puzzle as it evolves, and ladders and bragging rights pluss money and advancements outside of direct mining is possible for 50% of the PvP playerbase.
Is zerging the best tactic? Only trying to win with Laborers? Or would a 30 gun-ship 100x price cost be better with a ton more armor?
I think this would give the devs quick data on PvP balance, and in it self it would be a "cheap" gameplay loop for PvP to attract and keep those players while world-PvP is scarce. The Devs could even host events through this where a special Blue Print for a station, or a ship is up for grabs once in a while.
Right now, you need to grind astroids for hours and hours before PvP becomes available, and this while still having to risk all that work to get to a place where you can test it out. If you're unlucky, you'll die and lose the ship in your first PvP encounter and you are put into the gameplay.-loop of PvE again - mining. For PR purposes towards youtube and twitch content to promote this game towards PvP players, I suggest this:
Focus on building gameplay loops that work for most players. You've got the tutorial today that is heading into the PvE gameplay loop where you learn how to make the Laborer more effective miner, you learn to build stations, and I guess they will make factory tutorial as well later etc.
What I suggest is that after the initial steps within today's tutorial, you get the option to choose what you would like to be trained in. If you like PvE and its mining,factory,station etc focus, then select it and continue with how today's tutorial is being made. But if you like PvP, you are put in another direction.
After you've received the Laborer and have tested out mining, once you come back to learn about crafting, you get to choose what direction you want. Select PvP and you would be tutored in how to remove the container crates, craft/buy a weapon and place that to the ship instead so that we build the early Laborer into a PvP oriented ship instead.
As for gameplay loop that fits PvP players way earlier than currently, I suggest introducing "sports" which would include betting.
My example:
1. Between Orion stations there is a Fast-Travel Station (FTS), and new players who have selected PvP as their preferred gameplay style are guided towards this FTS after the Laborer have been re-built to fit early game PvP.
2. Once there, players are told that this is a Battle Royale (BR) style game, and that to participate, they would need to spend some money to insure their ship. Costs depends on ships costs. The bigger the ship, the bigger the costs for insurance and participation to enter the sports of BR.
3. X% of the money spent from players, is put in the games price-pool. The rest is for insurance, and money-sink for the game.
4. This would work like gambling, and online poker tournaments for example. The more people who participate, the longer the list of "In The Money" placements, and the more money is there to be won/lost.
5. Once registered, you get a countdown timer before the BR starts, and when its down to 0, everyone gets transferred towards EOS where there is a BR Station where the battle will be held around - the transfer would look like current FTS, and the time spent in transfer could be used to form tactics between friends, groups of players etc.
6. While tranfering, player stats are shown. Numbers of players who have entered, and how many times they've played, how many wins/losses etc, and odds.
7. Now players and spectators can place initial bets.
8. You become a spectator through announcement if you're at an Orion station, or by traveling to the RTS and enter as spectator. This won't require money for any insurance. Spectators are placed in the middle of the BR Station, and can look at the battle through binoculars - placing bets on the outcome.
9. Price pool which consists of a percentage of insurance-costs and bets from everyone is always shown, and odds is calculated through stats/insurance costs, as costs is an indicator of how far a player is within the game by which type of ship they've entered with.
10. Last man standing, and last player wins a big bunch of the price-pool.
11. Everyone else, gets a Blue Print of their ship that works one time. Rebuild, and buy it and you can enter it again - until you've out of money, and are forced back into the PvE gameplay loop.
This would make it possible to create PvP content for Youtubers and Twitch players who is attracted to this game through its PvP features earlier, and it would provide excellent PR for the game to attract more players.
Player oriented e-Sports would result out from it, and politics as well as tactics would form. 50% of players would be able to progress in the game through this alone, as it works just like gambling. The "house" is the game, and it takes some money out as a money-sink, the rest is built to make the price-pool that would make such a sport exiting for players to enter and try their luck.
How would such a game-type progress over time?
If 19 Laborer PvP ships enter with 1,000 cash for insurance, and suddenly someone pumps the price-pool by 10,000 - they know a big ship have entered. How should they react? Above 50% of the price-pool consists of 1 ship. Should they work together to take it down first?
What if a company decides to enter with 20 players, place bets on 1 of them, and use 19 as a shield to try and protect the one player who holds a big majority of the price-pool towards him? How would other players react? How would other companies react? Would they build a group of their own, and try and counter it? Would it force the rest of the ships to try and figure out who was protected, and kill and release that huge price-potential of that player into the price-pool?
Could the devs purposedly jack the price-pool by placing bets on Twich-Youtubers to **** around with them a bit? Making them HUGE targets for everyone else, and challenge them? (Free PR for the game).
The BR Station could be built in a way to offer a ton of different tactics to arise over time. Offering some infantry PvP tactics would be possible for example if the BR station was changed to offer interiour. Would players try and park their ship to win the game "infantry style" on foot within the station? Suddenly the next tactic to arrise would be explosives to just blow the station up. Tactics that would require average higher costs and thus risk per insurance, but thats the fun of it. People would try and solve the puzzle as it evolves, and ladders and bragging rights pluss money and advancements outside of direct mining is possible for 50% of the PvP playerbase.
Is zerging the best tactic? Only trying to win with Laborers? Or would a 30 gun-ship 100x price cost be better with a ton more armor?
I think this would give the devs quick data on PvP balance, and in it self it would be a "cheap" gameplay loop for PvP to attract and keep those players while world-PvP is scarce. The Devs could even host events through this where a special Blue Print for a station, or a ship is up for grabs once in a while.