So I went and tried out the tutorial and thought I'd do the whole thing, but really the problems I met at the very beginning lasted throughout.
People might think the endgame is far more important than the tutorial, but the games' retention rate for old players is high. There will be people doing their UZ lockouts as long as UZ lockouts exist, people want those ship remains and cores for next universe, right? The gift that keeps on giving?
You know what doesn't keep on giving? The Nexus.
You're going to have some hard to read screenshots here, and I don't care that they're hard to read.
1) So I'm met with a choice from the getgo, do I choose pirate or earthforce?
https://i.imgur.com/4OmxWth.png
obviously i chose pirate.
2) And now a bot tells me about my controls...
https://i.imgur.com/q1GZh80.png
3) What is going on?
https://i.imgur.com/UPNvgwM.png
4) A big black screen pops up... am I dead?
https://i.imgur.com/utf99Of.png
5) A problem...
https://i.imgur.com/E7b7MbP.png
(it could say in the red text to shoot it; recalling previous instructions is a good way to teach someone something, especially since it's a fake obstacle that players won't face, uh, for a very long time and probably once they've already met some friends)
6) Inconsistency (and bad storytelling) awaits
https://i.imgur.com/s1FAlkq.png
7) Don't you DARE!
https://i.imgur.com/Qgsn965.png
Oh let it go already...https://i.imgur.com/4aWrb6j.png
9) ... he's telling me about all this stuff I don't need to know and he's forgetting to tell me about the stuff that I probably ought to know to complete the task;
https://i.imgur.com/xafeuyt.png
10) another day, another wat. i dock at a station to find THIS
https://i.imgur.com/5wTe7sS.png
11) a sign that even i'm getting bored already, i want to go on my main account
https://i.imgur.com/X4nR01y.png
12) not a promising beginning
https://i.imgur.com/ThVJHIB.png
13) and that's me out
https://i.imgur.com/w5lysVu.png
you know what's worse than all of this? you actually WIN the battle in the nexus; as far as i remember; don't you realise that stories are built from CONFLICT? You can't have conflict if you win. HOW ABOUT you make whichever faction you pick LOSE (but it's not your fault since you did your job correctly, though no one knows that since your leader has been horribly killed off off-screen), and you go to Sol or Brigand's Stronghold or wherever in disgrace.
Lambasted for being a failure, instead of one of the higher prospects in the conflict for the nexus, you are blamed for the death of either Skwawks the Parrot or Fleet Admiral Hopeless and so you're relegated to meagre duties and work your way up through the ranks.
TFW when dating sims have better writing (and tutorials) than a game like this.
/explosion over
\explosion back-on
Actually, no.
There are inconsistencies throughout. Is the game teaching you, is a bot teaching you, or is it something lore and personal? If it's the game teaching you, then make it NO Faction. If it's faction based, MAKE IT GOOD. You need a hook, you need something to make the player go, oh shiiiiii~ I'm invested... and I want to see more.
What is needed even more than this is a system where new players are encouraged to reach out to the playerbase and ask for help. Be it in all chat or help chat. A lot of their issues could be resolved with a simple answer to a question.