Doek, though I had no intention of responding any further to this thread I would like to recognize the value of your point about how people don't do much research beforehand.  I see your point and I'll reiterate it in my own words: all they have to be is interested enough to try it out and then there are plenty of reasons for them to stay (paralysis included).  Thus there's a chance they never considered the EP system/gap before they got hooked into the game. 

If there's one thing I do believe in, it's how lazy people can be.  So yes maybe new don't consider the EP system often enough such that any changes to it would would not effect how many people would want to try out the game.  But then again you could say this about any feature of the game.  So theoretically if you subscribe to this logic changing almost any aspect of the game would have negligible effect on enticing or pushing away new players.  The only thing that would matter is marketing.

This might be the case.  I hope to god it isn't the state of our society to be this lazy, but it might be the case.

Just more unsubstantiated rhetoric.  I refer you to WoW, well known for catering to the casual/new player and also the highest grossing MMO ever.  DEV Zoom said it himself, no MMO has 100% retention rate.  There has to be incentive for a new player to join the game or the game will die.

So the inverse of your statement is far more likely to be true:  catering to the veterans at the expense of the new player is what kills games.

Cassius:

That is the core of the issue I'm trying to get at.  My argument is that it's gamebreaking for enough people that if we change this aspect of the game, the game would become considerably more successful and entice considerably more new players. 

Another thing I'm tired of hearing.  A todler understands this concept.  When I hear this, it just sounds like you feel threatened that you might lose what you have.  It sounds like you would like me to leave because I might incite change if I stay around.

As for the whole pay2win.  I define pay2win as paying for an in-game benefit with real money.

So if you are upset because the value of EP per dollar spent on the game would be reduced that means you weren't buying only play time with your subscription, you were buying EP.  Which means you were buying an in-game benifit and you're upset because you're going to get less for your money than someone else.  Thus the game is defined as pay2win.

However if you were only buying play time with your subscription changes to the EP system might be upsetting but not because you felt that you had bought EP and it was being devalued.

I don't deny that it would could make the game easier for noobs.  If you want to define that as a "handout" so be it.  I was just trying to distinguish the difference between a lump sum handout and a gradual gain.  You originally said something to the effect that if we just gave a noob everything at the start of the game it wouldn't be fun.  I agree, however GEPS doesn't do that.  In fact it's still considerably slower to get to end game content than most competing MMOs.

DEV Zoom:

Thanks for taking the time to read my arguments and respond.  I appreciate being heard by the DEV team.

That's a very strong point.  Something that I forgot to consider is that you have a very limited marketing budget and that likely contributes more to the lack of new players than the EP gap.  Although I don't think it invalidates my premise that it is a leading issue for new players that can be fixed by the DEV team in a reasonable period of time. 

Right now you are developing new content for the game or fixing old content.  I don't believe that making those changes to the game will prove to bring in more new players or retain more old players than fixing the EP gap issue.  I might be wrong, I don't have access to the game exit poles of people quitting the game in under a few months of play.  Do you have them?  I'm also unable to do a case study on the topic. 

There is some evidence that I have access to that lead me to believe my premise is true.  Of the new players I've talked with the EP gap is at least a major concern and I've never seen it approached in a positive light from the perspective of a new player.  It also seems to be a topic of constant debate here on the forums by a number of people that play this game for other redeeming aspects despite heavily disliking the constant disadvantage they feel they are forced to endure.

So, with the limited resources I have access to this is why I've made my premise what it is.  I'd be happy to look at any evidence that shows that new players consider the EP gap a positive attribute of the game.  Also I'd welcome any evidence that shows EP gap is not one of the leading causes why new players will reject this game. 

On the other hand, I concede my entire argument if the premise is false. 

I think at the very least a case study done on the concerns of new/potential players should be done before the steam release.  Address the concerns of these new players before the STEAM release to get the maximum draw possible from the release.  That's ultimately what I want and what I think the game needs.  More new players.  Also it would be a way of closing the books on the issue of the EP gap if it shows that it's not a major concern of new players (well, at least for a while).

Blocker:

Just because EvE does it and is successful doesn't mean that it's the EP system that made EvE successful.  I personally believe it has more to do with there famous economy which EvE is known for.  It would take an in-depth analysis anyways to make any conclusions there.  I would also like to add that Eve's skill system does definitely put off new players.  There's a very active buy&sell for accounts on EvE.  Also there have been many discussions on Eve forums about it also.

Another way of looking at it though is that Eve is the only major MMO that uses a system like the EP system and is strongly successful.  So the normal experience system is a viable option also considering how many successful MMOs actually use it.  There is no 'rule' that Perpetuum must use the current EP system to be successful.  I tried to come to a middle ground with GEPS though so that the veterans would be less upset about the change.

You might be right, there might be something out there that people are rejecting this game over more than the EP gap.  However I believe the EP gap is a serious issue because it is a topic of constant debate here.  I'm pretty sure if you did a small case study lining up games and find out why people didn't play this one you would find that one of the most recurring fixable/changeable issue would be the gap.  Some of the data might be available already if they have a "why did you quit the game" survey.  I'd be very interested in seeing what the results were on that.

Again though, most issues require a massive modification to the game (adding new features or content).  It takes time and is hard to do well.  What I suggest could be completed by a single programmer in less than a day.  When you look at the amount of effort vs the amount of potential new players it seems like a no-brainer to me.

I want to thank you for staying on topic and being constructive though.  This topic is already degenerating into the tangent of "it's not fair that a new player might have an easier time than I did leveling up."

Tux:

Agreed.  I made this very point when responding to an alternative system where buying/selling of accounts could be done though Avatar Creations directly.  It's not fun to buy all your EP at once.  It's fun to build it up over time which my system does.

GEPS does not "only benifit new players".  In fact I showed that Veterans will maintain their EP advantage regardless.  This is not the case for most games.  Most games there is a "max level" where only skill separates players.  GEPS still gives the EP advantage to Veterans.

They don't!  They still have less EP than a Veteran?  How is this an advantage to the new player?  Also, even if this was true, I answered it already.  We want more new players in the game.  I have never once suggested my system was fair to Veterans, just that it is acceptable cost to bring in new blood.

I feel like I'm talking to a wall... look up, 3 years to get 75% of the EP of a veteran.  How is this even remotely close to "grind to level 80 in a few weeks"?  I get tired of hearing this argument.  And your opinion about how it wouldn't be fair to (veterans?) if we used GEPS is not supported by any facts, or well-though theories that I've been made aware of.

This would be another way of dealing with the issue also but only if there were enough people selling to make the prices reasonable.  With the STEAM release, I'm not sure that would be the case.  Also people like the feeling of personal achievement.  If you start an account at 0 EP and work it up from there there's a sense of achievement that isn't quite the same as paying 200$ for an account that has more EP.

On the other hand, being the realist I am, I realize that more veterans this system more acceptable and it would provide another source of income for the Dev's.  I would consider this an acceptable compromise.  I just want the issue dealt with.

Cassius

I agree with much of what you said.  While your system might deal with the issue right now (I'm not entirely convinced though) It doesn't scale into the future when EP of veterans continues to grow.  It would have to be updated all the time.

Personally I found getting quite a few extensions all at once then dropping to such a slow rate of EP gain was very frustrating.  Maybe this isn't true for everyone.  Ultimately though we both are talking about increased EP for newer accounts.  You suggest a total of about 210,000 EP for an account of 3 months old.  Mine is sitting considerably higher at almost 400,000 EP.  However I also suggested upping the low level extensions requirement a bit.  Also you could use 2x or 1.5x system but I don't think that would be enough to really entice new players.

Finally, your system doesn't address this huge numerical gap that new players see.  As burial said, "been gone over many times".  It's something that is seriously considered by people and isn't a non-issue.

Another Consideration:

Right now when you make a trial account you are given 20k EP to spend and if you decide to subscribe you get another 20k right away.  This is quite a bit of EP for a new player and they can get quite a few low level Extensions for it.  Then they hit a wall and only gain 1440 EP for the following day which might not even be enough to buy the next extension level they want.  I personally found this very frustrating going from getting so many extensions to getting none/little.

With GEPS new players would get increased EP/min anyways so we can reduce the 20k/20k EP granted at the start of the game.  Maybe 10k/10k?  With some luck this might even reduce the amount of trial account exploitations we have in the game.

A Possible Way to Expand on GEPS:

Tie it in with Assignments/Missions.  Give anyone that completes an Assignment the increased EP/min rate for a length of time like 4 hours to a maximum of 24 hours.  This would give new players the feeling that they are doing something in game to lessen that gap between them and the veteran players and a reason to keep coming back to the game and play it for a few hours each day and develop friendships in-game with others.

The Common Argument Against GEPS:

“The current EP system we have in place actually doesn't give that huge an advantage to veteran players after XX months.  There's no need to change it.”

I've heard all kinds of variations of this argument.  Regardless of if there is and advantage or not new players see the tremendous EP gap and often look no further.  You've lost that prospective player before he has a chance to learn the reasons behind your point of view. 

If you truly believe that there isn't much of an advantage after XX months then I ask you a counter question:  Isn't it worth giving up *some* of that “not much advantage” to get significantly more new players into the game?