EVE Online to Implement “Grief Counseling” for Lost Ships

The biggest problem facing EVE Online is convincing players to stick around. Courtesy of friend and former colleague of ours, Steve Messner, PC Gamer reports that developer CCP is implementing a company-wide initiative to solve to problem of players bailing-ship: including grief counseling for their first big death.

The phrasing of “grief counseling” is a bit tongue in cheek, to be sure, the idea behind it is a solid one. When a player dies for the first time, moderators will be notified and reach out to the affected player, helping them to understand what went wrong. Due to the presentation of the game, CCP discovered that many new players simply had no idea why they’d died and would often leave the game frustrated.

Steven also reported that contrary to many MMOs, CCP confirmed that EVE continues to attract more new players with each passing year. Most, however, quit after their first week. This initiative aims to stem the bleeding and reinforce the biggest area of growth present in the game to date.

Whether it’s grief counseling, new player support, or any other name they’d like to give it, helping new players understand why they’re knocked back to square one is a good move that should big a big help in the long-term.