EVE Online Debuts AI Assistant for New Players

While most game developers are hesitant or silent about the benefits of AI, EVE Online’s CCP Games is happy to be an exception.

They have announced Aura Guidance, a prototype chat tool designed to help new players with onboarding.

This long-term initiative was trained using over 5.8 million help messages previously received from rookie players. It aims to lower the barrier to entry for what is known as a notoriously complex game.

After analyzing these messages, it was discovered that they contained over 700,000 genuine questions, with only 176 of them being repeated common questions.

Therefore, besides handling the vast range of player questions, it is also hoped that Aura Guidance will make players feel less embarrassed to ask “stupid questions.” Additionally, the system operates within the game screen and can direct players directly within that UI.

It’s also worth noting that CCP Games is being cautious in its deployment, calling it “an early prototype that’s in ongoing development.”

Indeed, Aura Guidance will be rolled out in a classic A/B testing manner, with half of new players gaining access to the tool, while the other half will experience the current flow. Even players given access to the tool can choose to switch it off.

This approach will allow CCP Games to observe how the two groups perform across key metrics such as retention, engagement, and monetization.

“Aura Guidance is an opportunity to significantly improve how players find information and reduce friction for new capsuleers taking their first jumps into New Eden,” said creative director Bergur Finnbogason.

“Players submitted over 5.8 million Rookie Help messages in just the nine months we analyzed. That’s an impossible amount of content to navigate when you’re trying to answer a single question. We built Aura Guidance to make that process easier, enabling capsuleers to get fast, accurate answers drawn from the generations of rookies and veterans who helped them navigate EVE’s complexities.”

However, given the negative reaction to AI from some hardcore gamers, it’s notable that CCP Games has also explicitly stated that this new initiative does not use generative AI, with executive producer Snorri Árnason emphasizing this point.

He is also keen to stress that it “does not produce game content, create art, or replace creative work.”

“Aura Guidance has been carefully designed by our team and is grounded in existing player support data to supplement Rookie Chat, not supersede it,” Árnason adds.

CCP Games also reports that the cost of the system will be “comparable to running a single small European household for a year,” noting this is a negligible amount compared to the energy consumed by the game servers.

Source: https://www.blockchaingamer.biz/news/41714/eve-online-new-ai-rookie-help-tool-aura-guidance/