Today, I finally launched something that I've been wanting to do for a while. Since I started teaching classes back in Agony, I've had requests from people to come over and run some PVP training for their corp, their friends, or in some cases just for them as an individual. I actually went ahead with it a few times, and for the most part the classes were very successful. The main problem I had was the need to balance running our own public classes with the demand for private training on the side, and given that we never had many instructors this was a battle I could rarely win.
Since I stepped down from Agony, it's always been something that I wanted to revisit. I think there are a lot of people out there who could benefit from having access to this kind of tuition, but right now outside of dedicated training corps there isn't really anyone that I know of who offers such a service. As of today... There is!
You can find the details on the new PVP Training page that you'll see up at the top. At this stage things are all very provisional, and will no doubt change as I figure out how best everything fits together.
While we're on the subject, I'll take a moment to explain what, for me, is the most difficult part - the price. I've always said it's not about the money, and I mean that - I'm a big believer in free information, and I'd much rather see another newbie happily embarking on a career of PVP than pad my (admittedly fairly space poor) wallet. In the end, it comes down to two things. The first is time - while I'd love to help out everyone who needs it I physically don't have the time to do so. Charging an isk fee helps keep the number of requests to a manageable level, as well as letting me offset the classes against my existing play time (since time spent teaching becomes time I don't have to spend making isk).
The second factor is appreciation of value. When I offered these in the past with Agony, we actually had quite a few situations where clients would cancel at the last minute, or simply not turn up. Quite a lot of time and effort goes into preparation even when a class doesn't ultimately go ahead, and there are few things more disheartening than spending that time only to find your students aren't really all that bothered and decided to do something else instead. I hope that by charging a reasonable amount for my time, I'll dissuade the people who aren't really that interested and keep this kind of situation from happening too often.
Coming up with the right price is even more challenging. In the past I've always done it on an ad-hoc basis, ranging from totally free to multiple billions depending on the customer and the nature of what they wanted. I've never really been happy with that method, and this time I'm going to try something a little simpler - a fixed rate based on my time, regardless of whether I spend that time taking one guy out roaming, or delivering a lecture to a hundred students. I know it's not ideal, but I'd like to see how it works. The figure I'm trying out to begin with - 400mil for a typical 2-3 hour session - is around the average of what people paid previously. It's hopefully enough that it still means something to your average corporation, but isn't insurmountable for an individual or small group either.
The people who miss out under this system are those who really are interested, but genuinely can't afford to pay what I'm asking (a group which contains those who would arguably benefit most of all - brand new players). I thought about varying the rate based on how much you can afford, but then I'd effectively be asking you to tell me how much isk I can charge you, which seems a little odd. What I've decided to do instead is offer my time completely free to anyone who can convince me that they really deserve it. All I ask is that you write to me explaining why you think you'd make a good candidate for training, and how your PVP experience would change if you were to get it. How many of these I'm able to act on will probably depend on the volume, as well as how many paid requests I get. If I can't give you the time, I'll do what I can to point you towards any information or people that I think might be able to help you.
So that's the idea. As with everything, I expect it's going to be a case of giving a try and seeing how things go. A lot will depend on the level of demand that I get - having never really advertised the service before, this is very much an unknown factor. Either way, I'd be interested in hear your feedback in the comments, and if you're interested in organising something for yourself or for your corp, feel free to drop me a line!
Since I stepped down from Agony, it's always been something that I wanted to revisit. I think there are a lot of people out there who could benefit from having access to this kind of tuition, but right now outside of dedicated training corps there isn't really anyone that I know of who offers such a service. As of today... There is!
You can find the details on the new PVP Training page that you'll see up at the top. At this stage things are all very provisional, and will no doubt change as I figure out how best everything fits together.
While we're on the subject, I'll take a moment to explain what, for me, is the most difficult part - the price. I've always said it's not about the money, and I mean that - I'm a big believer in free information, and I'd much rather see another newbie happily embarking on a career of PVP than pad my (admittedly fairly space poor) wallet. In the end, it comes down to two things. The first is time - while I'd love to help out everyone who needs it I physically don't have the time to do so. Charging an isk fee helps keep the number of requests to a manageable level, as well as letting me offset the classes against my existing play time (since time spent teaching becomes time I don't have to spend making isk).
The second factor is appreciation of value. When I offered these in the past with Agony, we actually had quite a few situations where clients would cancel at the last minute, or simply not turn up. Quite a lot of time and effort goes into preparation even when a class doesn't ultimately go ahead, and there are few things more disheartening than spending that time only to find your students aren't really all that bothered and decided to do something else instead. I hope that by charging a reasonable amount for my time, I'll dissuade the people who aren't really that interested and keep this kind of situation from happening too often.
Coming up with the right price is even more challenging. In the past I've always done it on an ad-hoc basis, ranging from totally free to multiple billions depending on the customer and the nature of what they wanted. I've never really been happy with that method, and this time I'm going to try something a little simpler - a fixed rate based on my time, regardless of whether I spend that time taking one guy out roaming, or delivering a lecture to a hundred students. I know it's not ideal, but I'd like to see how it works. The figure I'm trying out to begin with - 400mil for a typical 2-3 hour session - is around the average of what people paid previously. It's hopefully enough that it still means something to your average corporation, but isn't insurmountable for an individual or small group either.
The people who miss out under this system are those who really are interested, but genuinely can't afford to pay what I'm asking (a group which contains those who would arguably benefit most of all - brand new players). I thought about varying the rate based on how much you can afford, but then I'd effectively be asking you to tell me how much isk I can charge you, which seems a little odd. What I've decided to do instead is offer my time completely free to anyone who can convince me that they really deserve it. All I ask is that you write to me explaining why you think you'd make a good candidate for training, and how your PVP experience would change if you were to get it. How many of these I'm able to act on will probably depend on the volume, as well as how many paid requests I get. If I can't give you the time, I'll do what I can to point you towards any information or people that I think might be able to help you.
So that's the idea. As with everything, I expect it's going to be a case of giving a try and seeing how things go. A lot will depend on the level of demand that I get - having never really advertised the service before, this is very much an unknown factor. Either way, I'd be interested in hear your feedback in the comments, and if you're interested in organising something for yourself or for your corp, feel free to drop me a line!