EVE New Citizens Q&A

Greetings, honorable members of the EVE community. I want to discuss a question which bothers me nowadays. I started playing on trial at the dawn of 2016 and, thanks to finding a caring corp enjoyed the experience. Problem was, i understood that as a fleet member i was completely unworthy and unable to compete with every role, it was impossible to contribute something meaningful on trial account. After that i left the game due to the real life problems.
Recently, with introduction of alpha clones i returned to the game and got faced with the same problem, A newbie like me is completely outweighted, outqualified, outgunned, and outnumbered, o matter what activity i do, more so, i had no opportunity to even acquire ISKs. I was left with about 4 million ISKs in my wallet and was unable to acquire more, Yes, I have tried missions, but as a noob, my standing allows only 1-2 level missions, which are long, time-consuming and unworthy (30-60 thousand ISKs) courier jobs or rat clearing sites. I tried to sneak up in low-sec but with my inability to fly recon ships, i was always killed disregarding all the bookmarks and bubble and gate gang avoiding methods.
My questions are simple:
1) Is there any way for an alpha to be able to make a small fortune without mining 18 hours a day?
2) Is there any way for an alpha to assist a small PvP / Exploration corp?
3) Is there any way to not get killed instantly any opponent locks on you?
4) Is there any way to actually afford a loss of a ship for an alpha account without endless mining of veldspar to replace one?
With my respect, i would be glad if somebody would answer me.

1) Define "small fortune" ? Depends on what are you into, you can:

- try to supplement mining with small scale production. Try to sell ammo in a mission hub system. If you price it right, and research your blueprint, you can get a nice profit.
- you can try killing NPC ships in lowsec asteroid belts with a properly fit frigate. It is possible even for an alpha character. If needed, try to group with few friendly alphas to do the same. Read up on proper ways to pilot a frigate against larger ships so you dont get one-shooted by larger NPCs, watch the local chat and directional scanner so noone (players) drops on you.

Mining in itself is mostly just means to get minerals, not the end profession.

2) There are many. For PVP, try for a tackle frigate, or glass cannon style (no tank, all damage, rely on any fleet logistics for repairs if available) cruiser setup.

3) Fit a proper tank (and in fact, learn on how to fit and fly ships correctly - the latter especially applies to frigate vs larger ship type situations) - ships tend not to blow up so easy.

4) If you engage in PVP, consider the ship as another type of ammunition. Its forfeit once you undock, its a matter of time only.


Also, go find a good training corp, that is also newbie friendly. EVE University guys, maybe? Or hit help chat channels in game. If needed - hit me up in game if you have any questions :)

Thanks for everybody for the replies, they are helpful indeed but i want to ask some question regarding the accessibility of income resources.
They are mostly located in low-sec. It is possible to get there without getting blown up for a newbie, but how to remain here enough time to get "small fortune" (5-10 million ISKs at least) without getting combat probed, dropped on and killed, and when we are talking about low-sec ratting and ninja-salvaging how not to get blown up by vengeful carebears? More important, how to transport the income back to trading hubs?

Money guide for Alphas:
1) Create Alpha
2) Sell mini-skill-injector by the contract instead of using it.
3) Do all career agent missions... by the way, you can repeat it in any faction college... 3 times in row!

Now, you have about 50-80 million ISK, and a lot of different ships and ship blueprints in any station, and standing with your own faction and Sisters of EVE faction good enough to roll level 2 missions.

The alpha account option is more of an unlimited trial rather than actual free to play. It is intended to allow you enough access to be able to participate in most activities in the game and engage in a meaningful way while holding your skills back enough that you will want to sign up for a subscription once you get familiar enough with the game that you personal skills have outpaced your character's skills.

The above being said as an alpha you can make enough income to replace ships. You can participate in PvP in a meaningful way in this game not only as an alpha but as a day one new player. I like to link this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1hwoFYA_k&t=801s

That is a video of an experienced player on a days old alt from back when new characters started out with 56K skill points. By the end of the filming of this video he probably still had less skill points than new characters start out with now. I link this more to prove that this game is far more about what you as a player know than the skill points that your character has or the bling level of the modules that you fit to your ship.

I'm not really going to spend much time trying to inform you of how to do the things that you asked because from my experience you can't really teach anyone how to do something when they are putting the blame externally for things that are 100% in their control

That being said low sec is the place that you go for small gang PvP. IMHO it is by far the most dangerous space in game and everything that you can do in low sec can be done more safely and with greater profit in null sec with the exception of Faction Warfare.

In missions you are looking to make LP. Mission payouts and bounties are not where the isk is at in missions.

To give short answers to your questions:
1) "small fortune" is a very subjective word but the short answer is yes but it will take effort. Nothing in this game is handed to anyone. You need to put the time and effort in to gain the knowledge of the game to be able to more easily do anything.

2) Yes. So much so that there's too much to list here and I would not be the one to do so. The important point is that if you don't see one you have not tried very hard at all. Again it has less to do with the alpha account and more to do with the player.

3) Yes. You need to understand Eve is a game that has a lot of metagaming involved. Much of the PvP is done prior to engaging and "locking up your opponent". There is a lot to this and no way I can even begin to scratch the surface here but you need to actively go out and seek knowledge in this game, mostly through experience. Eve is not a themepark MMO that walks you through every aspect of the game with breadcrumb questlines. You need to choose your own path and seek out knowledge and experiences.

4) Yes. Furthermore there is no reason for you to even have to pay for your ship looses. There are plenty of new player friendly corps out there willing to give free PvP ships to new players. If you insure the ships and go loose them in PvP you can actually make isk with each ship loss.

The bottom line is that you need to change your perspective if you want to enjoy this game. Figure out what you want to do and ask us how to do that more effectively. Don't blame the game for your lack of knowledge, and don't expect the game to hold your hand and walk you through stuff as this is a sandbox PvP MMO not a themepark MMO.

And also don't belive you can PVP as an alpha. You can't, because you don't have the knowledge, nor the money to afford to loose 50 ships to learn and get some experience. And you can't have the skills either. Sometimes if you have a big luck you can blow up another alpha, but most of the time ppl will just shoot you in 2 sec, so it wont be so entertaining.

you can pvp as an alpha. being an alpha doesn't mean having no knowledge nor the money to afford to loose 50 ships. as for the in-game skills, player skills and experience can make up for that. It won't (being Omega wont either) make you as strong as those having all skills at lv V, fitting their ships with full factional modules and having 5 bil in their brain (luckily now they can't have a 3-bil off-grid booster), but you should be able to take down a lot of Omega newbies or carebears, as well as the alphas.

Yep



Yep



People who know more than me say yep, but in the ship my alpha flies, I assume that if I get locked, I'm dead. So I avoid getting locked. Might be different if I actually fit the ship for pvp.



Yep.

My experience so far as an alpha is that shooting rocks for pofit is a: boring enough to make me play a different game and b: not actually that profitable.

But heading to empty low or null systems, whether by going directly to them (use map, pick low traffic route, and if I do find a gatecamp and die to it, big deal, just go buy another cheap ship) or taking shortcuts through WH, that is proving both fun and profitable. Certainly enough to keep me in cheap pvp ships to lose. The WHs themselves are proving a bit deadly, but heading in, making a safe, finding an exit from there means I only die if I forget to check dscan for combat probes or if I get very unlucky and find a WH gatecamp. And every ship that explodes is a lesson for me, a mistake to try and avoid for next time. And having a nemesis and helios appear in my safe and me reacting fast enough to get away (I'm pretty sure they stuffed up, but I'm still counting it), that was a whole lot of fun, despite the fact it realistically only saved me a million isk.

And joining a corp, one that offers both the chance to pvp and hands out cheap beginner frigates for free to do it in, that is also proving fun and while maybe not profitable, it's also not costing me isk.

Will things get easier once I sub? No doubt. But until then, still plenty of fun to be had for me, and isk to be made so I can spend it on more fun.

Sigh, where to start.

Ok, lets clear up some confusion. "understood that as a fleet member i was completely unworthy and unable to compete with every role, it was impossible to contribute something meaningful on trial account." Couldn't be more wrong.

Eve is not based on raids or duels. Eve is based on the principle of fleet+1. Other games might expect you to be maxed out to contribute because raids and groups have limits, but Eve is effectively unlimited group size. More ships are always better. So you are not Competing for roles in Eve at ALL. The ability to follow directions and willingness, a good attitude, and willingness to lose your ship is what will get you in fleets. If you meann solo, well, you're a newbie. You don't have the player skills, but many people have posted videos of vets successfully doing pvp with characters less than one day old. So the limitation isn't the ship or your character skills, it is your player skills.

The answer to all your questions is yes. But there isn't just one answer to each question. Your best bet is to join an established corporation that will train you and has a ship replacement plan. They will personally walk you through everything and make it fun.



LS doesn't have bubble gate camps.

1. I don't know. I never needed a small fortune, not even on my Alpha.

A fully fit frigate for my Alpha is under 2.5 million ISK. Some larger corps hand these out FREE.

2. Yes.

Can you pilot a frigate and fit any sort of EWAR module? I believe Alpha can uses these from birth: warp scrambler, warp disruptor, stasis webifier, tracking disruptor, sensor dampener, target painter. If not, each one takes little time to train to level 1.

Can you pilot a frigate and fit a microwarp drive (MWD)? You can be a scout as well as make tactical bookmarks "pings" for fleet warp-ins. Being a scout sounds simple, but it is a complex job of quickly identifying enemies and their capabilities, and relaying that info to your fleet commander.

3. Yes.

a. Run away before they lock you.
b. Don't let them lock you.
c. Pilot your ship tactically so they can't hit you even if they can lock you.
d. Fly with friends.

4. Yes. Don't mine (unless you really enjoy mining).

If you find repeatedly hitting yourself in the face with a brick hurts, why do you keep doing that?

Even low level missions pay more (or you could mine in nulsec), but there are many other ways to earn ISK. You can invent your own profession. Only do what you enjoy doing.

I made my early riches by buying ore, hauling it to a single station, reprocessing it, and hauling it to a trade hub and selling the minerals. My business grew and grew. I still do a variation of this today; it is called trade hauling (buy low, haul, sell higher). Station trading is a similar career, except you never undock, or you hire other people to haul for you.

However what I find enjoyable very likely differs from you, as I tend to enjoy stuff other people consider boring.

A group of one-day newbros can ...

Also checkout
/r/Eve on Reddit: Welcome to Free to Play Eve! New Player Q&A Megathread