EVE New Citizens Q&A

Welcome (back) to Eve!

1. You can buy skill injectors for ISK now which is a viable, but expensive, method to catch up. You should note that skill points are only one limiting factor to performance; pilot skill, which can only be gained by experience, is generally a much bigger contributor to performing well.

2. You can rat, you can do market stuff, you can be an adorable newbro and get showered with ISK, you can join a corp that gives free ships and other things to newbros, etc.

3. No, and to my knowledge it never was primarily gate camping. There are tons of PvP opportunities out there and you need to find a corp that focuses on the type of PvP that you enjoy. If you don't know what type of PvP you enjoy, you can try all different types of corps until you start to get a better idea.

4. It's definitely not wrong to give the game another chance! I would highly recommend that you focus on finding a corp that will help you learn the ropes and give you support when you need it. There are two that I often recommend to people. If you prefer more structured learning, or want to be able to try many aspects of Eve within one corp, check out Eve University. If you prefer less structured learning and enjoy null sec, check out Pandemic Horde. These are just two options, and there are many more, but that should start you off on the right foot.

Don't let your SP limit you, new players can contribute quite a bit even in PvP. Your starting faction really is an insignificant choice in the long run unless you enjoy role playing. Get out there, have some fun, and let us know if you have more questions!

First time I started playing eve - I gave up after a fairly short try - all it seemed to be was auto pilot here, orbit, and shoot red x's. Then autopilot there and rinse and repeat. However, I kept seeing articles about how eve was a really deep and hardcore open world pvp game. I couldnt understand it - since it really didnt mesh with my brief experience. After a while I decided to come back and really give it a try - to try and figure out why people kept saying what they were saying about the pvp. Well, once I really dove into the game there was no turning back because those folk were all right. Ultimately, eve is what you make it. There is no falling behind, because there is no once size fits all.

For instance - I cant tell you how to be self sufficient, because I dont know what it is that you like to do. Some folk just want to mine, others like missioning, some like small ship pvp (frigs and the like) - for me I fly capitals and blops. Some styles of play require more isk then others - but there is no one style that is right for all.

Of course being an older player with more sp opens up more options to you, but as you are a new having lots of options is not a good thing. For instance, you could inject all the skills you need to fly a capital if you wanted to - but since you dont know how to use one properly - all you are going to do is get yourself blown up which will lead to endless frustration with yourself and the game. Ultimately, its better to just go slow - start with small ships and get a handle on the game and then move on to other things as the situation arises.

As for pvp - its not mostly gate camps - although gate camps are always around. There is a wide variety of pvp - everything from hs ganking to large scale fleet actions. Just like with everything else in eve - there is no one size fits all.

Your best bet is to just play the game. Talk to people, make friends, join a corp.

Finally, as for specific ways to make isk - well when i was young and just needed pocket change to keep me in t1 pvp ships - i used to do exploration - there is still good isk made in exploration combat sites. Personally, these days I find that to be too much work. Now I just live off what I kill - and scamming. Love the scamming.

1. Just play the game. Don't compare yourself to others. Unlock the ships that you want, and play with them.

The veterans have more skillpoints, but in this game you're not building a character, you're building a whole account full of characters. Veterans just have more choices for what ship to fly; once they're in the ship and facing you, the skills they have for other ships are useless. The game is designed to be played ship vs. ship, not skillpoints vs. skillpoints.

Just play.

2. There are a number of PVE activities; just google "making money in EVE" and you'll see plenty of guides. All you have to do is don't spend like a clueless person, and don't fly bling ships when the basic ship with sensible, cheap modules, does the trick. Train for some of the utilities, like being able to fly an industrial to haul your loot to the market, a few trading skills to reduce some of the taxes, etc.

3. PVP is extremely varied; it's amusing that you think it's mostly gate-camping. Of course, to see a lot of it, you have to take a chance and get out of the hell-hole that is high-sec, and go to null or wormhole space for the truly beautiful fights.

4. The issue isn't the lack of a mentor, it's you. This is a sandbox game, and if you can't function without a mentor, you won't make it. You have toys (ships, guns, modules), play with them. If you truly believe a mentor is needed for you to have the fun, then consider it from the mentor's point of view... babysitting you is a job, what exactly do they get paid for it?

That said, a good corp won't ask you to contribute more than you're willing; just participate and enjoy the organized ops and fights. Of course, in high-sec, corps suck because there isn't much that they can do that you can't do better, solo, so why pay taxes or mine for them or whatever. No point.

Find a wormhole, lowsec, or null corp, and the difference in quality and fun will be like night and day.

1.) The only thing that limits you as a new player is your knowledge of the game. Skill points don't hold you back from anything really so if you want to be "not years behind" then learn the game.

2.) There are far too many answers for this. You really need to figure out what you enjoy doing first and then figure out how to make isk doing that. Trying to find a good way to make isk and then figuring out what you like doing is a recipe for a sub cancellation. So if you plan on chasing after isk don't waste your time.

3.) I don't think that PvP ever was mainly gate camping. I mean I am aware it has always existed but I don't think it was ever the main form of PvP in this game. However one of the regular PvPers in here can comment better on this than me.

4.) Play the game and make friends. If you can find people that you enjoy playing with then yes this game won't be much fun for you. However there isn't a fast easy way for you to find people that you enjoy playing with. You have to put in the time and effort and will likely have to try a few times.

I don't believe in any inherent rights or wrongs.

There really isn't any difference between the races any longer as far as one being better than the other. Flying all 4 races small ships is not all that much of a skill point spread. Many skills are shared for all races ships. So the only skills that are race specific are the racial ship skill and racial gun skill and even then caldari and galente share hybrids. All races use drones and 3 races use missiles.

Getting all 4 races frigate and destroyer skill as well as hybrids, projectiles and lazors up to level 3 or even 4 won't take all that long. With those skills you can try a lot of different ships and piloting styles and get a feel for what you like.

Further as you go deeper into the game you will likely find that having options is far more valuable than specializing.

TL;dr
I would not get too hung up on making some long term skill plan. Just make friends and play the game. If you focus on having fun everything else will fall into place. If you focus on not being years behind then you'll probably just always be years behind.

It used to. Before jump drives we formed most (large) gangs at a gate camp because it allowed us to keep the pipe open and pilots that lost their ship the day before to resupply in empire and join up safely. If the only way to enter a system is using a gate, camping a gate makes sense. These days camping a gate is an invitation to get hotdropped.

What this game has that World of Warcraft lacks is that a new player can be useful. Sure you can't fly every ship in the game but a extra frigate flying tackle or EWAR (look those terms up) can swing the fight should you chose to PVP which I recommend. Making isk wise for example Fleet warfare, Venture mining in wormholes should easlly keep you in stacks of frigates even as a new character I would not recommend throwing real world money at PLEX and Skill injectors until you know what you are doing nor would would worry about keeping up with 10 year old characters.

Log on to have fun with the character you have not progress, progression just happens.