EVE New Citizens Q&A

OK. So some of you have already read my comments in New Players: Very First Steps on EVE being a gerontocracy. Its true. The pace of training and constancy of one's progression as you go about your other activities mimics RL in a very real way. I wouldn't change it. I'm the kind of twisted obsessive that doesn't mind taking years to build a character, lay my Secret Evil Plans and yadda yadda. To me its just part of what makes it so easy to react to EVE as we do to RL, especially after we've been playing for a while. Just part of what makes the game so intense.

But there's a flip side to this that you as a new player can exploit once you stop being so worried about being new.
Since EVE is so similar to RL (Real Life), it takes a lot of RL skills to play it especially to play it well. Look at the clues CCP themselves give us. There's a notepad, calculator, and evemail groups.

So what are the short cuts that make the edge that the more experienced players have thinner?

1. Capacity to learn. All us experienced players know how knowledge is power in EVE. You do NOT need the knowledge that we have in order for us to respect you. But you DO need us to see you are doing your homework. If you are always only asking questions about everything except reading and homework you are doing, that answers a question we have about you. If you are asking us questions about your own reading, you're automatically re categorized. First as someone who has the basic capacity to stay and play. Second as someone who will have stuff to teach us about soon if not now.

2. Specialize. Your Tech 2 fitted Tech 1 battlecruiser is as good on paper as anyone else's and a level 5 skill is a level 5 skill for anyone. You give yourself better odds at one thing and work out from there. Do this as soon as you can. EVEmon is a really good way to base an entire training system around a specific ship, for example. Well chosen specializations, skills that are in high demand in most corporations include logistic ship piloting,

3. Don't Vex it Just PLEX it. You can buy ISK for real money. $16.00 dollars US gets you between 700 and 900 million ISK (give or take 50 million) I started out determined to do it without buying PLEX, but quickly saw that for me there was no good reason to limit the number of toys I could buy.

4. Volunteer. If you want to play with the big boys sooner rather than later, volunteer to help with your corp. Nothing takes the edge off being a newbie like getting the kind of respect that the old timers get because you are taking the initiative. You don't need 20 million skill points to be the go to guy for the standing fleet. You only have to know how to set up a fleet and simply be the one who starts a fleet whenever you log on. Volunteering is actually so effective that you have to be careful and pace yourself. Watch out what you ask for, sometimes you do get it.

5. Network. Get yourself in with experienced players as soon as you can. It can be intimidating to have to approach the Old Timers but you progress so much faster with our help. There is no comparison. The smart ones among us are happy to help you. We know a good investment when we see it.

6. What can your 2 million SP character do as well as a character with 50 million SP? Anyone can salvage, a player with 20 million SP or a player with .5 million SP. So the guys with 20 million SP are just as good or bad off if its you or one of them who goes on a level 5 mission to salvage. Or scouting. Etc.

7. Real Life skills. If you can do spreadsheets you have a shortcut to the Inner Circle of just about any corporation. If you can effectively infiltrate another corp, you become one of the heavies overnight. If you aren't afraid to learn to lead a group into battle, you're a future FC and your name will be mentioned. If you're willing to recruit new members for your corp, chances you're on the fast track to Director. Diplomacy and the ability to negotiate. The moment you have the nerve to step up and put this kind of skill on the table, you go from player to Player. Because in EVE it matters. It matters if you, for example, have a skilled negotiator or not.

8. Cosmetics. Take a bit of time with the aesthetics of your character. Remove the charge for sending emails etc. Give yourself a cool bio. Take some time to customize your portrait.

9. Forums. The EVE insider forums are a quick way to put a bunch of stuff out there that comes up when someone does a google search on your character.

10. Voice comms. If you are in voice comms you have a voice. If you are not you do not.

And some things about us Old Timers that you should keep in mind. Be impressed. But not too impressed.

1. That 50 million SP character could be owned by some joker who is as new as you but just had a few hundred dollars to drop on a character.

2. Just because they've been around forever doesn't mean they've been playing a lot. Some character from three years ago could have no more than six months or so of actual playing time.

3. Because EVE is so complex you could be a specialist in something that a far more experienced player knows nothing about.
If you are in with people who devalue you simply because you are new at this game, I'd recommend that you find yourself a new group of guys to play with. Now this is not the same as hazing. There's often some teasing and testing when someone new shows up. People are entitled to that because that's how everyone gets to know who they are dealing with. You get to know that too. Standard primate politics and all in good fun even when it isn't. You'll know it when you see it.


New Players Very First Steps Guide

http://heartsandmindsalliance.org/index.php?option=com_kunena&func=view&catid=4&id=45&Itemid=232

I've been here for 6 years.... I'm so very tired

You can’t teach a pig to sing. It’s a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

Good stuff, thumbs up.

Agreed. And they'll leave EVE for other, less taxing, pastimes. The issue isn't how we make EVE easier so that its more appealing to the kind of people I probably won't want to play with anyway. The issue is how we reach out to all the gamers out there who don't yet know that this is the Galaxy for their kind of fanatic.

I like pigs and do not want to annoy them. They are more delicious when they are happy.

Thanks for this, As a new player I've been reading as much as I can. Guides like this really help us little guys out. Look forward to flying with you all! :)

Assembly of Conscious Thought

A Breakaway faction of the Society of Conscious Thought. The issue that caused the schism was over the importance of players. The Assembly accepts only applicants who are players. No NPCs.

Members of the Assembly of Conscious Thought pledge themselves to the following principals:

We like to be aware that we can do more with an MMO than just entertain ourselves. In addition to having fun playing the game for the sake of the game we enjoy being alert to opportunities to learn. These opportunities to learn are inherent in how the central nervous systems of we gamers interact with the virtual worlds we inhabit.

EMOTIONAL INNOCULATION #1: Any time anybody says (or does) anything that causes you to be angry--stop. Assume it is a trap. Breathe deeply. Consider the options. (This is especially fitting in instances where someone in your group tells you something that causes you to be angry at anyone other than them.)

ELEVENTH METAGAMING EXERCISE: Separation of the map from the territory. The thing is not the words that describe the thing. The menu is not the meal. What you believe about the world is not the same thing as the world. Every single time you are confronted with someone who disagrees with you, with information that is in contravention with your current information, especially beloved cherished longheld beliefs, monitor how upset the particular incident makes you and exactly what it was. This includes personal insults and accusations. These are particularly instructive because as we all know, you don't get upset at anything anyone says unless they have touched a nerve. A good agent can tell far more about someone than that person knows about themselves in a relatively short conversation just by tracking these reactions. Bonus Insight: It is awesome, really truly awesome, how much information you suddenly get access to once you can see past your own reflexive reactions. Second Free Bonus Insight: This is really just an elaboration of the Golden Rule exercise.