EVE New Citizens Q&A

You're missing the point entirely. You can do pretty much anything you want. What you can't do is do it in total isolation without having to deal with other players.

Other players being able to "do anything" includes being able to shoot at you.


It's easy to protect yourself. The game has many, many tools for someone who does not want to fight to avoid people who are looking to kill him. However, you have to engage your brain and use them.

The game does not protect you from other players, the game simply provides tools to let you protect yourself from other players. You may even find it fun and intellectually stimulating to have to deal with challenges as dynamic as another player plotting against you.

And if you do "get jumped"...What's the worst that happens? You lose a ship? Who cares? I lose tons of ships

PvP is not consensual. There are plenty of ways to avoid it, but you have to avoid it on purpose. To be successful in exploration you have to be hyper-alert. There are a couple of active threads on this board right now that discuss this very thing.

If you really dislike the potential for PvP that much, then maybe this isn't the game for you. New Eden is a harsh existence.

My recommendation, is if you really want help and want to succeed in Eve, then ask for it instead of complain about the game mechanics.

Edit: So in rereading, you did ask for an explanation. Here is is in a nutshell. In PvP you can either deal damage or avoid enough damage to survive an encounter. All ships in Eve are PvP ships in that, in the right hands they will fall into one of these categories. Damage avoidance is referred to as your tank. Some ships have fittings that actively absorb damage, some have fittings that will repair damage and some ships have fittings that help you avoid damage altogether.

In the case of an exploration frigate, your tank is comprised of the players skill. This skill is an active knowledge of how to use dscan, how to monitor local and a general sense of situational awareness. Your job is to know what ships pose a threat to you, and what to do if they show up on Dscan. You are fragile. You are a rabbit in a world of foxes.

Developing these skills takes time, patience and grit. you will make mistakes, you will lose ships and money and you will get frustrated, but you have to keep going out there. Soon, you will see that you are losing less ships and earning more ISK.

Then one day, you will catch yourself in a system with someone else there. In using the skills you have developed, you will try to determine if they are a threat. You might realize that they aren't in a ship that poses a significant threat and that they may not be using all the tools available to them in a useful manner. You might decide to check them out so you careful get on grid with them. They are minding their own business, ratting. You might bookmark the site so you can come back and salvage. You head to the hanger and as you are about to get into your salvage ship, you change your mind and on a whim, board your cruiser instead. Are you still a rabbit or have you become a fox?

Why do people turn into condescending jerks when someone threatens their fanboyness? Jesus Christ. Just because I don't enjoy one aspect of the game does not mean you have to try and insult my intelligence. If you can't answer a question on a "newb" forum thread without being a total ****, then you shouldn't hang out in the newbie threads in the first place.

@Ayase Kusoni - thank you for your post. I am aware of cloaking as a preventative measure, what else is there to aid with preventive measures?

@Anuminas Alland thank you for that honesty! I have my cloaking ability but what else can I train to complete my sneaky explorerness? :D

If you get jumped, you have a free and clear kill right. Grab some friends, run a locator agent and return the favor.

After hearing about...

to be honest the gankings and friefing is FAAAAR from as bad as many like to make it out to be. And jita isn't a total death trap. sure if you smack in local, fly around in very expensive crap on autopilot or head down into lowsec.. then yes expect to be ganked.

keep your mouth shut, be sensible and no it isn't anywhere near as bad as you are making it out to be. seriously.

you are really making it sound like as soon as someone undocks they are killed. no. that is faaaaaaaaaaaar from the truth, most people in highsec do not get ganked or griefed.

Wanted to quote this again to emphasize it. Spot on.

Exploring in hi-sec is actually fairly safe. Yes, yes, caveats, gankers, neversafe™. But most pirates are not going to risk suspect flags, Concordokkens, etc. for your T1 frigate. The problem is exploration in hi-sec is low-risk, low-reward. Same with hi-sec mining. You can get plenty of Veldspar in your Venture and people are generally not going to bother you. It's just not worth it.

If you rig your exploration ship against pirates with cloaks & warp stabilizers, you should be slippery enough to avoid the predators. You will be slow and not able to fight, but that's your goal, so no problem. Here's a sample explorer fit if you don't have the ISK/experience to run a cloak: http://wiki.eveuniversity.org/Gallente_Basic_Ship_and_Skill_Guide#Imicus

When you find your exploration site, align to a station (or gate) and set it as your destination. Keep your eye on local & learn to use d-scan to see if jerks are near. When one appears on grid, warp out of there. If they whine and cry in local about how unfair you're being, savor it.

Eve is not necessarily a PvP game, though the PvPers like to fancy themselves the true leet keepers of the Spirit of Eve flame. But if you want the rewards that lo-sec and null-sec can bring, you need to be aware that predators are a risk. Think of it like Raiders of the Lost Ark: what's the fun of exploration if there's no Belloq?

Avoiding sigrad+ modules makes you harder to lock (and probe?).
WCS to counter jammer/scramblers.
D-scan to know when to bug-out.
Cloaks for when you run into a gatecamp.


Confession: I have done the internet reading, but have none of the experience, nor skill points to use a CovOp, so this is totally armchair piloting...

Local is only good for seeing who is in system with you, seriously. you have to ignore whats posted there.

I would recommend that you find a decent, newbro friendly corp to get into. Look for one that has players doing what you want to do, has a ship replacement program and is active in your timezone. Also, you will want to consider engaging in fleet PvP with them. Fleet is a lot different than solo/Gank PvP. Even if you do not like, it, it is a skill you need.

As a side note, the skills you develop as an explorer are a stepping stone for scout/Covops types. these skills are highly valuable . A player with good offensive dscan skills and good probing skills will be a valuable resource to wormhole corporations. If you decide to use it offensively, you can go into stealth bombers or BlackOps.

@Ned Taggart Ignore local for information, got it! lol. Ahh, some very good information in this, thank you! I really wish I came to the forums a long time ago instead of getting tidbits of information from the chat channels.


@Dread Vixen I'll have to figure out a way to find that feature, but it seems like a damned good one to have and know about! I haven't done any auto-piloting, but I will definitely avoid it, but may I ask why it would be bad to? As for the ship fittings I will absolutely try my best to avoid flying in a glass jar, and you're right - going out in a defenseless ship in dangerous areas is asking for it!