EVE New Citizens Q&A

Benefit of being in Corp = People. I enjoyed greately in E-Uni when I was novice. Friendly and helpful people helped me to set roots in EVE.

Benefit of not being in Corp = Time. When you cant play EVE 24/7 or even sometimes away for month or two and prefer solo play.

My suggestion is to try both, see what suits your gameplay. Once I get more time to play this game I am actually considering joining some corp, but at the moment I just dont play EVE that much.

No I didn't know about the lack of Concord. That would have been interesting :)

I don't really have a problem with the way that EVE is currently run. I like the fact that you're never entirely sure of being safe and I think that getting rid of it would be an extremely bad move. Nothing would suck more than undocking and knowing that you are 100% safe.

But I also like the fact that EVE provides many options, many different ways of playing the game that can be tailored to suit the particular needs of the individual player. Choosing to remain free from joining a big corp is exercising one of those options and I hope that the range of player choices always remains as broad and varied.

Forcing everyone down the exact same path would be almost as bad as enforcing 100% safe high sec.

I don't really find it off topic at all. The OP asked why to join a corp. Why not to join a corp seems like a logical extension. Plus all the points brought up in this thread are valid things for new players to think about when looking for a corp and it shows the wide range of opinion players have on the topic.

To me, most of your points can be simplified to the hassle of having to deal with other players. Commitments, command structure, politics. Maybe it's just not worth it to you, and there is nothing wrong with that. It's perfectly possible to be successful as a solo player.

I would caution you, though, against using EVE Uni as an example on that front. It's possibly one of the most involved application processes in EVE and most corps won't put you through so much work just to join. Many will only require a limited API, or even none at all, since it really doesn't tell you much that you can't find on public killboards anyway.

As far as corporate commitments...yes they exist. In some corps you will be consumed by them (null sec structure timers) but other corps will require nothing of you at all. Even participating in group activites can be a real concern if you have limited play time and can't afford to wait 30 minutes for your corp-mate to fit a ship and fly over to run sites with you. However, being part of a group affords opportunities you can't get by yourself; for example 8 corp-mates in battleships can roll a wormhole in 2 minutes - Something that would take me an hour to do by myself.

One last thing that caught my attention (number 8 on your list). Perhaps this is unique to wormhole space, but I find that conflict with other corps more often leads to making friends than enemies. I can't count the number of people I've shot and and then befriended, win or lose. Most people just want a good fight, and if you give it to them they aren't going to hold it against you.

IN SUMMARY:

Joining a corp may not be for you and that is fine. I write these posts, not to demand that you join a corp immediately, but to point out some benefits that you may not have considered. I get frustrated when I see people in NPC chat advise new players not to join a player corp, because there is so much content that you just can't get when you play truly solo. I really think it's something everyone should try at some point in their EVE career, whether is now or in the distant future. Maybe it's not for you, but it's hard to know for sure until you try it. And the longer you wait, the more you have to lose if things do go poorly.

Yes, hence Snifnix Padecain 's idea for a button consenting to it.

So, of course, that means that everyone else's experience will be the same.

In 3 years I can't believe that you've never heard of cases where a player (usually new and inexperienced) has joined a corp and been invited by the corp's leadership to move their stuff to the corp HQ station only to find that as soon as they enter the corp's home system their ship (containing all their stuff) is blown up and looted by their new so-clled "friends". Said asshats then laugh all the way home while congratulating themselves for being such wonderful PvPers.

As for there being only one drawback I would say the opposite is true - there is actually only one advantage that would apply more or less across the board for all players, and even that is very subjective: the ability to call in friends when in trouble. Everything else is only an advantage if the individual finds it useful - if he finds none of it useful then the disadvantages kick in at full power, as they would also do if the useful elements don't outweigh them.

But it would "change EvE Majorly":
--- When joining a corp you give permission for every corp mate to attack you, without permission, without concord protection. This puts you at RISK for an attack. Because of this, you MUST extend a certain level of trust to your corp mates. Remove this aspect of player corporations, and you no longer need to trust your corp mates. They won't be able to harm you any differently than any other player. How can you possibly think removing that fundamental level of trust won't change the game, especially since having trust in other players is purposely hindered by dev-sanctioned scamming, awoxing, suicide ganking, and other insidious behavior?



There are many ways you can research a corp:
--- Look at past killboard history.
--- Look at forums, where people identify unscrupulous players.
--- Look at a corps member history, and contact previous members about the corp.
--- Look at player corp history, and contact previous corps they've belonged to, to get an opinion.

Tools exist in this game to help you make informed decisions. They aren't 100% guaranteed to prevent something aweful (like the CFC) from happening to you, but when you are informed and actually making intelligent decisions, you can avoid most of the **** out there, and you can be prepared for when the **** hits the fan.

How so? This is from the first former corp in your profile:


I'd like to know where.

"It hasn't happened to me, therefore it doesn't happen to anyone" is not a sustainable argument.

And again, come off it, J'Poll. You know very well that the significant bully population of EVE contains corps who issue wardecs just because they can, usually against small, weak and/or inexperienced corps. Or are you saying that being small, weak or inexperienced is somehow deserving of a wardec?

EvE Who tells you about a corps history, their current members and historical members.
EvE kill and zkillboard and battleclinic show public killboard information on pilots, corps, and alliances.
The Crime & Punishment section of this forum is full of posts where people identify corp thieves, awoxers, and scammers.
You can also send eve mails to a corps "old members" or to older corp mates of pilots.

In the end, the tools exist for you to identify many of the unscrupulous members of this game. It won't identify everyone, but it will save you from all but the most dedicated criminals. And lets be frank, why would someone dedicate any real effort to attack you, when there are plenty of lazy and ignorant players out there that simply buy the used car without even looking under the hood!



J'Poll is saying nothing about being deserving of wardecs. Wardecs are a part of being in a corp. They are a reality you have to face. At the same time, they are usually very simple to deal with:

I've had two notable wardecs on my alt corps. The first one was right after I received this EvE Mail:


I ignored it, they declared war, I avoided them, they gave up a week later. It is trivial to avoid them, but you need to use a little common sense. If someone does that to you, go learn to explore WH's, go attempt lowsec or nullsec exploration for a week. Drop corp and continue Missioning, or whatever.

The second time I was wardeced (of note), I realized they were going to do simply by looking at their killboard. Their kills had tons of highsec tower killmails, and I realized they were going to attack my research POS (because it was undefended with 8+ labs on it). Before the wardec even when live, I'd dickstared the POS with hardeners, ECM, and a few weapons to boot. It was no longer worth their time, and they let the war go after a week.

My point is this, each of these had a very specific motive behind the wardec. One thought they could extort isk from a missioner, one thought they could blap an S&I Pos for loot. Wardecs dont' just randomly happen, just like people don't just randomly kill each other on the street. They choose their wardec for targets, for personal gain, for entertainment, for vengeance, and you have so many options in dealing with them, in denying their goals, that it is silly to fret over. At the same time, this is also a game of domination, and sometimes you can't prevent them from taking your moon or hindering your playstyle, but complaining about that is akin to whining that your opponent conquered your favorite country in the game of Risk.

Okay, first of all. So this is based on your experience with EVE-Uni, so again generalization that because EVE-Uni is like this, every other corp must be like this.

Don't get me wrong, I have a 2 way opinion on EVE-Uni myself. What they do in EVE is terrific for the game/community and I really like how they do it. On the other hand, regarding all their forms, questionaires, rules etc. I think they are WELL over the top and just a big set back on many occasions and will agree with you that some/most of them are just "stupid".


As for your points in my general opinion:

1. Won't go on about awoxing. That has been settled in the last 4 pages.

2. As said, EVE-Uni is an exception here, most corps don't take most then couple of days to join. And likely other then a chat with a recruiter and maybe a 3 min questionaire (usually just to verify / get to know you a bit) there isn't much hassle in joining a corp.

3. It's to prevent their members from point 1 and other bad things (spies, thiefs). It's a read only, and LOTS of corps don't need an API or just a very limited one (usually skills, mail, contacts).

4. That's why you should search for a corp that fits your game style. If you find that corp, rules make sense and won't interfere with you as the rules are build upon your game style. Also, you are asking to be part of a group of people and don't have rules. May I ask you to give 1 RL example where you join some sort of club / organisation that doesn't have rules?

5. Nobody forces you to play with your corp when ever you are online. It just opens up the opportunity to do it when you want.

6. True, but you can advance. And with a good corp, that isn't really a problem, as a properly ran corporation doesn't order his members around. They guide their members.

7. That depends on what you do, where you do it and how you do it. I've mined and missioned with corp members while under a wardec. We just took precautions (teaming up, mission running in PvP ships, mining in back alley systems with scouts out).

8. Well, true, this is very hard to counter. Only option, know who you join, some corps have a better rep then others. But I have to agree on this point with you.

9.

9.1 There are corps that ask for set game times, ask for minimum amount of hours played a week/month, ask you to join CTAs. But there are even so many corps that don't have that ****, the fun part about EVE corps, there is one for everybody, the finding it is the hard part.

The first mentioned, usually is situated in locations where activity is needed for the continuation of the corp, likely SOV null-sec.

The latter one, most high-sec corps don't give a **** if you don't play daily for 10 hours. Or if you ahve to take a break from the game. One of my corps only kicked people who were away from the game for more then 2 months and didn't give a heads up (either through a small EVEmail or a simple post on their forums - didn't have to be more then: I'm taking a break from EVE, I expect to be back around "insert date/month").

9.2 Again, a corp that suits your gameplay, doesn't do things you don't want to do. And most "jobs" for the corp like recruitment are awarded only if you want to / apply for it.

9.3 You do know that "hero tackle" is one of the most prestige positions. You do know that those older members will be very happy and cheer at you if you keep an enemy on field long enough for them to kill you. YOu do know that it isn't uncommon that said hero tacklers are showered in gifts (money, more hero tackle / PvP ships) by those who you helped make the kill possible. And if dying is such a problem for you, you really need to learn to lose the attachment to your tools.

9.4 Any corp will have drama and politics (also the reason why I'm currently in my solo corp while doing public fleeting stuff - taking a break from whole asshattery drama after a bad experience last summer). You can minimize it and usually can negate it by not mixing into it, but can never totally exclude it. The only persons who are forced with the drama / politics are teh CEO, his/her directors and diplomats.

9.5 Again, good corp will never force you into something you don't want. Some corps do suggest or entice people in certain roles through means possible (like: we need logi, let's hand out logi ships for free / fully reimburse them on loss. This doesn't force anybody into logi ships, but it does make it attractive to do it).



What do I suggest, read NC85's guide on how to join a corp. It has clear things on what to watch for and how to find the bad things about corps and spot bad corps. Even if you don't (want to) join a corp, it shows that not all corps are bad if you know what to watch for.

Pt1:

URL comes from the New Citizen FAQ thread on the forums made by Salpun, it's sticky now by CCP Eterne and thus on the front page.

Pt2:

You do know not every corp in EVE uses comms. Or a lot that have a very relaxed comms policy. So far in my time, only the corps that I was part of while they were in null had a more strict comms policy (if you are online AND in nullsec, you should be on comms. If you are just doing **** in high-sec etc, don't worry too much).


Bunch of strangers can kill you at anytime anyway. And most of the time, gankers don't gank at random, they gank because you are a valid target (read: most likely a profitable lootdrop is the case). True there are random gankers.


Wardec, okay, that's a valid thing. Then again, just because you are in corp "x" doesn't mean you are instantly wardecced.

Now, look up other corps in my list

*my first corp* - Old API system, was the partial one.

PGW, not active anymore, but used partial API.
PHOIBE, still there, using a partial API
TFIFA, null-sec corp, so desired a nearly full API (skills, mails, contacts, contracts, wallet transactions - to check for spy activity).
AEGIS, partial API
2BG, full API because of null-sec and coalition policy
GNZ4H + Drachma - my own corps, NO API at all, as it was just high-sec small activity without active recruiting.
VW, don't know, was just a transfer while in null to stay blue to the people.