EVE New Citizens Q&A

Industry and manufacturing are definetly a viable activity in this game. The only issue right now is that this particular area of the game is going to get massively revamped in less than 2 months, so starting it now might not be worth it. If you enjoy creating production chains and extracting resources maybe you could take a look at things like planetary interaction or gas harvesting in wormholes for now or learning how to setup your own starbase for research and manufacturing. There is also regular mining if you like extracting stuff and refining for later manufacturing, but witouth bigger goals this tends to get boring quite fast.

One area of gameplay that dovetails well with industry is trade.

I'd suggest wading into that pool earlier than manufacture, as having some trading SP and trading experience will synergize with manufacture, when you take that seriously. Additionally, manufacture can be expensive to do - startup capitol is highly beneficial, and your initial forays into industry might not be as successful as you wished. Having your trading to fall back on will help significantly in this regard.

Additionally, if you find the right place, and the right way of doing it, you can gather the materials for your manufacture cheaper than everyone else, if you utilize trade to gain them, instead of gathering them yourself. This has the dual bonus of teaching you(if you aren't already intimately familiar with it) about Opportunity Cost. Often times, buying the minerals you need is cheaper than mining it yourselves, due to Opportunity Cost, although it depends on a number of factors.

Finally competent trading pretty much requires you to get into spreadsheeting.... Just like Industry. No spreadsheet? Then you're not much of a competitor. And believe me, it's competitive. So get started on trading, to give you an intro to spreadsheeting, to make sure your entrance to industry is profitable.

I've recently begun manufacturing, after being a trader for a year. So far so good - No big mistakes yet, but I can certainly see all the potential mistakes around me, mistakes I would've made had I not been trained by all the trading I've done.

My final bit of advice: NULL-SEC. High-sec is hyper-competitive, because there are so many more people. By contrast, Null-sec has fewer industrialists, and a lot of rich supplies. The demand for your services are high, and the supply is low.

There's a catch, however... Any null-sec group that's worth a damn is PvP-centered. You can't really keep your space, otherwise. For this reason, you will likely need some ability to contribute to your corporation's PvP needs, so a pure industrialist will be a difficult sell.

Unless you join a renter corp. Which.... Is not a superior option, in my personal opinion.

To get around this catch, you could do what many(most?) veterans do: Support two accounts. One is industry, one is PvP. You get access to the best of both worlds.

Okay enough text.

while building up your skills in the production trees and trade trees work out what items will cost you to make based on the mineral cost, a lot of people sell items in eve for less than the mineral value.
So once you know the value of the item based on the mineral cost then you can choose if that item is worth building before you sink costly materials into it. (might be a higher profit in selling just the minerals see) It also means that you might be able to buy off the market at a lower price than they take to make them, move them to a higher priced area and sell them for profit.

I have never had much luck making the 'big bucks' from PI, but I really believe that is because of my mindset, not the game. I'm just not organized enough. At one time I had 15 PI installations going at the same time, but they were interdependent, and I just never got it together enough to keep the supply/manufacturing chain steady.

A really good PI operator has RL skills that I don't have.

Sarkos Rose:

There is some great advice in this thread for your review. I would also suggest valuing the time you invest into this side of the game by pricing it into your creations accordingly. This should be an integral part of your revenue/profit models.

Good luck, and welcome to the community!

If you want to dabble in production, build Light Neutron Blaster IIs. (Yes, that's the tech 2 version, not the tech 1).

They are always profitable, will teach you the whole invention process, and because the margins are fairly large on them you do not need all the little 2% and 3% stacking bonuses to make them profitable (unlike tech 1 production do not require).

Plus they can be done without many skill points invested into science and/or production skills, although you do need Industry 5.

Sarkos:

I think the best way to emerge yourself within the game is to try everything. Even if you think you won't like it, try it at least once and make the decision afterwards. Specifically to your question, you have two ways to approach this...

1 - Find a good group (or corporation) that is recruiting new players. If you're willing to try new things and meet/work with new people, they could help define your immediate short term game by giving you a role within their corporation. During the recruiting phase, ask many questions about how you can be helpful, and pick where you'd like to go! Some of the most memorable moments I've had in this game were created out of relative thin air. Someone's "bright" idea turns into a fleet, which turns into a fight, which turns into debauchery.

2 - Continue with the non-profit group you're working with. It may seem tedious now, but EVE is all about patience and time. Give them some more time and absorb as much as you can. If you get the itch to blow things up, see if they can help or refer you to someone who can give you an opportunity to PVP. If you get the itch to make things, go do that!

Either way, you're on the right track and asking the right questions. Keep with it and don't be afraid of the unknown. It will eventually be part of what appeals you to this community.

Good luck!