EVE New Citizens Q&A

I think my very first PVP experience was a success. I'd have to check my losses to be sure. However, I had managed to skill up my Thorax enough that I had around 350 dps and a decent buffer tank. So I decided to go out and PVP. During my missioning, I had on several occasions had mission crashers try to provoke me into shooting them, so they could shoot back "legally" (search crimewatch to understand). I didn't take the bait. But I wanted so badly to surprise them one day. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized I could. So I took that nice Thorax of mine, put two webs on it (losing speed is the worst thing for a frigate), opened up a level 1 mission and waited. Almost right away, I got my chance. A frigate (Incursus) was trying to provoke a fight. So I obliged. Turned on both webs, scram, guns and waited. That is literally what I did. I didn't try to manage engagement distance, forgot about my drones, had no active repair to worry about. I just turned everything on and watched. And I won pretty handily. The pirate warped off in his pod and I looted his ship. Then he contacted me and started asking me "why do that?" I could barely type since I had a bad case of the shakes. He kept "crying" and moaning about it and kept me typing. Then I realized I shouldn't stick around. I warped away to a station. As I was approaching to dock up, that player attacked me again. I thought I was screwed, but I suddenly docked into station. After that, the pirate got friendly and we chatted a bit. He admitted that I warped away before he could get close enough with his cloaky ship (I forget what it was). He saw what station I warped to and followed me, where he gave one last shot at it. But I didn't make the mistake of retaliating (and keeping myself from docking into station, more out of ignorance than intent). So it was close to being a NOOB moment for me. The only reason I bring it up is he underestimated me. He made no effort to look me up or figure out why the Thorax in the level 1 mission wasn't shooting the NPC's. He just came up and swallowed the bait, hook and all expecting yet another dumb missioner. So that pirate, with several hundred kills to maybe 20 deaths, with who knows how many skill points, was killed by a first time to PVP newb with maybe 5 million skill points. Keep that in mind. Skill points aren't a barrier to doing PVP. The ship you bring, the target you engage (willingly or not) has more to do with winning than skill points. And skill too. That first fight (and other PVP fight's I've had) I kept forgetting to use my drones! I forgot to overheat a few times when it would have made the difference. I once overheated too soon and burnt out my guns, leaving me helpless. In some of my losses, I've had the chance to run away because the other guy dropped point and I never noticed. And so on. What you bring and skill will beat skill points. Not believing that is a big NOOB indicator.

The latest realization of my own noobishness was when I got tired of competing with other wankers to find and finish DED sites in Hi-Sec space. So I made the move to Lo-Sec. I was ready and pumped for the added challenge of avoiding being ganked. I scouted a home with a cloaky cov-ops and made my move when I knew enough about their habits to know I wouldn't get caught in a gate camp. My move went fine. Nothing of note to mention. What I failed to realize is those big bad PVP corps in Lo-Sec have a LOT of PVE members that farm everything. At least the area I first chose as a home. And they are never alone. I don't necessarily mean corp mates on the bat phone. I mean logi alts, scout alts, 2nd DPS alts, hauling alts and so on. As big and mean as EVE is, the large majority of the playerbase choose to circumvent game mechanics by playing several characters at once. A pirate with bad standing doesn't have any difficulty bringing his ill gotten goods to market because he uses an alt with good standing in Hi-Sec space. Keeping supplied is equally easy for them. Most of the difficulty and challenge is avoided by using alts. That mission/DED plex too hard to solo safely? Bring an Alt. That guy might have a chance to kill you if you fight him? Bring an alt. Don't know if it's safe to go thru that gate with your nice shiny ship? Send an alt. Worried about gimping your uber PVP fit by fitting something like a combat probes? Fit it on an alt. Until you realize that playing with one character (for the times when you don't feel like being social) is the hardest of hard modes, you are self branding yourself as a noob. Don't let yourself become a bitter noob like myself by waiting 8 months to realize if you want to play in the big leagues, you need the versatility and simplification of game mechanics that alts bring. If you're going to play EVE and want to compete, start with 2 accounts right away.

Best of luck. Sorry for the massive wall of text.

Really?

Friends are a solution when you go out and do fleets, whether that is for PVP, Mining, PVE.... whatever. But when it's a slow day, or a free for all day, and you want to travel your slow PVE battleship or a freighter or whatever, are you going to ask a corp mate to escort you all the way to where you're going? Really?

If you want to run DED sites in Low/Null/Wormhole space, are you going to ask an actual person to scan one down for you, then sit on the gate cloaked to watch for trouble, and help you out with reps/cap if the site gets a bit hairy? Really?

I stated that playing with one account is the hardest of hard modes. I did not say it is impossible. There is no denying the fact that having a second (or more) alts simplifies gameplay and negates a lot of the game mechanic challenges and choices.

And lastly: If what you say is true, then the majority of people in active corps would not bother paying (or grinding) to fund Alts. However, I think I am perfectly safe to say that people in corps have just as many Alts as soloers and antisocial players. The reality of the situation doesn't correlate well with your premise.

OK, fine. I'll change my advice: Be social and learn about EVE a bit first. Either join a corp, chat it up in forums, or just start conversations in game. Once you have an idea on what you're doing and want to do, then you can start that Alt account.

Just understand from the beginning that Alts make EVE easier and deliberately choosing to not use them knowing it'll make your life harder is possible and a choice. KNOWING this is something I wish I understood (I did know about alts, I just didn't realize how overpowered they are) when I first started the game. Because right now I would have 2 accounts with 15 million skillpoints instead of 1 account with 15 million skillpoints dragging around a 2nd one with 1 million skill points.

Or

Take my advice. Make two accounts from the start. Have one just play skill queue online, focusing only on "core skills". Look up what those are. That will be your Alt. Then you can roam around on your main, being social and joining newbro friendly corps and all that, figuring out what you want to do. When you know what you want to do, your Alt will be in a good place with short training times to become what it is you need it to become.

Ladies... lets stick to stories here. Kay?

It's still a bad advice, as you claim you can only play with multiple accounts, which is NOT true.
Just because you lack the ability to do it with a single account doesn't mean it is harder then possible. Loads of people play for months before they open a 2nd account and still do as good, if not better then people with multiple accounts (no need to fund 2 accounts, no need to worry about 2 accounts etc. etc.)

The biggest thing you mis....MMO - Massive MULTIPLAYER Online

See those capital letters, follow that and EVE becomes easy mode if you play with others.

Great story.

And honestly, I miss the "Low SP" days.

As a new player, each day opens up new doors with ships you can use, modules you "unlock" and being just a bit more efficient at what you are doing.

Once you get your SP up, it gets a bit more boring to do things as sure you can skill up that Level 5 skill and be 5% more effective, but the impact is a whole lot less of an impact then when you were a young capsuleer.

For that, I tend to keep rolling a new account every now and then for about 2 months and then scrap the account, just so I can get that feeling back again (be it in less extend because of the skills you already gather by playing EVE).

I started playing in 2009. I become interested in EVE after watching the the butterfly effect trailer and came into the game wanting to become the best wolf pilot. I started out as an Amarr pilot because I liked the avatars with the dark hoods. Then, I found out that the wolf was a Minmatar ship. I immediately abandoned my Amarr character and made this character and started flying rifters while training for the wolf.

Of my first 12 loss mails, 10 were losses to npcs, 2 to a low sec gate camp:

1 rifter, 1 slasher, and 1 hoarder to belt ralts
4 rifters, 1 burst, and 2 thrashers to the SOE arc

Most of the fits included civilian modules, dual tank, and mixed guns.

When the time came to take on Dagan, I had the sp to sit in a hurricane. My hurricane was equipped with the following:

[Hurricane]
High slot
-2x 720mm
-1x 650mm
-1x 425mm
-1x 220mm
-1x 180mm
Mid slot
~stuff
Low slot
~stuff

I was unable to break Dagan's tank with this fit so I asked a RL friend what he thought of my hurricane. He told me it was terrible and to use all 425mm's in the highs. Doing this allowed me to finally destroy Dagan completing the SOE arc.

After the SOE arc, I started mining in Arnon. During that time, I lost a mining scythe to a can flipping incident. Later, I joined a carebear corp based in Gallente space one jump from low sec. I started doing some missions, farmed the static 1/10 sites, and solo mined hemorphite in low-sec. Apparently at the time, mining in a belt with a scythe didn't attract a lot of attention to where I would even afk mine in low-sec with people in local. Needless to say, I did eventually lose that scythe mining in low sec.

Hurting for isk as I started nearing the point where I could fly a wolf, my RL friend recommended I try ninja salvaging. After going through a few youtube videos on the activity, I established my ninja salvaging op in Dodixie with a probe and a thrasher where I then made my first 50 million isk. However, my carebear CEO told me it was making the corp look bad and told me to stop. As much as I didn't like his decision at the time, I also found out that the coreli c-type modules I was farming was worth 5-12 mil a piece so I agreed to my CEO's request.

Wardec
My first taste of actual PvP occured on November 8, 2009 from a wardec. I had about 3mil sp and could fly a wolf. Luckily for me, I had a grasp of proper ship fittings at that point in my EVE career. With the help of google, my first wolf fit looked like:

[Wolf]
High Slot
-4x 150mm T2 Autocannon
-Rocket Launcher T1
Mid Slot
-1mn Coreli C-type Afterburner
-J5b Phased Prototype Warp Scrambler
Low Slot
-Coreli C-type Small Armor Repairer
-400mm Rolled Tungsten Plates
-Coreli C-type Adaptive Nano Plating
-Gyro-stabilizer T1
Rigs
-NONE

While flying through high sec in my wolf, I noticed a war target huginn land on a gate with me. I had no idea what a Huginn actually was, I just knew it was a T2 cruiser which scared me. I immediately panicked and started burning to my home system. As I jumped into to my home system, I noticed an interceptor land on gate. I spammed the warp button to station fearing what fate lied in wait for me as the interceptor appeared on grid. I successfully dock in my home station(kickout) and monitor the guest list. As I expected, the interceptor pilot docked in the station with me. I evaluated my situation and weighed my options. I have no idea what the capabilities of an interceptor were, I just knew they were T2 frigates. The numbers were not in my favor as I was alone and facing an undetermined number of war targets. I could log out and call it day, I could try and make a break for low sec and see if they follow me, or I could fight to the death. Not wanting to log out just yet, I decide to to try and make a break for low sec just next door, the same low sec I used to mine hemorphite. As the undocking animation plays, I watched my name disappear from the guest list as the interceptor pilot's name also disappeared from the guest list a split second after. There was no going back now. I was going to either make it into warp to low sec or get forced into an outnumbered fight. As the grid loads, the interceptor is right on top of my wolf. I smashed the warp button to low sec only to be warp scrambled by the interceptor. I locked the interceptor back and activate my warp scrambler and weapons. To my surprise, the interceptor went down quickly and explodes. Just as he exploded, another interceptor landed on top of me. I locked him up and brought the warp scrambler and guns onto him. He went down quickly as well. Before I could celebrate my first T2 kills, the Huginn landed on grid 20km away. I initiated warp and jumped to the low sec system then docked at the station there. I watched the Huginn pilot appear in local and disappear a few minutes later. The day was mine. I then lost the wolf 3 hours later to an ishtar.

Into Null
After that victory, I had a few stints with the militia and continued my usual carebear activities. One day, a pilot from the [UNEW] corporation of the alliance Maru'Kage challenged me to a duel. My wolf against his rifter. I suspected a trap but decided to accept it. We warped to a safe and can flipped each other starting the duel. I locked him up and activate my scram and guns. To my horror, I was doing minimal damage. I was pointed and webbed and I could only watch as my wolf dipped into half armor. I pulsed my c-type armor repper as I frantically looked for a way to survive. Suddenly, I noticed he was kiting me at about 9km, out of range of my guns with T1 ammo. I switched my ammo to barrage and reactivated my guns. I started to land solid hits and the rifter exploded with my wolf at 35% armor. The pilot then convod me complementing me and inviting me to [UNEW]. After some hesitation, I accepted and my null adventures began.

DCM post is epic!
Thread is great!

First toon born in 2007. Second accnt created shortly after (wanted a seperate skill path and to train two at once). My first ship had rails, blaster, and an AC on it. Pissed when I couldn't jam ammo into it, more pissed when I couldn't shoot it. Found out caldari didn't shoot guns with bullets, wanted big guns, to the biomass with the caldari, rolled Matar. Tutorial was "this is how you fly, this is how you target, this is how you shoot.... Go have fun now". Eve was awesome. Fuggen spaceships!!

Pure carebear, did missions, more missions, explorations (probing was so painful then, and because of that so rewarding). More carebear'ing. Joined losec carebear group and did lots of stuff together, was fun. Inactivity and fizzling, left eve for awhile.

Came back and did self/alt corp just to run hisec pos and play with industry. Wardec after wardec so said screw it went to a renter alliance, enjoyed null space, learned to survive. Can't remember why, that alliance went belly up so joined another. Had fun, cool guys, chatted lots, sipped some moon goo, made crap, blew up rats, chewed rocks. But some coalition wanted the region from the sov holding alliance. So they came after the renters first. **** off I live here. My ships blew up wanting to do something about, realized sov holding alliance didn't care and alliance mates were running all their assets to safety. Disillusioned. Quit eve.

3 years. Need a new game. Buy some single player games. Eve was still my home screen for internet browser. **** it! Resub both accnts. Do first mission, go to work, come back log in talk to agent, realize can't play alone. Start looking for corp, no renters, want to fight. Want to pvp. Find guys, get used to being on comms again, good guys. Perfect timing as bad life events make me feel terrible, hard time dealing, log in to eve, bad **** disappears and I'm happy. Take advantage of CCP's special for an extra accnt, this toon is born for pirate epic arcs and FW; mains building ships for only purpose of flying into hostile space with no intentions of returning, joining fleets. Eve's changed lots in 3 years, new game and I'm playing a new game too. Noob all over again and it's tons of fun.

My story begins in October, 2010. At the time, I was a first year university student, looking for a game to appease my lost interest in the games I was playing at the time (which I think may have been CS:S and WoW). Needless to say, EVE would turn out to be an entirely different animal to anything I had experienced before. I’d quickly like to add that EVE with all of its apparent faults has the most engaging and mature (sometimes) social element I have experiences in the virtual world.

I downloaded the client before I knew ANYTHING - I was pulled in by a simple ad which sparked a mild interest. I chose Gallente, logged in my velator for the first time, and was immediately met with the incredible visuals that new eden is famous for. Zipping through the tutorials (I was eager to get into the game), I quickly figured out how to warp around and began the SoE epic arc – my primary means of learning how to play the game. The learning curve was so steep, and I knew it, that I did my best to avoid losing ships as I had very limited isk – though inevitably, I made plenty of costly mistakes. I recall being unable to break the tank of a specific mission target, and warping back to station spending all of my isk repairing my ship (before I discovered the use of armour reps).

The multiplayer PvP side of EVE had become a fascination of mine as I read more and more about the game on the forums, and was particularly taken by the size of capital ships and the player driven politics that govern nullsec. The first real corp I joined was Yulai Guard (which later founded Yulai Federation), learning about the NRDS policy and the way role-play fits into new eden. Of course, at this early stage I was mainly concerned with gaining isk and skills, and spent a lot of time ratting in R3-K7K with a corpmate (COATL – haven’t seen him around in years) saving up to for a BC (when I finally got my Brutix, it was ganked within 10 minutes, sending back to virtually 0 isk and a thorax). I found ratting in null to be the best source of income at the time, and still to this day consider it a viable option for profit. My advice for players at this stage, as I’m sure has been said a million times, is to join a corp – meet players and work together if you feel like it. You will learn from each others mistakes and experiences, have a lot of fun and earn some isk if you’re lucky!

Due to RL restrictions, I participated with YF and CVA when I could, though was never really a part of anything major in the fight for providence during 2011/12. My worst loss to date occurred during this period – after acquiring my first billion isk through a lot of hard work in my drake, I bought a nightmare. The ship name turned out to be somewhat ironic, as it was lost to rats within its first day due to an escalation that brought web/scram frigates down on me. It was terribly fitted, though I full on rage quit like a 12 year old, closed down the game and cancelled my subscription for several months. Yes, recovering from this took time.

After all of the effort I had put in, I decided when I returned to the game to invest in a couple of PLEX to save me from the grind – at this point I had graduated and began working offshore in RL and therefore had plenty of £££’s but very little time to play (The internet doesn’t work at sea!). I tried running missions for a while with some success, though found it somewhat lacking, despite trying to embellish the scenario’s in my head with a bit of RP like I used to do in the many hours of drake ratting. I joined RvB, and fell in love with small gang pvp, for a while. Still dreaming of being part of something bigger, I had a brief spell in Nulli Secunda, which happened to coincide with the battle famously known as “B-R”, in which I flew a ceptor around for an hour, got sick of the TiDi and contented myself with sitting in the station listening to the comms. Still, I was happy to say that to a small degree, I was in the thick of it. I also had my first carrier at this point, a Chimera, which I used for ratting and found it to be very profitable. However, due to being called away to sea for 1-2 months at a time, contribution to the cause was difficult – and so I slinked off back to hi-sec once again in my solo tax-haven corp until I have some more free time. Right now, I update my training queue as often as I can, and undock every now and then to shoot at some red crosses.

All in all, I’ve had a lot of adventures, both solo and in fleets, and yet feel that I have barely scratched the surface of the depths of New Eden. This is basically an overview of my story – as for the details of the exhilaration, emotion, sense of achievement and simple enjoyment – well, we have all forged these memories, and you will too.

I have yet to scratch the surface of mining, Wormholes, exploration, manufacturing & industry, Faction Warfare, Incursions – blah blah. And yet I consider myself to “know” the game, perhaps naively. Which goes to show just how unique each experience is for new capsuleers!

Started the game and after 1 week joined another 2 new guys, randomly contacted in local in a new corp we created. We ran DED plexes in high sec for 2 days, then went to low sec. Got marveled by the income of killing NPC BC in belts and the PVP prospect. Lived in low sec for a while. Later when I was able to fly a battleship I started doign some level 4 missiosn to make isk, but hated and went to rat in low sec because was more efficient ( yes it is when you have battleship at level 2 and large guns at 1 :P). About 4 months into the game Went to 0.0 because i wanted to be part of these new supposed huge wars. In the 3rd day in the alliance was part of a looong freighter travel to deploy a station egg in deep 0.0 (yeay no jump freightesrs then make the game much more fun).


From there.. was a normal path..

Been int he great war..

been in a blue dougnut

been in low sec again
been in FW, then went to high sec merc works were I could find small scale pvp of better quality than in0.0 and low sec.