EVE New Citizens Q&A

what is the difference between a 'career' criminal, i.e. someone with low security status, and a criminal who has a criminal timer on right now? by difference I mean how they are shown in the overview panel.

As far as i know, the only difference between an outlaw (someone with a low security rating) and a criminal (someone who recently triggered Crimewatch) is in the flashy Criminal icon on top of the ship icon, as well as on their portrait in Local.

Same with people with a moderately low security status (yellow bar) and suspects (someone who aquired a suspect flag towards you or everyone). Except the flashy icon is yellow then instead of red.

As said above: flashing (or not, depends on overview settings for tags) skull icon means Crimewatch flag (yellow - suspect, red - criminal). People with -5 and below but without current Crimewatch flags usually have flashing red background in overview (hence common term "flashy red").

BUT

If your overview is frakked up they can look completely innocent so beware :)

Listen to this man, my overview has made far more sense ever since I took the ten minutes to follow that guide.

If it's blinking, you can shoot it and it can shoot you without repercussions, if it's red, and not blinking, YOU can shoot without repercussions etc... makes the color coding and blinking far more logical and easier on the eyes.

There's a reason Ralph links that every chance he gets .

Thank you Feyd Rautha, wherever you are. o7

EDIT: messed up the spelling of his name.

FYI the link won't work cause the forums will censor the URL too. Change it after clicking it.

Thats what I meant :) Just use THIS link.

F

Career criminals are either always -10 or are a different type of criminal, one that CONCORD dosn't pursuit such as awoxers, corp thieves, and scammers. Now for the timers:

Light blue nlinking> limited engagement, free combat without CONCORD intervention for the duration of the timer, usually triggered by duels or shooting suspects
Yellow Blinking > Suspect, free to shoot but can retaliate without CONCORD intervention. Legal target for 15 minutes unless extended by further suspect flagging activities
Red Flashing > CONCORD Criminal flag > lasts 15 minutes caused by illegal actions such as ganking. Will provoke a FULL CONCOD response anytime you undock in a non-pod vessal ( this includes shuttles ) and the resulting destruction of your ship, legal target for duration of timer even in a pod.

-10 always have solid red flag but will not promote a CONCORD response until they break the law again ( ganking, etc. ) however they will be chased down by faction police while in space and are legal targets even in pods.

I realize this might be considered a bandwagon post, but every new player please utilize the links above about fixing your Overview. Changing your Overview is one of the single most important things you can do when you first start playing the game. It lets you quickly sort out what is happening so you can begin to react.

Flashy red is not only to notify you about possible target, it's also to warn you about being possibly shot ASAP :)
Besides, the more targets you have the more interesting your playing time can be :)