EVE New Citizens Q&A

I would like to say a few things to new players that I have learned or observed.

First - it is difficult to start this game because you are broke. What 10 year players know will not help you -reading their stories, hearing about their corps, or various tidbits of info they find useful, will largely be worthless to you.

Second - While training does indeed occur while you are away from the game - it is a big limiter on what you can do. It will take you 3 months at least to amass a serious skill set from training to fly a 180 million ISK ship well. To get started on training, look at your ship info Mastery Tab and start loading up your training cue.

Third - As in most MMO's with an economy, you will need to learn the basics on how trading works. I waited a while to delve into the mechanics of trading and it cost me time and ISK. Learn how station buy and sell orders work - it will be well worth your time.

Forth - Corporations. These can be good or very bad. Corporations can have war declared on them and that means you get to be warred on as a new player. To be safe avoid all corporations until you can tell a good one from a bad one. You have a lot of training to do as a new player anyway so there is no rush to join a corp.

Fifth - Learn what armor and shield tanking is. These are the primary ways to defend a ship and only one method should be used on each ship.

Sixth - Familiarize yourself with http://wiki.eveuniversity.org. This is a bunch of dudes with a lot of info on most anything you want to know. They are also a corp - but I wouldn't rush into joining them either.

Hopefully this will answer a few questions for newer players - stay safe.

First: It is easy to start this game because the tutorials shower you with money and ships. Try starting the game in 2007! Another thing that's easy about this game is how many great tidbits of info that veterans will share with you. Some may be hard to shut up.

Second: The training system in EVE gives you amazing freedom in what you can do. Unlike other games where you have to spend three months shooting warthogs in the newbie zone or whatever to "level up", in EVE you can set your skill queue running and go do what you really want to do, whether it be industry, piracy, or exploration.

Third: Rightclick an item in the market and "Buy this type". Rightclick an item in your hangar and "Sell this".

Fourth: Corporations can be good or bad. You can declare war on any of them. Some will give you good fights and others will just whine on the forums.

Fifth: Hull tanking is for experts only.

Sixth: Eve-Uni is a good corp, but I'd look into Brave Newbies if I were you, especially after the latest changes to sovereignty just announced today. (Evemail me if you want a tip on an even better corp!)

Thoughts from a 5 day old player!!!

1. It is and it isn't. It is hard because there are a lot of things going on in Eve as well as concepts that are not easy to understand for a beginner. Money is probably not one of them as I initially thought. That is not to say I know how to make money. I don't (in eve that is). But I've started to learn that simply getting on to the big ships (the kind that require money) isn't the ideal thing to do. Instead, it is much better to focus on the ships you have, grind out a few missions for reasonable ISK (yes, even LvL 1s) because they teach you a lot about how to fly, then try and use those skills in PvP. Financially speaking, the career missions give you an initial boost. A few lvl1 missions add to that. And I was very lucky as a vet gave me a small start up (which I think of as loan and haven't touched for the moment). Nonetheless, even with the money I've made on my own, I've managed to and afforded to lose 3 destroyers, 2 frigates and still have a frigate/destroyer fitted and have enough for another 3-4 (I consider losing them as part of a learning experience, it has allowed me to test out low sec, a duel, pvp, incursions as well as dabble a little in the market even if I made a partly profit of 200K Isk). And long before my trial period ends, there are so many more things to try out! I haven't even made a list, but I think just trying out those things in a frigate will take me a good three months!

2. Training is certainly a limiter. But again, flying a frigate/Destroyer is a lot of fun. As long as you earn a little elsewhere via missions to be able to purchase a new frigate, then taking them into PvP, testing out how to fight, or just trying lvl 2 missions to get a better hang of flying makes it all worthwhile.

3. Agree. Especially for some expensive items. Though it helps to place buy orders in advance for things you need.

4. Can't comment as I haven't tried that yet.

5. Agreed. I think there's also speed tanking.

6. Agreed. And asking on forums. I've found posts extremely helpful, whether it is to my questions or those of others. It is the part that is starting to attract me a lot to eve as I get the impression that you can get a lot of help on the forums.

Honestly... while some of your points are true OP... I can counter most of it with one sentence:

Success in EVE has more to do with "mentality" than anything else.


Yeah, it is often hard to do things... yeah, you often get frustrated... yeah, you are at a "disadvantage" against older, richer players...
but you maintain a cavalier attitude towards everything then you can eventually figure things out and overcome the worst of it.

I have said it in the past... EVE is a "process game." Lacking skills or money are transitory problems... as is missing knowledge. If you keep your wits about you and LEARN from each experience (good or bad) with a chuckle, you can approach future situations that once bogged you down and turn them on their head.
But it takes time to do this. And the results won't always be obvious.

And yeah... you'll probably tell me that I am full of horse manure for saying all these things. Trust me... I too thought that most vets were full of crap when they talked me down.
Then through sheer accumulated experience my perceptions began to change (except for Vets being full of crap part... they still are... and I certainly am ).

Your perceptions will change too if you stick around long enough and try different things.

I like this one, can we keep him?

Replies:




I think your ultimate list of what could be done is not practical for a newer player. Besides you have included the exploits of scamming and ganking. Scamming is just ridiculous where as ganking is often used against new players even in high sec.
These things are examples of actions that have no place in the game IMHO. That would be another post how this game allows ridiculous exploits esp. against new players.



I think it's great you are messing around and having fun. Enjoy.



Dude I'm not crying and saying I'm going to quit or trying to tell others that. I'm trying to address some of the pitfalls I've seen repeated over and over in this forum. I've lost several ships and a bunch of ISK and I don't see why others should have to do that. My one liner is success in Eve goes to the one with the most knowledge - forewarned is forearmed.



This is stated in every post in this forum. I've already addressed this in my original post.

On the contrary - keep those things in the game and let those that want those things enjoy it with each other and leave the rest of us alone. Sadly those things mostly work against new players - so I guess that would limit the fun.

There is no "leave the rest of us alone". That is a defining feature of this game. Expecting, asking for, or discussing anything that suggests there is or should be a "leave the rest of us alone" mode is wrong.

Scamming and ganking are in this game intentionally they are not a side thing that just did not get fixed. I could list some quotes from devs that explain it in colorful words or you could just watch the HTFU video that was made by the devs. But if you don't think that scamming and ganking should be in this game then this game is not for your because they are basic and intentional aspects of the game that are here to stay.

Yes knowledge is very important in this game. However I think that you have a few things all mixed up. Ships are tools to be used and lost not end goals. Loosing ships is how you learn and grow in this game. If you want to PvP in this game you can not be afraid to loose ships. There used to be a saying that if you want to learn how to PvP buy 100 rifters and commit to loosing them all in one weekend. That saying has really only changed in that it no longer needs to be rifters but any cheap combat ship will do since the tiericide.

Ummmm... yeah... you can be as "forewarned and forearmed" as you like. Hell... you can start EVE in the most "perfect way" possible.

Here's the problem:

You are going to lose a bunch of ISK and ships in EVE no matter what you do.
You are going to meet or even work with people that really get under your skin and you can't avoid them.
You are going to start or be a part of a whole bunch of things from corps, to fleets, to teams... and nine times out of ten they are going to fail.

I can almost guarantee any of the above.


Speaking personally; even as a successful veteran with loads of money, skills, friends, ships, knowledge, experience, and relatively deep understanding of the core and PvP mechanics... I can do everything perfectly... and there will STILL be times where I be stomped/murdered/humiliated and there is not a thing I can do about it.

The only reason I can be okay with that is through a cavalier attitude towards failure and loss.
It took me about a year to learn that lesson and a few more months of "casual play" to get used to it.



I'll say this in the nicest way I can...
Forget everything that you think a game should be. Forget what you have learned in other games. Neither will help you here. In fact... they will be more of a hindrance.

"Exploits" can only be defined by CCP... not by players or what "common use" definitions say.
The reason I say this is because MOST of the tactics and "tricks" you see in this game are entirely unintentional. And CCP is okay with that... as long as it doesn't "break the spirit" of the game (which is admittedly an amorphous concept, but can best be summed up as "a cold, dark, harsh universe where everyone is pitted against everyone else... for whatever reason they deem fit... using whatever tools that are available").

The same applies to scamming. Though... this usually has more to do with common sense than actual game mechanics. "A fool and his money are easily parted" after all.


And yes... a new player can TOTALLY and SUCCESSFULLY engage in ganking and scamming.
In the former, you just need buddies and a good plan (NOTE: a lot of older players use "disposable characters" with only a few hours of skills to conduct ganking operations).
In the latter, you merely need good social skills and a good plan.


The infamous, yet cheeky player named Malcanis put it best:

"You, the new player, are an adorable golden haired child. You are released, alone but with a map, into a large wilderness park teeming with tens of thousands of rapacious pedophiles. If you are cunning, tenacious and lucky, you can eventually become one of the pedophiles."