EVE New Citizens Q&A

There is a perception that most new players never leave high sec or maybe dip their toes into low, die at the first gate camp and never go back. Ultimately they quit Eve determining that the game has too limited opportunities; is just too bitter vet heavy and is full of ars*h*les. So I'd like to introduce the concept that in fact hi sec is the most dangerous place in Eve and in fact there are 6 other types of space, all of which offer a better experience, if the player puts in the work to establish themselves there. Here is a brief, but not exhaustive, guide to them

1. Hi Sec
2. Low Sec (Faction Warfare)
3. Low Sec (Non Faction Warfare)
4. NPC Null
5. Sov Null
6. Wormholes (with 6 sub types)
7. Shattered Wormholes

1. Hi Sec - This is often floated as a 'relative' safe haven, where there are rules to protect the innocent and punish the criminals. It is the place where new players initially spawn and frankly I can't understand the reasoning behind this. IMO hi sec is the most dangerous, confusing, rules intensive, backstabbing, scumbag ridden area ingame. Your life in high sec is governed by the RNG and it is the one area that I actually fear entering. Yes there are things you can do to minimise risk, but it is the area of the game you have the least control. Plus points for high sec is ready markets and safe NPC stations. Negative points are that there are so many people, you can never ascertain your safety by checking who is in local or what is on D-Scan, coupled with a confusing set of aggression mechanics and scams which new players struggle to cope with. Concord rather than protecting the innocent, actually protects the criminal while he is setting up to carry out his next gank.

2. Low Sec (Faction Warfare) - A place for role players and where casual PvPers regularly go. Can see pirates and more professional PvP groups. FW low sec is usually the first low sec that is immediately entered from high sec. Certain high traffic hi/low junctions are regularly camped such as Tama, Amamake and Old Man Star, but other border systems can usually be safely entered (but a scout is advised). FW low sec's unique feature from non FW low sec is the presence of FW combat sites, which draw FW farmers and PvPers alike. Gate and dock guns will fire on people that commit suspect or criminal acts within 150Km of them, but will not continue to fire if said suspect/criminal bounces out of range and then back. Corps (both FW and pirate) will tend to take over a station and then attempt to take control of the whole system and project their power into neighbouring systems. Thus if you are a member of said corp, the system and immediate surrounding area is usually relatively safe for you. It is common for systems to have no more than 5-10 occupants at any one time and it is possible for the solo player to survive in this environment, simply by learning the habits and traits of the regular occupants and flying accordingly. D-Scan is your friend as are gate and dock guns while you keep your security status above -5.0

3. Low Sec (Non Faction Warfare) - These systems tend to have lower security levels than FW low sec. and sit between them and null. These systems tend to be very barren of life (players), 0-3 players is typically. While pirate entities do occasionally base here, this is one of the preferred places for solo players interested in riskier PvE activities. Again, D-Scan is your friend as are gate and dock guns while you keep your security status above -5.0

Both types of low sec are the only places you can find Clone Soldiers and the rarer Mordu Legion special operatives, both in the regular asteroid belts. The former drop security tags and the latter drop valuable BPCs for Garmurs, Orthrus' and Barghests. Mining should never be attempted in low sec, the ores are not good enough, the population too high and the gate guns can not help you in the belts.

4. NPC Null is very similar to Low Sec in that they are Empire owned with NPC stations, but no gate guns and this space allows the use of bubbles and bombs. Small corps and soloists can thrive in these systems. However, as these systems are some considerable distance from Hi. A Jump Freighter is almost mandatory to bring in certain supplies - most notably faction ammunition, implants and T2 modules and hulls. The occassional half assed market does exist where it is possible to stealth into and grab some essential supplies during off peak hours. D-Scan skills are essential and cloaky ships make life a lot easier. This is probably the preferred place for solo explorers.

5. Sov Null is the place for the massive alliance. Membership of said alliance is essential if for no other reason than you can't dock at most player outposts without it. There are no NPC stations in Sov Null. It is arguably the safest place in game when in a good alliance with secure borders and extensive Intel networks. Inside those borders, considerable PvE activity, including, exploration, combat sites and mining goes on. The downside is that it is perceived a big commitment to join said alliance and the initial trip out and setup can be quite daunting. Occasionally, you can find yourself in a massive war which could oust you from your home, but otherwise PvP is limited. Sov Null is also the place for the most lucrative moon mining, but it is an activity that rewards the corp and the leadership, rather than the individual.

Continued...

I heard some people can't muster the effort required to establish themselves somewhere hostile, so choose the "pick up where you left off" sec space; Hi-Sec.

Major Trant awessome post.

I would like to add some argument for why lower security are safer than High sec.
This is based on the prerequisite that the player has "learned the ropes" of lower security.

- Low sec/w-space/NPC null: You expect every player will try to kill you except those you know are friendly.
(never lived in W-space, but I guess if you are in a WH corp, everyone in corp and blue are friendly, everyone else is KOS)

- Sov Null sec: Owned by alliance and coalitions, you probably are a member or at least friendly to the locals.
Unless you are roaming unfriendly space to get some easy kills.
When in such an alliance, your alliance and coalition leadership set the red/blue status for you. So you will probably fly around from system to system in Sov Null sec encounter blue pilots most of the time.
The advantage is you know whose friendly and whoes not.

- HS: Chaotic place where gankers looking for shooting your MTU so they can kill you. Assault your mining barge or just gank your hauler. Wardecced corps are killed in trade-hubs by "professional" war-dec corps. Maknig life in HS miserable.
Also you have the Jita-Amarr "get free ISK" game scams.
Only ok place in HS is the remote areas away from all that stuff.

EVE is som much more than HS. I don't say HS is no where to be, I just support OP with; the game doesn't end at a low sec gate. It's were it really begins.

Obligatory

https://img.ifcdn.com/images/b0e57f64fc42b8b80b628839110affc8e9cb3b3f87d68b9fbd314597698c5771_1.jpg

I disagree, Frigates are more slippery than larger ships, but Wormholers will kill them just as willingly as anything else and in fact will put more effort into hunting a ship that hasn't got a Covert cloak.

The thing that makes WHs relatively safe for frigates is that the traffic is so low that the entrances are rarely camped (exception connections to hi sec market hubs). Occassionally you might jump into a bubble. That is usually an indication that the residents are running the PvE sites and they will most likely only have cloaky eyes on the bubble not a proper camp. If there is a camp, it is likely to be a solo camp with a single ship, typically Sabre, Loki or Svipul.

A T1 exploration frigate is unlikely to survive such a camp, but as I say WH camps are rare and once past the entrance you are pretty safe, provided you have a cloak to use whenever stationary. The SOP (Standard Operating Proceedure) is to warp to a celestrial, dropping at least one bookmark, drop the probes at the celestrial, warp back to the bookmark, cloak up and probe out the sites (or whatever). Pull the probes and wait. Waiting a few minutes (cloaked) is essential because if people are hunting you, they won't know whether you have left system once you have pulled your probes. After a couple of minutes they will give up looking, giving you time to run a Relic/Data site. Obviously throughout you should be watching D-Scan for the presense of Combat probes.

However, I would strongly recommend upgrading to a ship with a Covert cloak, before trying Wormholes. It doesn't take that long to train the skills, the longest one being racial Frigates V which is about 6 days, or alternatively buy an Astero.

High sec has its place - and is still the best place for a new player to *start*.

The simple reason being that despite all of the dangers and confusing rules/etc....it is still *relatively* safe - particularly when speaking in terms of a *new player* who doesn't know what they are doing *at all* and doesn't have any friends or associates in the game yet.

With the exception of the occasional rookie-system griefers (who are blatantly violating the EULA tbh) not many people bother truly *new* players in high-sec.

High sec is also the only viable long-term home for people who, for whatever reason, are unwilling or unable to socialize and join a large group, and are also unwilling/unable to develop the skills to operate solo safely outside of high-sec. And it can be a reasonable long-term home for people who enjoy more of the "spreadsheets online" style of play in large-volume industrial/scientific operations or playing the markets, etc. - and this is a valid play-style in EVE enjoyed by quite a few people.



However aside from his prejudice against high-sec I do not disagree with the OP's description of any area of space - and any player who is willing to join a group or develop the skills needed to operate solo outside of high-sec should definitely do so ASAP. They will enjoy the game much more.

On average, depending on the person involved and what they want to do...I'd say anywhere from 2-6 months would be the minimum time to train the absolutely required skills and get a handle on the basic game mechanics before they can safely move from high-sec into another region of space. It can be done in less time - but only if they are lucky enough to find a group willing to help them along heavily.

At the most...maybe up to 1 year in high-sec will be bearable for the average player - after that most of them are just limiting and punishing themselves by staying in high-sec, unless they fall into one of the categories I described above.



In any case, good write up OP - good info for the new players. o7

I presume you mean Providence - that is one area I have never lived and only have a limited idea how the various residents interact. Curiously though, I have spent more time in Providence than almost any other Sov Null area, but only as part of various raiding fleets. It is (or was) a popular destination for public roams such as RvB ganked.

But I'll give a brief explanation of my understanding here, please feel free to correct.

The most popular stance that corps adapt is NBSI (Not Blue, Shoot It). This means that if you haven't actively sought and been granted blue standing with a certain corp/alliance. They will KOS (Kill On Sight) you, even if you are no threat to them and have never attacked them in the past.

The second most popular stance (but a very poor second) is NRDS (Not Red, Don't Shoot). Technically this is imposed on people in Hi Sec by Concord. It means that unknown people are invalid targets until they have committed an offence against the Corp/Alliance.

It is all about how people deal with Neutrals. NBSI treat them as enemies, NRDS treat them as (suspicious) friends. The latter is immensely more difficult as it is much harder to maintain an up to date red list as opposed to a blue one.

Only a few role playing FW corps operate NRDS in FW low. Them and the great white elephant of Sov Null - the Providence region.

The Providence residents allow people to enter and live in their space without having to join one of the established corps or gain blue standing with them in advance. There is a Providence Intel channel, but how people distribute red lists to new people, handle disputes or divi up limited PvE resources is unknown to me.

What I do know is that Providence is a popular place to raid by individuals and small gangs trying to use their initial neutral status to get the drop on carebear targets. This in turn has led to a strong PvP orientated defence force which can form very rapidly among the Providence residents. This in turn has led to some big PvP fights between them and even larger raiding fleets which target Providence for that very reason. I have a lot of respect for Providence and really must try living there one day, but at the moment I've only known them on the wrong end of my guns and assume I'm on their Red list. I don't know if once on their Red list, whether it is possible to redeem oneself.

Except for lowsec and nullsec, where a tiny minority of new players, who don't get bullshitted by carebears, go to start.

They get blown up and if they're not dicks about it will get help, money and maybe an invitation.

Highsec is not the only option. You speak from the perspective of someone who does not understand that people can grow up in the wild just as much, as long as there are others around him teaching him. And in that sense highsec is the worst of all options, because not only is there too much isolation, there also is too much security only teaching people to get well fed and scared of losing their ****.

Can confirm the proviblob is scarier than concord; and what they lack in response time, they make up for in mobility and tenacity. Would recommend.

^ I would agree with pretty much everything you said - including the fact that my post over-emphasized the importance of new players staying in high sec any longer than they need to master the bare basic mechanics of the game.


The only major issue I have with many of the "New Player Friendly" corps in 0.0 space is that I've seen a lot of them that will take anybody who applies - but they rely on the new players knowing how to safely get to their space, and do not even warn them of the permanent wars that most of them have ongoing....

Meaning that the new player joins the 0.0 corp...but is still in high sec...and is now at war with a large wardec corp without even any corp/alliance members within 50 jumps to provide support.

So while these corps are a good resource - new players would be well advised to coordinate with them *before joining* to figure out how to move themselves out to the space owned/rented by the corporation.