EVE New Citizens Q&A

So, I was thinking about what it was like for me when I was truly new at EVE Online, and the little silly mistakes that I made that now, as a veteran player, I laugh at myself over.

I'm talking about spending a week trying to find the old Villard Wheel that never existed. Oh, was that not the best mission ever =P

But I think one of my biggest silly mistakes was assuming that it would be bad for me if I took every single mission that I was offered. This meant that I was trying to do missions that I really wasn't qualified to do. For example: taking missions where the final item was too large for my hold, or missions where my ship and/or fit wasn't the best thing to use, and not learning that after rather gorgeous explosions, I probably should upgrade from my very low-end ships and modules.

Think back to when you were a noob. What silly mistakes did you make, and how would you advise new players to avoid making them?

Well, the first time I changed from the civilian gun to a real gun I didn't realise I needed ammo.

One of the big things though was that I constantly swapped agents and NPC corps, therefore not building up standings and being stuck running L1 missions and wondering why I wasn't progressing. Solution: Run agents for one NPC corp only at the beginning.

Looking back my other big mistake was not joining a good corp soon enough. There are loads of good corps out there for new players to help them learn the game. I'd advise all new players to seek one out. Eve Uni for example.

The day I was able to board a Maelstrom, I was so excited I forgot all about the details of the mission. So I boarded it, slapped some bare bones fitting and went off on my mission.

A single drone battleship was there, waiting to be smashed by my new toy. I opened fire and kept shooting at it impressed with my mighty damage and didn't pay much attention to the drone frigates spawning all over the place. A minute later I was pinned down my multiple points and overwhelmed by the amount of damage they were putting out. My new toy was gone a few seconds later.

I went back and read the mission details and there it was, the frigates would spawn based on the damage done on the battleship. I had allowed my excitement get in the way and paid the price.

Taking sooo long to join a great alliance. I ran missions forever just to pay the deposit to join Goonswarm Federation.

For the new guys you want to run missions or mine as quick as you can save that isk and contact a recruiter and pay the minimal deposit to join the best alliance in the game.

See you in Dek.

I was getting owned in early missions for lack of knowledge about how to fit a ship. After someone mentioned railguns in rookie chat as being long-range, I though "score, I'll just blast 'em from far away!". After a bit of wrangling with the market system (totally got lost in that ocean), I found some. Needless to say, I realized some time later why my Minmatar ships still weren't faring so well. I think I discovered artillery in my third week.

The moral? Stick with the weapons that fit your starting race. It'll save you a lot of heartache. Better yet, check out your ship's info and find out just what you should be fitting to make the most of what you have.

(1) Don't believe anything anyone from Pandemic Legion or Goonswarm tells you.

(2) Ignore anything said in the local channel in Jita, Amarr, Rens or Dodixie, especially if it is a contract. Much for the same reason as (1)

(3) If you are new to the game, you might not know what in the game really interests you. Maybe mining, maybe PvP, maybe running missions, etc. While all these things are not mutually exclusive, and some of the skills intersect, if you try to train to try out all these different things, it will slow you down in terms of training for what you eventually decide to do with that character. If you know what you want to do already, do some research before you start your character so that you know what to train in. You will eventually get to the point of training skills that take 2 or more weeks to finish, regardless of what you go into, and you don't want to be wasting time on skills you won't be using.

edit:

(4) Battleships and capitals are not the be-all end-all of ships. Even in the big fleets battles in nullsec, the ones with hundreds of ships on each side and 1300 in local, there is critical need for ships that are smaller than battleships. Nothing larger than a cruiser hull can warp while cloaked, so scouts will always be small ships. The only ships in the game that can prevent a supercapital from warping away are interdictors (t2 destroyer) and heavy interdictors (t2 cruiser). Having fast tackle is crucial in many, if not all, fights, and that is the sole province of frigates (t1 frigates, especially the rifter, and the faction t1, the dramiel/daredevil, and the specialists, the t2 interceptors). Even if you have no plans to get into PvP, there are many cruiser/battlecruiser-sized hull ships that do as well or better than battleships in missions. I have been playing the game for just shy of two years now, and I find battleships to be cumbersome and slow. A well equipped and well trained strategic cruiser (t3) or command ship (t2 battlecruiser) can do much of what any t1 battleship can do.

(5) Do the tutorials. It is a complex game. I have mentioned things in voice chat to people who have played longer than me about how some facet of the game works, and they had no idea. In addition, you will get free skillbooks and ships as part of the tutorials. Even if you don't want to use them (or can't in the case of the industrial during the trial period) you can always sell them for isk.

(6) Philosophies about what race is good for what change over time. People say that Gallente ships are no good for pvp (with a few exceptions). If you look at some of the videos of big fleet battles from three years ago, the views are filled with Gallente battleships. When I first started, Minmatar were considered too weak in dps for pvp. Now the alliance that fields the most powerful subcapital fleets in the game use Minmatar almost exclusively for their dps. These changes can either be due to rebalancing of ships by the devs or someone came up with a way to counter the system someone else was using. Don't be discouraged to fly the race of ships you want.

1. Fly ships you can afford to lose.

2. Always buy Platinum insurance on your ship.

I first started the game thinking of doing a mix between industry and combat, and learnt that, though viable, it takes a long time to pull off successfully. FInd something you enjoy doing in this game and concentrate on that for awhile :)

Also, if you do combat, learn how to use Salvaging up to lvl 4. You'll make loads of money this way.

Also be casual, have fun. This is a game and some people take it seriously when there's no need. Shoot the juice, be friendly in local and discover genuinely interesting people to talk to. You make friends this way and get surprisingly good contacts into corps and alliances.

Also, know a scam when you see one. if you don't know, don't do it. Always ask :)

If you want anymore help or advice please feel free to mail me or private convo me :)

Fly safe o7

Regards,
DB

Trust no one. If you trust someone, you'll regret.

Two main things spring to my mind :

1/ There are no such things as stupid questions. The only way you learn is by asking.

2/ If it looks too good to be true, it is.

1. Before moving up from your frigate to destroyer or cruiser, buy a higher tier frigate beforehand.
Gallente - Tristan
Minmatar - Rifter
Amarr - Punisher
Caldari - Merlin

2. Pay special attention to your ship's bonuses in the "description" tab. If you get bonuses to projectile weapons, you should be using them!

3. Don't mix gun types! Stick to one size weapon for your ship. Keep them all the same type. There are a few exceptions, however, where Minmatar ships fit as many autocannons as they can, then move onto missiles.

4. Before flying a shiny, new cruiser, battlecruiser or battleship, train its skill to at least 3. When flying, train it to 4 ASAP. Same with weapons.

5. If you don't like mining, don't do it. You don't need to mine, and it definitely isn't profitable enough that you should be doing it even if you dislike it. Pick a profession you enjoy, and follow it.

6. Explore EVE's income generators! Tired of missions? Buy a probe launcher and explore! Found a wormhole? Insure, go through, and feel fear. :D
Incursions can get you in on fleet action and profit, just make sure you research the ship types you should be flying.
Try running small PI colonies, or salvage your missions after running them.
There's plenty in EVE to break any player's activities up :)