EVE General Discussion

I seriously need to know if EVE is beyond my capabilities. I have been playing for several hours each week for three months now, and I currently have almost nothing to show for it. I am trying to find my niche in the game, but so far the only thing I am good at is losing. I do want to like the game, but I can't help thinking that I am "doing it wrong" and I'm not so sure I can be cured.

How long does it generally take to get the hang of the game?

I started out well enough, running all the tutorial missions and getting the free ships. Then I stupidly lost my destroyer in a mission, sold my other ships to replace it, and then lost that one as well. Maybe I could have done better with practice. Since I had to start over, I thought I'd give mining a try, as even though it is boring, it seemed safer. That went slowly, but I kept at it and managed to make a little ISK, and eventually worked my way into a retriever, which cost me everything I had. I was much more productive, but within a few days I was blown up by a ganker (in high sec), and lost the ship and my pod. All I had left was a few days worth of ore I had mined before losing the ship. I know, I know, don't fly what you can't afford to lose. But moving into a mining barge as quickly as possible seemed like an intelligent decision for a miner, except in hind sight. I was upset at myself for risking and losing everything I had - for the second time - and didn't play again for a week.

I decided to try a more peaceful career as a trader. I scraped together all the money I could and started looking for items I could buy cheaper and sell higher. I found that I could pretty easily make a little profit of 5 or 10%, but soon ran out of capital and order slots. The stuff that I could afford to buy was not very expensive, so even a 10% return wasn't giving me as much as I had been making mining. I decided that was just a temporary problem, and that once I accumulated more capital I would be able to make bigger trades with my limited slots for more profit. So I kept working at it, and also started moving items between stations to take advantage of price differences. I discovered Eve Central, which let me find the best deals and the best markets. I thought I had figured out how to play, and was making a more decent amount of money. Within a month I had a wallet with over 400 million in it. And then I found a trade that beat all the trades before by turning my 400 million into 500 million - 25% in one trip. If you know how this part of the story is going to end, then congratulations to you, because I did not. It turns out the 500 million buy order was a fake. When I tried to sell, the order was immediately deleted. Only then did I find out there were no other buy orders for even 10 million. After doing a little research, I found out this is a common scam made possible by the fact that the market allows orders to remain visible even after the money put up to fill them is gone. I fully accept that the loss is on me, because I stupidly overpaid for the item. But it was an expensive way to learn that the EVE markets contain fake orders. I knew I had to watch out for other players, whether in ships or on the other side of trades and contracts. I just didn't know that the market mechanism couldn't be trusted, either.

So I'm back to square one. Again. Because of repeatedly making expensive mistakes. Don't get me wrong - I am not crying about the losses. Well, I guess in a way I am, but I don't blame anyone for where I am except me, and I accept that newbies will make expensive mistakes. The question is whether this is an unusual level of stupidity, and whether I should try once more or am I likely to keep repeating my failures?

I know I'll probably get replies that say "Yes. You are too stupid to play Eve." And to be fair, I asked for it. But if what I have experienced is par for the course and is just part of the learning curve, please let me know that, too. I know how to start over and I am willing to do it, but only if I think I have a chance to keep what I earn.

All criticism is accepted. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

Nah.

The fact that you're questioning yourself instead of blaming the game for failing to babysit you already puts you miles ahead of most people.

You probably just need to find some friends who can give you a little bit of advice about some of the less intuitive aspects of the game.

Your not at square one, your learning. the fun in the game comes from making enough mistakes to start surviving :)

Everything you've done I did too. I've lost count of how many frigates/cruisers I lost when I first started and left with practically 0 isk to get myself set up again.

There are alot of resources you can use to help you make isk and stay alive, use Battleclinic to find some cookie-cutter mission fits, use eve-survival to make sure you don't die in missions. Set-up PI on some planets with this guide. and use dot-lan to find systems with the planets you want to PI with.

Well, you had 400 mil at a certain time, so you were doing something right. Who says you can't do it again?

Just be slightly paranoid, have a little patience and check everything twice. You'll be fine.

Losing everything, picking up the pieces and trying to figure out how to stop it from happening again without complaining and asking CCP to make the game easier?

Nah, you're not too stupid for EVE, infact, that's the very attitude an EVE player should have.

The learning curve in EVE is harsh and brutal, but once you overcome it it's smooth sailing from there. You're already doing great from my book. Sure you lost a lot, but you gained knowledge and knowledge is probably the most important thing you can have in this game.

I've played this game, activitely, for about 1.5 years now and I still have absolutely no clue what I'm doing. I've witnessed veteran players who have played for years and years just learn something new.

The best part of EVE is that it never gets old, there is always something you haven't tried and there is always something new to encounter.

The best advice I can give is to keep trying and look for a corp of like minded people. You might want to go solo, but there are corps out there made up of solo players who will be willing to extend a helping hand, because no matter what, eventually you will need someone else's help in EVE, it is an MMO after all.

I also suggest trying to trade again. You made 400 mil before, you could probably do even better. Read up on all the scams out there until you know them well enough that you could probably do it yourself if you wanted to. Once you know your enemy, you will be able to easily overcome him.

Also, for all of your future trading endeavors, just remember to heed the conventional wisdom regarding things that seem too good to be true.

The margin trading scam you fell victim to is only one of MANY trade-related scams.

well now that you got hit by almost everything bad that could happen in highsec i guess you'll know how to avoid it. got ganked. flew a ship you couldnt afford to lose and lost it and got scammed. just within 3 months, congrats ;-). now you've learned "never fly what you can't afford to lose", you have learned "if a deal is too good to be true it probably is" and you've learned "don't trust anyone anywhere" (meaning stay aligned and dont accept contracts/trades that look to good ;-) ).

now you still have something left to learn in highsec and its got something to do with the last thing you learned so maybe it won't happen to you. but just to be sure here it is "never pay something to join a corp, its a scam" and never give your stuff away for "transport into corp/ally space" ;-) just never trust anyone if the worst that could happen would have a significant impact on you.

now as the others have said, this is part of the learning curve, tbh you are a bit dumb because learning one of those should have made sure you didnt get hit by the other stuff if you had done your research but still at least you kept trying and are making your way. keep on playing, join a corp and just be more careful ^^

edit: about the dumb part, just to be clear you still did a lot better than most that try eve, so you are still above the average that tried eve but measured to those who stayed you were definately extremely "unlucky" ;-)

This game requires continues learning and research. Every part of the game needs extensive knowledge to be succesful. I feel like you are a good player, you just need to learn that you need to make a lot of research before you get into something.

First you need to choose what you enjoy more. Trading, mining, mission running, manufacturing, exploring etc. etc. After you chose you need make good amount of research and try to learn as much as possible for that specific field. In short amount of time you will get better and reach your objectives.

Everyone makes mistakes, just don't make too big of mistakes. Also, if something sounds too good to be true, it most likely is.

btw, I sent you 50mil to help you start over. Good luck.

^^THIS! A thousand times this. You're playing an MMO, get yourself involved with ohter people :)