EVE New Citizens Q&A

Most of the rage quitters seem to be players who don't understand Eve is PvP all the time, even if you want to be left alone. They expect it to be like every other MMO where you have to queue for the PvP arena. Eve has ruinned all those other games for me now. I started standing around with my level 80 thief in Guild Wars 2 and wonder why I couldn't shove one of these rusty blades in between the ribs of the guy standing next to me. I couldn't because of stupid game mechanics. I'm a freakin' thief, and I can't be bad.

Most videogames have it built right into the logic that you will win. Those games want you to have a positive experience so you'll buy the sequel. In Eve there is no guarantee you'll win. Even in the awful PvE which you can win at 100% of the time, another player can come in and gank you, or take the loot drop you needed to complete the mission and you'll loose. The only way to "win" at Eve is to fight for it. Even then, some days you'll be the windshield and some days you'll be the bug.

You need a good attitude for the times you're the bug. A learning attitude. My kickboxing instructor told me that we don't learn from our successes, we learn from failure. So you have to be willing to learn when your ship explodes. If you rage you won't learn anything and you'll provide precious tears Eve pilots love to collect. I had my Venture ganked in week 3 of Eve by a pirate. That guy became my first Eve friend. Provided me tons of information on protecting myself from guys just like him. I eventually became his scout for other ganks. It was great and he's still my friend today.

One final bit of advice: Don't listen to the carebears. You don't have to wait until you have 20mil skillpoints to do something fun. Get some friends in frigates and go camp a lowsec gate some where. With 30 days training you can be sitting in a stealth bomber cloaked up in null waiting for your first bombing run to start with Bombers Bar. 10 hours of training and you can join up with the New Order and gank miners for fun and profit. Not sure how much training, but not much, and you can sit in a Merlin and lock and jam those same New Order gankers, saving a miner and watching faction police blow up the gankers. If you can get into a null alliance you can be a tackler in a frigate on day 1 tackling ships bigger than you and helping your alliance mates kill it.

There are tons of things you can do in Eve that don't require you to have a time machine back to 2007 so you have the skillpoints. Resist the urge to spend your first several months cycling the mining lasers or rescuing that freakin' damsel.

In Eve there is always PvP. CCP has tried to nerf it down a ton, but still a player can come pee in your cheerios at any time. Those that don't understand that provide tears that fuel my black heart. That said, every kind of PvP I've engaged in someone else has said its not "real" PvP. But sensi say, "always cheat; if you're in a fair fight you have bad tactics."

These are the things about it that differentiate it for me, and as corny and philosophical as it may sound, it seems to me that winning really is just having the right attitude about whatever happens, not killboards or SPs or any of the rest of it. I'm looking forward to what I'll learn about myself in the process-what I'll learn about everyone else too.


Yeah, I don't see myself spending months on PvE, in fact, it's a little odd to me the notion of fearing PvP in the first place. It's pixels for God's sake. If I find myself limiting my play style it'll likely be isk related more than anything else.

True, and I don't want to end up paying to play either. Funny if I end of doing nothing but mining.

Wait until you actually feel it.

Last night a newb in a frigate challenged me to a duel.

I popped him in under a minute and I continued about my day.

Later that night I went ratting in lowsec waiting for someone to try and shoot me.

Even though I was prepared as soon as a I saw the hurricane and thorax land on the grid my heart rate doubled.

It's awesome.....

Nah, I'mma just blow back their toupees via the overwhelming force of my majestic newb splendor. That and my devastating Ibis.

I am glad you are enjoying your EVE experience. It is always fun reading new player's perspectives on the game, and all the advice from everyone.

A few things...first, do what you want. Second, EVE is not just about the game. Read the fiction, check out EVE Radio, check out EVE News sites.

Have fun.

yes

People freaking out about what happens in a video game? Yeah, that does make me all kinds of happy.. I can tell because I'm laughing so hard. I once ganked a guy who then came to the forums to cry. That was the best.

Me I've been ganked a few times, lost some ships while fighting. Never cried. Just learned. I usually ask the pilots that beat me how they did it or what I could have done differently. Everyone I've asked has been cordial and helpful. The same way I am to anyone who asks when their ship suddenly explodes when I'm nearby. But cry and wail about it, and I start laughing too hard to type.

Yeah but you are a rare snowflake....the other 900 noobs I ganked sent hatemail and quit.