EVE New Citizens Q&A

No, you don't always need friends online to play - it's just that there are far more gameplay options available to you when you're with a group. This is particularly true when you're new and don't yet have the skills (in game) or the knowledge (as a player) to do a hugely diverse set of things all by yourself.

You absolutely don't always need friends online to play, however. I am almost entirely a solo player.




No, it's not like that.




It could be. You do need to pay at least a little bit of attention to your overview, local, and d-scan outside of low-sec, but pretty much everything there is to "show info" on in low sec, also exists in high sec.



There isn't a whole lot of point* in fleeting up if you're not going to work together - it's just a chat channel at that point, so why not just use a chat channel?


*I guess you could share a fleet booster, w/e.

New Eden is much less dangerous than rumor has it. For the most part, you can fly about high sec with impunity, excepting if you are war dec'd or flying something incredibly expensive. While you CAN be attacked anywhere, the punishment for the attacker limits the target pool. Many players spend their entire lives in high sec and never see an attack by another player.

Low sec and null sec (including WH) have very thin populations, so other than certain travel routes or staging systems, you can often fly a dozen jumps without even seeing another player. Low sec has gate/station guns making PvP there difficult in small ships. Quite often you will be sitting on a gate in low sec with half a dozen guys that WANT to shoot you, but will die to gate guns if they do.

While you certainly don't need friends online just to log in to Eve, this is an MMO and is designed entirely around the fleet concept. Pretty much anything you can do in Eve, you can do better with a friend or two along. Fleeting also allows you to fit a ship for specific roles instead of generalized for all roles, and allows you to explore distinct fleet roles rather than be a jack of all trades at them.

As for 'moving at your own pace'...that can be rewarded in Eve, actually. The most common mistake of new players is to try to fly ships they can barely undock simply because it is bigger. One type of pacing would be- fly what you are good at, not what you can barely undock. I would much rather have a new player in a T1 frig with good skills than that same guy trying to keep up in a battle cruiser with half-a$$ed skills. I would rather have a guy that knows his role in the fleet, not just another F1 monkey.

One doesn't have to be 'on grid' with fleet mates, however certain mechanics like boosting ships do need to be in the same system as you. Most activated modules (like repair, ReSeBo, etc) have ranges like weapons, and you will need to be on grid and in range for them to function.
But proximity to your fleet depends on what you're doing. As a fleet scout in a Ceptor ahead of the main body, you will almost never see your fleet.

Thanks for all the info. It's nice to hear that it's not like a COD map.

The only content in EVE is what you create, or you find.

It is much easier to create content, and to find it, when more people are involved.

I have played solo as well as in a low-activity alliance, and the low-activity alliance was hugely fun when they did something.

You really want to join a group of people that either create trouble, or look for it!

Hi OP, I'm pretty slow figuring out complex displays and rapid marching orders (flying orders?) from FCs. If you join a decent corp, others will be patient with you and teach you the tricks they know.

That being said, let's not sugarcoat what EVE will feel like. You can get killed at any time, likely because you're not in the best position to resist an attack somebody else has mounted. Probably the person that's attacking you knows that.. since you are still new. Your brain will need to process multiple things quickly, and you'll want to learn how not to panic even if half your ship looks like it went up in flames.

These skills.. anticipation, observation, planning, presence, etc. they will come in time.

You really just need to remember to be patient and calm. You're going to fall multiple times, and sometimes you'll break something valuable or you'll make a stupid mistake. Just pick yourself back up and keep playing. Having friends helps because sometimes you can fall back on them.. even if it is just to chat with someone about your frustrations.

I'd suggest you get into exploration for your PvE activities. You can take on as much or as little risk as you see fit any given day.

For PvP side, go tackler. It's something you can get into within days of play and still holds huge value a decade into the game. It is the most "proactive" PvP role in a gang - meaning you have to be quick to do it well.

Both types of activities are usually done at the Frigate or Cruiser level. Both offer a wide variety of ships and configurations to use so you can mess around with what you fly as you learn more - and both start so easily that you can do them within days of starting the game yet still advance using those skills "forever".

If you get good at tackling then you know how to slip by them and you'll definitely lose any concerns about flying around solo as well as being desired along on most gang runs.

Thanks every one. Really appreciate the answers. I have some more questions I couldn't find a clear answer on through google and don't want to make a new thread so hope some of you are checking back.

I want to sub. I know buying the game the first time usually gets you some goodies in game. There is an awesome explorers pack on amazon that comes with ships, skills books, and want I really want a cerebral doo hickey! But it says this is not a valid way to upgrade a buddy trial. When I go on eve to buy the game, it doesn't say anything about goodies? Do you really not get anything for buying through eve itself? That sounds funny to me. Is there a way to upgrade my buddy trial so they get something and use one of the start up options that comes with stuff for the new player?

Second question, I know there isn't such a thing as better ships in this game, so my question is going to be about viability. Are the ships you get in the career path tuts viable for going off on your own or should I be looking to buy a new frigate? I looked at some ship stats, but don't know how to make much info out of the stats yet. Is there a site that shows ship strengths by chart and area of interest?

Also,

You don't always need friends to get stuff done. It just depends what you want to get done and sometimes friends do make it easier.

Solai, you'll be proud. I hung out in null sec for 4 hours on day 3. Got blown up in an instant of a gang jumping into my spot. Thought I was pretty quick when I got away in my pod only to fly around aimlessly for half hour unable to chart a course home and had to self destruct.

It was fun out there and great to see, lost a free tut ship oh well. Was disappointed I couldn't loot any thing. Didn't have the proper tools.

Do you need high level mods to loot in null? I also got about 50 hits with scanning probes, I'm set up for hacking and relic hunting, any way to tell what a site is before I spend the time scanning it down?

No, you don't need expensive modules, keep it cheap. If you have difficulty scanning or opening anything, keep training the scanning/hacking/archaeology skills. Try to get into a t2 cover ops frigate with covert cloak, but don't worry too much about the quality of your modules. Once you have that, Sister's Core Probes might be worth it, but you want to keep your fit cheap. I usually don't fly a ship unless I can afford five more of it.