EVE New Citizens Q&A

Oh you have no idea how difficult.

I don't apply to corps, I'm invited to them.


Agreed, but there's a big difference between demanding doctrine and skillplans, and merely recommending preferences.

Please don't call me that ...

My requirements are simple - you won't get a full API and while I will work toward, or fly, required ship doctrines at the end of the day I'll fly what I want and still contribute as best as I can. I'm there to have fun with people, and I don't have fun flying an Orca even if it's what you need most right now. Most reasonable corps have no issue with that, or a polite request to leave out parts of an API (such as mails).

But some corps don't care about you, or how much fun you have with them, or even respect the privacy of your mails, they just want an extra ship on grid so they can win the next fight and don't give a damn about the pilots in the group beyond ensuring they're not here to rob them. Who wants to be a part of a group like that?

Some people do, I guess.


In my case when people invite me to a corp it's got very little to do with flying ships as it does people just wanting me around so they can enjoy the other things I bring.

This has nothing do with APIs. It's a separate issue entirely. Yeah, APIs CAN help FCs keep track of who can fly what in an organized corp with doctrines. But withholding your API isn't going to prevent them from finding out you can't fly xyz when they ask you to ship into it and you can't. They can still tell you what to train without ever seeing your API.

Or you can join a group that doesn't dictate training at all. Or one with suggested but flexible doctrines. Most of which will also require an API check. It's really up to you.

FWIW most groups with doctrines are understanding of newer players and allow lower-skilled substitutes for a while. Most people won't complain if you are working on core skills, because that's going to improve your doctrine ship anyway. The problem usually comes when you are training something like Mauraders because you feel like it when you still can't fly a HAC for your doctrine. This just shows your corp you don't really care about participating in their fleets or helping them reach peak effectiveness.

As far as trust being a two way street....

It's not. Not in EVE. The corp is taking a MUCH bigger risk letting in a new member than the member is taking by joining. The worst that can happen to you is your corp mates kill whatever ship you are in and pod you (unless you are very foolish and give them access to your assets without proper collateral). Whereas as soon as you join corp you have access to all kinds of intel that could harm the corporation. Fleet locations, active member counts, active leadership, bookmarks...all kinds of things an enemy fleet would love to have.

WH corps in particular are taking a huge risk even letting you in their POS where their ships are stored. The biggest WH corps usually solve this by having member "tiers" where new members are put on probation and only trusted with each other's POS/assets for a time. It's rarely perfect though, and theft in WH space is much too easy.

So remember, when recruiters are rooting through your API trying to prove that you are a spai, it's not personal, and 9 times out of 10 they don't really care about whatever "private" things you have in your mails etc. They are just trying to establish that you are who you say you are. Any effort to hide things raises red flags, and usually those sort of people are just not worth the effort from a recruiters' standpoint.

Basically the only things I would be worried about in giving out an API

-Sensitive Intel - For example, as a director in my corp, there's plenty of information in my mails and contacts that could harm it even after I left if it was leaked to our enemies.
-Trade Secrets - Industrialists/Traders often need to keep certain things private to protect their financial interests
-Very Personal Info - Mails, etc. about yourself that you wouldn't want anyone to see. Most of the time the recruiter doesn't care about this and it's just your own feeling of privacy that is the concern

Yeah, giving access to mails feels weird. The only time I've ever had to give a full API was to join Green Skull. The only reason I gave access to mail was because I knew and trusted Cara, even though he doesn't handle recruitment, his association with the group made me feel more at ease. I wouldn't even consider giving access to my mail to a corp I've never interacted with in any way. So if I one day leave GSLLC and join a corp without knowing anyone, I will most certainly not let people look at my private conversations. Trust is a big thing in EVE, earning it is hard.

In short, I understand your frustration, when a corp asks for full api, ask if you can omit mail. If they refuse, move on and find another group.

oops, double post, my bad.

When I'm looking to infiltrate a corp, steal everything I can and kill everything I can't steal, I usually use a character that refuses to give an API first.

If your corp doesn't ask for sensibly chosen partial APIs at least, they are doing half of my job for me.

Depends on the corp and what security risks they are trying to protect.

Most do not need full api, most are just monkey see monkey do.

If the corp has a high risk of attracting spys and does not want that risk, perhaps it is useful then.

A full api does not mean someone wont turn into a spy....

Lastly, the corp you give it to, if they become your enemy... they can use what they learned against you.

We've had this thread a few times now, search is your friend. But here's the short version:

Giving out your full API honestly won't hurt you, but if a corp is ASKING for your full API instead of a specific list of things they want to see, and they want it permanently instead of for a very brief recruiting period, then at minimum that corp's recruitment director is mind-numbingly incompetent.

At worst, it's a middling indicator that there's not one single person in the entire corporation with even the slightest idea of what the hell they're doing.

So... in summary, it's a red flag on the _corporation_, and you should probably stay away. If you refuse on what amounts to 'if you can't give me a specific reason you want specific info, I don't trust you with it' grounds, you're not the weird one, that's the default attitude of 99.99% of Eve players and 100% of every member of the human race that's ever had any common sense.

Never a full. If you really must see my skills, Ill show them to prove Im able, but it would be obvious as I JF in my gear. Want to see my isk and spending habits, assets? Nope. Want to see my mails? Nope. If your corp isnt set up in such a way that you limit recruits and their abilities to screw the whole thing up, Im not intetested anyway.Dont trust me enough to join, show up with some ships and fleet up, Ill move elsewhere.