EVE General Discussion

So how do you play the game? Those who play on limited time 1-2 hours at a time. Or older gamers who have to bail at a moments notice. I enjoy EVE a lot. Different aspects. Mostly combat , and PVP. But sometimes it takes so long to get to where you need to be or sometimes these roams just take too long. I'm older, Married, own a home and a dog. I have a real life and responsibility to worry about. I guess im just trying to figure out my best use of time.

in honesty, with difficulty.

I am not old (33) but I have 4 kids, wife, dogs, full time and evil job etc, I find my time suffering, a good corp will support you through the hard times :-)

For me as a single parent, mainly pvp oriented, I just play for a few hours after my daughter goes to sleep. Generally on nights she doesn't sleep well I take less essential roles in fleets so I can dock and deal with whatever is the problem or jump to a safe (I've come to have a lot of them). As far as funding anything I do a ton of passive income (PI, research agents, manufacturing, and trade on one character) on 4 characters to fund this one, log on for a half hour when she goes down for a nap. Once every 4 months or so I sell a plex to bolster what I can do. Isn't exactly the best way to do it but works alright.

Two kids and a full time job mean I have to be ready to log out at any given time and exploration is perfect for that.

My time in game is usually spent running sites until I'm called away, then I simply log off in space. I can always pick up where I left off.

As mentioned previously, a good corp helps. Answering your batphone to help your corp mates out in a fight is real easy with jump clones, also.

Being an old fashioned guy, I use the joystick from my Atari 2600.

I've heard that the combination of a mouse and a keyboard is superior but I just don't believe it.

Mr Epeen

2 hours is probably enough for a small gang roam. But if you have only 1 hour, or have to be called away on notice, then I'd say PvP wise you can just do some solo roaming in a cloaky. Or maybe solo bubble camp with a battlecruiser / cloaky.

Or you can get into a supercap, and just respond to supercap engagements when you have free time.

And also what other people said about PvE.

Faction warfare solo or pirating solo is a perfect option for casual pvp.You can log off anytime you want to if you pirate and if you have some isk to throw around you can set up different bases.I haven't played the last year because of ''lack of interest'' but the last time i played i did FW and solo pirating.The solo pirating was perfect for me with 6 different stations filled with frigs and cruisers i could just log on and pewpew.If i lost a ship i could allways reship within at most 4 jumps.

Solo hunting in wormholes with a bomber is also an option , though that is something i never liked much but i do know some casual players who do that on a daily base and who quite enjoy it.

as others have said,
a corp of people in or around the same age bracket, with a peak time in or around when you typically have time free is what you are after.

most of us in Devil's are family men and find the time when we can,
i would be one of the younger ones so i manage by forgoing sleep but that's just because i enjoy buzzing with the yanks in the alliance.
eve being eve has more adults than not so its unlikely anyone will hold it against you when irl gets in the way.

shop around, chat to people ingame doing what you are interested in when you are on-line and you should find something eventually.

though i found being able to scout myself around with a second account makes for a much easier time of it
(less reliant on sticking with the lads if i have to go afk or log mid roam)

From what I can tell anyway a lot of the other high sec mercenary Corps seem to be populated by players a little older as well.
also, restricted time to play doesn't necessarily mean casual, I stay fairly clued in even on extended breaks fom the game.

1-2 hours sounds like plenty to me, even if it's just per month. It's not a race, and tbh I look on people playing for 10 hours a day with some disapproval if they try make it look normal and talk down to everyone else. It's not and they'll burn out faster than people who manage their time. There aren't many people who have been playing for 5+ years who have maintained consistent activity to that degree (and those who have are gibbering loonies who were 11 when they first subbed, and still are). This myth that EvE is only for hardcore nerds willing to commit to x hours per day is a problem and needs to be demolished - and the corps/players promoting it need to be dragged into the spotlight for a kicking.

+1 to everything said earlier, FW or the newbro groups (they take vets too), RVB and the NPSI fleets. Also Signal Cartel - haven't heard anything but good things about them so far (explo/social corp). I'd take Ralph's advice though and join a likeminded corp, even if it takes a while to find. It does help being self-suffiicient enough that you can dock up mid-fleet and (they don't go mental) then either firesale the ship or evac it yourself using alts or w/e.


This sentiment is depressingly common and I've seen a few corpies cite this as a reason (despite protestations that nobody is bothered how many hours they clock), then stop playing altogether. I've never been part of a group that enforces a certain number of hours activity per week/month (or kills per member) and any time it's mentioned I leap about in outrage, but it's an ongoing battle. It's hard to tell if other people in corp/alliance are making snide remarks at the 'casuals' and you just miss it, but it seems really unlikely. It seems to be more an assumption from the person involved that they have certain obligations that aren't being met. There's really no need to apologise for having a busy job, a family etc. All groups have members in transit - if they lose a major campaign or fight it's really unlikely it's your fault because your child had a tummy bug and you didnt get on for a week, lol.

It is worth not being a ghost in a corp because you feel guilty about being on less than others. If anything ideally make a point of being friendly, even if it's tiresome at first. If you get online, say hello, pop in comms for 5 minutes and talk to the people there. Invest the time here if you have it, as and when, without being a comms/forum lurker with nil ingame activity (there is an extreme version which isn't ideal - but it all depends on the individual). Corps aren't likely to purge you or even remark on low activity if they actually remember you, but they will ditch the ghosts because nobody feels bad about purging someone they never interracted with.

It is worth being on the ball and having all ships fitted and ready to go, so you're not a casual player who is only known for being an annoyance. So getting settup takes a while. Other than that all reasonably sized corps have a % of players who are either weekend warriors or can only get on once a week (or less). It's not a massive problem, and it's not something you should feel bad about. Corps and alliances who list their planned ops in advance on forums or use jabber pings are handy for this too.