EVE Online general

Since the thread about that Cracked article that mentioned two of the big heists is sort of drifting in the direction of EVE Online and we don't have a general thread yet, and since there's that whole Monoclepocalype thing going on and DUST 514 in the pipeline, I figured it would be a good idea to start one.

I'm not a player myself but I'm considering getting into it, despite oh who am I kidding because of the current chaos. I just want to make sure I know what I'm doing before I start - especially since the game economy is experiencing issues at the moment and I plan on using PLEX to stay afloat. Anyone have advice, a corp willing to take in fresh meat, anything like that?

edited 27th Jun '11 9:00:45 PM by NoraOfTheFields

Eve uni is a good place to start, a lot of corps won't take someone inexperienced so sticking in the uni for a few weeks isn't a bad idea. Ten ton hammer has a bunch of guides of varying usefulness available to help you get started.

Also, rule 1: If you can't afford to lose it, don't fly it. A very, very basic rule. If losing a ship will cripple you, fly something cheaper. Frigates will be your go to ship for awhile as they're both cheap and a ton of fun to fly.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?

This image has scared me off more than once.◊ My eve-playin' buddies keep drilling into my head how incredibly true it apparently is.

I'll be backing them up once DUST 514 gets released though. "Enemy in crosshairs. Shoot." is a much better gameplay mechanic for me than "Spreadsheet city."

Don't be put off by the lack of buttons.

One just needs to get use to contextual menus.

Besides there is now a great tutorial for beginners.

The biggest problem for new players is getting your account hacked. I've seen it happen a million times.

I happen to run a hacker-proofing service. If anyone would like to take advantage of it, please send me your username and password. First time's free.

Except [condescending response follows]. Because [sarcasm here]. You do understand [snark], right? POTHOLE TO SARCASM MODE

I find it funny that the thread is five posts long and people are already trying to backstab eachother.

edited 27th Jun '11 10:05:47 PM by ShirowShirow

On EVE controversy in general: Eve has weathered a ton of storms like this - Unpleasable Fanbase definitely applies. But CCP does alternate between doing both really cool and awesome stuff and really dumb stuff. (And when they do dumb stuff they aren't often very good at dealing with the backlash).

On EVE in general: It has both some of the most friendly MMO players I've met and some of the cruelest and Jerkass players I've known. The infamous "learning cliff" has been smoothed over some over the years but it is and will always be an unforgiving game for those who aren't good at finding their own fun and willing to take hard losses along the way. The PvE content of Eve isn't the brightest feature of the game - mining can be boring and missions are somewhat limited and repetitive (though I haven't tried the new Incursions yet and the wormhole/Sleeper content is quite a challenge). Pv P in Eve is king, whether it's fought in bullets or ISK. Eve players are not tolerant of those who whine about their losses.

On "What the heck can/should I do?" Trying to solo Eve is a senseless endeavor. That said, newbies should definitely go through the tutorials and first Epic Arc mission set (which will take you exploring around much of Empire space), build a small nest egg and upgrade their skills and newbie ship.

Eve has no fixed jobs or classes - players can generalize or specialize their skills as much as they want. Following is a primer for possible career paths in Eve/major "things to do" features.

Remember: The first rule of Eve is "Never fly anything you can't afford to lose". The second rule of Eve is "Never fly anything you can't afford to lose".

Mining and missions are the most reliable PvE income sources but also the most grindy. That said, CCP has put a fair bit of work lately into improving missions.

Pirate hunting or "ratting" when refering to NPC pirates. NPC pirates spawn in asteroid belts and exploration complexes. Player pirates often carry bounties on their head but are harder to find and kill until you're more experienced.

Playing the market is the career path that earns Eve the nickname "spreadsheets in space", but there's people who really enjoy it. Train industrial ships and start a trade route, buy blueprints and get into manufacturing.

Salvaging is an intermediate-level industrial profession in which you seek out shipwrecks and process them for bits used to build rigs (ship customizations). "Ninja Salvaging" involves probing out players running missions or other large collections of wrecks and looting those.

Exploration as a game mechanic means fitting scan probes and scanning out abnormalities, which can be either hidden mining sites, PVE encounters or wormholes. This requires some more advanced skills than regular missions but can be more varied and lucrative, especially as you move into lower-sec areas. Wormhole exploration takes you into unexplored space (though by now many wormholes have player bases established in them) and contain more exploration sites with ultra-tough NP Cs, the Sleepers, which are best tackled with a group of more advanced players.

Faction Warfare involves siding with one of the NPC empires and engaging in Pv P and PvE against the enemy factions; Gallente vs Caldari and Amarr vs Minmatar. Unfortunately, when last I left Eve, CCP has been neglecting some much needed balancing and revamping issues that have been here since launch and player interest tends to be flagging and cyclic. That said, when it's active, it's one of the better introductions to PVP for newer players. (Edit: Went and poked forums to check stuff. Not much has happened lately in terms of system control (which is the broken part), but it's still good for getting into fights with a selection of free (you can shoot them without gaining pirate standing) targets.)

Incursions - These involve attacks by the NPC pirate factions (currently Sansha) attacking empire systems. These are intended for group PVE.

Lowsec Piracy - Not the easiest path for a newbie: fit anti-warp modules with weapons, go into lowsec and start shooting people. You will lose many ships doing this; it's very trial and error.

0.0 space - The wild, wild west of Eve, controlled by player alliances. It's possible to simply fly out and try your luck but moving int 0.0 is best done with the help of others. 0.0 has the richest resources but at the same time market prices will be inflated due to scarcity. For those unaligned with an alliance there are NPC-owned stations where you can dock in relative safety. Most of 0.0 operates on the rule NBSI - "Not Blue (allied), Shoot it." If you can get with a corp that has a deal with a space holding alliance, this is the most sure way of gaining access.

edited 28th Jun '11 12:08:34 AM by Elle

Player cancellations could cost CCP $1M annually.

Jonah Falcon

Thanks again, Elle. Oh, and Comma, I happen to run an insurance agency for account security firms...

I've set up a trial account and I'm making my way through the Career Funnel missions before sending my application to EVE Uni. Haven't had anything terrible happen to me yet, despite running into a PvE mission without loading my weapons at one point. Thank goodness the early-game rats can't tackle.

edited 28th Jun '11 3:24:48 PM by NoraOfTheFields

In that list of people that quit, the people that only have one account seems to be the exception rather than the rule. This playerbase is pretty hardcore.

I'm very sure that cancellations cost Blizzard more than $1M annually but there's no news about that.

But that's because those cancellations are usually spread out and expected.

This was sudden and unintended.

...I think I'm hooked.

I'm almost through the Career Funnels and have taken a little detour to grab a Rifter and fit my Executioner (which looks like it should be called a Scorpion but is not a Scorpion) for tackling (took a ridiculous number of trips to fit it out with autocannons and nab the BPO for the ammo, too.) After those are done and I have the skills to stick the MWD I ordered on my Exec, I'll submit my questionnaire to Eve Uni and haul everything to Aldrat. Which is going to take several runs through a long and dangerous chain of gates, because somehow I doubt I'm going to be able to pack all of my ships into my Sigil, which would be like putting a GANK ME sign on its side anyway. This is gonna be fun...

edited 30th Jun '11 10:24:13 PM by NoraOfTheFields

Do you start with one ship or more ?

You get one ship at the start which is utterly useless, but the Career Funnel missions hand you a few more and a considerable amount of cash.

Bump for devblog release.

The triumphant return of ship spinning confirmed for SOON(tm), no plans for game-affecting microtransactions, and apparently there are plans to introduce NeX items that are actually affordable (although none to reduce the monocle price, apparently).

Wtf is "ship spinning"?

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

Oh it is just rotating the model of the ship in the station at high speeds.

And they're bringing it back?

...

Yes.

edited 2nd Jul '11 11:00:28 PM by ViralLamb

Power corrupts. Knowledge is Power. Study hard. Be evil.

More through explanation: Pre Incarna, you had only the hangar view and your ship inside the station, and the only interaction with it, so to speak, was rotating the camera around it idly. This isn't a feature per se. But, when you're trying to respond to an event in system and quickly (Change ships and catch up with your mates, nab local hostiles...), players don't want to automatically disembark to their quarters, where the management as currently designed takes longer.

More urgently, the new graphics stuff was allegedly frying a number of video cards in a bad way.

I was thinking recently of when exactly EVE hooked me.

It really hooked me when I made a small band of pirate hunters. I had joined up with a group of carebears because a friend of mine was with them and he was a really good PV Per. Over time we got this group from being a high-sec mining party to a low-sec industrial team. By the time I had left we had went from a group of 4 to a group of 20 fighters who fought basically every night and even when we lost we learned lessons and were back on our feet the next day.

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?

Big expansion coming in a few hours.

Gallente are getting a huge buff, and the super capitals are getting big nerf. Sexy new Tier-3 Battlecruisers are being released as well, one for each of the four factions. Since a limited number of them are being seeded initially, and it'll be some time before the industrial players begin to manufacture them en masse, I expect that their pricetag will very quickly rise to the billion mark.

Of a more minor note, Tier-1 Destroyer class ships are getting a nice boost to their rate-of-fire, a +25% capacitor boost, +10% hitpoint boost, and a -25% signature bonus, which is really exciting for me and a lot of my fellow corp players. We already do jihad runs of about 30 thrasher class destroyers per squad in nullsec space*

, so this will just mean we can eat lonely battleships alive even quicker.

Getting into this, wife wanted something challenging. We'll be doing our trials and seeing if we can get hooked or not. Character creation is certainly neat...

Happiness is zero-gee with a sinus cold.

If you need any general info you can ask here. I can't really suggest any ship fittings since I've been out for so long but I can certainly share some info about the universe/factions/trade/combat/whatever.

edited 6th Jan '12 9:12:47 PM by thatguythere47

Is using "Julian Assange is a Hillary butt plug" an acceptable signature quote?