Eve Online

Temjin · Post by **Temjin** » 2006-05-30 12:35am

So a few days ago, I'm visiting Penny Arcade, and I see a banner for a 14 day free trial of this game. Why not? I'm bored and I could use a new game. Besides, I think to myself, it's free. It's not like I'd think about joining, since I don't even have a credit card.

6 days later, and I'm now the proud owner of a pre-paid mastercard and a full subscription to eve online. My first pay-per-month MMO.

The game is like crack.

I'm thinking of now joing a corp. I just need to find a good one.

Anybody else playing?

Yogi · Post by **Yogi** » 2006-05-30 01:14am

I'm playing. It's pretty good, though a few stupid mistakes can really wreck you.

Jaepheth · Post by **Jaepheth** » 2006-05-30 01:20am

I was in the Beta, it seems like a good game, but my aversion to monthly fees still holds strong

Post by **Dalton** » 2006-05-30 01:40am

I think Hotfoot has something going.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-05-30 03:34am

Playing it for almost 2 years now and still havn't done everything

I believe my corp will start recruitment in the beginning of next month[/spam]

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-05-30 03:38am

I played for around two years before silently slipping into the void a few months ago. It can be very fun if you enjoy certain things. If you like the economic model, you'll love it. The caveat, of course, is that you MUST have a corporation in order to get to any really good stuff, and if you want the really awesome stuff, you need to join an alliance.

It's a MUCH slower paced MMO than most you'll find in many ways, but it's also more relaxed as a result (well, except for PVP, which is a nerve-wracking and absolutely crazy affair).

My advice:
-Pay bounties to anyone from the Wings of Redemption or other recognized pirate groups if you have the misfortune of being on the wrong side of their guns. You'll live longer, lose less, and maybe even make a friend or two.

-Don't travel out into 0.4 or below sectors unless you're supremely confident of your combat abilities and are fitted for running or combat.

-Don't sell things in hub systems until you're REALLY good at refining and construction. Trust me. Competition has driven prices so low that you'll have to take a loss to sell anything there. Try the more remote systems. Sales will be lower, but per-unit prices will be acceptable.

-Keep a close eye on Escrow. ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS view an item that looks even remotely interesting. People will advertise shuttles as Megathron Battleships and charge 50m for it (a steal for a Mega). Plus you could get some awesome deal that some poor bastard put up by mistake (I've made billions doing that).

-Don't worry so much about getting the next level of ship (cruisers, battleships, etc.) until you have the income to replace what you fly with relative ease. Instead, focus on auxiliary skills, such as navigation, shield control, armor control, weaponry, EW, and sensors. You will be amazed at just how much of a difference there is between a noobed up frigate and a pimped out frigate in terms of capabilities and just raw power.

-Mining is boring, but if can be a steady source of income throughout the game. Destroyers make for nice half-assed mining barges until you can get the mining barge skill. Don't forget industrials. They are vital for hauling the ore during an operation, and make changing bases ever so much easier (just pack up everything and move it). Ice is especially valuable once you get the skills.

-INSURE YOUR SHIPS WITH PLATINUM INSURANCE. Seriously, there's no reason not to unless you are sure you will not lose the ship to NPC rats or PC rats. Look, just do it.

-Agent grinding is an excellent way to make money, especially combat agents. If combat's not your thing, well, have fun with fedex missions from hell. Trust me, go for combat unless you really need the faction boosts. Also, sell the first +2/+3 implants you get. The money is MUCH more useful than the stat boost. Might as well slap in those +1 implants though, they're not worth much, but hey, free skill time.

-Learning Skills are VITAL. Seriously, if you plan on playing this game for a year or more, train up the learning skills as quickly as you can. Start with Memory, then Intelligence, then the rest. When you get the chance, go for the advanced learning skills. So worth it.

If you give me information on what race you are, I can give you some more specific advice, and even more once you let me know what kind of ships you plan on flying or what role you intend to fill.

Temjin · Post by **Temjin** » 2006-05-30 04:16am

I'm Caldari, Deteis bloodline. Just created the character two days ago, but it's going to be my primary from now on.

Right now, I'm just mining (and catching up on my reading), so I'll probably be going for a mining barge soon.

If I start to get into pvp, I guess I would be primarily focusing on cruisers/battlecruisers.

I really don't have a set goal in mind right now.

P.S: Is there anyway to transfer money from one character to another?

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-05-30 04:31am

Temjin wrote: P.S: Is there anyway to transfer money from one character to another?

Right-click on a person's portait (you can also search for players)

Memorize this:

when in doubt, rightclick

Temjin · Post by **Temjin** » 2006-05-30 04:37am

I actually meant from one of my characters to another of my characters, but your way works just as well.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-05-30 04:49am

Temjin wrote:I actually meant from one of my characters to another of my characters, but your way works just as well.

Add your other characters to your main's friend list. Right-click, select "send money". Couldn't be easier.

Just so you know, Caldari ships are AWFUL at mining. Gallente ships are by far superior. More turret slots for mining lasers, and drone space to cover your ass from NPC rats.

Caldari make much better shield tankers/EW/Tacklers, so in PvP, you're essentially support, rather than main damage, at least if you use Caldari ships. Fortunately, you can learn any ship line you want, so you can use that to your advantage. Here's the lineup of the frigates:

-Minmatar: Fast, large cargo. Perfect for courier missions. Decent in combat with the right skills. Probe for hauling, Rifter for combat, Vigil for speed and EW.
-Gallente: Good all around. Drones make up for other shortcomings. All short range, but generally high damage. Blasters R Us. Maulus for mining, Incursus with blasters for combat. Tristan for kicks.
-Caldari: Slow, decent cargo, good missile payload. Kinetic Missiles and Railguns are your babies. Best combat ships are Kestrel and the B-Wing Wannabe known as the Merlin.
-Amarr: Nasty tough and no ammo needed. Perhaps the best all-around ships early on, it's hard to find something wrong with them, though they really don't excel at any one thing. Punisher for the win.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-05-30 05:23am

Hotfoot wrote:
Temjin wrote:I actually meant from one of my characters to another of my characters, but your way works just as well.
Add your other characters to your main's friend list. Right-click, select "send money". Couldn't be easier.

Just so you know, Caldari ships are AWFUL at mining. Gallente ships are by far superior. More turret slots for mining lasers, and drone space to cover your ass from NPC rats.

They do have the best cruiser for mining tough (Osprey)

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-05-30 05:41am

wautd wrote:They do have the best cruiser for mining tough (Osprey)

Bah, the Osprey can't compare to the Thorax/Vexor combo. Back before the Thorax changes, the Thorax could mount FIVE miner 2's and still have eight ogre drones for defense (or a hardy mix of anything else). Vexors should still be able to pull 4 Miner 2's, plus ridiculous drones for defense and additional mining. The Thorax can still mount the 5 miner 2's with ease, though its drone defenses are compromised somewhat. The 3 miner 2's the osprey can mount is some of the weakest sauce in the world in comparison. The pitiful drone bay just means that when trouble comes, you'll have to get used to running.

The +20% boost to mining output yield is not that great.

300 * 1.2 = 360
300 * 1.4 = 420
300 * 1.6 = 480
300 * 1.8 = 540

It's not until cruisers 4 that it can compete with the Thorax, and even then the thorax has a drone bay of 50m3 versus 20m3, space that could be used for a set of mining drones and medium/light combat drones. Meanwhile, the Vexor, while overtaken on raw miner laser power, remains comptetative through it's own drone bonus. Plus, Gallente ships have more low slots, which tend to be more useful for mining. Cargo, speed, or CPU (and now mining enhancement modules, IIRC).

Of course, the Osprey is cheaper, so for a starting player, it may be a better option. Of course, once you get to cruiser level, you should be able to afford a medium mining barge, and that's the best option. Of course, Vexors and Thoraxes are highly capable combat ships when kitted appropriately, something I don't think you can really say about an Osprey.

Dahak · Post by **Dahak** » 2006-05-30 06:21am

You evil creatures... You made me think about playing again.

If the WLAN connection at my temp home holds water...

Yogi · Post by **Yogi** » 2006-05-30 12:57pm

Bah, mining is boring. Stealing ore from other players is exciting.

There are lots of people who are called "Macro Miners." Think Gold farmers, only completely automated. Some characteristics are

1) Won't respond to conversation requests. Will ignore you even if you lock weapons on their ships.
2) Are in starter corporations.
3) Have no agent standings except for the starter agent at lv. 10. Check their player profile for standings and employment history.
4) Have names like "HHHJJJKK"

The thing about Macro Miners is that the miners store their ore in jettison cans, and use Industiral Ships to fly around and pick the ore up. Well, just grab your ship and help yourself to the ore in their cans, since anyone can take from Jettison cans.

Warning: If you steal someone's stuff, they can attack you for 15 min. Most macro miners are whimps so they won't fight back. However, some of them carry drones, which can deal some damage. The good news is that if they attack you, you get to fight back, blow up their ship, and loot the wreckage.

Another Warning: If you steal ore from a real player, he might have powerful friends who will make their displeasure known.

Edit: If you steal from suspected Macro Miners, ALWAYS report them to CCP first (Help --> Petition --> Exploit). Otherwise, they could think that you are part of the operation and ban you.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-05-30 01:11pm

To be fair, most people with halfway decent mining setups dump into jet cans, simply because the ridiculous limits for the smaller cans aren't worth the tritium they're stamped from.

McC · Post by **McC** » 2006-05-30 02:25pm

Never ever leave EVE with a skill not training. One of EVE's greatest strengths as an MMO is, I think, the ability to make your character better without even being logged in. I'm currently training the 30+ day Amarr Battleship 5 skill, and I don't even have to log in if I don't feel inclined to. I just keep a little timer set in Firefox that'll alert me when I need to log in and switch to another skill.

That said, Hotfoot is absolutely right: train all the learning skills to 5, and then train the advanced learning skills to 4. It'll take some time, and you'll be "set back" a bit with regard to other skills while you're doing it, but you end up saving assloads of time in the future.

I've got a very rudimentary, out-of-date website I was putting together to keep track of my EVE stuff. I wouldn't even mention it except for the fact that the 'useful links' section contains...useful links (fancy that). I highly recommend making use of them. Also, if you want to get the most out of EVE, learn the math that governs certain things. For that, I suggest the 'formulae' section.

And Amarr ships FTW. Your shields may drop faster than you can blink, but when your opponents sit there hammering at your armor without much more than a few percentage drops while you blast them apart with lasers, you'll know which ship is superior.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-05-30 02:50pm

McC wrote:
That said, Hotfoot is absolutely right: train all the learning skills to 5, and then train the advanced learning skills to 4. It'll take some time, and you'll be "set back" a bit with regard to other skills while you're doing it, but you end up saving assloads of time in the future.
.

That way you're training 2 months without being able to do much else (like having fun)

I'd say, train the learning skills to level 3 or 4, then train some basic skills (engineering, electronics, mining, whatever) so you can do some other stuff other than flying in a noobship. In a while, start training the advanced learning skills. High attributes mostly matter when you're starting on those high level skills to 5 anyway

Yogi · Post by **Yogi** » 2006-05-30 03:17pm

Training learning skills is definetly needed and you should train all of them . . . eventually. However, to be honest you'll never catch up to the people who are many years old, no matter how many learning skills you train. I didn't even start training learning skills the first few weeks.

Get a combat ship, train some combat skills, and hunt rats in 0.5. That'll get you the most money. If you don't want to risk your neck, run Agent missions. Try to run missions for a corporation that has an R&D department, since that will help you do research later on if you need it.

lPeregrine · Post by **lPeregrine** » 2006-05-30 07:54pm

Yogi wrote: Warning: If you steal someone's stuff, they can attack you for 15 min. Most macro miners are whimps so they won't fight back. However, some of them carry drones, which can deal some damage. The good news is that if they attack you, you get to fight back, blow up their ship, and loot the wreckage.

Of course if you're flying an insured industrial, you'll make a profit even if you get blown up on half your runs. My industrial is a net loss of under 200k ISK, and I'll make at least 250k off a single load of minerals (5 minutes worth of "work"). And that's with Industrial I as my only relevant skill, no cargo expanders, etc. Ore thieving can be VERY profitable if you find a good victim.

Another rule to add:

DON'T FLY IT IN LOW SEC IF YOU CAN'T AFFORD TO LOSE IT. This is the most basic rule of PvP. You will lose ships, no matter how good a pilot you are. Always fly a ship you can afford to lose multiple copies of, and always keep your insurance updated.

Yogi · Post by **Yogi** » 2006-05-30 10:10pm

In Lowsec, if you warp to a gate and see several people over 100 km away, TURN AROUND AND WARP OUT!!! People have fitted their Battleships to be able to hit you from 100 km+ out. They pop you, the sentry guns can't reach them, another player collects your loot.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-05-30 10:57pm

Yogi wrote:In Lowsec, if you warp to a gate and see several people over 100 km away, TURN AROUND AND WARP OUT!!! People have fitted their Battleships to be able to hit you from 100 km+ out. They pop you, the sentry guns can't reach them, another player collects your loot.

Um, wha? It's been a while, but last I checked, Gate Guns slapped things up to 160km out.

Not that it matters though. In lowsec, tanking gate guns is really easy once you're set up with the right tank. The better tip would be not to go to lowsec unless you're prepared to fight or run. Pirates are very adept at setting up gateganks and gate blockades, I should know, that's what my corp does.

Look, the only way to get around gateganks for sure is to have instas at the ready. but in order to get reliable instas, you need to scout the area beforehand.

Chardok · Post by **Chardok** » 2006-05-31 08:12am

Shit sounds too complicated for me. I'll stick with my Ice/Storm controller, TYVM.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-05-31 09:50am

My story so far:

Chapter 1:
In April 2004 I started a free trial of a game called Eve. Completely lost by the complexity of the game, I was lucky to join a small, industrial corp (The Dark Wheel) in empire with a real life friend. I played for another 4 months, usually by doing missions ad nauseum, slowly earning money too see it blown up all at once now and then. Then I grew tired of Eve and cancelled my subscription

Chapter 2:
Fast forward to February 2005. I don't really remember what pulled me back but I decided to give it another try. Not only I was suprised to see some old, familiar faces back, they also remembered me and I was quick to join the corp of one of an old ex-Dark Wheel member named Dogrobbers (which was basicly the alt corp of Elite Storm Enterprises). I started back mission whoring in a cruiser and little did I know of the voilent wars in the South where my future home and alliance was fighting for its survival against impossible odds.
A month later, I had the opportunity to relocate to the Querious region in 0.0. FIX already beaten back a handfull of hostile faction and were now fighting for survival against BOB.
Scared for the unknown (and 0.0 in general) me, my friend and some other relative nooblets decided to go for it anyway. Even tough we were escorted, I still remember the foreboding atmosphere when we entered 0.0. No police, no gate sentries, no nothing except your potention killers lurking around the corner. We arrived at our new home in 9cg with little on the market, no agents, NPC rats that were out of my league, everything far between and BOB deathsquads roaming in space. In other words, I arrived in hell while all I could fly was a cruiser. To think back afterwards, I can't believe that I took such a huge step. Good thing that I didnt knew at the time what a implanted +4 intelligence implant was actually worth.
In this environment I teamed up with my alliance members to defend my new home or just seek for targets of opportunity in a caracal wich sole defence is being able to give a good punch for its size. My first taste of a Kill and Death were in my trusty Caracal. I gained some respect for my enemies and appearantly this respect was growing between both alliances as well. A NAP was formed between FIX and BOB and our acknowledged was printed in the universe. A time of peace followed where I ninjamined in a fragile Osprey to get my first battleship (Scorpion). Finally a ship capable of beating those pesky NPC's and worthy to use in battle.
During my time in FIX, I saw old corp members creating their own corps which are respected and feared troughout the universe (Battle Angels, Exile,...), see our alliance domesticate our region by placing more POS'es and filling the market to empire-levels and have been in 2 more full-blown wars for the regions in the east (which are worth a couple of pages on their own). I also saw my character grow in skill, assets (including my own little POS) and experience and recently I gained a nice promotion in my corp.

Chapter 3:
April 2006. Turbulent times in EVE politics are happening and it looks like our corp decided it is time for something new. With heavy heart, we decided to leave FIX and move over to the Fountain Region and linking up with a small yet likeminded Alliance called XELAS. They are currently fighting a nasty 0.0 war with Fountain Alliance remnants and Vertigo Coalition. With unknown territory, different kind of stations and unknown enemies I have the same feelings as when I first entered FIX, which is fun. Now it's time to relocate my assets to my future home.

addendum: we settled there and stayed for 1 or 2 months. It was quite literally insane living there because this war never stopped raging and unlike my old home, here we lived in NPC stations which we had to share with our enemies. I've seen a lot of action in a short time and especially gained more experience in solo PvP. Not that I minded the action, but being so far (and basicly even cut off) from empire it became harder and harder to replace my losses. Our corp even had it worse due some serious setbacks I'm not going to mention here. So eventuall we decided to pull out and live in empire for a while, doing our own thing and creating our own path.

Chapter 4:

Living it now. I'm now a director and fleet commander of our corp and I hope our CEO will get us moving back to 0.0 soon. Sick of empire and reading the stuff thats happening in my old home down south (FIX getting gangbanged) makes me miss 0.0 more than ever

Yogi · Post by **Yogi** » 2006-05-31 10:48am

Hotfoot wrote:Um, wha? It's been a while, but last I checked, Gate Guns slapped things up to 160km out.

It could have been furthur than that, but I was killed by sniping BS twice, once was a pod kill as well.

Hotfoot wrote:Not that it matters though. In lowsec, tanking gate guns is really easy once you're set up with the right tank. The better tip would be not to go to lowsec unless you're prepared to fight or run. Pirates are very adept at setting up gateganks and gate blockades, I should know, that's what my corp does.

So, remember to fit lots of Warp Core Stabalizers and a Microwarpdrive.

Hotfoot wrote:Look, the only way to get around gateganks for sure is to have instas at the ready. but in order to get reliable instas, you need to scout the area beforehand.

For the uninitiated, if you warp to a bookmark, you'll end up with still 15 km to go. Therefore, you can warp to a gate, then still have to travel 15 km to the actual gate. However, if you place a bookmark 15 km "behind" the gate, then when you warp you'll wind up 15 km from the bookmark, bur right on top of the gate, ready to warp out.

Hotfoot · Post by **Hotfoot** » 2006-05-31 12:09pm

Chardok wrote:Shit sounds too complicated for me. I'll stick with my Ice/Storm controller, TYVM.

I've never claimed EVE was for the casual gamer. By the way, what sever are you on? I play on Pinnacle and Guardian myself.