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Starting EVE: Third Time was the charm

sgtbozsgtboz Member Posts: 14

I'm currently in my third experience with starting EVE.  I tried it when it was young and quickly gave it up.  It seemed too slow.   Combat was tedious and travel seemed to take forever.  I think I quit within a week of starting.

I tried it again about two years ago.  This time, I tried to get in to mission running.  The missions I could get were too easy and rewards were tiny.  Hunting pirates in asteroid belts was boring.  I tried to make my way to more challenging pirates in low sec space.  I was set on repeatedly and reduced to bankruptcy replacing ships lost to players.  I quit in frustration in the first month.

I decided to give it a look once more in late October.  My intention was to just waste some time till POTBS came out.  Now, POTBS remains unordered and I'm looking forward to playing EVE for years to come.

Here's what has made the difference for me and will hopefully make a difference for other new or returning players:

1.  Making ISK:  I found a way to make enough ISK to keep me in the best ships my skills can buy.  I set my sites early on hauling trade goods in high sec space.  I trained for industrial and had it about one week after starting the trial.  It took subscribing to train it, but I had already planned on subbing to give the game a decent look.  When I got my Bestower (yeah, I'm Amarr), I had 300k in my wallet.  After one day, I was at 12 million.  I had mastered the safe routes in my region and kept my eyes on the market for the goods I know would profit me the most per jump.  It was interesting and seemed much deeper than past  MMO experiences I've had.

2.  Mission running:  Next, I wanted to always be able to get a challenging kill mission to break up the routine when playing the market and trade route running.  To do this, I built my character around social skills.  This gave me a huge leg up in agent level and quality.  I could instantly get level 2 missions when my newb destroyer or cruiser needed a challenge.  Finding a good system for running missions helps.  I'm at Stirht.  Once station in this system has eight agents from the same corp, so building up standing and loyalty is quick. 

3.  Player corp:  I joined an empire player corp early.  Noob chat was a horrible intro to the game.  2000+ people trying to ask questions, answer questions, or spam sell ISK was pointless.  I got in a friendly corp that didn't mind pointing me in the right direction for answers.  I've got people that don't mind sheltering me on a higher mission or teaching me how to partake in a mining op.  I'm developing relationships that enrich the game.

4.  Dual acounts:  Having a second account has made it more fun also.  I picked one up in early Nov. when they had the special going - $40 or so for 6 months.  I made my second character combat oriented.  Now, I have my first as a mission getter, trade maker, social guru and my second as the meat behind the brains.  Working in tandem, I've ran my standings with a big corp up to 6.58.  Now, I have mission options coming out my ears.

5.  Anticipation:  Now that I've taken the time to read up on the game and see some success in the early game, I'm planning the future of my characters and eagerly anticipate milestones they'll soon reach.  My trader / social guy will be flying a covert ops contract runner in 23 days.  He'll double as a scout the next time my Corp gets wardec'd.  My combat spec "alt" will be in his own battleship complete with a T2 drone fleet in about two weeks.

Summary:  Starting in EVE is ruthless.  Having a character plan to work towards is essential.  Do some research of the possibilities before getting frustrated with the early game.  Get in a helpful corp early and turn off the newb chat.  Understand it's a long haul game.  If you find yourself getting bored or frustrated, put on a multi-day skill to train  and take a break. 

Comments

  • sidebustersidebuster Member UncommonPosts: 1,712

    I think I am gonna retry my hand at EvE. I hope for my sake 800 times a charm. Do you have any tips for me (other than what you said) that will help me along?

  • batolemaeusbatolemaeus Member CommonPosts: 2,061

    Get into a Corp. One with nice guys. Dont join a random corp though, take your time, look for one that appeals you and have a little chat with the members.
    Eve is very boring if you solo, because most of the game is teambased and most activities resolve around player interaction.

  • sidebustersidebuster Member UncommonPosts: 1,712

    Okay, I made an entrepreneur type guy and I finished the tutorial. What's next? How do I find a corporation if I only have 7 people in local?

    Do I need to warp to a more populated system?

    I am going to try my best to not give up this time, especially since i got this month for $9.95.

  • SheistaSheista Member UncommonPosts: 1,203

    I suggest joining EVE University for starters.  Join the channel "EVE University" in-game and go from there.  There are instructions to get you started on joining.  They're at war right now, but it should be over in a couple days.  They are a corp that's been around for a long time just helping new people get started in the game.  Pretty sure almost anyone would suggest them as a starting point.

  • aedenaeden Member Posts: 11

    I'll agree that giving the game a 2nd go-round may make your playing experience more successful. On my second try I enjoyed it and understood the gameplay a lot more than my first trial. I enjoy the game a lot but I still feel lost in some aspects, I played about a month and then stopped. I'll return soon due to the new graphics and such... looks exciting.

     

  • sgtbozsgtboz Member Posts: 14

    Here's a few hints that I discovered this time:

    First, you can warp directly to a stargate.  This increases the speed of multi-jump travel significantly.  Set your default "Warp To" distance to 0.  I spent my first two attempts at EVE travelling to every gate from 12k out.  Don't autopilot if you're going to be near the computer.  Autopilot is much slower than manual travel and it is also much more dangerous, even in high security space.

    Second, use the "Selected Target" interface that appears above the overview if you expand it.  This reduces common actions on a target to one left-click.  (target lock, container open, travel to, dock, jump, etc.).   I was right-clicking menus several levels deep in the past, which was a total pain in the rear.

    Third, Clean and sort your overview.  If you're not going to mine, get all the asteroids and fields out.  Take out planets and moons.  Reduce what you see to what you need to see to make overview use easier.  I tend to sort everything by distance, since my ships tend to snipe.  I take out the close stuff with drones and missiles and nail the farther targets with my howitzers.

    Learn to use tractor beams and salvagers.  This will make you a lot more money from missions than you'll get in agent payouts.  Since I'm using two characters, one kills and the other cleans.  A special salvaging destroyer speeds this up significantly.  I have mine equipped with two tractor beams and six salvagers, but I might change this to 4 tractor beams and 4 salvagers.  I can make over 1 mil salvaging a good level 2 mission.

  • JenuvielJenuviel Member Posts: 960

     

    Originally posted by sgtboz

    Third, Clean and sort your overview.  If you're not going to mine, get all the asteroids and fields out.  Take out planets and moons.  Reduce what you see to what you need to see to make overview use easier.  I tend to sort everything by distance, since my ships tend to snipe.  I take out the close stuff with drones and missiles and nail the farther targets with my howitzers.

     

    Just to expand on that point, you can save different overview settings, so having one for "Combat," one for "Salvage," one for "Mining," et cetera will make it easy to switch to what you need when you need it.

  • phantom195phantom195 Member Posts: 37

    I found sgtboz experience and analysis very interesting. In fact this is a thread that one should link to when dealing with complaints about starting in EvE.

    I found it particularly interesting that it seem to take several attempts to really get into EvE. It was also the case for me :)

    Good job !

     

     

  • ValiumSummerValiumSummer Member Posts: 1,008

    If I try EvE again (and I consider it every day) it will be my 3rd time as well.   I   Started at  launch with dual accounts and lasted about 6 weeks.   At that time a corp called "Mo0" ruled the galaxy.   I got bored mining and was too much of a scardy cat to go into zero security. 

     

    2nd go around was fun, I was growing 2 accounts with the special ccp was running with learning skills and had my original 2 accounts running missions.   I had moved my operations to Jita when ccp Moved my agents (to reduce traffic in a laggy system).   Not only did they move them, but they made them inactive for 30 days.   Which left me twiddling my thumbs.   I was also a bit miffed that I was going to have to move all my stuff to another system.   I lost interest again and quit.

    I love the game, I always speak fondly of it.   The ships are beautiful, the ambiant sounds and music is spectacular.    I get overwhelmed sometimes with how deep this game is, and I think thats what keeps me away.  

    I think if they made an "EvE light"  I'd check it out as well.   I'm wondering if maybe Jumpgate Evolution might not do the trick.   Or.... Perhaps I'll check out EvE for a 3rd time as well.  

    Anyone who has not tried EvE has to check it out.

  • AlchemdaAlchemda Member Posts: 179

    Lol, took me about 3-4 tries as well.

     

    I created my main character in 2003 shortly after launch. Calculating the /played time based on login time, I've only played a total of 67 days all together. I'm back after trinity... and I'm wondering why I even left. I'm having a total blast. The game has really matured, and I managed to branch out and find a good player corp and find ways to make good money. Back for only a month and loving every bit, I fly a drake, do lvl 3 missions, and PVP with my corp all the time.

     

    Good times

    ----------------------
    Played (In order of favorite first to least): DAOC, EQ2, EVE, WOW, Vanguard, AC2, City of __, Guild Wars, LOTRO, EQ, Sword of New World, FFXI, Lineage 2, Second Life, DDO, Anarchy Online, RF Online, Archlord, Uru, Ragnarok Online, Shadowbane, Planetside, Auto Assault, Ryzom, Matrix Online, Horizons, Entropia, Sims, Runescape, Lineage 1, AC1, Dungeon Runners

  • PoisonwormPoisonworm Member Posts: 1

    :D Glad you have you back! I started back in 2005. Left, and came back. I'm glad I did :d

  • iCehiCeh Member UncommonPosts: 884

    First time was enough for me, but it took two attempts to get some friends to play it, and I can definitely see where you're coming from as a new player in EVE - it can be really difficult to get into.

    -iCeh

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