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EVE Online - Free 2 Play with PLEX?
CrueKnight
Member Posts: 48
I'm downloading the trial right now. I love reading the articles on EVE and it sounds like tons of fun!
I plan to buy the game on Steam before the holiday sale is over.
I never played a pay2play MMO like WoW or LOTRO...I DO NOT want to get into that loop of wasting 15 bucks a month to play the same computer game. I hate being a "slave" to a certain game or product.
Is it possible to EFFICIENTLY buy PLEX in game each month to play EVE online for free?
Or is it just an expensive feature that only the highest lskilled guys can afford it and nothing but a mere discount?
The only reason I pick to play EVE is because they now have this feature. I don't mind paying for a few months as long as soon it will free 2 play.
Also, do you have tips for me in which direction I should go to get the most money in the long run? I love the fact that you can train and log off while youre still training in-game.
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
Comments
Running level IV missions is probably the easiest route, and they pay the most, a plex generally costs 280 - 300m isk, which you can reasonably make in about 8 - 10 days of missioning... unless you go at it hardcore i guess.
It is a bit tough for a new player to do... however, with a month of straight combat training, 2 max and its easy.
So you say Combat Training over, say Mining or something? So basically a combat class would do better in making money...?
Also how long will it take me to do level IV Missions? Is it uber hard for noobs to do?
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
So you say Combat Training over, say Mining or something? So basically a combat class would do better in making money...?
Also how long will it take me to do level IV Missions? Is it uber hard for noobs to do?
It's going to take you a couple months to get to lvl 4 missions.
Mission Grinding wise and Skill Training Wise. Even in a couple months, you're probably going to have to run them with a friend. Missions are insanely boring.
Don't plan on paying for the game with PLEX for a long long time. It's just not going to happen. I know people who've been playing for years, who can't afford to pay for their subs with PLEX. 300mil out the door a month is alot. That's 2 fully T2 fitted Battleships, or 3-4 fully T2 fitted HACs.
Is the age in your profile right? Are you 24? You realize, that if you made 15mil per hour, it would still take you 20hrs of game time to buy 1 PLEX? So, basically you're working for $0.75/hr.
$15 is nothing. Order 2 Cheeseburgers at McDonalds next week, instead of the #1 & #2 and you just paid for a month of game time.
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You shoud try the game first before you plan anything like paying the game with PLEX etc.
Flying LvL 4 missions is easy as eating pie, if you know how it works, but you sure need some good character-skills first, to make it there.
If you play EvE only, because there's the possibility to pay with PLEX, then you're looking for the wrong game imho.
@ the poster above: With the right ship and the right skills you'll make 300 Million ISK within some 10 hours of flying LvL 4 missions.
Honestly, for the value gained from 15 bucks a month for a game is well worth it. If mommy won't let you borrow her credit card, set up a pay pal account.
Make it so...
Is the age in your profile right? Are you 24? You realize, that if you made 15mil per hour, it would still take you 20hrs of game time to buy 1 PLEX? So, basically you're working for $0.75/hr.
$15 is nothing. Order 2 Cheeseburgers at McDonalds next week, instead of the #1 & #2 and you just paid for a month of game time.
Haha. Believe it or not, I thought of that.
And No, how did that get there? I'm 18. But I work and have a credit card. I make ok money I guess. But 15 a month is a lot for me.
jrs77 said: "If you play EvE only, because there's the possibility to pay with PLEX, then you're looking for the wrong game imho."
(btw, how do you do that quote format?)
NO, I am not buying this game just for the plex option. I always love space games and this one looks amazing. I just HATE games with supscription fees.
After reading the reviews and game play options of this game, I think this is the game for me. I've played player driven online games like eRepublik and even though that isn't a vitual 3D game, it was still pretty epic. I think this game would make me live in it for quite a long time.
I especially like that fact that you can put skill up in the queue. I don't have all the time in the world to tend to my character all day.
I am pretty sure I will love this game more than any other MMOs which I ended up quitting.
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
Is it possible to efficiently buy PLEX in game and not have to spend a dime? Yes. No. Maybe. Depends on your play style and really should be split up into two questions.
Will I be able to enjoy the game if I choose to buy PLEX in game? This depends. If you are a casual player, then yes. Absolutely. If you are a bit more hardcore, you may run into situations where you just don't have the funds to do what it is you want to do. If you are doing a lot of 0.0 pvp combat, expect losses and to invest in a small stock pile of T1 throw away ships of various types. This gets expensive and will cause you to struggle as you have to major in game money sinks taking up your time.
How long will it take me to efficiently buy PLEX in game? It takes me about 6 hours of missioning to buy a 30-day PLEX per account. I will always maintain at least 2 active accounts. So, 12 hours a month for me. It's actually less as I have other sources of income in game as well. If you are a casual player - I would say about 4-6 months with 2 accounts to achieve the above. It is very possible to do it with only 1 account, but it will take you much longer when you are running missions. You will need decent skills to make sure that you will never have to flee from a mission. 2 accounts work great as one ship can tank most of the damage, while the other can use some heavy DPS. I still use a drake/raven combo as it is one of the cheapest and most efficient income sources that ISK can buy. Although, there are dozens of other combinations. So, for me, the skills I need are for shield tanking, battleship and battlecruise, heavy missile, torpedoes and cruise missiles. Salvaging skills are useful but are fluff.
The other part to the above question is raising your standings with a single corporation as quickly as possible. Social skills are an absolute must to speed you along your way. In fact, a days worth of social skill training will put you into level 2 missions right from the start. The idea is to find a corporation that has combat mission agents in a 0.5 system with the highest quality you can find. It's a pain in the ass, but once you get settled, the payoff is enormous.
Finally, there is a major ISK investment in a 2-ship set up. The ships themselves, the insurance on the ship hulls, all the weaponry and mods. Ammo. etc. Plus, you will also want to get implants as quickly as possible.
I suggest that you try out the game for a couple of weeks. If you like it and you want to buy in game PLEX, go the above route. Think of it as a 4-6 month tutorial of what and what not to do. YOU WILL LOOSE SHIPS. Be sure to never fly what you cannot afford to loose. So, if you can't afford the loss of your new super duper missile launchers (they aren't covered under your insurance) - don't use them until you can.
NOTE: I am putting this last because I do not recommend it for new players. It is possible to invest in a setup and run L4 missions from the very start. Simply buy your Eve online account and purchase a small few 60-day codes from any Eve GTC retailer. Convert these 60-day codes in game to PLEX. Then sell the PLEX to the highest buyers. Use your new in-game wealth to purchase a character capable of running Level 4 missions. You can find an entire forum dedicated to character trading on the official Eve website.Once you have the character, buy the cheapest ship that will allow you to run L4 missions. Run L4 missions as much as possible for the first month to completely upgrade your ship and purchase PLEX time.
mm if i read your mind correctly i think
ENTROPIA UNIVERSE is more along what you are seeking
(unless i read wrong what you mean!)
Naah.... :P That game is like Second Life. It's not a real fun game. I want a space sorta game full of spaceships and all that ambient galactic awesomeness.
Also, thanks for that Kaelaan. It was very helpful.
After work today, I am going to continue my trial download which is currently at 30% since I left home. That is going to be my final decision of whether I should buy it. So far, my research on it has made me excited to play it.
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
BTW, another question. Do you save your character after your trial account? Or do you have to start over when you purchase it?
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
You can continue playing with the same character from your trial period. Also, make sure to request a 21-day trial instead of the normal 14. There used to be a sticky for the 21-day trial in this forum, I thought, but I don't see it now. That said, if you are interested in playing "free" then there is 7 days extra right off the bat. That's a pretty good start :P
-mklinic
"Do something right, no one remembers.
Do something wrong, no one forgets"
-from No One Remembers by In Strict Confidence
You can continue playing with the same character from your trial period. Also, make sure to request a 21-day trial instead of the normal 14. There used to be a sticky for the 21-day trial in this forum, I thought, but I don't see it now. That said, if you are interested in playing "free" then there is 7 days extra right off the bat. That's a pretty good start :P
Alright cool.
Yeah I got the 21 day trial from Steam. If I like it, I will buy it sometime this week.
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
Missioning may be the most straight forward way of earning the ISK, but not exactly fun unless you're into pve... and even then...
One of the most profitable professions is probably trading, but also requires a completely different skillset and some ISK to start out with. Ultimately you can earn the ISK a number of ways, so take some time to get into the game before deciding the means.
Yes, trading is the most profitable and it's also volatile unless you know the game and market. I would never recommend it to a new player as you will more than likely get scammed or misunderstand one thing that forces you to loose everything you have. Trading itself also requires a very large investment of your in game wealth and time.
Once you get comfortable, you should have several sources that allow you to "pay your way". I do a mix of missioning, trading and manufacturing. That way, if one source of income dries up for a month, I can rely on the others.
I played the tutorial and the game is pretty epic fun. Just don't really like the controls of the craft too much.
So now I'm at the part where I choose proffesions.
I heard to make the most ISK, pirate hunting in 0.0 or Lv4 missions.
How does the Industry and mining work? Are they the less profitable proffesions?
Also, when do you usually go into PvP?
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
Usually you look at it this way: "How many ISK per hour can I make doing this or that."
Mining is only worth it, if you train up for a Tech 2 Mining-Barge and start mining in 0.0 with a Orca or Rorqual on your side. A good setup mining-OP is worth some 30-40 million ISK/hour for each Exhumer-pilot.
So mining is only worth it in a team of atleast 5 pilots.
Industry, e.g. crafting needs alot of investment first and it's just like mining a team-effort, to make real ISK with it.
And then there's missions, cosmic anomalies and complexes aswell as 0.0 rat-hunting. This requires some skills to be trained up aswell, just like you'd need to train them up for any other profession, and to be really good at it, you're basically looking at 6 month of training skills.
The good part about shooting NPCs to make for a living is, that you can do it solo and in total safety if you choose to fly missions in empire rather then going into 0.0.
And there's one thing you should know about 0.0... you'll be ganked very often and NPCing is allmost impossible actually, if you're not a member of the corp/alliance, which controls the space.
So basically your only real option (if you wanna play solo that is) is to train up for a ship that's capable of flying LvL 4 missions, like a Raven or a Dominix f.e.
PvP is something, that costs ISK, requires alot af patience and you need to get used to being killed very often. PvP in EvE isn't fair and flying around solo is something that's very hard these days.
I got used to fly around solo in cheap Tech 1 cruisers. Tech 1 cruisers are cheap and disposable. The loss for the ship is somewhere around 10 milliion ISK and you'll get underestimated by alot of people. So what I do is to kill a Tech 2 frigate or destroyer, sometime maybe a Recon ship, before the opposing gang kills me. It's fun, but you'll die allmost allways and you just try to inflict more damage to the others, then your own ship is worth.
Tech 1 battlecruisers are an option for flying solo aswell, but they cost 4 times more then a cruiser.
Any other ships are not really worth flying solo these days imho, as you'll most likely loose more ISK then you destroy.
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So here's what you do:
You start training for cruisers and do some LvL 1 and 2 mission-running. If you feel like it, then you grab a Tech 1 frigate, like a Rifter or Incursus and venture into low-sec and search for some PvP to learn the ropes.
For LvL 3 missions you'll need atleast a battlecruiser, but you can do them aswell in a battleship and skip training battlecruisers. If you've trained up all the related skills for flying a battleship to LvL 4, then you can start flying LvL 4 missions (Raven or Dominix), but you'll have to warp out sometimes for sure. Soloing LvL 4 missions without problems will require you to be able using full Tech 2 equipment on your ship.
Now on that point, when you make enough ISK, you can start to do PvP in Tech 1 cruisers and try to get into 0.0.
But the most important thing in EvE would be, to make some frinds and to get into a likeminded corp, as everything in EvE is much easier and funnier in a group.
The absolute best way to make ISK is to split yourself up in as many different directions as you can think of...... so long you don't split your skills up in different directions. (as a newbie)
Personally, I have 3 ways of making good ISK while online and 2 ways of making ISK while I'm offline. One of my offline ways gives me a steady profit of 500% of what I put in.
I'm not going to tell you how I make my ISK, because it's EVE and EVE has a free market that promotes creativity. The best ways to make isk are the ones you think of yourself.
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You can make ISK offline?
@JSK: Thanks for that. It really helped!
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http://castlehaven.wikia.com/home/
Moon Mining (not something a newb can do), Datacore Farming ( R&D agents ), Contract scamming, Invention & Production, setting up buy orders and sell orders in the right places....tons of things 'work' when you are offline.
A friend of mine started up EVE recently, on the 21 day trial he was able to make enough ISK to activate his account with PLEX. All he did was run missions. Making money in EVE at the start requires really only 2 things: Activity and Intelligence.
Best of luck on your trial!
Like others mentioned, you have to realize that your time is valuable. It's important that you find a way to make the most money, while investing the least amount of your time.
There are quite a few ways to make money, but trading is without a doubt the most effective way.
It's not for everyone - some people find it very boring. But economy in EVE is so big and complex that it becomes very interesting to research the market and find lucrative opportunities, it can be very rewarding, and also quite fun and enjoyable.
To be effective trader you don't need a lot of skill points. You just have to do a bit of research and experiment a bit with market, and you will quickly be able to make more ISK/hour than mining or doing L4 missions.
I play EVE for about 2+ years now and I only payed for EVE once with real money (the first 30 days). I was never doing any serious trading in games before, but I decided to have a goal to pay for game time with in-game currency only. Currently I am running two active accounts. I have bought two characters with ISK (for 4B and 8B), and all money is earned with a character who has 4M skill points. With my current trading strategy, I log my character once every 2 days for about ~45mins and between each log-in I earn a little over 200M (so about ~100M a day, ~3B a month, at about 266M/hour played).
This is not meant to be a brag post (not that there is anything to brag about - as a lot of traders can earn 10x times more than me). But if you want to earn serious money, invest a little skill points in trading and try it out. Lurk around in official EVE Online Market forums and try to learn more. The beauty about trading is that the more money you have, the more you can make. So in the beginning it may earn you little money, but if you will be serious about it - your money will double almost on a daily basis, and you can earn 300M+ from nothing within your first month.
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I'm near my end of my 15 day free trial and I can honestly answer this with a simple no. Maybe not at first because, you'll end up having to spend your isk elsewhere. Mostly buying skills ect.
For what it's worth aside form that the game is really good once you start to understand some of the ins and outs. The only thing I can think of where the game sucks is leveling some skills. In some cases it can take real life days and months to get 1 level point with a skill. It's very time consuming but, the community make up for some of the downfalls the game has.
Best tip I have is get learning skill and get it to level 5 before you do anything else. and for more Isk from npc from missions you want negotiation at max as well.
I have played 5 years of wow, 3 month of Lotr and about 2 months of DDO and out off all of them Eve is the only one I think would of been worth more of my money and time.