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Some questions from a prospective player
MMORPDEATH
Member Posts: 414
I had tried Eve a few times but it seemed to complicated for an mmo that I knew would devolve into grinding at some point, so I dropped it. After playing X3: Terran conflict, nothing seems too complicated 
I am ok with pvp-centric games like DAOC and even Shadowbane so the lack of good pve shouldnt be a huge problem.
1. What is combat really like? I have read a ton of reviews on metacritic and they can't seem to spit it out. Is it a mindless point and click system like a space-wow or EQ2? Is it more dynamic like X3, Freelancer, or Tie Fighter, with twitch aiming? Is it a sort of real time tactical system like Starfleet Command or Empire:Total War's naval combat?
Edit: Yes I have watched some vids but I cant stand the emo music for more than 5 seconds and its hard to decipher whats really going on. Also it looks sort of like a hybrid.
2. How long/difficult is it to get to the point where losing a ship is no big deal?
3. Will corps force me to use mics to communicate? I hate that stuff.(Its why I left SB).
4.Does the game lag much? I have a very poor dsl connection(dl speeds usually around 80-100k) so I am hoping that at least the coding is good to minimize the lag.
5. Is the game top heavy? It would be nice to be able to kill some people as I progress in 1v1 situations.
Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice.
Comments
Good news: Your connection doesn't really matter.
bad news: The server matters. And if there are several hundred people fighting, you will definitely notice..
As for combat..think naval combat. It's very hard to explain, especially as pve combat is probably the most boring and dreadful combat you can have in the game.
It is not twitch based, but based on extreme micromanagement paired with the need for good situational awareness.
Yes i know that didn't actually say anything. There's a trial for a reason, but outside of pvp, combat is bland, as i said. In pvp, there are a myriad of roles and ships and electronic warfare to take care of. The overflow of vital information during a fight will need some time to get used to.
At the same time, there is a much more complicated tactical and strategical level on top of it all in player controlled areas. Battles can go on for hours without either side winning so there's enough time for more complex tactics. And as wars can go on for years, eve allows for a deep strategic layer.
Also, i don't think you'll have much fun in eve if you only like 1v1. Especially as a new player, i'd recommend banding together with others. Newbies are extremely helpful in all aspects of pvp through specialized roles that they can only bring to bear in a group.
"He who reigns within himself and rules his passions, desires, and fears is more than a king."
"Where there is much desire to learn, there of necessity will be much argruing, much writting, many opinions; for opinions in good men is but knowledge in the making."
John Milton 1608-1674
"going into arguments with idiots is a lost cause, it requires you to stoop down to their level and you can't win"
There is a lot of complex replies here that you have received. I'll try to be blunt.
1. Combat.
First, I am going to assume you've learnt how to get the most damage out of your desired type of weapon, as in range, speed damage types ..etc...
When killing NPC's: Very simple. target, orbit..shoot... tank. speed tank, armor tank sheild tank.. depends on your race/ship.
When in PvP: PvP Combat is more like Rock Paper Scissors therefore its main focus is on intelligience gathering. Since your new and wont be very skilled at this its advisable to ALWAYS be in a fleet with more experience players.
2. Losing ships
The point where you can start losing ships without fear is the point at which you can easily earn enough money to replace them.
I assume you mean PvP, in which case a pvp frigate on which you would spend about 2m ISK on is quite easy to replace if your able to run level 3 missions.
The exception to this is that most Corporations can provide ships for you!.. for free.. in which case, there is never a concern. a Good Corp will always look after its members, because they NEED pilots.
3, Corps WILL force you to use Voice. Sorry, but if your pvping in eve then you are a soldier and soldiers are expected to talk.
4, Lag is very rarly an issue. sometimes as with all mmo's.. but rarly in my experience.
5, Not sure what you mean by 'top heavy' I think what you mean is if a player who has more skill points and more money than you always going to beat you?... no. as I mentioned, Eve pvp can be a rock,paper,scissors affair.
1. Actual combat is pretty simple and boring compared to a console FPS. You find a target, get to optimal range, lock on and start firing. Depending on the situation you either kill it or die or one or both run off. The complexity in combat comes in before you do any fighting in which ship you pick and how you set it up. Lasers have different advantages and disadvantage to rail guns or missiles and not all ships handle all weapons equally. In fact most ships work best with one type or weapon. Then you have to decide what type of defensive arrangement you want. Do you want to shield tank or armor tank? Are you going to use repair modules and how are you going to handle power managment to support everything? Once you have made all those decisions then it is pretty much just stand back and watch the numbers work in a 1v1 combat situation. Skill points modify much of these but by only a small amount but between two identical ships (rare) it will make all the difference. In Eve 1v1 combat is pretty rare and generally the outcome will be completely predictable based on the two ships that are engaging in combat. Skill, expertise and practice matter but in the end if your ship is outgunned and outpowered you either run or die. Eve doesn't subscribe to the ehonor idea that is popular in some games so don't expect people to not attack you simply because you are new or are in a less powerful ship. Many areas corporations use the NBSI rule (Not Blue Shoot It) rule as it is better to kill someone and apologize later than it is to let a spy run around.
The heart of Eve is a territorial control game and people are not going to put a single defender on a gate since if a group comes through they won't be able to stop them so gate camps where defenders setup to kill everyone that isn't approved is the standard as are combat patrols through out controlled territories. 1 on 1 pvp is not very common in corps/alliance controlled spaces and because of this and also again because of the wide variety of ships if you are in the wrong ship you don't have many options or much chance against someone else.
2. Losing a ship is no big deal right from the start. You are given a basic ship free and if you lose it the game will give you a replacement ship. Later on you can get insurance but it only covers a small part of the cost of replacing a ship. The pain comes when you have equipped your ship with high end weapons and defenisve components. Also, when your ship is destroyed you are ejected in a pod to allow you to survive but your opponents can and frequently will target your pod and destroy it. This means you will lose any implants that are installed in your body and have to purchase new ones. Also, if you haven't kept your clone up to date you could lose skill points though this shouldn't happen. Losing a ship and getting podded isn't really a problem if you are flying combat as part of corps or alliance as you will have support and assistance in replacing items. If you are playing mostly solo then it is going to hurt a lot every time it happens. Lots of solo style players quite after losing a ship that they just worked to get built and configured. The basic rule in the game is if you can't afford to lose it then don't fly it which means that for many players they should only fly frigates and cheap ones at that.
3. Pretty much yes. Ventrilo or some other form of communications is pretty much mandatory. You don't necessarily need to speak but during combat ops most corps require the use of voice comms.
4. Most of the time lag is not an issue. However, in very large scale engagments the game will lag and CCP specifically requests that corps planning major operations inform them of that in advance so they can adjust resources to handle the load. These very large engagments are not an every day occurance though so it generally isn't anything to worry about.
5. The game is extremely top heavy especially since it is perfectly legit to sell a character to another player using in game methods (RMT is not allowed and is enforced pretty stongly). However, while skills points effect which ships a player can fly and how well the can configure and use the ship if you engage the wrong type of ship you are going to lose regardless so in a 1v1 situation where you have the stonger ship you will beat a player with more skillpoints though such a player is likely not to get themselves in such a situation to allow you to do that. If you are looking for 1v1 situations and engagements then Eve is probably not the game for you though it is possible if you want to patrol in some of the lower security areas that you might find solo players and can engage them.
You say that the lack of PvE isn't an issue but there is actually a fair amount of PvE content in the form of agent missions in Eve but CCP definitely wants to push everyone into playing with corps and getting engaged in battles. In their recent Dominion patch they introduced a tax rate for Empire space and players who are in NPC corps using a very strained logic. The goal of this was to make people consider leaving NPC corps and joing player corps. In other words they put in a penalty to modify player behaviour and this sort of thing seldom works well. Eve has split into two parts with a large number of players staying in NPC corps up in Empire space doing mission running, mining and manufacturing and then another group running around in null sec and low sec space doing their PvP thing. For some reason players that were having fun or enjoying themselves up in Empire without engaging in PvP seems to offend the purists in the game and CCP so instead of encouraging them to try new things they are punishing them for not doing so. The funny thing is that they put in at the same time some pirate missions that would encourage players to run gate camps to get into lower sec and this was probably enough to get players to start considering it but the tax is such a negative that many people have stopped playing instead. Oh well.
Its real simple long time player ie: Ganker, New or short time player ie: Gankie no way to change that.
MAGA
This is a prime example of the obvious bullshit that people who haven't played (or just cant play) EVE spout.
Give me liberty or give me lasers
Thanks guys!
It is too bad about the need to use mics in game. It isnt the talking that bothers me, its the LISTENING
I think I will still give the game a shot, though.
Extremism in the defense of Liberty is no vice.
Audio is only nessesary when your involved with PvP, so if your new to the game It will be a long time before you need to use a MIC.
Chances are you'll get bored way before you will ever be forced to join audio.