I’ve recently wanted to try a MMO that’s more “actioney” and more PvP focused, and that doesn’t have huge barriers to entry. I initially assumed that Planetside was the only game that could fit this description, but the more I’ve read about EVE Online, the more interested I have become. It seems far “richer” than PS, and it’s combat seems to have room for a lot of tactics, but the grind scares me.
Is it possible to get a job in EVE as a “Corporate Enforcer” or something? I’m far more interested in fun playing experiences than I am in amassing wealth or raising my stats, and I think that working in a largish corporation might actually be a lot of fun if it would let me experience cool space battles on a semi-regular basis without having to mine asteroids for umpteen hours a day.
In other words, what’s the limiting factor in EVE corporate operations: Manpower or resources? If I take the time to become a competent PvP pilot, how many hours of cargo runs will I be expected to put in to earn the right to fly a fighting ship?
Well, my experiences with Tribal Souls (in the far south) have been fantastic and the emphasis has very much been on PVP. They pretty much give away newby frigates that ‘tackle’ and other stuff isn’t expensive.
As for the grind, well, the only grind is money. Skills just take time and that’s that. Nothing much you can do about it! For money I go ratting with my corpsmates. The local rats are worth a million creds and that’s a LOT for a newb to enjoy, even split with another member.
Sure, you won’t be in there flying a battleship unleashing death from day 1, but you can:
Fly frigates and buzz about the enemy like a fly, locking him down and helping the big, slow ships engage.
Trade across the vast spacelanes and within a few weeks you can trade across an entire region and not even leave your station (remote buying and selling skills).
Fight pirates.
Patrol in PvP.
Mine or ship if you wish.
I find the game deep and thoroughly engaging. Many interesting layers, each one nicely intermeshed. Good fun.
Calistas
Father Calistas on the Qt3 chat channel in game.
Dave, yes, you can do that in EVE. You just need to pick the right corp and be proactive about doing what you want to do. It’s very easy to get stuck in a rut of doing nothing. Calistas is a good example - his character is mere weeks old but he’s been keeping me updated on the QT3 channel (and on here) and he’s getting involved in a ton of stuff.
I’m in a slightly different situation, having started back at release and so having a completely different character, but there’s room for all sorts in EVE.
As an aside, I would love to join a mercenary corp. That shit must be fun.
Hey, thanks for the information! Anyway, I have a few more questions:
How hard is it to get into a corporation of decent people? I was talking to a non-EVE playing friend of mine, and he worried that the kinds of groups in need of extra combat pilots would probably be the kinds of groups that were dominated by 15 year olds and griefers. I want to see the combat side of EVE, but not if I need to team up with jerks.
How hard is it to get trial accounts? I’d want to start mucking around with the game, but don’t want to activate a 7-day trial account now since I’m rather busy at the moment. Can I activate a trial account, abandon the character forever at the end of seven days, and then get a second trial account?
Anyway, thanks for the info! I’ve really enjoyed the recent EVE threads; you guys should keep posting your stories. :-)
The free trial is 14 days, and can be activated here.
The types of ships you can fly are limited, but other than the Industrial, you probably wouldn’t have either the skills or the money for any of the others in 14 days.
I joined a Merc corp recently - Rage of Angels. It’s a lot of fun so far.
Great bunch of guys, basically all brits. And they have a good philosophy - the game isn’t your job, it’s gotta be fun or why would you play it?
This is quite different from the last corp I joined, where I quit after the GM gave me shit in the corp channel because I hadn’t read 3 different boards before logging in. (I stupidly asked “Hey guys, what’s going on?” after loggin in.)
That’s the kind of shit you CAN get joining a corp, but as Calistas and I can attest, it’s not the only kind of corp. Most of the guys in my corp are pretty longtime players, but they’re all quite laid back.
Ok, see, that’s the sort of thing I want to avoid. I don’t want to have to spend 10 hours mining to earn the same revenue that a Corporate miner earns in an hour, but I also don’t want to have my boss getting down on me because I didn’t file my TPS report. I guess it’s a sort of Scylla and Charybdis thing…
Do you guys have any good links to sources of newbie game information? What about good information on Corporations? I realize I need to stop asking questions and start mucking around with the game, but I’m currently in one of those phases at work where there’s not a lot occupying my time, so reading materials would be greatly appreciated. (And the more obscure the site, the better: The web filter here keeps me away from the big sites.)
Thanks again to all of you; your help is greatly appreciated. :-)
It’s really easy to get into my corporation, Imperator Templarii, at the moment, if you’re an Amarr or Caldari. If you’re a gallente, we can make a spot for you in Templarii Holdings, as well. We’re on a recruiting push at the moment, looking for exactly the sort of pilot you say you want to learn to become - that is, solid combat pilots - and are in the middle of a war, providing a lot of opportunities for advancement. If you decide you’d like to stick with the game, drop me a line and we’ll talk. Unless you’re a Minmatar. Damned dirty minmatar.
Um, check out the alliance, Tribal Souls, and their member corps. You’d be welcome down here any time. And you’d be welcome in ANZA as well. We play more at +10 to +12 GMT, but still, there are plenty of people in the alliance and corp on at that time.
Am I missing something easy for using Pay By Cash from the UK? I don’t have a CC, but getting hold of a sub or game card seems particularly cumbersome (and un-necessarily expensive) outside of the US.
I been playing for about 20 days now and its great.
The “size” of the game is overwhelming!
Do yourself a favour and set your character up to be a fighter when you create him. Check which skills are recommended and try choose and race and university, etc that supports it. Or just choose the one you think looks the coolest.
Theres so much to do. When I started I wanted to do mining (yeah - some of us are wired that way) and trained “Industry” for about a week thinking is was the “industrials” skill. So 1 week later I go off to buy my big hauler and get denied becasue I don’t have the pre-reqs… A bit of confusion later and I’ve changed training to be a builder/researcher/hauler …
I’ve joined a couple of friends who recently formed a corp (Ambrosio) and we’re busy getting things off the ground, probably going to make our first venture into 0.4 space this weekend.
I’ve heard the “goon squad” take newbies directly into 0.0 space and help them out, give them training, tips and ships and help set them up nicely.
man - this post is all over the place…
There is so much that this game has to offer and so many ways you can get what you want out of it. I’ve given the client cd and trial account to 4 of my friends so far and 3 of them say they’re definatly getting full accounts after the trial (the other 1 can’t afford it …)
Nothing in the game is quite as bracing as being dropped into Goonfleet 0.0 space and being told to go help rip shit up. You will learn how to survive 0.0. And fast.
It’s a great corp that gives ALOT of help to it’s members (I got 3mil isk and some free frigs once I got to our territory) and allows you to pursue whatever turns you on in EVE.
All mouse, but controlling your ship is more disconnected than you seem to be expecting. You essentially never tell your ship where to go. You select a destination and hit the autopilot button or select what you want to fly to from a menu and then hit the “go there” button. You don’t directly control your ship (though you can double-click somewhere to fly in that direction – there just isn’t much reason to ever do that).
Actually, in PVP there’s often a reason to do just that, mostly due to needing to maintain a high transversal velocity, etc. Certainly for just travelling it’s very “hands-off”, but maneouvers in combat can get a lot more complex.
