Eve Online: The Newbie in Space Perspective 2

EVE Online: The Newbie in Space Perspective, Part Two

If you’ve read part one of my experiences playing Eve Online, you know I’m a complete space noob. I’ve played Eve for about three weeks so far and I’m continued to be amazed at the different aspects of the game.

The corporation I joined a week ago is a great help to me, both in information and items. Often I don’t have to buy an item I need because the corporation already has it, or can build it for me. I do have to devote time to helping my corporation in various pursuits – mining, hunting NPC’s, that sort of thing – but I certainly don’t mind since it’s fun. And, like I said, the in-game money and experience I’m gaining in Eve Online from my corp-mates is much more than I’d get from playing the game solo.

Many MMORPG games like World of Warcraft can be played solo, i.e. you don’t necessarily have to join a guild to get ahead in the game. But from what I’ve learned about Eve Online is that a gamer playing solo will have a much, MUCH harder time than if they’d found a good corporation to join. Trying to go it alone in EVE is daunting, especially if you lose a ship you weren’t prepared to lose. I suspect many, many new players do the beginner’s tutorial and then get quickly frustrated; I know I was. But joining a corporation made my frustration disappear, since all my corporation friends helped me and put up with my noobie questions. So if you’re thinking of trying Eve, find a corporation with like-minded players and your game experience will be a lot less frustrating.

When you join a corporation in Eve, make sure they have Teamspeak or Ventrilo. In my humble opinion, being able to actually talk to your corporation mates adds about 1000% more fun into the game. And you’ll get to know the other players in your corporation a lot faster. I’ve made friends with gamers from all over the world – U.S., Canada, Europe – and since the corporation I’m in is growing every day with new members, I’m talking with more and more new friends every time I log into Eve Online.

Of course, Eve Online isn’t always the friendliest game since there are player space pirates just itching to blow up noobs like me. I haven’t been attacked yet by other players (yet), mostly due to the fact that I haven’t ventured out into unprotected space. Eve Online has a rating system for the security of a particular solar system: 1.0 is the highest, most protected by NPC security (called Concorde) and 0.0 is completely unprotected. It’s dangerous to go into 0.4 space or lower, since the space cops most probably won’t show up in time to help you if you’re being attacked by other players.

I’ve only ventured (very quickly!) through 0.4 space while doing missions provided by various NPC agents. Fortunately I haven’t been blown up, but I was targetted by a pirate; fortunately I was able to activate my warp drive and haul my ship out of the danger zone. I’ll stay away from PvP until I know a lot more about the game; I may be a space noob but I’m not a dumb space noob!

I suspect one role I’ll haven fun playing is hunting pirates. I don’t like bullies, in real life or virtual, and there’s a heck of a lot of player pirates in Eve Online who love to attack weaker players. Some of my corporation mates share my opinion and we’ve been talking about forming an “anti-pirate” squad. As a quick aside, I’m reminded of my days in Ultima Online where many players formed “anti-player killer” guilds to combat those players who loved to attack and kill others in the game. Some things never change, no matter what MMORPG one plays.

I’ve also moved up from piloting a frigate-class spaceship to a destroyer. A ship has to be fitted with weapons and other equipment, and one has to have the skills to use such items, so moving up to a different class of ship can often take awhile but it’s well worth it. Truth be told, achieving goals in Eve can take awhile – days, weeks, or even months – but it feels great when you reach a goal.

Before I wrap up this installment of my newbie space adventures, I’d like to share with you a couple of links to Eve podcasts that are extremely informative and fun to listen to as well. Check out Warp Drive Active and The Drone Bay; these two podcasts focus solely on Eve with topical news and information for new and experienced players alike.

Feel free to send in-game email to my character “Philo Ahlskior” if you’ve enjoyed my space noob articles. In part three I’ll go into more of what I’ve learned, and some of the adventures I’ve been a part of (willingly or not). And remember, if you see me in the game, please don’t make my ship go BOOM. Thank you.