EVE Online

I've heard a lot about it over the past years, both good and bad. I tried out the trial a while back and cried a little when my first quest was to mine some ore. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy gathering resources and crafting, but it just didn't seem like the first thing I wanted to do when I floated out into space. I uninstalled it after that quest, deciding that the quest had personally insulted me. Anyways, here I am again thinking about trying it out and actually giving it a decent shot this time. Before I do, I've come to he forums to ask if its worth starting at this point. A few things I'd like to ask:

At this point in the game, is it possible to catch up to other players in terms of upgrade and level(do they even have levels)?

How does the PvP work...turn based, twitch, a mix?

I've heard a lot about being able to train abilities offline, how does that work?

Once I reach the max level, or the peak of my upgrading, what is there to do?

How long will I have to play before I can start contributing to the community through PvP or crafting/gathering?

Is it true that the GMs are corrupt and favor certain guilds?

That's all I can really think of at the moment; I'd appreciate any input from honest players. I'd rather not have a fanboi come into the thread and tell me that god himself created the game =).

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At this point in the game, is it possible to catch up to other players in terms of upgrade and level(do they even have levels)?

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 How does the PvP work...turn based, twitch, a mix?

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I've heard a lot about being able to train abilities offline, how does that work?

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Once I reach the max level, or the peak of my upgrading, what is there to do?

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How long will I have to play before I can start contributing to the community through PvP or crafting/gathering?

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Is it true that the GMs are corrupt and favor certain guilds?

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Your questions have been answered well from a more experienced players point of view above, but I thought you might appreciate a more noobish p.ov. too (3 and a bit million sp, flying a BC atm).

At this point in the game, is it possible to catch up to other players in terms of upgrade and level(do they even have levels)?

As the other guy said, in terms of total sp no, but in terms of specialisation yes, you can be a relative noob and be maxed out in a certain area of skill where a vet with 3 times your total sp is only medium skilled, so you will beat him.

How does the PvP work...turn based, twitch, a mix?

The only place where player skill counts is in where you actually fly while you're in combat.  But that's actually quite important in PvP because angles of flight affect how well guns etc. hit.  So manual flight is very important in PvP, and that's where it does actually take some time to learn how to do it well.  Other than that, it's standard MMO stat-based combat, where whether you hit, and how hard you hit, and what type of ammo you're capable of hitting with, are determined by your character's (ship's) stats.  Also of course the timing sequence of firing off certain things can be important, and that's a player skill that has to be learnt.  Combat in PvE can be quite easy and relaxed (unless you get in over your head, in which case it can be punishing), but combat in PvP can be very frenetic and exciting. 

Because combat is fundamentally stats based, on the whole PvP is just a question of whose put more time into the game (just like any other MMO), or whose got more friends with them, but because of the manual flight thing, and because timing counts hugely in EVE, there is some player skill that has to be learned and that can give you an edge in PvP.  So if you're aiming for PvP, the advice is to start PvP right from the beginning , in cheap noob ships.  You will lose a lot, but if you "invest in loss" you will learn a lot from the beginning about what to do and what to avoid in PvP, so that later on when you actually start getting expensive powerful ships, you won't waste them because of silly mistakes.

I've heard a lot about being able to train abilities offline, how does that work?

Skills take x amount of time to learn, e.g. 1 hour.  If you set a skill to train then log off before the hour is up, the skill will carry on training while you're offline until it's finished.  You can only ever train one skill at a time (there's no queue, which is a question of debate, it would be nice to have at least one "backup" to train just in case you can't get back to your comp in time to change skills).

Once I reach the max level, or the peak of my upgrading, what is there to do?

"What is there to do?" is the question that confronts every EVE player right from the beginning, not just at the endgame.  I myself have a love-hate relationship with EVE and only subscribe to it for a month every now and then when I need a "space game" jag.  Unless you put a lot of time into the game,it's hard to be an effective solo player.  If you're a casual you're more or less forced to find a good corporation in order to have anything to do in the game (there's PvE and it's ok but not great, it's rather cookie-cutter) - but if you do find a good corporation, or if you do put the time in to build a powerful solo character (e.g. a big bad pirate), then I think the game is very rewarding.

How long will I have to play before I can start contributing to the community through PvP or crafting/gathering?

You can contribute fairly early on, even as a 2m sp character you can contribute to mining, or be a tackler in PvP.

Is it true that the GMs are corrupt and favor certain guilds?

Don't know for sure, not vet enough, but it looks like it from the chat on the forums, however, it's more in the way of a bit of fun I think.  CCP have a bit of a wicked streak - I don't think they would have crafted a game like EVE if they didn't. :)

Originally posted by n00bit

Is it true that the GMs are corrupt and favor certain guilds?

 

Perhaps not all the GMs and DEVs cheat but it is a bona-fide FACT that CCP GMs and DEVs have been caught cheating and/or boosting their alliances (guilds). CCP's reaction the last time this happened  was to ban or silence anyone who talked about it initially until too many of the playerbase got wind of it, and then they placated the masses with a bunch of empty promises that never came to fruition.

Ironically enough, the DEV that was caught cheating the last time was soonafter promoted and not fired, it was assumed (rightfully or not) that this was because he had dirt on some members of CCP's upper management but that was never proven, and if you try to discuss the incident, you will be warned or gagged by CCP's GMs and forum moderators.

It has been quite some time since the last incident, so either CCP has actually cleaned house, or the GM's and DEVs are just doing a better job of covering their tracks. Either way, none of this would really affect a casual player who isn't into the drama that is EVE's in-game politics.

To anyone who thinks this is about: "If you can't beat someone, he must be cheating, right? ".. just try discussing the "T20 incident" in the EVE-O forums or attempt to ask CCP directly about it and see what happens.

EVE is a harsh mistress, and it's tough being a new player, but if the game suits your tastes and you can put up with its flaws, you will enjoy it, there is nothing quite like it.

Can we stop kicking the bloody horse...?

Yes a CCP GM got caught cheating, yes it happened. But you name me ONE MMO  where a GM hasn't cheated, and thats ever in the life of the game. Its bound to happen and so, why discuss something that has no relation now? Look, your going to find that theres a little bit of favouratism here and there but thats life, CCP employees are allowed to play the game they make, so it was bound to happen sooner or later. The only reason it became a BIG issue is because the CEO was away at the time and the senior management mis-handled the situation letting an incident that should have been easily dealt with turn into something large and stupid.

And to be straight forward about it, the cheating didn't effect ANYONE, and in relevance to the game that we play now, has no possible effect. So don't let anyone throw you off from playing because of the T20 incident. BTW, to the guy mentioning trying to post the topic on the CCP forums, its gets banned and locked because it is slotted as "trolling and abusive" why? Because it is no longer a topic in need of discussion and all that a thread would achieve would be a flame war between the die hard haters and lovers. And again, why kick a dead horse?

Try the game, best answer to all your questions OP, nothing else to it. The game is nothing like anything else out there for play style and UI and environment. You have to learn it and then decide. Good Luck

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just try discussing the "T20 incident" in the EVE-O forums or attempt to ask CCP directly about it and see what happens.

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Did that, not too long ago. T20 is a nice guy btw.
But you shouldn't bring up that topic too often, the devs are sick of it. Talk about beating a dead horse.

People who accuse ccp of favouring a specific alliance are often those who have just lost their space and need someone to blame.

I love how CCP has trained you guys to spin the "dead horse" analogy when this issue comes-up .  The undeniable fact is, that both DEVs AND GMs have been caught cheating, and this just happened to be the worst example that we found out about because it did in fact directly benefit the most powerful alliance in-game at the time. This is exactly what the OP asked about and you guys seem to think that just because it didn't happen last week or last month that it didn't happen at all or that it didn't affect anyone. 

Of course CCP is sick of it, the Emperor does not like it when the serfs continue to point out he is not wearing clothes. Nice guy or not, T20 is a DEV who was publicly demonstrated to be a liar and a cheat, both he and CCP tried their best to cover it up, and he still  works for them. It is up to each individual to decide if any of these FACTS matter or not, regardless of when the events occurred or how CCP and their fanbois may continue to try to spin the events as "irrelevant" for damage control.

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T20 is a DEV

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And this is where you show us your utter lack of "FACT"s and general understanding of what happened.