I played Eve about a year ago for a few months, and it was wonderfully refreshing.  I found it to be a game that one could never really tire of, what with there so much to do and so much to learn.

My playstyle, however, seriously conflicts with Eve.     I'm a die-hard soloer in any MMO I play.    I teamed a few times in Eve to try it out.    It was fun, even necessary for a couple of missions as I recall, but I still prefer to solo when possible.   I like to play slowly, strategically, and rarely do I meet anyone like minded in any game.

I also struggled somewhat with the learning curve.     Even as a longtime gamer (30+ years), I struggled with some things.    I remember the tutorial, which, at the time, was about 3 hours, and helpful.     However, there were several aspects of the game which it only glossed over.    I even remember reading that some people complained it was too long.    Hell, I would've been happy with a 24 hour one.    I want to know everything.

Even still, I was having a great deal of fun with this unique MMO.     Space is realistically massive, the economy structure was fantastic, all on one server!

So, I was working my way up, building up some isk, gradually upgrading to bigger and better ships, through a combination of missions and mining (which I actually enjoy).    

Then, I went to a low sec area to try to get some of the better ores.    Yikes!    Within a few minutes, I was attacked by some player-pirates and I immediately turned tail.    I made no effort to compare relative strengths, way risk-vs-rewards, I simply remembered from the tutorial that if you get defeated in pvp, you can lose your nice, shiny, expensive new ship.      I turned my modest ship around and started away, when the pirates locked me down somehow.    Eventually, I got away with a heavily damaged but still intact ship.

While this might make for some pulse-pounding and enjoyable moments, I know I would've been hugely frustrated and annoyed if my ship had been destroyed.    So, once I got my ship to a safe port,  I stopped to consider my options.     I could continue to try mining low sector areas and run the same risk, or I could just give up on those areas altogether.    Yes, there are some other options but this brings me to the crux of my problem with Eve.

It's the pvp.   I can't stand it.   I don't mean the quality or challenge of it.   I am a devoted, hardcore carebear and will never engage in pvp, even if it's by someone much weaker than I.     It's not the risk of loss that keeps me away, it's the having to rebuild I can't stand.     I never, ever, want a char to make backward progress in a game.     My character, even if it's slowly, always has to be making forward progress.

So, and I realize it's a choice of my playstyle, but it seems that because of this semi-open ffa factor I will never be able to enjoy an otherwise great game.

P.S. - I know for some, this makes the game.   But is there anyway I can solo progress without this threat?   If so, please tell me how, cause I really did love the game up to that point.     Also, the fact that you can team up with someone and then they can turn on you really makes not want to group even more.

Originally posted by SwampRob

I played Eve about a year ago for a few months, and it was wonderfully refreshing.  I found it to be a game that one could never really tire of, what with there so much to do and so much to learn.

My playstyle, however, seriously conflicts with Eve.     I'm a die-hard soloer in any MMO I play.    I teamed a few times in Eve to try it out.    It was fun, even necessary for a couple of missions as I recall, but I still prefer to solo when possible.   I like to play slowly, strategically, and rarely do I meet anyone like minded in any game.

I also struggled somewhat with the learning curve.     Even as a longtime gamer (30+ years), I struggled with some things.    I remember the tutorial, which, at the time, was about 3 hours, and helpful.     However, there were several aspects of the game which it only glossed over.    I even remember reading that some people complained it was too long.    Hell, I would've been happy with a 24 hour one.    I want to know everything.

Even still, I was having a great deal of fun with this unique MMO.     Space is realistically massive, the economy structure was fantastic, all on one server!

So, I was working my way up, building up some isk, gradually upgrading to bigger and better ships, through a combination of missions and mining (which I actually enjoy).    

Then, I went to a low sec area to try to get some of the better ores.    Yikes!    Within a few minutes, I was attacked by some player-pirates and I immediately turned tail.    I made no effort to compare relative strengths, way risk-vs-rewards, I simply remembered from the tutorial that if you get defeated in pvp, you can lose your nice, shiny, expensive new ship.      I turned my modest ship around and started away, when the pirates locked me down somehow.    Eventually, I got away with a heavily damaged but still intact ship.

While this might make for some pulse-pounding and enjoyable moments, I know I would've been hugely frustrated and annoyed if my ship had been destroyed.    So, once I got my ship to a safe port,  I stopped to consider my options.     I could continue to try mining low sector areas and run the same risk, or I could just give up on those areas altogether.    Yes, there are some other options but this brings me to the crux of my problem with Eve.

It's the pvp.   I can't stand it.   I don't mean the quality or challenge of it.   I am a devoted, hardcore carebear and will never engage in pvp, even if it's by someone much weaker than I.     It's not the risk of loss that keeps me away, it's the having to rebuild I can't stand.     I never, ever, want a char to make backward progress in a game.     My character, even if it's slowly, always has to be making forward progress.

So, and I realize it's a choice of my playstyle, but it seems that because of this semi-open ffa factor I will never be able to enjoy an otherwise great game.

P.S. - I know for some, this makes the game.   But is there anyway I can solo progress without this threat?   If so, please tell me how, cause I really did love the game up to that point.     Also, the fact that you can team up with someone and then they can turn on you really makes not want to group even more.

 

if you're completely set AGAINST pvp at all costs...  run missions.  run combat missions when you want minerals.  run combat missions in your combat ship, then set up a destroyer (and i guess move up to a battlecruiser) as your salvage/looting ship.  you get salvage, mods you might want, and whatever mods you don't want (and/or can't sell for a good price) -- reprocess them.

of course, you stand the risk of npcs blowing your ship up.

otherwise, you could also take up scanning in high sec.  i'm not sure what the best asteroid belts are you can find there, but it's an option.

edit:  oh, and find a good corp to join.  one that's got people that play very casually and don't require you TO do anything... why?  because in a corp, odds are you'll be able to get real-time advice, help when you need it (say for a mission), cheap/free equipment, people to chat with if you're bored, etc.

I kow what you mean abou the tutorial, there is a lot it doesn't cover. I would say for every hour ive spent playing eve over the last year or so Ive spent at least an hour reading guides on various gameplay aspects. I think there is just too much to put it all in a tutorial - the idea is just to get new players flying, attacking, docking, and mining and then whichever direction you want to go from there you need to learn from the experience of others (either corpmates or online guides).

With regards to soloing and avoiding pvp, you are 100% right that mining outside of empire space is not an option at all. But having said that you can reduce the pvp factor to *almost* zero playing a carebear career (miner, mission runner, industrialist or scientist) exclusively in empire space. You still can't gauruntee that you wont be killed or 'interfered with' by other players from time to time (ore thieves, scan probe pirates trcking you to deadspace missions, and suicide gankers can still get to you in 1.0) but they are faaaar less of a nuisance than low sec pvp

There a definitely soloable careers in Eve, and there are even solo careers that don't involve pvp, but low/null sec mining isnt one of them

Most of the stuff you do in emprie dont involve pvp and if you still want a bit of pvp do the empyrean age stuff, just jump in a cruiser and do a bit of pew pew.

There is one golden rule in eve dont fly what you cnat afford to loose.

Another very important rule is never go into into low sec without backup or intel. And nevr go in 0.0 without a fleet.

Learned the second oen the hard way, lost 2 bs within my first two months of playing.

First, we have to chat about something. 

When playing EVE you can't look at your ship as anything of real value, and is really not the measure of your progression.  Your skill point training and the amount of ISK you manage to bank is how you measure yourself.  Think of your ship as a tool, and something that you can easily afford to throw away and lose.

Of course to that end, never put all your eggs in one basket, and since you are very risk adverse, I'd recommend you never fly any ship that you can't afford to build 2 or 3 of and keep in your hanger at all time. (oh yes, and don't forget to buy the platinum insurance on them every time, unless they are T2, and keep your medical clone up to date so you never lose any skills)

There will be losses along the way, and you have to learn to live with them.  There are pilots out there who have successfully played for a year without a single ship loss.  I am not one of those players.

I wish I could say its because of my checkered career path of a pirate or being a fierce fleet warrior, but truthfully, I've lost ships to NPC's, pirates (on numerous occasions), roaming gangs (never fall asleep in your recliner  in 0.0 while ratting, the outcome is usually not to your favor)  and for foolishly transporting 100M ISK in datacores in a cheap, unshielded cruiser that was on autopilot to Amarr throne worlds.

Yet at about 14 months after I started, and playing mostly solo I've managed to train 2 characters to about 19M in skills, can fly almost every small combat ship type known up to Battleships, can scout, stealth, snipe and gate camp with the best of them.  I also have over 2.5B Isk in the bank. By no means a fortune but certainly enough to outfit me with the ships I need to fly. (I've lost easily over 1 billion ISK in ships, and spent over a billion isk in implants and my current ship fittings.)

No, not trying to brag about my wealth, just to point out that I measure my progression and success not in terms of the ships I've lost, but in terms of the ships I can fly and the cash I've managed to earn on my own.

Now, you're not into the PVP side of things, (neither am I really) but some players feel the real measure of success is how many kill mails you've got, and I 've seen players with easily over 100 a month in kill mails (that's not counting their assists).  But point is, that's yet another measure of success, and even those folks lose ships on occasion.

OK, will close by finally answering your questions.  Yes, you can play EVE and if you are smart, make sure you never get killed.   Will take some effort though. First, the tutorial is inadequate.  I spent over 2 weeks before ever signing up for the trial downloading, printing and reading the numerous new player guides that can be found all over the web. (Actually read 4 of them before starting)

To this day I still reference some of the more advanced ones on topics such as scouting, advanced mining or industry.  With EVE you never stop reading and learning, no matter how long you play the game.

Second, avoid all space that isn't .5-1.0.  Sorry, it sucks, but you'll have to make your living by never venturing into 0.1-0.4, which is the most dangerous space btw, or 0.0 (which can be far safer than one might think)  

Never fly a ship full of valuable stuff on autopilot and undefended, you have to fit defensively even when in Empire and always realize, there is no safe place in EVE.  Do not let people bait you into aggression, they steal your cans, let them, their combat ships can't hold much in the way of cargo, and if you don't take the bait, they can't kill you.

By the way, those pirates that locked you down they were using warp scramblers and web stasis fields.  EVE provides a counter for those, they're called warp core stabilizers, and if you have enough of them no one can stop a miner or hauler from running. (unless you hit a bubble or heavy dictor, but thats a subject of a different thread)

Finally, don't play the game solo. No, seriously don't.  I'm not saying you can't fly solo, but do join a good corporation right away. I recommend EVE University for all new players like yourself.  They'll actually train you, show you tricks to avoid being killed, where to mine, etc. and answer all your questions.

Surprisingly, a large number of EVE players actually spend more time doing PVE than PVP, and thrive in the game despite its PVP core game play.

You can too.

Originally posted by Kyleran

First, we have to chat about something. 

When playing EVE you can't look at your ship as anything of real value, and is really not the measure of your progression.  Your skill point training and the amount of ISK you manage to bank is how you measure yourself.  Think of your ship as a tool, and something that you can easily afford to throw away and lose.

Of course to that end, never put all your eggs in one basket, and since you are very risk adverse, I'd recommend you never fly any ship that you can't afford to build 2 or 3 of and keep in your hanger at all time. (oh yes, and don't forget to buy the platinum insurance on them every time, unless they are T2, and keep your medical clone up to date so you never lose any skills)

There will be losses along the way, and you have to learn to live with them.  There are pilots out there who have successfully played for a year without a single ship loss.  I am not one of those players.

I wish I could say its because of my checkered career path of a pirate or being a fierce fleet warrior, but truthfully, I've lost ships to NPC's, pirates (on numerous occasions), roaming gangs (never fall asleep in your recliner  in 0.0 while ratting, the outcome is usually not to your favor)  and for foolishly transporting 100M ISK in datacores in a cheap, unshielded cruiser that was on autopilot to Amarr throne worlds.

Yet at about 14 months after I started, and playing mostly solo I've managed to train 2 characters to about 19M in skills, can fly almost every small combat ship type known up to Battleships, can scout, stealth, snipe and gate camp with the best of them.  I also have over 2.5B Isk in the bank. By no means a fortune but certainly enough to outfit me with the ships I need to fly. (I've lost easily over 1 billion ISK in ships, and spent over a billion isk in implants and my current ship fittings.)

No, not trying to brag about my wealth, just to point out that I measure my progression and success not in terms of the ships I've lost, but in terms of the ships I can fly and the cash I've managed to earn on my own.

Now, you're not into the PVP side of things, (neither am I really) but some players feel the real measure of success is how many kill mails you've got, and I 've seen players with easily over 100 a month in kill mails (that's not counting their assists).  But point is, that's yet another measure of success, and even those folks lose ships on occasion.

OK, will close by finally answering your questions.  Yes, you can play EVE and if you are smart, make sure you never get killed.   Will take some effort though. First, the tutorial is inadequate.  I spent over 2 weeks before ever signing up for the trial downloading, printing and reading the numerous new player guides that can be found all over the web. (Actually read 4 of them before starting)

To this day I still reference some of the more advanced ones on topics such as scouting, advanced mining or industry.  With EVE you never stop reading and learning, no matter how long you play the game.

Second, avoid all space that isn't .5-1.0.  Sorry, it sucks, but you'll have to make your living by never venturing into 0.1-0.4, which is the most dangerous space btw, or 0.0 (which can be far safer than one might think)  

Never fly a ship full of valuable stuff on autopilot and undefended, you have to fit defensively even when in Empire and always realize, there is no safe place in EVE.  Do not let people bait you into aggression, they steal your cans, let them, their combat ships can't hold much in the way of cargo, and if you don't take the bait, they can't kill you.

By the way, those pirates that locked you down they were using warp scramblers and web stasis fields.  EVE provides a counter for those, they're called warp core stabilizers, and if you have enough of them no one can stop a miner or hauler from running. (unless you hit a bubble or heavy dictor, but thats a subject of a different thread)

Finally, don't play the game solo. No, seriously don't.  I'm not saying you can't fly solo, but do join a good corporation right away. I recommend EVE University for all new players like yourself.  They'll actually train you, show you tricks to avoid being killed, where to mine, etc. and answer all your questions.

Surprisingly, a large number of EVE players actually spend more time doing PVE than PVP, and thrive in the game despite its PVP core game play.

You can too.

 

 

 

 

good advice!  

I felt the same way at once. I was my own victim because i didnt do enough research in the game. Keep giving it a chance for awhile longer. Im a soloist also. If your mainly a soloist stay iin the higher sec areas.  Your never 100% safe from can flippers, instigators, or someone that declares war on your corps, but its alot safer in general.

Also join a big alliance that can help out! :)  Some provide great benefits!

Simple, stay in high sec safety.

Low sec provides a miner with no rewards that will cover the risk. The market dictates this.

Simple fact, you just have to accept the possiblity of loss.

Personally, I think you're losing out by just sticking to hi-sec.

Maybe you could join a corp that will offer you more protection in low sec or even 0.0

Best of luck

To me EVE is a game that is made or broken by the quality of the corporation/alliance you can squeeze yourself into.

I've played since January 06 and the first six months I played alone, I was ready to quit.  I actually ended up meeting a friend in college who was a member of Goonfleet(No replies about our reputation here, thanks :D), he got me into Goonfleet and my subscription to EVE hasn't lapsed yet.  The quality of gameplay improved so much for me when I ended up with a large group of players who mostly know what they're doing. Goonswarm has an extensive private wiki that has long, well-written guides detailing virtually every aspect of the game and their goal is to bring newbies into EVE and take them straight out to 0.0 and into pvp in frigates, mining operations, or tutoring them in production and logistics within hours of them creating their account.

EVE is a game with an extremely shallow end, and an unfathomable abyss of depth. The only real way to learn to play is to dive into the deep end or know someone who will throw you.

Send me a private forum message if you'd like to talk in-game, I'll be a diving board for you. :)

Hmm, if you can't stand losing anything in PvP I would have to say that EvE is probably not the game for you unfortunately. Empire space isn't always safe from PvP. Just go to Jita and see all of the suicide pilots gate camping industrials coming in and out of the Perimeter gate for example. I left in late June and most of the major areas in the Gallente and Caldari high sec  were loaded with suicide pilots.

My question though is why can't you stand the idea of rebuilding? If you're soloing in EvE, the whole point is to earn ISK in your play-time. If you lose a little along the way, it's no biggy right? It's just a part of the game. There are many work arounds to PvP: flying a cheap ship with cheap modules, getting a stealthy or really speedy ship, doing recon, buying protection from other players, making sure to warp to 0 rather than using autopilot, using expendable jump clones, etc. Sure, you might still lose your ship, but if it only cost you 0.1% of your total ISK fortune, what does it matter in the long run?

Even trade and mining are PvP in EvE in the sense that you're still competing with other players.

Good luck trying to develope a character completely solo in EvE. I think other than mission-running your choices would be pretty limited.

Originally posted by SwampRob

I played Eve about a year ago for a few months, and it was wonderfully refreshing.  I found it to be a game that one could never really tire of, what with there so much to do and so much to learn.

My playstyle, however, seriously conflicts with Eve.     I'm a die-hard soloer in any MMO I play.    I teamed a few times in Eve to try it out.    It was fun, even necessary for a couple of missions as I recall, but I still prefer to solo when possible.   I like to play slowly, strategically, and rarely do I meet anyone like minded in any game.

I also struggled somewhat with the learning curve.     Even as a longtime gamer (30+ years), I struggled with some things.    I remember the tutorial, which, at the time, was about 3 hours, and helpful.     However, there were several aspects of the game which it only glossed over.    I even remember reading that some people complained it was too long.    Hell, I would've been happy with a 24 hour one.    I want to know everything.

Even still, I was having a great deal of fun with this unique MMO.     Space is realistically massive, the economy structure was fantastic, all on one server!

So, I was working my way up, building up some isk, gradually upgrading to bigger and better ships, through a combination of missions and mining (which I actually enjoy).    

Then, I went to a low sec area to try to get some of the better ores.    Yikes!    Within a few minutes, I was attacked by some player-pirates and I immediately turned tail.    I made no effort to compare relative strengths, way risk-vs-rewards, I simply remembered from the tutorial that if you get defeated in pvp, you can lose your nice, shiny, expensive new ship.      I turned my modest ship around and started away, when the pirates locked me down somehow.    Eventually, I got away with a heavily damaged but still intact ship.

While this might make for some pulse-pounding and enjoyable moments, I know I would've been hugely frustrated and annoyed if my ship had been destroyed.    So, once I got my ship to a safe port,  I stopped to consider my options.     I could continue to try mining low sector areas and run the same risk, or I could just give up on those areas altogether.    Yes, there are some other options but this brings me to the crux of my problem with Eve.

It's the pvp.   I can't stand it.   I don't mean the quality or challenge of it.   I am a devoted, hardcore carebear and will never engage in pvp, even if it's by someone much weaker than I.     It's not the risk of loss that keeps me away, it's the having to rebuild I can't stand.     I never, ever, want a char to make backward progress in a game.     My character, even if it's slowly, always has to be making forward progress.

So, and I realize it's a choice of my playstyle, but it seems that because of this semi-open ffa factor I will never be able to enjoy an otherwise great game.

P.S. - I know for some, this makes the game.   But is there anyway I can solo progress without this threat?   If so, please tell me how, cause I really did love the game up to that point.     Also, the fact that you can team up with someone and then they can turn on you really makes not want to group even more.

 

1. You did not join a corp / alliance. If you did they would tell you as a newbie Miner not to bother with low sec at all. Trit, most valuable ore, is in high sec. And even back when u played surely you could get ores from Mission running. So I wonder why you came to low sec

2. Avoid getting killed by an unknown is easy. Join a Corp / Alliance. Cant be too hard there is a recruitment channel ingame, etc that might help you find a good fit.

3. What ship was you even flying was it T1 or T2 mining barge? Why do get the feeling its a lowly T1 like a osprey or something that can be fully insured and reallly easy to replace. Even i can build many ospreys and T1 mining barges

4. Concord does not exist for your protection. They are there to enforce punishment to pirates that try to attack you unprovoked in high sec. But you were never aggressed in high sec anyway and like many you probably never will be. Why fret about something that never happpened. Seems to me what you want is a PVE game anyway there are plenty of those. why not play Tabula rasa or something designed for a hardcore PVE'er? Why would you want to play EVE anyway its intended for everyone on 1 server. The devs are not interested in making seperate rulesetsd like I explained to you in another thread

Anyway I really dont even see how you were serious about the game at all. I hate raiding myself. But I wont instantly just discard an MMO because it has raiding. I wont trip at all until the day I'm forced to raid.

It appears too me you got upset because you felt yo were forced to travel into low sec to mine. But you were not.

This isnt a game where you just solo your whole way through it with blinders on. You gotta read some guides and talk to people. If you cant do that much then you want to exit that way <--- to the MMO list and find an easy MMO that make it impossible for you to make mistakes and hold you by the hand the whole way. EVE is a lot more complicated then those types of games and demands research and thought and risk taking

Originally posted by vajuras

 

1. You did not join a corp / alliance. If you did they would tell you as a newbie Miner not to bother with low sec at all. Trit, most valuable ore, is in high sec. And even back when u played surely you could get ores from Mission running. So I wonder why you came to low sec

2. Avoid getting killed by an unknown is easy. Join a Corp / Alliance. Cant be too hard there is a recruitment channel ingame, etc that might help you find a good fit.

3. What ship was you even flying was it T1 or T2 mining barge? Why do get the feeling its a lowly T1 like a osprey or something that can be fully insured and reallly easy to replace. Even i can build many ospreys and T1 mining barges

4. Concord does not exist for your protection. They are there to enforce punishment to pirates that try to attack you unprovoked in high sec. But you were never aggressed in high sec anyway and like many you probably never will be. Why fret about something that never happpened. Seems to me what you want is a PVE game anyway there are plenty of those. why not play Tabula rasa or something designed for a hardcore PVE'er? Why would you want to play EVE anyway its intended for everyone on 1 server. The devs are not interested in making seperate rulesetsd like I explained to you in another thread

 

Anyway I really dont even see how you were serious about the game at all. I hate raiding myself. But I wont instantly just discard an MMO because it has raiding. I wont trip at all until the day I'm forced to raid.

It appears too me you got upset because you felt yo were forced to travel into low sec to mine. But you were not.

This isnt a game where you just solo your whole way through it with blinders on. You gotta read some guides and talk to people. If you cant do that much then you want to exit that way <--- to the MMO list and find an easy MMO that make it impossible for you to make mistakes and hold you by the hand the whole way. EVE is a lot more complicated then those types of games and demands research and thought and risk taking

Amen!