I ask this question because I myself have tried the free trial and for one reason or another, I did not manage to finish my training properly and learn how to play, before the trial ran out.  Actually over the years, I have tried twice now, but just could not get into Eve. 

The thing is, I have always felt that if I paid more attention, and actually got through the tutorials, then a fantastic game lay in wait.  There seems to be no other game out there quite like Eve, and especially after reading some of the posts here about the on-going war, and the politics involved, I would really like to get into Eve.

My problem is that I just cannot stand tutorials in games.  If I can, I normally by-pass them, and plunge straight into the game.  I understand that this is not really an option with a game as complex as Eve.  Now please understand that I am not wishing that it was dumbed down, as I believe that part of what makes Eve so special, is the level of complexity attached to it.  I just need to buckle down, and pay more attention to get to learn the ropes.

And that is what I wish to know.  How long did it take you guys to get into Eve?  I've heard people say that after years of play they are still learning new things as they play, and that is not what I am asking.  I would like to know how long it takes to become a competent player, and also how long it takes to get absorbed into the game, and to pvp?  So there could be a couple of answers there.  After a couple of weeks of playing, at perhaps a couple of hours a day, would I be able to know most of what is going on?  Also I would like to know your experiences of when you were a newbie to Eve, or if you are currently just beginning the game, how are you finding it?

Thanks to anyone who replies.  I would like to know so that I can judge whether or not to try it again, and this time take it more seriously.  My time is limited though, so if it is aimed at mainly hardcore players, I would not be able to committ to it.

For me, it was probably a few weeks to become reasonably competent at EVE, but at the time, I was strictly a solo player.

Many people join EVE University which is a great help at overcoming the initial learning curve.  Others will join new player friendly corps that specialize in whatever area interests them.

Myself, I now belong to a PvP corp that accepts brand new players right out of the tutorial and gets them into PvP ASAP.  We have some players with characters created after Sept. 1 that got their first PvP kills last weekend.  It was great fun!

edit to add: I also have limited time due to family but I am still able to contribute to the corp killboards and participate both in solo and small gang PvP.  I've played many MMO games and I find EVE to be the most casual player friendly among them.

With little help from vet friends , for less than a 14 days i learned the basics.

over 2 years several accounts and still learning to play some role in eve

I had heard EVE had a challenging learning curve, so before I even signed up for the free trial I went out on the Interwebs and downloaded about 3 or 4  of the free new players guides (Battleclinic has a great one) along with several guides on character creation (goonswarm has a great page for this) and even some guides on common griefing tactics found in EVE.

After reading through all of them at least once I started the trial, and did the tutorial completely.

And I was good to go.  I progressed quickly forward, by the end of the tutorial I was flying cruisers and within the first month I was flying BCer's in level 3 missions.

One mistake I made was in not quickly joining a corp.  Do consider joining EVE university immediately (they take trials) and they have tons of great resources and training classes they will share with you.

I'd say, after more than two years now, i can fly all sub capitals except battleships and recons reasonably well in pvp and pve.
No, i'm not talking about skills, i'm talking about actual experience with them. I'm still missing a lot of knowledge on the industrial side, especially invention, and some small scale pvp stuff. I'm pretty good in medium fleets (yes, commanding, too), can't really deal with large ones, never commanded capitals, but i know basic fleet command stuffs and can take control of both traditional and nano fleets..

I have absolutely no idea about advanced pos things, outpost management..the list goes on..

Maybe in another two years i know a few more things about that. Maybe..

For actual piloting things..well..

Back then, when i went into 0.0, i thought i'd know how to do things. Looking back at that time, it shows me how little i knew. But i felt rather familiar with my ships and fittings after about a month i think.
(I was so wrong, though..)

Took me six weeks to get the basic...... good i was a newb

Been playing for about a year and a half now, and I'm still learning.

Figured out pretty fast that there was no point in flying a big ship that I couldn't fit worth a crap, so I stuck with frigs and cruisers. I still haven't trained Battleships for any race, I prefer the agility of smaller ships - working my way toward HACs right now.
 

When I first joined EVE I did the 14day trial and learned the basics then, however I think EVE is a game in which you nvr stop learning no matter how long you have played, theres so many diferent roles you can take and so many diferent play styles, ships, fittings, etc..

Ive been playing for almost 2 years now and Im still learning new stuff everyday.

still learning after 3 years.

i can change my play focus every 6 months, and learn that section. It is quite a big game with lots of varied opportunities..

Originally posted by Majestico

I ask this question because I myself have tried the free trial and for one reason or another, I did not manage to finish my training properly and learn how to play, before the trial ran out.  Actually over the years, I have tried twice now, but just could not get into Eve. 

The thing is, I have always felt that if I paid more attention, and actually got through the tutorials, then a fantastic game lay in wait.  There seems to be no other game out there quite like Eve, and especially after reading some of the posts here about the on-going war, and the politics involved, I would really like to get into Eve.

My problem is that I just cannot stand tutorials in games.  If I can, I normally by-pass them, and plunge straight into the game.  I understand that this is not really an option with a game as complex as Eve.  Now please understand that I am not wishing that it was dumbed down, as I believe that part of what makes Eve so special, is the level of complexity attached to it.  I just need to buckle down, and pay more attention to get to learn the ropes.

And that is what I wish to know.  How long did it take you guys to get into Eve?  I've heard people say that after years of play they are still learning new things as they play, and that is not what I am asking.  I would like to know how long it takes to become a competent player, and also how long it takes to get absorbed into the game, and to pvp?  So there could be a couple of answers there.  After a couple of weeks of playing, at perhaps a couple of hours a day, would I be able to know most of what is going on?  Also I would like to know your experiences of when you were a newbie to Eve, or if you are currently just beginning the game, how are you finding it?

Thanks to anyone who replies.  I would like to know so that I can judge whether or not to try it again, and this time take it more seriously.  My time is limited though, so if it is aimed at mainly hardcore players, I would not be able to committ to it.

Those tutorials are not that long and teach you how to play. It is an integral part of the game.

---

Originally posted by Majestico

And that is what I wish to know.  How long did it take you guys to get into Eve?  I've heard people say that after years of play they are still learning new things as they play, and that is not what I am asking.  I would like to know how long it takes to become a competent player, and also how long it takes to get absorbed into the game, and to pvp?

---

oops

i need to learn to read.

with 2 week trial, you can easily get a frigate running t2 guns with tackle. Then you can jump into faction warfare. PvP is learned from experience. focus on being a tackler, and learn why the fleet commander is doing the things he is doing. A few months of that and you will easily have rounded out to either cruisers or T2 frigs.

to be competent, you choose a role that is achievable. tackle is that first PvP role.

Honestly the learning never stops with the game

It took about 3 hours to get down how to get a ship moving, it took probably a day to get it to go somewhere intentionally, after that (doing the training missions) i kinda just picked it up.  Mind you, i'm in week 3 and by no means have i scratched the surface of just one aspect (for me it's mining and construction of stuff) and every time i think i've learned all tht i could, i learn that i know nothing lol.

I do wish you the best of luck with Eve.  Make sure to ask questions in Rookie Help.  The community as far as i've seen so far is great and very helpful if you also show a desire to learn.  Just remember that for some, stuff can take longer to click and try to not be overwhelmed by the game.  I was at first and repeatedly said to myself "There's no possible way i am going to pick this up".  Eventually, repetition leads to learning.  If you have any questions i'm willing to answer anything i can.  My in game name is Sharvala.

Originally posted by khartman2005

Those tutorials are not that long and teach you how to play. It is an integral part of the game.

I dunno - I never did the tutorial and I think I ended up better off for it - discovered right off the bat that the fun of Eve is finding your own path, not mindlessly obeying the talking head.

Of course.. had I done the tutorial some things would have been a lot less painful...

The absolute basics, probably within a week, if not sooner.

After that, I learned as I went along.

IMHO, it really is not that hard to learn.  I just don't know why so many think of it as a learning cliff.  I guess I had a lot of help from my corp mates, and EVE being my first MMO I had no preconceptions.

I got recruited by some vets and they taught me the ropes quite fast. Lost many frigs in low sec learning to pvp and scan out targets etc.

Was one of the most fun times i had. They were nice enough to provide the frigs/modules to get me started.

bout 3-4 months for the baisics.

Learning how to play EVE is easy its just waiting to be able to do what you want that takes time.

2-3 hours I guess, but my experiece was probably atypical.

I sat down and did the tutorial.  When the tutorial ended I looked blankly at the screen and could not figure out what to do next.  My housemate came over and showed me how to add stargates to my overview and how to find agents to run some missions.  I went off and tried one mission and had to run away because it was too hard.  Thats when I got the game.  I realised that I didnt have to do the bloody missions at all.  So I picked up a frigate and decided to become a trader.  Twenty minutes later my friend decided to give me a million bucks as starting capital, and I was very proud of myself that I managed to double that within an hour.  And it went from there.

About a month later I started up my second and third accounts, and finally tried some mining, missioning and pvp.  I still think missioning is boring, mining is strangely relaxing but simply not profitable enough, and pvp is pointless unless you are fighting over something tangible (eg. access to resources in 0.0, or ransom money from empire corps) and even then if you are in empire its still not as profitable as trading. 

So I dont know.  I felt like I 'got' the game within hours of finishing the tutorial.  That within a week I understood a great deal about how the markets worked, and that within the first two months I began to understand the finer driving forces behind the economy.  But I am still learning new stuff every week, and there is an incredible amount more that I need to explore.  My beginner experience and approach to the game was probably rather atypical though.

Just the very basics of the game, I guess around 3-4 hours, as the tutorial covers the simple stuff very well. No doubt without the tutorial, things would have taken a whole lot longer. Doing it is essential to your success in EVE. It really isn't a long tutorial and after that it's just the matter of doing a 10 part mission which also covers basics of the game such as combat, delivery, salvaging, etc. It's a really good introduction to the game and you get some great free stuff for doing it, such as some decent frigates which are great for newbie systems and combat missions. Things would probably be easier if you have had plenty of experience in other MMO's and perhaps space ship games (such as Freelancer) but that is just my opinion.

I'm a big newbie to the game, having played for almost a month now. I am having a great time and think mainly because EVE is such a unique experience. No other MMO like it and it's an absolutelty massive game where you can do whatever the hell you want. Im learning new things everyday and it's a harsh and scary place. Funny story, the other night I finally got a cruiser which I was loving. The ship looks awesome and with it im making lots of money completing easy missions. Thought I'd buy some new skills and the cheapest ones available were in a low security system. I didn't know this when I bought the skills. So I get to the system and station no problem. All is going well and at the same time I had just joined a corp with voice chat. The corp leader can see my character details at any time (such as my location, my current ship, skill points, etc. He see's I am in a low security zone and start telling me about the dangers of my location, what I should have done, and so on. Of course I'm new and never had any problems travelling in the past so I am arrogant and dont take any notice basically. Next thing I know, after leaving the station, there are about 3 MASSIVE ships, flashing red. I have never seen this before so I decide to warp asap. Prpblem is, Im not warping and suddenly I am being targeted, I get hit by 2 missiles, my ship explodes and the cold hearted players killed my pod too. Of course I had just bought the ship so had no money, no insurance and did not upgrade my clone. Also I was taken to a station on the other side of space, VERY far from the corp I had just joined. Basically right now I am at square one again. Oh well live and learn, hehehe. Sorry I have gone on here. Point  is, I am stll loving EVE as it's realistic. Anyone looking for something new or likes space games, should try this game, no doubt. Only a very small download too which is a big plus!!!

Thanks for reading. : )