I've messed around with the trial and like what I see for the most part.

Open PvP is the biggest negative for me.

I'm a miner/crafter type of personality (Engineer in real life) so that's what I prefer to do. Are there Corps out there that do serious mining? Gangs of miners, people transporting the goods back to the base, and a fleet providing protection ... the whole nine yards? *crosses fingers* I hope so!

Or is it mostly just a couple of people?

I'm not opposed to doing PvP if its a fleet vs fleet. Not a 5 v 3 or some other small scale thing.

Mostly what I'm getting at is are there Corps out there that accept new people and do things together on a semi-large scale? I'm tired of games like WoW where everyone recruits for guilds saying they do stuff ... but come to find out they do maybe once a month and otherwise do nothing at all together.

From my past experiences having played EVE (I no longer do, so don't confuse me with a fanboy), I'd say that yes, you can definitely find people focusing on the engineering/commercial aspects of the game.

After all, from what I've seen the server typically has about 30k people logged in at any time - even if only 5% of those are doing mining/hauling/trading, you're still looking at 1500 people at all times!

I suspect however that most of this occurs in high-sec space.  Once you start flying in low-sec or 0.0, it's mostly PvP... ganking, alliance stuff, etc.  Of course if you're willing to risk it, the inherent danger and lawlessness of low-sec and 0.0 space results in huge profits that can be made by hauling ammunition, fittings, ships, etc. from high-sec to low-sec.

I'd suggest giving it a twirl for a month or three to see if you like it.  Best of luck!

Yes.

OK, maybe I'll elaborate a bit. 

There are corps and even alliances that range from being a full sevice shop to those who specialize in one particular area like mining, mission running, or even trading.

You will never be able to completely escape the PVP, but that said, many players can go months or years w/o ever losing a ship.

Try to keep an open mind, and at least consider the possibility of one day doing a bit of PVP. My own alliance has converted many a hardcore miner to the dark side and convinced them that on occasion, PVP can be fun.

But do visit the recruiting section on the EVE Online forums and look at the recruitment ads. I'm sure you'll find a group that will peak your interest.

Sounds good so far ... thanks!

How about the size of the operations? 1,500 people may be mining, but are they all solo or duo teams?

Because it is open PvP, I would greatly prefer to be in a decent sized group that can fend off 90% of the raiders.

Idealy I'd have two characters. One focused completely on mining/crafting/trading, one focused for combat.

I wouldn't expect this to be happening all the time of course, just have planed day and times each week where they go out in force. The rest of time could be smaller groups doing things ad-hoc.

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Originally posted by Capn
Sounds good so far ... thanks!

How about the size of the operations? 1,500 people may be mining,

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remember because of open pvp there is allot of job for miners builders traders
maybe i am wrong but 70% of players make the "carebear"(read mine, build, trade) to feed the war machine

Originally posted by Capn

Because it is open PvP, I would greatly prefer to be in a decent sized group that can fend off 90% of the raiders.

Free for all pvp doesn't mean no-rules pvp.

You can stay in high security space as long as you want and unless you do something to agress someone nobody (except your corpmates) can shoot you without their ship being destroyed by CONCORD (the NPC police).

And if and when you do go out into player-controlled space, you'll have an alliance, or even an alliance of alliances for some of the bigger ones, to help you out.

As a new(ish) player the first thing i did was to start mining as well. I've found that it can be tedious but our corporation is growing and most of the time 2-4 other people from my corp will go to an area for mining.  We even have our own anchored cans and everything and we all have ships that could, if needed fend off the 2-4 rats that attack us.  However, with 3, 4 and at time 5 of us all with drones rats are nothing but a very light nusaince and are dealt with quickly.  We are mostly filled with new players too and it seems we all learn from one anothers experiences.  Not sure if you want a large corp or a smaller/closer one but probably all corps have members who will work together for a greater goal.  Ours right now is to make money, get into manufacturing and eventually go as 5+ man groups to 0 sec.

I have found with my few times in .4-.2 sec that no people have messed with me.  My brother once told me that he, as  tv repairman can go into some of the worse areas of neighborhoods and never fear being robbed or worse.  Why?  Because noone screws with the guy who supplies something that is sorely needed. Television.  He has friends who work for the cable companies who have all said the same thing.  I think miners are the cableguy/tv repairmen of EVE.  Sure, they can easily be killed/ganked but the truth is, they're needed more so to be left alone and do their job so as to offer their ore for those who want to craft their own ships and etc for the larger PvP crowd.  Without us. You're only left with 2 options. Do without or do it yourself.  Most PvP people dont want to do either so i think they leave us be to do our jobs.  I could be wrong and just been lucky and since i've not been to .0 sec rules could change but, i think it will probably hold true.

As with everything in Eve, there is no simple answer to your question. Check it out, if you liked the trial, you will probably like the game. There are little corps and big corps.

I can respond better to your paragraph though. Eve is a game that it attracts the type A personality that likes to run things. There are always new corps starting up with big dreams, and just like the real world, the vast majority of them fail. One of the biggest paradoxes in Eve is that while the game does not require a large time investment to progress individually, running a successful corp requires a huge time investment. It's not like other games where the guild leader can sit back and just point the guild in the right direction. The point is...most corps suck, and can totally take every bit of fun out of the game if you get stuck in a bad one. My advice would be to shun completely any newer smaller corps, and be very picky when talking to a player corp about joining.

Eve is also a very international game. If you are from the US I'd suggest sticking with US/UK/AU/CA corps at first. I enjoy learning about other cultures, but this is an EU dominated game, and they approach it differently than your average Westerner.

Hi,
being a manufacturer, trader or researcher in EVE is very very long term proposition. Therefore there is only a little daily tasks you have to deal with.
It is pretty much the same as in RL - you go through price charts, watching for news in region, analyze, looking for opportunities.
In the end, it is all about making money - and money making is never efficient by 'grinding'.

Only industrial aspect of the game that requires daily hours is mining. Some people like it, some don't. It can be as dull high-sec mining as mission running is or it can be done as corp/alliance operation like any other combat event. Don't think you will avoid PvP. EVE economy is player driven so you will compete with other players.

The best would be to search forums for industrial corps but there is a little issue with that, imo.
While in fights, your mates can help you out by learning you trick or two. With industrial people, it gets a bit complicated because even though you are in the same corp, the battleground knows no friends - it is the market. Therefore business people often do not like to give out their secrets because you can turn to be an unwanted competition rather easy.

That is my oppinion but I am not a industrial person myself, I just hanged around with some business minded people for some time and they were a bit 'secretive' ;-)
Startig a business/industrial career is definately more dificult than fighting, in the end, it requires more brain cells too :)

Good luck.