MMORPG.com writer Adam Tingle has been sent out into the wilds of EVE Online. His mission? To report on his findings as he simply tried to survive in the game reputed to have the largest learning curve in all of MMOs.

Hello and welcome to the first episode of Eve Online Survivor Guy. I am taking on the wilds of New Eden, once I'm out there I will have to initiate survival and it won't be easy. I don't have any experience with this game and the learning curve for me will come swift and steady. I don't want to over dramatize this but a mistake out here could prove fatal. This is Eve Online, a landscape of beautiful exploration, dangerous encounters and a wealth of opportunity. Every day new comers to the game become lost and are forced to survive, I am such a person and I have neither aid nor knowledge to help me progress; I simply have my wits. My mission is simple: I have to survive for the next eight weeks in Eve Online.

The playing environment of Eve Online consists of more than 5000 star systems as well as 2500 randomly accessible wormhole systems. It is a rugged and treacherous landscape only tamed by pioneers and the most hardened of gamers. If approached with logical apprehension and intelligence- reward can be bestowed. If approached however with confidence and over-ambition- your only prize is death. I need to combine the advice given to me by the community as well as my natural survival instincts to endure my tenure Eve Online.

Read Survivor Guy: New Eden - Week One.

To experience Eve Online at its best, you really need to find and join a player corporation that has goals similar to what you are looking for in the game.

This is going to be interesting. Lets hope the dude doesnt just mine the entire time.

My advice to the author is to do all of the extra training mission arcs he can. They give you lots of ISK, useful items, loot from ship you destroy during the missions, and even free ships. These mission arcs are a huge help when getting started in EVE.

Very well written and insightful article, im really looking forward to part 2.

I have no doubt that if you keep up this level of detail, and keep this as well written as it is, then you will help more people to go out and try EvE.

Not a bad start, but not everything you have written so far is what I would call accurate or good advice (played for 5 years). So writing "it is essential to..." , is a little misleading for some people who will read and follow this to the letter.

As some people have pointed out already, getting a civilian mining laser and shooting veldspar is NOT the way to go, and it will not help in the long run, nor will it make you isk that will buy you anything worthwhile. 

Look at the recruitment section, join a corp friendly to new players. They will help buy you ships, skills, answer questions, give you advice, talk to you on teamspeak etc. One obvious one that comes to mind is Ivy League (EvE University). They are dedicated to training up new pilots in EvE, they have actual classes you can attend to learn aspects of the game. Check them out!

Have to agree with Andy, there is very little in EVE that "is essential".  There are plenty of things that are "nearly essential" or at least "really really good ideas".  Mining Veldspar is not one of them.  Although it is "safe", for sure, and it can definitely act as a source of income (no ammo is expended, you don't pay for fuel, and refining costs are paid as a "cut" of the results, so there're no up-front costs there), it's also fairly well regarded as boring.  (Heh, "boring"...  mining...  anyways...)

Definitely follow through on all the tutorial missions.  The rookie ship you start with is really only good for getting through those missions -- at least one of those missions will give you an honest-to-goodness Frigate to fly, and then you start being eligible for level I missioning...

I'd also be curious to hear how your skill training is progressing.  Are you learning up any of the Learning skills?  Although they don't open the game up to you, the sooner those get trained up, the faster your skill progression will go, and then the faster the your game options open up after that.  Also not essential, but often a "really really good idea".

It's also definitely not a game to solo.  Even if you play solo, participating in the community is really the best way to get the most out of the game -- even if it's just chatting in the newbie channels, you will have a much better time figuring the game out when/if you talk with other people....

I really hope the guy doing this series of reports listens to nothing here, until he has done his 8 weeks. I am pretty certain if he has a semblance of a brain he will follow some of the advice here, through his own trials and tribulations that is if he really is a new starter.

This is a good excercise if done properly to help highlight issues or confirm just how good and varied this game is.

I like this.

Originally posted by Isane

I really hope the guy doing this series of reports listens to nothing here, until he has done his 8 weeks. I am pretty certain if he has a semblance of a brain he will follow some of the advice here, through his own trials and tribulations that is if he really is a new starter.

This is a good excercise if done properly to help highlight issues or confirm just how good and varied this game is.

I like this.

LOL its only 8 weeks. He's gonna spend most of his time gaining isk at first.

If he's mining i can promise you the most he will do is watch a lazer hit a rock for a few weeks.

Good luck trying to compete or even be on an even playing field with people that have played for years. In this game there is no hope of catching up as it is real time based.

Time = Skill gain =  fail.  

Eve = Fail.

Originally posted by Saorlan

Good luck trying to compete or even be on an even playing field with people that have played for years. In this game there is no hope of catching up as it is real time based.

Time = Skill gain =  fail.  

Eve = Fail.

Don't feed the thread derailing

Originally posted by Saorlan

Good luck trying to compete or even be on an even playing field with people that have played for years. In this game there is no hope of catching up as it is real time based.

Time = Skill gain =  fail.  

Eve = Fail.

You're looking at this the wrong way. You're not really competing against others most of the time, you are competing against yourself. Knowledge is power in EVE.

Anyway, just think about this, when a EVE veteran gets a skill to level 5, thats as high as it gets. So you can catch up. Will you ever have more options than that veteran? No, but you can be as good as him in any field you train for.

So remember, a veteran can never be better than you if you put the training in. The only advantage he has is that he has more options than you in career choices. Thats it.

I found myself reading that article and saying to myself "no, no, no..don't get stuck mining!"....but, then I thought about it. This is a good chance to document the common new experience a person has and, for many, mining is an early and often activity.

The real interesting developments will be where the story goes after mining and the choices that are made as that is where the game is made or broken for many new players.

All in all, a pleasant read and a good glimpse at how many start out. Anxious to read more.

Originally posted by Saorlan

Good luck trying to compete or even be on an even playing field with people that have played for years. In this game there is no hope of catching up as it is real time based.

Time = Skill gain =  fail.  

Eve = Fail.

Spoken like a true dimwit who has zero clue how to play EvE or how it works. Its this sort of comment that puts people off trying EvE as a new game.

Please explain to everyone here how you are competing in EvE? Simply put.... you dont. Its not WoW, you're not end game raiding. Fail is levelling up to endgame in one week.

You do YOUR thing in EvE, not anyone elses. You dont compete with people, you enjoy the game doing what you want to do. Hence the sandbox element. Can you fly a Carrier when you first start? No. But then you would lose it anyway if you were new to the game.

You can train up to fly a battleship extremely quickly. After that you can train whatever flicks your switch. Or if you want to mine, you can train up to fly a Hulk really quickly and so on... What older players can do is fly maybe 3 or 4 different factions ships, rather than just one. But thats variety, not competition.

Don't listen to idiots like this guy, find out for yourself, and JOIN A CORP!

Ninja salvage level 4 mission runners and join Red vs. Blue. Good luck !

Dowload EVEMON, follow its skill training plans religiously. Make sure you level learning skills first, because past 8 weeks the attribute gains help. You can do a neural remap to lower combat skills like perception and willpower and raise intelligence and memory. New players get 2 so when you have trained all the skills you think you will need that use int and mem, you can switch back.

EVE's curve is not as hard as you think. The biggest problem is that it punishes altaholics and dillentantes, or just muddling around, because of the time based skill system. Research will help a lot, and asking in help will too.

Also, PvP. Mission running and mining are boring as hell, and will burn you out if that's all you do. Try and pilot a ship you can afford well: don't overreach and go beyond that. However if you want to pilot of cruiser, dont waste time raising frig skills like small energy turret high early on. Try and raise general skills at first which apply to all ships.

Good luck. It was a mixed experience for me: I liked the shipbuilding aspect of it, but had zero luck finding a non-sucky corp.

This is not new.

This was already done, with amazingly good posts, which created fun reading for months.

I guess most of the noobs don't even know  it.

Oh well.

Originally posted by Saorlan

Good luck trying to compete or even be on an even playing field with people that have played for years. In this game there is no hope of catching up as it is real time based.

Time = Skill gain =  fail.  

Eve = Fail.

 and you fail for having absolutely no knowledge about the game otherwise you wouldnt post such crap.  :P

Originally posted by qazyman

Ninja salvage level 4 mission runners and join Red vs. Blue. Good luck !

It would be extremely insteresting to read if he went the ninja salv route. which can be trained up pretty quickly and makes some good isk.