Im a week into the 14 day trial & have read as many reviews of the game as possible. I spent most of my time understanding the game mechanics & talking with helpful folk in the rookie channel.

I've been in lower sec space (.4 is lowest i've gone) & I usually catch a dead ship. Guess im lucky but i've yet to be attacked by another player. I've lost my frigate (tristan) several times doing hard federation navy missions. I just didnt know how to properly outfit it, not even a medium or low slot was occupied. But hey, it wasn't long before I purchased a catalyst.

Now that i have a basic understanding of the game mechanics I'll be fine. Heck in 2 days away from a Rupture. So what im trying to say is, if your smart enough to figure the game out & make logical decisions about where you go & what you do when your there, the game really isn't difficult. For those with an aggresive attitude or no patience, well good luck & good bye most probably.

My only annoyance with the game is the time it takes to learn level 4 & 5 skills. Especially when you need like 3 or 4 different ones as a pre-requisite for something else. I've had the weapons, ship & a few spare ISK long before I could step foot in it.

Good game, just dont make it your "life" like WoW or Lineage 2 or any of those "xp grind games". You will be annoyed fast. Train a skill, go to bed, work whatever.

Lets imagine for a moment that you start a new account, pick your race & class.
Now, the first thing you will notice is your map, it's HUGE! Your in one of the starter towns & you shout to say "Hello lineage2!!! Im a new player".  (insert cliche cricket sound & anime sweat drop). In other words, your already screwed.

Now lets be optimistic, say you manage to get to level 20 & complete your first class transfer. Your able to participate in the seven sign dungeouns (which is probably the fastest xp to 40).  Assuming you register on the week that allows you to enter, otherwise your screwed. Moving on, from 20 to 40 it's going to be the same thing all over again. Except this time your not alone, you've just met your first friend, MR Adena. He's got 8 party members that follow him around in an orderly fashion & for some strange reason he doesn't seem to communicate with the outside world. But hey, you may get  lucky & find a player re-rolling or just having fun with an alt.

Assuming you make it to level 40, you just finished the really long & boring quest for your 2nd class transfer. Well congradulations, pat yourself on the back you beat the odds. So your really getting into the game at this point, you have some gear , some spare adena & a rough idea of where to level. You feel like things are finally starting to pick up. Perhaps around this time you try to join a guild/clan whatever you call them.

Guilds/Clans are a mixed bag, your going to need someone in your level range (+- 10 levels) to be ON & willing to party with you. Furthurmore you WILL need buffs, because without them your screwed. You may opt to pay for a 2nd account or perhaps you would prefer to depend on guild members. Again, I would suggest NOT depending on other people because you WILL get frustrated. Ideally you want a clan that uses teamspeak or one of those online voice chatting softwares. Because you dont really make friends through chatting, it's so much better to hear the other persons voice, get an idea of what age or mindset they may have. It's also probably the only way to really bond with people in the game. People just dont pay attention to the chat window. While im on the subject of partying, the party matching window is mainly used to sell equipment (lol)

Lets say you manage to struggle your way to level 50. This is going to be your first xp wall, there is another @ 55, 60, 65, 70, 73 (big one), 74, 75. From 76 & on it gets rediculous. What this means, is your getting substantially less experience for killing the same monsters. WHich your killing over & over & over & over & over etc...

Lets assume your really hardcore & manage to get to level 76 your able to hit your 3rd & final class change quest. But guess what, your best skills are at 78 & higher. SO thats probably a good few more months of grinding. At which point your finally able to compete against other players. WHEW! Alot of work just to get somewhere decent. Forget Hero or Olympiads because they are controlled by the top clans on the servers. So are the raid bosses & so are the castles.

When the game first started it was better. Everyone was around the same level range, doing the same quests exping in the same areas. It's was so much better before they put all this content & most of it isn't used.

Im sorry if I sound kinda synical, but i've played this game for around 2 years since release & you know i get to see the worst & the best. It's just not worth the time sink & the investment. Your probably better off playing on a private server to get a taste of the classes & skills. There just isn't enough choice for online mmorpg at this time. And they are all the same shit lol