EVE Blog Banter :: Sixteen

Monday, 15 March 2010 00:00

Welcome to the sixteenth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Check out other EVE Blog Banter articles at the bottom of this post!

The third Blog Banter of 2010 comes to us from ChainTrap of the Into the unknown with gun and camera EVE Blog. He asks us: "Eve University turns six years old on March 15th; six years spent helping the new pilots of New Eden gain experience and understanding in a supportive environment. Eve is clearly a complicated game, with a ton to learn, so much that you never stop learning. So, the question is; What do you wish that someone had taken the time to tell you when you were first starting out? Or what have you learned in the interim that you'd like to share with the wider Eve community?"

Well I do and don't. I remember back when I first come into EVE I spent weeks, if not months running around with no low or mid slots filled in because I didn't know they were there. I remember getting frustrated taking my Caracal into level 2 missions and barely being able to do them with no tank what-so-ever. Once I worked out that you could get shield boosters though it was fantastic and there was no stopping me. Admittedly, back then the tutorial didn't cover fitting ships like it did today. A few years ago, the tutorials were so dire that places like EVE Uni were needed, but today not so much unless you want to know something inside out in a way that EVE Uni doesn't cover.

Back when I was starting out in the game, I don't think I would have liked someone to tell me what to do or how to play the game, but that's mainly because I like to learn things for myself, to go in with the wrong ship class to missions and see why I shouldn't. Even today, with almost two years experience and crossed over the twenty five million skillpoint mark (woo hoo!!) I still take what some would say foolish risks to experiment with stuff. I'm the kind of stubborn person that is someone says something shouldn't be done that way, I'll do it anyway just to spite them.

The new tutorials are a lot better and give out loads of freestuff which is awesome (assuming you do the career tutorials too) and they even cover training, so you won't spend the better part of three weeks like I done wondering how you get into bigger ships and now with the skill queue that's even better - although I do miss the 3am alarms to wake up for skill changing... really... I swear...

As for offering my wisdom to new players, the only things I'd advise is this: -

1It's only ISK - Don't get hung up over something blowing up, log off for an hour and go do something else, or go grab a new ship and see if you get your ass spanked again.

2Don't take anything personal - Those pirates sitting in lowsec didn't wait there specifically for you to jump through and let everyone else before you pass.
Don't be frightened to spread your training over everything if that's what you want to do - Specialising is great, but it means your only good at one thing and have to work at anything else, spreading means your great at nothing, but your good or average at so much more.

3Don't Roll Alts!!! - Bolded because this one pisses me off - EVE is a social game, it's designed to be that way. If you need someone to salvage, ask in corp or local if someone wants to and split the loot 50/50. You'll make new friends and get more enjoyment. Using your own army might be quicker, but it defeats the purpose. Other characters are okay, for example having a empire missioner and a low sec pirate, but they shouldn't share ISK, if the low sec pirate wants stuff he'll have to make his own isk.

4The final thing I'd advise is this - If in doubt, Right Click - It was something that Aura used to tell you as soon as you woke up in your pod in space, but I don't think she does anymore. If your unsure what to do, move your mouse over the object you want to interface with and right click on it and see what your options are. The right mouse button is your most powerful tool to interact with the universe and never forget it.

So there we have it, my first entry into the EVE Blog Banter and I'm sure it won't be my last.