It can be argued that EVE
Online has more depth and complexity than any
MMOG on the market today. The game’s learning curve has at
times been compared to an outwardly curving cliff face laced with
deadly obstacles. At the bottom of that cliff rest the bones of the
dead, representative of the scores of players that have attempted to
learn the game and failed miserably.



Normally, I would attribute this to a newer generation of gamer that
has neither the time nor inclination to bother trying to learn
something new. That’s not the case with style="font-style: italic;"> EVE though. In
the past, the game has been both horrifically uncaring and unforgiving
when it came to introducing itself to new players. href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/75967" target="_blank">As
I talked
about
last week, that new player
experience has definitely changed for the better.



Even so, the world of EVE
is not for the faint of heart, the easily
discouraged, or the unadventurous. To aid those hoping to conquer the
challenges of EVE,
here’s ten tips to aid you in
your journey.

Do the crash course

It sounds like a stupid thing to have on the list, but you’d
be amazed at how many players apparently don’t do so. The
course is short and to the point, but without it, you’re
going to spend an unenviable amount of time attempting to determine how
to even move your ship around, let alone how to defend yourself with it.

Complete all career agent
missions: Military, Business, and Industry

Aside from the fact that you should be doing any and all missions given
or even mentioned during the tutorial of style="font-style: italic;">EVE, there are
quite a few
benefits of doing all three of these mission arcs. The first and
foremost of which is you’ll receive a few new ships out of
the process. Ships are an expensive commodity and there’s no
reason not to have a few spares in your hangar.



Each of the three career agents will instruct you further in a
different aspect of EVE.
The skills you’ll learn from each
will go a long way toward giving you a clue. None of these arcs should
be looked at as the “end all, be all” of each
subject. Though they won’t answer all your questions,
they’ll give you the knowledge necessary to form more focused
and intelligent questions when you go seeking further assistance.

Keep the Rookie channel open

I know a lot of people turn one or more of their chat channels off in
any given game to get away from the spam of those selling gold (ISK) or
spewing their own moronic opinions of everything from the
latest deodorant to last week’s football game. style="font-style: italic;">EVE is one
game where at least for a while, you really need to keep your channels
open whether you want to or not.



The most important of these for any one new to the game is called the
Rookie channel. To be sure, there is still plenty of general chatter
and more asshats than you can shake a stick at in here, but the
GM’s do a good job of keeping things on track when
they’re on.



Whether they’re available to steer things in the right
direction or not, there are plenty of people in the channel that are
more than happy to answer what they can. No matter what the question,
they realize the game is just as confusing to everyone else as it was
to them, so they do their best to help out. If your question
doesn’t get answered right away, don’t get
discouraged. Just wait a few minutes and ask again. Just be sure not to
spam the channel.



While getting an answer for a specific question is always good,
there’s an even more important reason to keep the Rookie
channel open. EVE
is so complex and there is *so* much to learn about
it, this is a great way to make new discoveries. I literally cannot
count how many times I saw someone ask a question about something that
I didn’t have a clue was in the game while I was out and
about. The chatterboxes may get annoying in there at times, but
don’t deny yourself the use of this great resource.

Save some money

Believe it or not, there’s really no reason to spend anything
more than what some of the career missions may need you to in the
beginning. When I say the beginning, I mean your first month or
so… seriously.



The only things you should really be spending any money on are skills,
a new ship or two, and parts. There are plenty of new shinies along the
way that will try to turn your head, but have some discipline.
Everything will seem pretty affordable at first, but when you start
looking at getting yourself into a new Battlecruiser with all the
fixings (and the subsequent insurance you’d better buy with
it), you’re going to need some of that loot you’ve
worked so hard for earlier on.

Decide which ship you want to fly

There are quite a few different ships to choose from, even when
you’re still a green pilot wet behind the ears. Take some
time to look ahead and start gearing the skills you purchase and train
towards those of a specific ship class. There’s a big
difference between having the bare requisites to fly a ship you want
and having the skills to fully take advantage of said ship.



You’ll find there are what seem to be a thousand different
skills available to you in the game. A ship may require you to have a
Gunnery skill of level 3, but meeting this bare requirement will net
you the bare results in combat. Supporting that skill with a few levels
in Motion Prediction, Controlled Burst, and Rapid Firing will go a long
way in improving your general effectiveness. These are only meant to
serve as an example, but delving further into the specialized skills
for your ship of choice will only help make your time in space more
enjoyable.

Pay attention to your attributes

The character creation process will set you up with a viable character
for what you want - military, mining, etc., but when you start adding
implants, knowing where they'll help you out most is extremely
important. All the attributes affect the speed in which you learn
certain skills differently.



The implants you choose to increase your attributes can have a drastic
affect on your ability to learn skills efficiently. For example, if you
plan on focusing primarily on combat skills, Perception and Willpower
will be the most important attributes to you.



This table from the href="http://support.eve-online.com/Pages/KB/Article.aspx?id=75"
target="_blank">EVE
Online support pages shows the different skill groups and
their corresponding attributes:

style="width: 500px; text-align: left; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"
border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2">
Group Attributes used (primary and secondary) Corporation Management Memory, Charisma Drones Memory, Perception Electronics Intelligence, Memory Engineering Intelligence, Memory Gunnery Perception, Willpower Industry Memory, Intelligence Leadership Willpower, Charisma/Charisma, Willpower Learning All Mechanic Intelligence, Memory Missiles Perception, Willpower Navigation Intelligence, Perception Science All except Perception Social Charisma, Intelligence Spaceship Command Perception, Willpower/Willpower, Perception Trade Willpower, Charisma/Charisma, Memory

Different ships have different uses.

I know it sounds like common sense, but you’d be amazed at
how often you’ll see someone attempting a combat mission with
a ship geared towards mining or a combat ship mining asteroids. In the
beginning, some ships will be useful for multiple roles, but as you get
better ships later on, they become more specialized in their overall
functions.



Don’t be afraid to swap out your mining ship for a combat
vessel when you’ve been assigned a dangerous mining mission
from an agent as it may save your hide. If you do this, just be sure
your cargo hold is large enough for the amount of ore you may need and
know why you’re choosing a particular ship.

Agents and the missions they offer are your friends.

EVE has
always been known as a PvP game, but there are plenty of missions to
keep the casual PvE player going for quite some time. Even if you
don’t think of yourself as a casual player, missions are
perfect for getting some trading, navigation, and combat experience
under your belt. The stacks of ISK you’ll begin to rack in
after awhile won’t hurt either.



Missions are a great way to earn some cash for all those skill and ship
upgrades you’ve been eyeballing, all with a relatively small
amount of risk to youyou’re your ship. Just make sure the
mission isn’t having you fly through low-sec space unless
you’re sure you want to and are prepared for the possible
consequences (such as the loss of your ship).



With each new expansion, EVE
adds more and more missions to keep players happy. In the fairly recent
past, epic mission arcs have been also introduced. They’re
similar to the career agent missions. Along with lots of ISK, you can
gain some other sweet rewards as well.

It's a big universe out there so go make some new friends.
.

They say no one can here you scream in space and if you’ve
spent any time in EVE,
it’s easy to understand why. It’s a big universe
out there, and the farther you venture out, the more
dangerous it’s going to become. The idea of playing a lone
wolf may sound mysterious and intriguing in that Boba Fett kind of way,
but it’s not an easy life to follow.



The most interesting places in EVE
are in low-sec space, but that’s the last place you want to
be all by your lonesome. Joining a corporation is a great way to see
what EVE
really has to offer. Sure, flying a ship around the universe by
yourself is pretty cool, but how about flying as part of a fleet? What
about flying as part of that fleet and href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/node/69645" target="_blank">taking
part in
a massive galactic battle? That’s where the real
action and intrigue is to be found.



There’s a corporation recruitment channel in the game, but
most of the time, it seems to be filled the same five spammers and is
often time more of a hassle that it’s worth. A better place
to gain a little information and look for a corporation that will fit
your playing style is in href="http://www.eveonline.com/ingameboard.asp?a=channel&channelID=109585"
target="_blank">the
Alliance and Corporation Recruitment Center on the official
forums.

A little research goes a long way.

Accept the fact that EVE
is more deep and complex than you can probably imagine. There is so
much to learn about the game that you could create at least one college
course for that sole purpose. As you progress from total noob to
someone that feels like they almost have a clue, take the time to do
some research on your own. There are plenty of resources out there for
you to discover. A good place to start is in our own href="http://www.tentonhammer.com/eve/guides" target="_blank"> style="font-style: italic;">EVE guide section.
And when the day finally comes where you start to think you know all
there is to know about EVE,
start researching some more, because you’re most probably
wrong.