EVE Online is often regarded as a game where new players can never catch up, because of the much-discussed skill point gap. What most gamers do not realize is that in EVE Online, is that ISK, making friends, and player knowledge are paramount, leaving skillpoints in the dust.

Here are ten professions that new players can participate in, during their first week of play. They all rely more on the player than on the character in particular, but can be just as lucrative as any so-called end game activities.

Salvager

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style="font-style: italic;">Nothing is out of reach for newer players in EVE Online. Read a lot of guides, make friends with good players, and you are on even footing at pretty much anything except solo PvP.

Salvaging is the quintessentially newbie-friendly profession, insofar as CCP has defined their game. If you have a friend that has been playing EVE Online for a while, you can follow him around, looting from his wrecks and then salvaging them. As of this writing, you can spend ten minutes salvaging a level four mission and make about as much as a player would in ten minutes of running that same mission. That is to say, your time is converted into ISK at just as efficient a rate as for a level four player, though your total time spent and ISK earned will both be lower, unless you have enough friends running missions that you do not have down time. The only requirement to salvaging is being able to use a Salvager I module, though also being able to use a destroyer like the Cormorant is also handy.

High-Security Hauling

A player can get into a hauling industrial during his first week of playing EVE, and goods always need moving around. From an economic standpoint, moving goods to a more ideal location adds value. From a player perspective, it is a good idea to have your gear located in as close a location as possible. From a null-security space importer/exporter perspective, it makes sense to outsource the most time consuming portion of the process. Any of these can be picked up from the courier contracts listings. Any time I make a trip to or from Jita, I check and see if there are any courier contracts that would take the same route as me. You can do the same, or even join a corporation that specializes in shipping.

Exchange Real Life Skills

EVE Online's rules allow for certain real life services to be exchanged for ISK. This includes art, for which there is a bustling trade on the EVE market forums as well as on various other forums. This also includes web design and hosting, for EVE-related sites. Some other skills that might be leveraged include accounting, for which there is a huge demand in larger corporations. Another great money maker is application development, especially involving EVE Online's API, which allows player applications to analyze some kinds of EVE data. This last is especially useful for market data.

Spying

Spying is in and of itself fairly easy in EVE Online. The difference between a rookie player spying and an experienced player spying is that an experienced spy will be able to relay better information, be able to get into better corporations, and will see more opportunities for mischief. None of this precludes a newbie from spying on an organization, albeit that organization must willingly accept newbies. Fortunately, many do, and so even new players can infiltrate corporations for any of the usual reasons.

Secondary Market Trading

EVE Online's so-called secondary market is when you perform the most basic form of trade: buy low, sell high. The key here is that the market skills do not take long to trade, and even a player that has only run through the tutorial missions should be able to spot some commodities that other new players would willingly sell for below their true value. A new player won't bother hoarding or setting up a sell order for a trade item worth only 5000 ISK, he is much more likely to sell it to a buy order. If you don't mind tending your buy orders in a newbie system, you can easily make millions of ISK with trading, even on your first day. Once you have accrued a large enough volume of goods, bring them to Jita or Amarr and put up a sell order. As long as you understand the mechanics of EVE Online's market, you do not even need to really understand what the items you are buying are used for. A new player is also more likely to be more active at maintaining his market orders, than a veteran player. Outside of Jita, anyway. And best of all, it can be done in tandem with any other activity that you pursue, so long as you can tend to your buy orders.