New Players Have More Power Than You Think
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OK. So some of you have already read my comments in New Players: Very First Steps on EVE being a gerontocracy. Its true. The pace of training and constancy of one's progression as you go about your other activities mimics RL in a very real way. I wouldn't change it. I'm the kind of twisted obsessive that doesn't mind taking years to build a character, lay my Secret Evil Plans and yadda yadda. To me its just part of what makes it so easy to react to EVE as we do to RL, especially after we've been playing for a while. Just part of what makes the game so intense.
But there's a flip side to this that you as a new player can exploit once you stop being so worried about being new.
Since EVE is so similar to RL, it takes a lot of RL skills to play it especially to play it well. Look at the clues CCP themselves give us. There's a notepad, calculator, and evemail groups.
So what are the short cuts that make the edge that the more experienced players have even thinner?
1. Capacity to learn. Knowledge is power in EVE. Utilizing the New Player help chat is smart, but sometimes you might run into the issue of back logging, so doing your own research and using the wiki might be a faster way to answer your questions.
2. Specialize. Your T2 fitted T1 Battlecruiser is as good on paper as anyone else's and a level 5 skill is a level 5 skill for anyone. You give yourself better odds at one thing and work out from there. Do this as soon as you can. EVEmon is a really good way to base an entire training system around a specific ship, for example. Well chosen specializations, skills that are in high demand in most corporations include logistic ship piloting,
3. Don't Vex it Just PLEX it. You can buy ISK for real money. $16.00 dollars US gets you between 700 and 900 million ISK (give or take 50 million) I started out determined to do it without buying PLEX, but quickly saw that for me there was no good reason to limit the number of toys I could buy.
4. Volunteer. If you want to play with the big boys sooner rather than later, volunteer to help with your corp. Nothing takes the edge off being a newbie like getting the kind of respect that the old timers get because you are taking the initiative. You don't need 20 million skill points to be the go to guy for the standing fleet. You only have to know how to set up a fleet and simply be the one who starts a fleet whenever you log on. Volunteering is actually so effective that you have to be careful and pace yourself. Watch out what you ask for, sometimes you do get it.
5. Network. Get yourself in with experienced players as soon as you can. It can be intimidating to have to approach the Old Timers but you progress so much faster with our help. There is no comparison. The smart ones among us are happy to help you. We know a good investment when we see it.
6. What can your 2 million SP character do as well as a character with 50 million SP? Anyone can salvage, a player with 20 million SP or a player with .5 million SP. So the guys with 20 million SP are just as good or bad off if its you or one of them who goes on a level 5 mission to salvage. Or scouting. Etc.
7. Real Life skills. If you can do spreadsheets you have a shortcut to the Inner Circle of just about any corporation. If you can effectively infiltrate another corp, you become one of the heavies overnight. If you aren't afraid to learn to lead a group into battle, you're a future FC and your name will be mentioned. If you're willing to recruit new members for your corp, chances you're on the fast track to Director. Diplomacy and the ability to negotiate. The moment you have the nerve to step up and put this kind of skill on the table, you become one of the heavies. Because in EVE it matters. It matters if you, for example, have a skilled negotiator or not.
8. Cosmetics. Take a bit of time with the aesthetics of your character. Remove the charge for sending emails etc. Give yourself a cool bio. Take some time to customize your portrait. Some of the people who have studied a lot of player portraits can learn to tell stuff about the players from them.
9. Forums. The EVE insider forums are a quick way to put a bunch of stuff out there that comes up when someone does a google search on your character.
10. Voice comms. If you are in voice comms you have a voice if you are not you do not.
And some thingss about us Old Timers that you should keep in mind. Be impressed. But not too impressed.
1. That 50 million SP character could be owned by some joker who is as new as you but just had a few hundred dollars to drop on a character.
2. Just because they've been around forever doesn't mean they've been playing a lot. Some character from three years ago could have no more than six months or so of actual playing time.
3. Because EVE is so complex you could be a specialist in something that a far more experienced player knows nothing about.
If you are in with people who devalue you simply because you are new at this game, I'd recommend that you find yourself a new group of guys to play with. Now this is not the same as hazing. There's often some teasing and testing when someone new shows up. People are entitled to a little of that because that's how everyone gets to know who they are dealing with. You get to know that too. Standard primate politics and all in good fun even when it isn't. You'll know it when you see it.
Neurotechnicon A Manual. How to destroy them from within. How to protect them from those who would destroy from within. How to play EVE "against" yourself. The Metagame of EVE.
The Technocrat A Manual. The Creation, Care, Expansion, Manipulation and Management of EVE Corporations and Alliances
Warp To Zero My autobiography by Praxis Astra
Corporation Security Article on corporation security
Voice Comms Article on voice comms
Link to an excellent guide for brand new players by Praxis Astra
Please feel free to convo evemail or join Praxis Astra in our public channel
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