My First Week In Eve

I survived my first week in New Eden and the experience was not as tough as I feared. Eve Online does have some features not found in other games, but I think I am adapting fairly well. I went ahead and purchased the game and now have a regular account. I thought I would go ahead and put down some more of my impressions of the game after a week. If some of the comments seem curious, they are based on things I’ve read in the Rookie chat channel.

The trial account – No, the trial accounts do not give full access to the game. For instance, you cannot train in industrial ships. A totally reasonable restriction, in my opinion. Why give gold, er, I mean isk, farmers the ability to make a ton of isk to sell for free?

Movement – Unlike most western MMOs, movement is not performed with the WASD keys. Instead, you select an object, like a station, asteroid belt, cargo container or a bookmark if you have set one up already, and move to it.

Tutorials – Take advantage of the tutorials and newbie missions. In addition to giving you a lot of ships (I received a Rifter, a Slasher, 2 Bursts and 2 Wreathes) tutorials will also appear during the missions to give you aid with some of the mechanics. Some of the tutorials gave me skill books, so I didn’t have to purchase all my skills on the broker. Just be careful while doing the tutorials. One of the missions lured me into an ambush, which I didn’t recognize in time. I was warping out when all of a sudden my Slasher was in pieces and I was in a pod. Of course, learning about what happens when your ship explodes may have been part of the learning experience for that mission. I was a little upset with myself, but at least I had …

Insurance – Insurance is not mandatory, but I’m glad I buy it. In addition to the Slasher, I lost the Rifter while attempting to do the epic arc. I always buy the premium insurance for my ships and I haven’t regretted it.

Level 1 missions – The biggest question I had after deciding that I wasn’t ready for the epic arc was where to find level 1 missions. One of the volunteers in the Rookie channel gave instructions on how to use the map to find agents who will talk with you. After some of the things I’ve read in the Rookie channel, I’ve determined that I’ll only listen to a red, blue, or green (i.e. a GM or CCP volunteer) answer.

So far I’ve only done two level 1 missions. I did not know the missions were part of faction warfare. I might be wrong about that, but I was getting faction points for completing the missions. The first one was a FedEx run delivering advanced weapons to a Minmatar base.

The second mission was a bit more difficult. Pirates, probably with the encouragement of the evil Amarr, were encroaching into Minmatar space. I was sent out to deal with the threat. No problem, right? Well, no problem with the ones at the end of the first acceleration gate. The second acceleration gate? Well, I did pick the Minmatar because they practice hit and run tactics. Good thing I had that mindset going in because the pirates were a bit smarter than the mobs I’m used to. For instance, after I destroyed 3 out of 4 pirates in a group, the last one took off looking for help. He got to a group of 4 more pirates before I could kill him. I eventually did kill the fleeing pirate, but with four bogies on my tail chasing me I figured it was a good time to warp out of the area. Clearing that area took a long time and I wound up warping out of the area five times before I was able to destroy the last pirate.

Salvage – I had heard before playing that salvage was a good way to make money. So I made sure that my training included the skills to use a salvager. I don’t know if I can get back to the acceleration gate areas once I’ve killed all of the enemy ships, so I have been bringing the salvager with me on the missions instead of training up for a missile launcher. I don’t know what the items I salvage are used for, but I know they sell for some good isk. Yesterday I sold all the valuable items for 1.7 million isk.

Mining – What would a week in Eve be without mining? I stayed in a nice .9 security zone so I wouldn’t have to worry about any pirates. I trained up enough so I can use a Miner II. Much faster than using the basic Miner I. I have fitted out a Burst and used jet cans once, but normally I have been just using a Wreathe. With one hard point the mining is much slower, but I only mine with the Wreathe when I’m playing EverQuest 2. I have purchased a Probe and trained up my drone skills and I’m looking forward to mining with drones.

Certificates – I found something called certificates that I found fascinating. When I looked at my new Rifter, I found a recommendation to obtain 3 certificates; core competency, armor tanking, and small projectile gunnery. I’m taking the skills recommendations to heart and in addition to the other nice skills I’m working on getting all three certificates. I heard in the Rookie channel that certificates are a waste of time, but I didn’t hear that from the GMs or volunteers, so I’m going to continue aiming for them.