Six Months in Eve

Today marks the 6 month anniversary of when I started playing Eve Online. Since I'm not at the stage I make enough isk to purchase PLEX to continue playing (and won't be anytime soon), I'll be paying for another 6 months in a couple of days when the bill comes due. I've got 2 accounts and have enjoyed the game so far. After playing for six months, I really should start posting about why I like the game. Yes, another blog idea whose time has come. Now if I can just stop playing the game to really write about it.

For now, I'll just give a progress report on how I've done so far. Right now between my two main characters (I have a third I never log onto) I have 127 million isk. Of course, that amount will shrink in the next couple of days as I want to take a class that requires having a covert ops ship so I'll be buying and equipping a Cheetah.

Yes, taking classes means I'm still in Eve University. I have a lot to learn and after 3 1/2 months the Uni still has a lot to offer. I'd really like to get on the killboard before leaving. I tried on Saturday but the "Rampage" through The Great Wildlands didn't bag much. I do have the title "Student" to show for my time, although I really need to work toward becoming a "Graduate". And if I haven't said it before, Eve University is a great place to start out your career in New Eden. Just expect to wait a long time (like up to a week) to get in; the application line is still backed up.

Another thing I should mention is the little fleet I've built up. Eve Online is different than games like World of Warcraft and EverQuest 2 in that ships, unlike the gear and weapons in the fantasy MMOs, are not bind on equip. So as long as I train up the skills I can pass ships back and forth between my accounts. Both of my characters are Minmatar, and I've stuck to training Minmatar ships, which makes passing the ships between the accounts easier. Right now my little fleet on both accounts consists of:

Cruisers:
2 Rupture
3 Bellicose
1 Scythe

Frigates:
4 Burst
3 Probe
6 Reaper
5 Rifter
2 Slasher
6 Vigil

Destroyer:
1 Thrasher

Industrial:
4 Wreathe
3 Mammoth
1 Retriever

Shuttles:
8 Minmatar

The Reaper is the Minmatar beginner frigate that is free to obtain. All you have to do is undock from a station in your pod and then travel to a station in which you have no ships. However, the very cheap Minmatar shuttle is so much cooler to look at, so I wind up buying them.

Now, the Eve player may notice a distinct lack of T2 frigates (covert ops & assault frigates) and battlecruisers on my list. The reason is simple. What's rule #1 in Eve? Don't fly anything you can't afford to lose. I can afford to lose any of the ships on that list. When I pick up my Cheetah, that will put a dent in my wallet, but while losing the ship would hurt, I could recover fairly quickly.

I do have a second rule I live by in New Eden. Don't fly anything you cannot fly well. So I've been training all the support skills and trying to equip my existing ships properly instead of rushing to fly something bigger. I'd really hate myself if I lost a ship because I just didn't have the skills to fly it properly. When I started out I didn't have a choice. Now I do.

Everything has not gone my way in the first six months, however. So far I have managed to lose 3 frigates (1 Slasher and 2 Rifters) and one mining ship. That's right, I managed to lose a Retriever. I was dual-boxing and hit a booby-trap. Because I was dual-boxing, I didn't get the mining lasers and strip miners all turned off in time so I kept setting the traps off. If I was a couple of seconds faster warping out, I would have been okay also. Oh well, live and learn. At least I was carrying platinum insurance.

The last thing I should mention is my production skills. So far I've been more involved with mining and hauling goods around Minmatar space than trying to make things. However, I can make some of the necessities of life. Here is a list of the things I can currently manufacture.

Ships:
Burst (9)
Navitas (5)

Drones:
Hammerhead I (10)
Hornet EC-300
Vespa EC-600
Warrior I

Ammunition:
Antimatter charge S (200)
Carbonized Lead S
EMP M
EMP S
Fusion S
Phased Plasma S
Proton S
Titanium Sabot M

Missiles:
Bloodclaw Light Missile
Havoc Heavy Missile
Sabretooth Light Missile

I still have a lot of training to do in research and manufacturing before I can really engage in that area of Eve, so I've been doing a lot of hauling instead. While I like flying from place to place buying and selling things, I have to admit that I can consistently make more money by mining. That's why I'm training Mining Barges to V so I can buy a Covetor before beginning training for a transport. I'm not going to train to fly a Hulk for a long time because that ship is just too expensive to buy right now. Also, flying one would violate rule #1 of Eve.