Anyone Can Play EVE

The battle for 6VDT, one of the largest EVE has seen

EVE has a bit of a nasty reputation as a game. There are few rules and few pilots that have any regard for those that do exist. The moment you poke your nose out of the "starter" systems where new players appear, you are a legitimate target, even in so-called secure space. People can and will scam you, and there is nothing you can do about it, except to not be so thick as to fall for it. More often than not, if you try to fight these villainous pirates, scoundrels, con artists, and thieves, you will be outnumbered and outgunned.

Of course, this is all part of the mysterious allure of EVE, as well. During my tenure as the CEO of a large (500-man) new-player corporation, I have encountered many pilots who begin playing because of EVE's brutal nature, perhaps having read a narrative of a 3000-man realtime space battle, and then paradoxically quit for that very same reason. I am writing this for those people. This post will mostly illustrate the things that make EVE much easier to get into and enjoy: Persistence, a Corporation, and Attitude.

Unlike many games, EVE requires persistent effort to truly enjoy, thanks to both the diabolical playerbase and the Mt. Everest-like learning curve.  The reward is a burst of adrenaline into what is otherwise a fairly boring space simulator. In fact, it's not uncommon to hear new players stuttering from excitement during their first fleet, and many recount shaking hands during their first bit of PVP. Why?

Because the blood, sweat and tears you pour into mining or running missions for your ships and items makes them valuable. They represent an investment of time and effort, and all of it can be lost, permanently, in a heartbeat. The beauty, of course, is that with a bit of knowledge and luck, you can be on the giving end of the pain train.

Unfortunately, EVE is large and complex, and though the tutorials are much more helpful than they once were, it is difficult to get a good start as a lone new player. That's where the second of EVE's selling points comes in; the community. Any newbie would do well to join a corporation immediately after beginning the game. Obviously, some are much more newbie-friendly than others (in fact, most null security corporations will not even accept players under 6 months of age), but even the most humble corporation can offer guidance and a place to start.

If you are a new player and reading this, or perhaps you have not even begun the game yet, don't worry, there are many corporations out there that offer help. EVE University is the most well-known, but an intelligent pilot can learn from Red Vs Blue, or any number of factional warfare corps. EVE now has a wonderful corporation search tool that allows you to search for corporations based on things like size, friendliness to newbies, location, activities and so on.

Persistence and corporate membership will go a long way to making EVE's learning curve less insurmountable, but there is one more important piece of the puzzle: attitude. When you first start playing, you will be beaten down repeatedly. You will lose ships, pods, implants, skill points, and just about anything else that you have. To survive you have to not only persist but also to learn from these mistakes.

 EVE can seem confusing and discouraging at first

Too many new players make the mistake of getting angry at whoever killed them. Unfortunately, this serves no purpose, since instead of learning from his error, the newbie just blames whoever killed them for being a "dick" or a "griefer." I see this over and over in the waves of recruits that join Concordiat; a newbie will join, promptly get his shiny new industrial ganked, and come to me swearing up and down that he will unleash vengeance on the sorry bastard that killed him. While the enthusiasm is a refreshing change of pace from the bitterness of old veterans, I have yet to see any of those mean gankers put in their place.

Honestly, this last component is the most important, and the proof is visible every time my corporation runs a recruitment wave. Each time, we get 100-200 new applicants, all eager to get started on their bloodthirsty career as a terrorizer of nullsec. Of these, there are always about 5 that are just incredible. They learn quickly, and before long many are in corporate leadership and leading fleets. By just a couple months into the game they are farther than most players are in a few years. How is this possible?

They all share in common an excellent approach to the game; dying and failing does not faze them, and they always are willing to learn. If an aspect of the game intrigues them, they google it or use the multitude of player-created tools to research it further. And while they have an infectious enthusiasm, they rarely become angry, even while being repeatedly killed. This special crop of newbies is honestly my corporation's most valuable asset - they inject life into the corporation and inspire the rest of the new recruits to keep at it, and it's not because they are just innately better at the game. They are simply willing to learn from it.

The infamous EVE learning curve

I know this has been a long and rambling first post, and I apologize, so I'll wrap things up with a little summary:

EVE is hard, but is it rewarding beyond any other game because of this. To succeed, it takes persistence, a social group(corporation), and an openness to learning. I highly encourage every gamer to try EVE with an open mind; it is a unique game with elements that you will not find anywhere else, and the experience of participating in a massive fleet battle over sovereignty is immensely satisfying. There is a reason that some corporations have existed ingame for over 10 years, with all the blood-feuds and politicking to match.

So have an open mind, and give it a try, and if you ever need help or are looking for somewhere to go, feel free to hit me up ingame.