This post is for new players as part of a campaign on the part of the Concordiat corporation to bring new people into EVE. If you are intrigued by the game but do not play yet, refer to this post and then start a free trial here.
If you're new to EVE, you probably find the sheer amount of information overwhelming. Thankfully, the EVE community has built up an impressive array of tools and resources over the last 10 years, so you don't have to do much math anymore.
Today I'll post three lists for the brand new player: a set of tools/websites, some basic "fixing" of ingame settings that will make it much easier to play, and a description of some of the ingame tools such as contracts.
Do not be intimidated by the raw amount of information below; this is designed as a reference guide, not as a primer. Just refer to each part when you need it - you may not need some of the resources below for days, weeks, or even months after beginning. This is by no means a complete list, and only contains what I believe is most relevant to new players.
Downloadable Tools/Online Resources
- The EVE API[link]
Creating an API key here will allow the various tools and websites later on to pull your information. Additionally, most corporations you apply to will require an API key in order to make sure you aren't a spy for an enemy faction. This might seem strange, but spies and corp thieves are very common. Note that no matter what, the API cannot be used to steal or manipulate anything ingame at all. It can only retrieve information. - EVE Fitting Tool[link] (Fitting manager)
EFT is a tool that every pilot should have installed; not only will it allow you to see if everything will fit, but it will tell you how much damage you do, how much you can tank, how fast you can go, and nearly any other property of any ship you design. It can use the EVE API to show exactly how a ship will perform with your skills, as well. New players especially should attempt using the fitting tool before outfitting any ship, since they will typically have low fitting skills and may be surprised when a ship doesn't work as it should ingame.
A Screenshot of EFT - EveMon Training Manager[link] (Skill Manager)
EveMon is nearly a requirement for newer players, thanks to EVE's extremely complex skill system. Many corporations will give out downloadable "plans" that you can import into EveMon. These will tell you what skills will be required to train certain ships. You can also set your own goals for certain ships or modules, and the program will automatically spit out a list of skills needed. It also uses the API and will monitor your training, saying how much time each skill will take, your current progress, and it will even tell you if you can optimize your attributes for the plan via implants or neural remapping.
A screenshot of EveMon - EveMaps (website)[link]
For the new player, this website is more of a curiosity than a required tool. It is, however, invaluable for researching a corporation before you join. You can see their growth history, tax rate, current size, CEO, alliance, and past alliances, as well as if they own any nullsec(lawless) space. You can also see maps of all of the regions, and the latest sovereignty changes. - Influence Map[link]
Much like EveMaps, not a requirement for the new player, but a very interesting look at the map of EVE from an ownership perspective. - Eve Central[link]
For the budding marketeer or trader, EVE-Central is invaluable. It allows you to check up-to-date prices throughout the cluster via a simple online search tool. - Eve-Kill[link]
Eve-Kill is EVE's premiere "killboard," where you can find nearly every player loss in the past several years. It's a great place to scope out how a corporation is doing before you decide to join them; just use the search tool and type in the name of a corporation, and voila, you can see all their kills, losses, and efficiency. - Battleclinic Loadouts[link]
A great place to find fittingsloadouts for any ship in the game. Be warned that anyone can post a fitting, so make sure to look at the reviews and ratings before you outfit your ship.Example of a battleclinic loadout - Teamspeak 3 OR Mumble [links]
While not technically EVE related programs, nearly every corporation will require that you have one of these two programs in order to chat with your corpmates and listen to fleet commands.
Fixing your ingame settings
- Download an overview[link]
When you first begin the game, you overview (the interface that shows you the world around you) isn't really set correctly. Friendlies will show up, allowing for confusion, and some of the important items for later PVP won't show up. It might not be incredibly important for the first few days, but you'll want to update your overview eventually.
Once downloaded, save it into My Documents/EVE/overview. If this folder does not exist, create it. Then, log into the game, undock, and click on your overview settings, import overview, and choose the file.
- Fix your autopilot
Fixing your autopilot will change your settings to choose the shortest route between two systems, instead of the safest. Only do this when you are no longer concerned about entering unsafe systems (low or nullsec).
First press F10, then click on the "Autopilot" tab in the new popup window, then the "Settings" subtab. Click "prefer shortest" or whichever settings you would like. - Fix Local
The local channel is vital for gathering intelligence, and so you want to see as many names as possible. By default your local channel will show portraits, which decreases the number of people you can see in your local channel. To fix this, refer to the below image and click "show compact member list."
Description of Ingame Tools
- Corporation Tool (Menu -> Social)
- Home tab
This is where you see corporation bulletins. Typically, your corporation will put useful information here. - Recruitment tab
Here, you will find the corporation search tool. This is an incredibly useful tool for new players that allows you to search corporations based on what you are interested in. - Wars tab
The wars tab allows you to check on the current status of your wars, as well as to search if any other corporation, perhaps one you are applying to, has a war active. Wars simply mean that members of that corporation can be shot by their "war targets," even in safe space. - Contract tool (Menu -> Business)
A "contract" in EVE is a mechanism that allows you to securely exchange items, cash, or enlist the services of a courier. It is essentially an agreement enforced by the game - people can assign you a contract with certain items and demand a certain amount of cash. You can also enlist the services of couriers, in which they haul items for you in exchange for a certain reward.
People can and will scam you with the contracts system, however, these scams rely on you not noticing some critical aspect of a contract. Common examples include too many zeroes(something costs 1 billion instead of 1 million), item swapping (you buy Carbon instead of a Charon), etc. - Start tab
This page simply shows how many contracts you can create and how many are assigned to your corporation/alliance. - My Contracts tab
This page shows any contracts attributed to you. - Available Contracts tab
This tool allows you to search contracts based on region, alliance/corporate availability, and by type of contract. - Agent finder tool (Menu -> business)
Perhaps one of the most important tools for newbies, this tool allows you to search for agents (that give you quests or missions) within a certain amount of jumps, by faction, mission type, difficulty, and so on.
Hopefully this is a helpful compilation for those just beginning EVE! Feel free to give me any feedback you want to in the comments section!
No comments:
Post a Comment