Blog Banter #61 - Origin State

Blog Banter #61 - Origin State

Welcome to the continuing monthly EVE Blog Banters and our 61st edition and last of 2014! For more details about what the blog banters are visit the Blog Banter page

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"What would we encourage ALL new players to do in their first month to get them to subscribe long term, if we had to give out one set of advice for everyone (which we do if we're giving general advice)?"

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The problem with generic advice is that it is well, generic. It's hard to give a set of "one size fits all" directions in any game much less the sandbox/sandpit that is EVE. You could give a "one size fits most" sort of advice such as join a corp, don't mine or get into PvP.

But what if you like playing solo? Or like mining and the building that goes along with it? What if you get more thrills shooting red crosses instead of red boxes?

My advice is even more basic.

Try Everything.

Give Mining a go. Do some missions. Explore. Get ships blown up. If you like it then keep at it until you don't. Don't like it? Try something else until you find your niche. There are as many playstyles as there are players.

EVE isn't about min-maxing your character for one task. The skill system prevents that. You can only apply so many skill points to one activity and you can get by in that activity without perfect skills. Once you advance to, say, perfect mining skills (or frigates, manufacturing etc) you're not done advancing. Higher SP characters aren't necessarily better than an newer player  but they are likely to be experts in more areas of the game than the new player. So take advantage of the fact that you have no limit to the things one character can do given enough time.

The second piece of advice I would give to all new players is to use the resources available. And the best resources are other players. Ask questions of veteran players. Join a corp if that suits you. Lurk in public channels. Read the assorted wiki pages out there. Read blogs. Just by listening to or reading about other players exploits and blunders you can learn about whole new aspects of the game. Personally, I don't think I would have trained into stealth bombers if I hadn't seen JonnyPew's guide to hunting explorers. Eve if you prefer to play solo it's great to see what others are doing and open doors to new ways to play.

So, get on out there. Explore New Eden. Explore the game. Find what suits you and don't let anyone tell you you're "doing it wrong"

Fly Safe out there!