The new This is EVE trailer has combined with a lot of community enthusiasm to generate a massive uptick on new character creation. There has been a lot of buzz about how to help and funnel those new players into fun and satisying careers in Eve.
TurAmarth asks this question: “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)?”
-Kirith Kodachi
Response
What should a new player in Eve do in the first month? That is a very loaded question. Each player coming to Eve comes from a unique perspective. They may or may not have friends or plans. Because of this I don’t think there is one sure fire thing to do, but I have a few general suggestions.
Set Small Goals
Eve is very open-ended, so it is common for new players to feel lost. If you start with a few small goals you make the initial path a bit easier to see. If you want to PvP, set a goal for number of fights. If you want to run missions, pick an NPC corp and set a target number of missions. If you want to mine, build, whatever, set a small first goal to build 10 frigates or something like that. Eve is all about the goals you set for yourself, so pick something small and attainable, and try to reach it. You may decide to tweak goals or get three weeks in and decided you picked the wrong part of the game. That’s fine, just set a new goal!
Try Out Player Corps
The best way to learn and enjoy Eve is with other players. Try out player corps to see if any are a good first stop. Eve University teaches a lot about game mechanics. Faction Warfare corps run around shooting each other. Red V Blue is great for cheap frigate PvP. Brave is an easy way to get into null-sec. A Band Apart has multiple branches that will let you experience various play styles in Eve. Poke around Eve and Eve media, look for open corps, and give them a shot.
You can leave whenever you want, and no one worth your time will judge your early corps all that much. You are not making a commitment to stay with your first few corps forever, but you will make friends and develop connections that help you learn the game and introduce you to the people who play it. One caveat – If someone in your new corp tells you how to play without good reason, or if the people are jerks, just leave and find another group. There are many good corps in Eve. If you feel out of place in one, go find another.
Pick a Race
If you have no idea what you want to do, skill training can be tough to wrap your head around. Combat skills are never bad (well, unless you just want to market trade), and you keep them. So when you start, pick a race (any race), and train up to cruisers and the relevant weapon and defense skills for that race. You will see marked improvement in your ships, and while it may seem long, training basic cruiser skills is pretty fast. If you stick with the game, you can keep going, or branch out. And you’ll still have a bunch of ships to choose from!
Ask Questions
Eve players love to talk about Eve, so use that to your advantage. Ask questions in rookie chat, in your corp if you joined one, on twitter, in forums, on blogs, wherever. You will get a lot of answers. Those conversations may also lead you to your new home in New Eden. Eve is also a game where there is a chance that the pilot who killed you will recruit you into his or her corp, or at least tell you how he did it and what you can do better. Use this to your advantage!
Well, I could keep going, but that seems like more than enough. In your first month, just try things and ask questions! The biggest mistake you can make in the first month is ignoring the other players of Eve and staying silent.