EVE Online is a notoriously tricky game for new players to get into. As should be expected from any MMO that's been around for over two decades, EVE Online is packed to the brim with overlapping systems and intricate mechanics. But unlike most other MMOs, EVE Online relies heavily on its existing player-base to welcome newcomers and keep them invested.
On a recent trip to attend EVE Fanfest in Reykjavík, The Best War Games had the opportunity to talk with some prominent members of the EVE Online community. Some of these members, like Kaleb Porter and Joshua Guldan (better known as Frozen Fallout), have been playing EVE for well over a decade. Some of these members, like Amanda Sleze (whose streamer name is Amiomia) and Kshal Aideron, are a little bit newer to EVE's sprawling universe. But regardless of the number of hours logged, each one of these players had some very useful advice to give those looking to embark on their very first EVE Online journey. This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.
Interview: CCP Games CEO Talks The New Player Experience and The Future of The EVE Online Universe
The Best War Games recently spoke with CCP Games CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson, who discussed the future of EVE Online's universe and the new player experience.
The Day-One EVE Online Experience, According to Veterans
Q: How long have you been playing EVE Online?
Aideron: Five years.
Porter: I would like to say 14 years now.
Guldan: Technically, I've been playing since the 2003 Beta. But really, I started playing properly in 2006.
Amiomia: A bit under two years, actually. I'm one of the babies here.
Q: What was that day-one EVE Online experience like for you?
Aideron: I didn't even get undocked. I rage quit and went back to Elder Scrolls Online. In 2018, when they added Alpha accounts, I came back and I did get undocked this time. I never got in a ship though. Something blew up my pod, and I rage quit again. In 2019, I started playing again. This time I got to the tutorial and it was kind of fun. I kept playing, and here I am.
Porter: Me and my buddies got together and just started mining. We were adopted by another group who were mining experts, and eventually we were adopted by some pirate guys. EVE Online was very different back then. It was very passive.
Guldan: It was really overwhelming in 2003, but it felt like there was more natural progression in 2006. It was epic. We had about six people in our friend group that were all in. One of the biggest memories I have was undocking with my little ship and seeing all of these gigantic ships and thinking, "Some day, I'm going to be in that Megathron." I just couldn't wait to upgrade myself to that status.
Amiomia: It was scary. I actually recently replayed the tutorial, and I remembered how scared I was. It wasn't necessarily the things that usual players are scared of like losing your ship or being scared to die. That came in a couple of weeks. But at the very beginning, I was so afraid to do something wrong. I did it on stream and, although I only had 10 or 15 people watching, it was very, very intense. I don't know if I'm a rare case, but my first experience with players was extremely warm. I didn't get scammed. I actually got my first billion ISK in a day because everyone on stream was sending it over. The community aspect was already showing on that first day.
The Best Advice for New EVE Online Players
Q: What's the first thing you'd recommend new players do when booting up EVE Online for the first time?
Aideron: Do the tutorial, don't skip it. Do all the career missions. Even if the industry doesn't sound interesting, do it because you get free stuff, and that free stuff is going to fuel things later down the road. Once you're done with the career missions, start doing the AIR Career Program. Not only do you get ISK, skill points, and free ships, it'll also start to lead you to the player groups.
Guldan: Learn about the history of EVE. Learn about the player Organizations that are making history. There's also EVE University. Their Wiki is epic. But learning through reading is very hard to do. Having someone mentor you through what's going on is the key to EVE Online.
Amiomia: Find other players. I don't actually think it matters that much what you do in game, you just need to try and get in touch with other people. You're going to have so many questions. Most EVE Online players really want to help. They want to answer questions. Don't be afraid to get scammed because when you're new, whatever you're going to lose, the next person will replace it when they hear about it.
Q: What activity or career would you recommend for new EVE Online players?
Porter: A lot of people start with mining. I think Faction Warfare is really cool. What CCP has updated most recently is usually the coolest part of the game to be in. 'Uprising' and 'Havoc' were the big updates recently, so Faction Warfare is still very exciting to be in. Faction Warfare is a good way to join up and find a game-driven purpose. I'd say it's the most accessible part of EVE because it uses simple ships.
Guldan: The thing with EVE is that there's a lot for players to do. EVE is one of those places where you need to pick your niche. If you want to hang out with your buddies and mine some rocks in peace, that's totally something you can do. If you want to have a heart-pounding PvP experience, then come to Faction Warfare on day one. We need people who are day-oners.
EVE is one of the few MMOs where you can get into endgame content on day one if you know someone who's doing it, especially PvP. We need to tackle frigates. We need someone that's going to go out and stop ships and be a hero for us. You're probably going to die a lot, but you'll be doing something the Fleet really needs you to do. My big suggestion would be to find something you really want to do and just go all into that.
Q: What advice would you give to new players worried about their ships getting destroyed?
Aideron: Ships are ammo. They're pixels. Getting blown up doesn't feel good the first time, but you'll eventually realize that it's a means to an end. You gather ships so you can go out and blow them up, and the explosions are quite beautiful!
Porter: Day one you have to understand that ships are ammo. The motto in EVE is "Don't buy what you can't afford to lose," because you're going to lose it five times over. There are games where it's all about grinding for the best swords or the best modules. EVE is not like that. It's all about creating more stories. Every ship you lose is like a memory, and you want to make as many memories as possible.
Guldan: If you die to somebody, hit them up. Ask them why or how. Some of the best recruits are people who I've blown up first, and they've messaged me asking how I did that.
Amiomia: Losing a ship is part of EVE. You have to lose ships. I'd say do it sooner rather than later. The first time you lose a ship you'll understand it doesn't hurt that much. When you're starting off you might feel that your 100 million ISK ship is really expensive, but that's nothing compared to where you'll be in a month or two. If you lose it, just don't give up, keep going.
Q: Kshal, could you tell me a bit about your EVE Rookies organization?
Aideron: EVE Rookies is a public community that wants new players to fleet up and undock. About a year into playing EVE, I got really tired of other people's tutorials, so I created the website EVE Rookies. It wasn't meant to be a community or an Organization in EVE. Around that time, someone said they wanted to do Incursions with new players, the top-level PvP content in High-Sec. That's how EVE Rookies started. After that, it just kind of built on itself. Now we're sitting at 4,000 people in the community.
Remembering The Past and Looking to The Future of EVE Online
Q: Do you think EVE Online's current onboarding process could be improved in any way?
Aideron: Of course it could. Unfortunately, I don't think that's where CCP's vision is now. They've tried with the tutorial and the career missions, and now they're trying with the AIR Career Program. Their next step is Freelance Jobs, which will allow Organizations like EVE Rookies to put missions out for people.
There is something I keep asking CCP for. There used to be this Easter event where players had to D-Scan NPC capsules to get a key. D-Scanning is life in EVE. It's a very fundamental skill. There's nowhere in the tutorial that teaches you how to D-Scan. They stopped doing this event 3 years ago, but they already have this content written. It should go into the tutorial.
Amiomia: I don't think you can actually put everything in a tutorial. There could always be improvements, but I don't really know what those improvements should be. I've heard too much from bitter vets who say, "When we started, we didn't have a tutorial!" So at this point, I think we're fine!
Q: What are some of the biggest highlights of your EVE Online journey so far?
Porter: Those early days when I was pretty young, it was cool just hanging out with people. There's a lot of memories with Wormhole Space. You can do something called an eviction, where you lock a place down; no one can leave or enter. Sometimes you would literally sleep in your chair to make sure it would lock down. Those are some fond college memories... I would probably like to think I had better things to do. I think everything we're doing in our Fleet now is super fun. We have a focus on making as many memories for as many people as possible, and I think that's really cool.
Guldan: One of my biggest highlights was when I learned that Goonswarm – one of the largest Organizations in EVE Online – had their real life capital in Madison, Wisconsin, and that they were throwing parties all the time. It was just so friendly and open and accepting. That taught me I could go into these larger Organizations and actually be part of a family.
Amiomia: Out of game, I would have to say this year's EVE Fanfest. I'm hosting the Twitch streams with CCP. Coming in now after streaming for 2 years instead of the two months I had at the last Fanfest, I basically can't go five steps without someone saying hi, and it's so nice to meet everybody. Organizing EVE Amsterdam was also great. I've actually made real-life friends through EVE, which is something I never thought I would say.
In game, I created an Alliance half a year ago. We got "Wardecked" two weeks ago. We don't have the resources to protect ourselves against a big fleet. Apparently, the relationships that I've built in the game allowed me to have some really good diplomatic conversations, because within a couple of hours we had one of the biggest Alliances giving us their support. I felt like it was a bit of a testament of what I try to stand for in the game. In the end, we're all one community.
[END]
- Released
- May 6, 2003
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Violence
- Developer(s)
- CCP Games
- Engine
- unity
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer
WHERE TO PLAY
- Genre(s)
- MMORPG
