" Man, I tried to get into EVE back in summer when it was $2 on steam, but I just don't know how I am supposed to play it. It's pretty hard to understand the menus and what's needed to do stuff. I would resub if I had a clue on how to play. Any noob tips? The game seems incredible when you read stories about it, just like you say, but when you play it it's just so daunting when you see all the shit you can do. "

@Sacerdos87: Now I'm interested in reading up on the types of scams out there. Are there any pyramid schemes, like forcing a person to get ten new signatures on a thing before they raise to the next level in the company or whatever? Does CCP just draw the line at personal account information and real money, or are there other things they don't tolerate (beyond the usual social restrictions you see on forums)? "

I played through the 14 day - Trial. Very cool game, during those 2 weeks i felt like i barely scratched the surface of what that game has to offer. The mods there were very friendly, they offered help and answered any questions that i had.

You don't win in EVE, son.... you survive!

Shit is real.

" I'm in the WoW guild alea iacta est (biggest guild in all of WoW, formed by the hosts of The Instance podcast) and we have a sister Eve guild, and everything they've explained to me is bananas. They're trying to root out spies in the corp, and planting spies in other corps. Hell they're even trying to steal ventrillo information. They have people suicide bombings, blowing up their own ships to destroy others. It's really got me wanting to play. "

You'd be out of your mind to think you could win an MMO. And Eve is played by a whole lot of people who really enjoy it for its complexity, but for many of them its their only game so they have more than enough time to focus on it. It plays fine, and although the interface isn't ideal I understood it fine enough to do everything I could really want after maybe 5 -10 hours. 
 

@Jack268

" Man, I tried to get into EVE back in summer when it was $2 on steam, but I just don't know how I am supposed to play it. It's pretty hard to understand the menus and what's needed to do stuff. I would resub if I had a clue on how to play. Any noob tips? The game seems incredible when you read stories about it, just like you say, but when you play it it's just so daunting when you see all the shit you can do. "

I'm in the WoW guild alea iacta est (biggest guild in all of WoW, formed by the hosts of The Instance podcast) and we have a sister Eve guild, and everything they've explained to me is bananas. They're trying to root out spies in the corp, and planting spies in other corps. Hell they're even trying to steal ventrillo information. They have people suicide bombings, blowing up their own ships to destroy others. It's really got me wanting to play.

A strange game. The only winning move is not to play.

Man, I tried to get into EVE back in summer when it was $2 on steam, but I just don't know how I am supposed to play it. It's pretty hard to understand the menus and what's needed to do stuff. I would resub if I had a clue on how to play. Any noob tips? The game seems incredible when you read stories about it, just like you say, but when you play it it's just so daunting when you see all the shit you can do.

Eve is the most amazing game I've ever played. 
 
It is also, by far, the most absolute boring. 
 
Take that for whatever it's worth.

From what I've been able to see as an outsider, most people can't accomplish very much on their own. If they're a CEO or whatever they might have the highest level of income in an organization, but organizations can fall, and upstarts can surpass bulky corporations, just like in real life. The only way to tell if someone has achieved any measure of sustainable success is through hindsight, where you could say that this person has managed to keep their power, influence, and money for a long period of time.
 
I USED to believe that there was some sort of monolith effect, where eventually a group would become too powerful and nothing could break that, but there was an event a few years ago that showed me how volatile that world is. The big group fell apart, and rivals flew in to fill the vacuum. It was at that point that I realized the potential of this more freeform style of MMO. I'm still not sure I'd like sinking a lot of cash into it, but I'm always intrigued by it. It's one of the coolest virtual environments out there.

I feel like I might have to get into EVE at some point. Everything I read about it just makes it sound more and more appealing.

Caution is advised that's for sure. EVE is a fun game overall, I run a mining corp in it, have a couple GB members in it. My experiences has been both good and bad but overall have helped me learn to enjoy the game. The horror stories are pretty intense but as a player you can have some pretty good moments in it as well, watching stuff explode in this game is amazing, and just making money is gratifying if you decide to make and sell stuff.

Whenever I game in MMO's I tend to steer towards more of an altruistic type character.
For example, in..
 

• Star Wars Galaxies (Pre-CU): I'd play as a light-sided jedi that would go around protecting other overt rebels from attack whenever they were grinding xp or fighting imperial players; I'd also channel some force / healage to those who needed it.
• Dungeons and Dragons Online:  I'd play mostly as a healing/buffing type of character
• City of Heroes/Villains:  I'd play mostly as a healing+buffing+alpha strike/alpha soak+blasting/controlling type of character (fire/kin 'troller/corrupter)

Yep, that is a deciding factor for some people. You can find decent communities now that are "safe spots" so to speak but even in other mmos this type of behavior can occur it's just more hurtful and consequential in a game like EVE online especially for new players.

Everytime I hear someone describe to me what EVE Online is, or what it attempts to be, I get hesitant to try, or fathom the idea of trying it because it always seems like it brings out either the pinnacle of altruism in people in an online game.. or the absolute worst in humanity.
 
It's too close to real life relationships in terms of who you can trust etc. for it to be enjoyable for me (as a game).  It's mostly all the stories of backstabbing that scares me off.

EVE online is an mmo, a game that either draws fear, happiness, or just plain confusion from those who play it or have heard the name and what it tries to achieve with its players.
 
 A recurring thing I'm seeing as of late though is the idea that you can somehow WIN at EVE, you can ultimately dominate it and have no contest while playing it. From my last 4 years playing it I can tell you this is impossible. I say this not to be negative or downgrading to the game itself because overall to me its an amazing space simulator that you can play with your friends and allies. But the idea that you can end the game itself simply by playing it and getting the most ISK (in-game currency that EVE uses.) or by having the biggest baddest fleet on this planet is also not plausible because eventually someone will take notice and destroy your ship.
 
The game does have "little victories" as some and myself call them because you can defeat players or small fleets but EVE overall, No. You cannot define what winning in EVE is really because CCP itself has never defined it. The most anyone person can do in EVE that is even close to winning is giving themselves a goal within the game after they learn about it and then achieving it by any means necessary using the game's tools and ships. This is acceptable in EVE, there are no rules as much as other people might try to define what they should be. It's called the sandbox for this very reason.
 
 EVE has it's ambitious bunch for sure. You hear all the crazy stories of assassination and espionage and you think "Hey, I wanna do that!" So you decide to jump in. You then realize this game doesn't let you take off so easily, which in it's own way is good and bad for the game. On the bright side you can't power level a new character to fly capital ships in a week. The game won't allow it, on the other hand you might want to do something like be a mining machine hauling in big loads of ore and breaking them down for resources to sell but because of the learning curve and time it takes you probably won't reach this ideal position for weeks, because of either set backs or not having sufficient funds.  Right now if you want at least a exhumer(a mining ship that gathers rocks faster than your starting frigates) in this game its gonna cost you anywhere from 120 million ISK to 200+ depending on your region market in game. 
 
I say all this though to who it may concern in wanting to join EVE. Don't think you can conquer EVE, Don't go in thinking the people around you will be your friends to help you, some will use you and then drop you so they can gain something they feel is important, it happens because EVE allows it. In this game you have discover who will care enough and who thinks your a tool to be used. Overall, you cannot win because EVE will not let you. Enjoy EVE for what it is, a giant sandbox letting you explore space in a fictional setting. This is my creed that I follow every time I play this game and it's why I still enjoy the game. Thanks for reading.