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As we all know there exists a giant, insane and amazing galaxy that is the game EVE Online. In this galaxy, not using ISBoxer and running several accounts in suicide, and to go with that you need Mumble, Jabber and a BUNCH of API-based applications to play on a larger scale (people and ship-wise). Some bulletpoints:

  • A "Sandbox" world with very few limitations - almost everything is built by the player, and almost everything can be destroyed.
  • No level grind; instead you gain Skill Points (SP) at an hourly rate as you train skills. The SP gain is affected by your stats, which you can relocate once a year and change by getting implants to your clone (which you can loose). There's also permanent SP loss if your clones aren't updated and somebody destroys the one your in. There are no classes.
  • There's only one shard which all players share, which means New Eden have nine years of history.
  • You can pay the monthly fee with in-game currency, you can also buy characters with in game currency. The going rate is 1B ISK for 1M SP.
  • Each expansion adds complexity and new tiers to the game, but (most) old stuff remains relevant.

I've been playing on and off since 2006, rolling around with a bunch of characters and doing all kinds of crap but mostly fighting smaller forces. I love and hate the game so damn much, it's a lot of fun coming up with complex ideas and ISK plans, but sometimes very frustrating to put them into action. The combat is still awesome because you can wreck people's day for profit.

Questions?

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Are you a miner and if so where do you keep your Hulk?

If not, are you willing to fly a ridiculously expensive ship through Deklein so I can blow it up?

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I've tried to pick up Eve multiple times because the concept always sounds so cool. Once I start playing, though, I'm just immediately bored by MMO-ness. "Go to this asteroid and mine it." :/

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I hate to say this Tobacco, but you're doing it wrong. Make a Minmatar character, train a set of skills that'll take you about a day, do missions in the meantime for a cash surplus and the free Rifter. Then go out to lowsec and get yourself killed. If frigate combat doesn't grab you, I don't know what to tell you.

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You can't play EVE alone, and really some form of PvP is for me the only reason to play the game. Logistics like chaining Cyno alts (people without JDC V :tdown: ) or anchoring staging POSes suck but are necessary, and without people that would be even worse. And let us not forget that there is no "curve" when it comes to this game. Until you understand some of the concepts involved and get enough SP and ISK to do some fun stuff there is not much to this game, when you hit that point though, everything becomes player skill, shrewdness and psychology. The metagame in EVE really is amazing and insane… You can read about some anti-Spy stuff Pandemic Legion did (an old, high quality alliance) on this forum mirror.

Are you a miner and if so where do you keep your Hulk?

If not, are you willing to fly a ridiculously expensive ship through Deklein so I can blow it up?

No.

Though you might catch my bumping Machariel when I've got JF intel. Especially when I've got something bigger to drop on top of them. I really want a Nyx to play with in lowsec.

Also I'm going to jump down my Loki to do a boosted nano-Tornado, we'll see what that does for tracking...

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I tried to get into Eve a while back and really dug it, but ultimately decided that i would have to go way too far down the rabbit hole to get the most out of it.

I do love the idea of that game, and i am always thrilled hearing tales of the political machinations going on in nullsec, it's completely fascinating.

Take this recent Kotaku article, a kind of blah tale about a game exploit, where i then noticed this gem hiding in the comments section:

Goonswam is causing more of an issue with something else than this. While this does definitely destabilize the economy and gives Goonswarm plenty more money then they already don't know what to do with, they also have something called OTEC which is causing far more commotion in EVE than this deal.

In EVE, nearly everything is player-made, and starts with raw material from various sources (planets, asteroids, moons, etc.). The big ships and Tech 2 ships (specialized ships) commonly utilize a single resource available only from specific moons in the game, known as Technetium. This is where OTEC comes in.

OTEC, or Organization of Technetium Exportation Companies, is by all means a cartel, and the most profitable cartel in the game, operated by Goonswarm and its associated alliances. They have a sworn oath that no alliance owning tech moons will step on the toes of those owning the other tech moons, and that they will all work together to exploit their monopoly of the Technetium resource whenever they deem it profitable or necessary.

This is the virtual world equivalent of the hypothetical scenario where Iran oil-barons forged a conglomerate, owning and operating extraction and exportation of oil, and that was the only place you could get oil in the world. Because the demand for oil will never fail, nor wane, because it is such an essential resource for the economy, people are forced to cough up for heavily overpriced oil or they must operate an economy without oil. It's a catch 22, and either way the economy will suffer for it, and that is exactly what's happening with EVE.

Because Goonswarm and its associated alliances are such a huge entity with full monopoly of the finest resources in EVE, if everyone else in the entire game even attempted to rise up and start a war with them, all they would have to do is put OTEC to work, shut down all external exportation of Technetium, and use it solely on internal production, effectively stifling production of most ships in the game for the rest of EVE while Goonswarm is busy creating their armada. Goonswarm has all the cards whereas everyone else has only what Goonswarm permits them to have, and this exploitation of Faction Warfare mentioned in the article only adds to their already infinite coffers. Goonswarm never was in it to enjoy the game, they were in it to win, which they currently have accomplished.

Unless CCP gets off their duff and implements changes like depleting moon resources, randomly changing moon resources, etc., and other mechanics to prevent static monopolizing of resources like this, Goonswarm will continue to be the dominating entity in the game. it's because of this many people are already stopping subscriptions. They want to fight, but they can't, and they just sit around twiddling their thumbs because they don't have much better to do.

The good thing is I'm glad there is such a exploitation of this system as this that is so blatantly obvious, because it gives CCP realization of game design flaws and allows them to get to the drawing board and implement improvements. Unless CCP intervenes, people will get bored (as they already have), unsubscribe, and then Goonswarm will be bored, unsubcribe, and there will be nothing left of EVE. This will not be good for CCP, so they have to do something to prevent it, and it will mean putting a stake in Goonswarm's cartels that will affect any future efforts of doing the same.

And then right at the end there you're reminded that, oh shit, he's talking about a game.

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Yeah Tech is good if you are on the inside. Bottlenecks happen from time to time, and some people high up get rich.

It is funny, you need shitty/RPing players for the game to run. If everybody played efficiently, EVE would be very boring…

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Tech is also good for selling for actual money. Russian (and everyone but Goonswarm really) alliance leaders, I'm looking at you.

Note: Highly illegal.

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I always feel like people talking about EvE are speaking another language. Not just in the "wtf is this jargon" sense. It's like you've stared into the black abyss and can no longer communicate reality with others who haven't shared your vision.

I really enjoy the drama an insanity of the open market.

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I love this game, moreso when I was directly involved in the Providence Debacle (was a pilot in Ushra'Khan). I un-subbed both chars in 2010 due to the botting issue, which CCP were doing nothing about. Interview with botter who made 55K euros (2010). I received an email from a CCP employee asking what I thought about it (when you unsub you can enter a short sentence about why you quit). I had a brief exchange with him, explaining my reasons, which culminated in him saying 'thanks for your feedback, we are looking into it'. Evidently they were getting that feedback from lots of people, because they finally did something about it in the lead up to Inferno. This, coupled with CCP's refocus on fighting, rather than bullshit captain's quarters, made me resub. But in the last three months, I have found that I just haven't got the heart to grind cash with my mission runner to support my PvP antics. I did get a lucky mission reward from 1 that was worth 1 billion isk, but it soon goes :)

I've not heard about the OTEC< but then I haven't been reading EVE24 slavishly, and so think my love affair with this game is dying somewhat.

Still, great vision, and great game. Wish I had the time to devote to it to get really embroiled again.

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Tech is also good for selling for actual money. Russian (and everyone but Goonswarm really) alliance leaders, I'm looking at you.

Note: Highly illegal.

Actually it's not "highly" illegal and very hard to trace. I wouldn't do it, but I can see why you would. Especially if you run off with your Alliance Wallet and RMT that. You could probably buy a new car.

But in the last three months, I have found that I just haven't got the heart to grind cash with my mission runner to support my PvP antics. I did get a lucky mission reward from 1 that was worth 1 billion isk, but it soon goes :)

I've not heard about the OTEC< but then I haven't been reading EVE24 slavishly, and so think my love affair with this game is dying somewhat.

Still, great vision, and great game. Wish I had the time to devote to it to get really embroiled again.

1. If you make a decent buck you can keep on growing that into a small fortune. Even simple stuff like playing the market and trading between different regions can earn you good ISK.

2. EVE 24 is a pretty bad source - or EVE 24's sources are pretty bad. I'd recommend you read (and wade through the shit on) Kugutsumen and perhaps FHC.

And I agree - Eve devours time like no other game. I've never found myself looking at a map planing out my logistics POS and rep POS while making arrangements for new characters with a neutral history in any other game, nothing even close to that…

But when the shit hits the fan, it is amazing.

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Actually it's not "highly" illegal and very hard to trace. I wouldn't do it, but I can see why you would. Especially if you run off with your Alliance Wallet and RMT that. You could probably buy a new car.

True enough.

I think a good way to describe EVE is that if you're not running another program at the same time as about 90% of your EVE time played, you are slowly killing yourself.

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I think a good way to describe EVE is that if you're not running another program at the same time as about 90% of your EVE time played, you are slowly killing yourself.

Yeah I agree to some extent, but EVE is a sandbox and you create your own fun. When I'm not flying around shooting I do supply and trade, talk to people/contacts, or do spywork on other accounts.

Then again, without several accounts I wouldn't be able to do any of this.

I always feel like people talking about EvE are speaking another language. Not just in the "wtf is this jargon" sense. It's like you've stared into the black abyss and can no longer communicate reality with others who haven't shared your vision.

I really enjoy the drama an insanity of the open market.

Yeah I do understand you, but the jargong is very confusing and understanding tactical warfare is very hard unless you have played the game. I'll try to break it down more in the future.

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Yeh, Kugu and Failheap are usually good reads too. But I've kinda lost the taste for it a little. Still, signed up with a new corp, will see what that brings.

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Haaahahahaha, Kugu.

Amazing forum. 90% idiots and 10% smart people who mock them. You can, however, learn shit there (intel and "tactics" both).

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I just want to illustrate some aspects of how the market metagame works in EVE, this analysis is not completely accurate but it will work and it shows how complex some situations can get.

So right now CCP are buffing Mining Ships* to make Mining a more viable profession. From the looks of it we will have more Miners, and a proliferation of Miners means more Ore, which means ships will be cheaper to build, which means ships will be cheaper. On top of that Ice-Mining** will also proliferate since Mining Ships are used for that as well.

They are also, slowly, going through the T1 line up of ships and rebalancing them for racial harmony and more natural progression.

On top of that the coming Moongoo*** changes means that stockpiling Tech, and certain reactions, isn't as profitable.

All these changes converge to make long term investment on nigh' everything uncertain, unless you are smart enough to game the market during this turmoil. I'm not so I'll be putting my money in Supercaps, POS modules as well as liquid ISK (which will increase in value as the value of raw materials decrease).

* Vessels purely designed for aggregation of Ore, THE most basic resource in EVE except for ISK)

** Another raw resource to be refined and used to fuel Capital Ships, POS and certain modules. However, Ice is more arduous to extract and complicated to use.

*** A more advanced resource, gathered by Player Owned Stations anchored in lunar orbit. Used to manufacture T2 items which are more powerful or have other abilities.

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How can you make a space game and have people look at a tiny ship from a distance instead of placing people in the cockpit.

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I get into EVE about once a year, I make a few hundred million working the market (the margins on tech 1 are pretty crappy these days) and do a few missions, but I'm just a fraidy cat and get too nervous when I head out to lowsec. Last time in I brought some friends, and we managed to do some wormhole exploration, but I was a nervous wreck, The problem with money being the only real progression is that every time you loose any, you're sliding back on the progress scale. At least if you were actually earning XP, you could say "yeah, I lost a million, but I gained some XP while I was out so that's OK."

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Yes, I can guarantee you that I will never, ever play EVE Online. Nothing seems like a more souldestroying and inaccessible experience for me. But am I ever happy that it exists. It's just about one of the most interesting gaming things ever. Reading about it never fails to fascinate.

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