I have the attention span of a gerbil...

[Capt. Vashaar]

With all the lulls in gameplay between episodes, I need to find another game to play along side this one. I RP two nights a week for an hour or so in SWTOR, but it doesn't hold my attention. I have tried EVE several times before, but am intimidated by how very far behind I would be and the prospect of losing everthing 20 seconds after hitting null space, and the getting pod killed. For those of you who have played EVE, I would like some advice.

1. Is there any faction that is better for newbies? I usually play Amarr or Minmitar.

2. I have made some progress, but account recovery might be a problem, should I start over again?

3. Is military career best for pure survivability? I don't want to get smoked coming out of space gate, however I would probibly laugh hysterically if I was the one smoking newbs, lol. I did enjoy spawn camping in WOW once in a while.

I am very interested in what you have to say.

[Wupteedo]

Two words:  Star Citizen

 

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/

 

Get in now while still in kick-starter mode. 

 

[Capt. Vashaar]

That doesn't start for like 2 more years though, right?  I need something now. Thanks though.

[VADM pRett]

Despite what people may think of Goonswarm (and a lot of it is justified, to be honest), there is one thing they have right for sure: every person counts. Now, that's mainly for their PvP mindset, but it's meant to drive home it doesn't matter how "far behind" you may be compared to others.

 

As to which faction is better for rookies, that's a tough call. I will try to point out what I consider pros and cons to each faction.

1. Minmatar (aka "Winmatar," as they were the go-to faction for PvP hulls for a long time):

• projectile weapons (ACs and Artillery): damage type flexibility, don't use capacitor to fire; Artillery, aka "Arty" have the highest potential alpha strike damage, but really slow/crappy rate of fire
• missile weapons: damage type flexibility, don't use capacitor to fire, apply same amount of damage regardless of range; can be "outflown" if target moves beyond the missles' flight range
• versatile tankers: most of their ships, due to slot layout, can be either armor or shield tanked. A few get shield boosting (self-repair) bonuses, so they are better shield-tanked, but that's not the majority
• EWAR: typically bonused for target painters
• Slot layout is generally not very strong, one direction or the other, for shield or armor tanking, so there are tradeoffs in ship fitting (this one's a bit more difficult to sum up in a sentence or two)

2. Caldari

• missile weapons (see above)
• hybrid weapons: use less capacitor than energy weapons (see Amarr), and are fixed at kinetic/thermal damage; quicker reload time than missiles/projectiles (5 sec vs 10 sec), and a variety of ammo that trades range for damage
• shield tankers - all of them; tends to be capacitor hungry, but also repairs damage at the beginning of the cycle; shield tankers tend to be faster than armor tankers, but also have an increased signature radius (sig radius affects ease of applying damage and time to be locked as a target)
• EWAR: bonused for ECM (denies target lock)

3. Gallente

• hybrid weapons (see Caldari), favoring blasters (close-range face melting)
• drones: deployable "pets" that can do a variety of tasks, depending on what type you have out (combat, repair, EWAR, salvage); quite a few of their hulls are bonused for these little guys
• armor tankers - slot layout favors it, though some do shield tank hulls for PvP (and occasionally for PvE), but the slot layouts overall favor armor tanking; a little more capacitor efficient than shield tanking, but applies its repair at the end of the repair module cycle; armor tanking can also reduce the ship's max velocity, depending on the size and amount of armor plates you equip
• EWAR: sensor dampeners - these reduce your max locking range and your ship's scan resolution (or scan res); scan res affects speed of locking another ship (along with sig radius, above)

4. Amarr

• pretty ships (for the most part); may seem silly to include, but, to me, they do have the nicest looking ships, overall, in the game
• energy weapons: "ammo-less" weapons, they utilize different frequency crystals to determine range and damage (much like the hybrid ammo); tend to use more capacitor than hybrids; instant "ammo" swap; basic crystals last forever, faction and Tech II have limited use (they eventually wear and break); fixed at EM/Thermal damage (there's one crystal that only deals EM)
• armor tankers (see Gallente)
• drones: next biggest drone users after Gallente - have some really nice drone-based hulls
• EWAR: energy vampires/neutralizers (aka capacitor warfare): vampires, or vamps, for short, drain some of your opponent's capacitor to replenish your own; neutralizers, or neuts, for short, "damage" your target's capacitor energy, "destroying" a certain amount per cycle without giving it to you; if a ship's capacitor is reduced to zero, active modules requiring capacitor deactivate (things like repair modules, resistance boosting modules, cap-using weapons, propulsion modules, etc)

The TL;DR version is that, no, there really isn't an "easier" faction for a rookie, in my opinion. I would recommend Minmatar as a place to start, since you can experiment with both types of tanking, and two different types of weapon systems. There's nothing preventing you from training into other factions' ships and different weapon systems, either.

Regarding account recovery, depending on how long ago you last played (or tried it out), you might do better to start over, as there have been some decent changes in ships and whatnot over the past few years. Military career in the tutorials will get you a handful of ships to start with, some skill books and a few million (roughly) ISK once all is said and done. There's a lot of good information out there on the net, especially on the more widespread scams; forewarned is forearmed, and all that.

Feel free to add my main character, Cephelange du'Krevviq (the one without the apostrophe was from my first trial of the game several years ago) and my alt, Leiko Maruyama to your list of contacts. I'd be happy to answer any questions you have while I'm in game.

EVE is a game that rewards patience and people with an eye for the long haul. It also rewards folks that have good situational awareness and tough skins.

[Capt. Vashaar]

Thanks

 

[CAPT Huckabee]

I too suffer from the slow periods in between seasons.  I've played a few things to pass time and give me something to play.  Right now I been playing Neverwinter and just taking the time to enjoy the story. (If Star Wars had the visual textures of that game, I'd be in love with SWTOR)  If you would like something without a story and where you play other people I recommend World of Tanks, World of Planes, and Mechwarrior Online.  However I have grown out of them at least for the moment.  Also the Secret World is a fun game too and requires some deep thinking and problem solving skills. However once you get to a certain area (Blue Mountain) it is a pure pain to play alone.  Which is a shame, because I liked it but I prefer playing alone on games outside STO.

[Capt. Vashaar]

Can you solo Neverwinter?

;

[davisjm0311]

I know there are about 5 of us that have been enjoying Diablo 3 here lately. Also, Star citizen is in theory going to have the dogfighting module out here in the next month which will have a pretty good sized group of is playing around against the AI. If you enjoy FPS, Planetside 2 is a really great one, and it's F2P. 

[VADM pRett]

I'm one of the folks that's been on the Diablo III kick lately. It's been mainly that and EVE for me. EVE is definitely much more enjoyable in a group, and finding the right corp can go a long way towards making that happen. If you decide to get into EVE, I can provide you a link to a thread on their forums that provides some great advice towards that.

I uninstalled SWtOR a few months ago for the major patch they did to D3. I wasn't playing it often enough to justify keeping it on my hard drive, and I needed the space.

I have Neverwinter installed, and had gotten back into playing it for a bit, but playing it solo kinda sucks. (It's doable, but it sucks.)

I'd love to find folks that play Lord of the Rings Online somewhat frequently, as I enjoy it; still have it installed for my open world fantasy MMO fix.

Don't play Pirates of the Burning Sea nearly as often as I used to, but occasionally fire it up.

[CAPT Huckabee]

I'm level 36-37 in Neverwinter right now and I've not had a problem yet with solo. But I have noticed some mobs get a lil hairy at times.

[Capt. Vashaar]

I used to play LOTRO quite a bit. It is quite a fun game, and has a great RP community. I reactivated my EVE account, and am going to start from scratch I think. I have an AMARR with an Apocalypse, but really am struggling to remember things. I have never found a good corp, and usually fade away after a couple months. we shall see. LOTRO is sounding pretty good right now. I was really pretty good at it.

[VADM pRett]

Huckabee40 wrote:

I'm level 36-37 in Neverwinter right now and I've not had a problem yet with solo. But I have noticed some mobs get a lil hairy at times.

I didn't say soloing was hard, I said it sucked. It's boring.

[Wupteedo]

Since I no longer have a fixed address, and thus very uncertain internet availability. I have been keeping myself occupied with Fallout New Vegas.  Just finished one of the best DLC's I had every played:  The Lonely Road. 

http://fallout.bethsoft.com/index.html

 

If you haven't played the Fallout series before, it is strongly suggested to start with Fallout II (on Steam I believe).  I started with Fallout III: Capital Wasteland, and that is in my top favorite games I have ever played.  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QzD8f2BTlg

 

Still sends a chill up my spine.  Now, I want to go hunt Deathclaws with General Chang's sword in Old Olney.  And never, ever forget that pain is just weakness leveling the body!   Cheers

[CAPT Huckabee]

Capt pRett wrote:

I didn't say soloing was hard, I said it sucked. It's boring.

Well I enjoy it :)  Granted my interest died around level 35 with the rogue I made.  But with the Ranger I made and the Cave Bear I picked up from store, I stay entertained and have fun playing.

[Capt. Vashaar]

I re-activated my EVE account and started from scratch with a Calderi named Kala Vashaar.