General things to know about EVE Online before beginning:
EVE has no win conditions! Play is often open-ended. Some minigames, processes, and player interactions may have goals, but EVE as a whole has neither.
- pursue what you enjoy, avoid what you dislike, and ignore naysayers if their input isn't helpful
Much published EVE info is outdated or was never correct! EVE exited beta in '03 and receives continuous updates, so there's a lot written about it, not all of which is accurate.
- some mechanics have never been explained by the developers and thus are entirely player-documented, sometimes imperfectly or outright incorrectly
- even officially-hosted info may be wrong! patch notes aren't retroactively updated, and FC may even take months to update their own knowledge base articles
- so be discerning about your sources and test things if you wanna be sure about them
EVE is unforgiving and deep! Avoid it if you're easily upset by loss, can't laugh at yourself, can't seek help from other players and/or search engines, can't do basic science, etc.
EVE is PvP-centric! Its only PvP-free zone is its unique 53-system starting & tutorial region called Exordium which is a non-lucrative training-wheels center.
- all Exordium systems have Security Level 1.0, meaning PvP can't occur there. involuntary PvP can occur wherever security is less than 1.0, i.e. everywhere outside Exordium
- you can be nonviolent and minimize your vulnerabilities, but outside Exordium, you cannot avoid the possibility of PvP; even the market is mostly PvP
Losses are permanent barring exploits or game errors. You usually won't be reimbursed for ignorance of mechanics or because you fell afoul of scams or treachery.
- scamming is common and is not prohibited unless it involves out-of-game transactions or exploits. if you're especially trusting and/or gullible, EVE certainly isn't for you
- if something seems too good to be true, it's likely a scam. never accept contracts linked in Local chat or EVEmail. never pay a ransom or an entry/recruitment/trial fee
- because of permaloss and the importance of trust, many groups have trial periods or otherwise gate for competence, compatibility, participation, willingness to learn, etc
- many groups also require disclosure of all alts and submission of their ESI links prior to membership so their affiliations and financial histories can be screened
- spying is a big part of EVE's meta. many of the game's most storied events involved spycraft, betrayal, retribution, etc. security is often taken quite seriously
Empire choice is inconsequential except for their inalterable School Station systems. Caldari characters all get School Stations 2 jumps from Jita, the game's core trade hub.
- a character's Home Station can be remotely reset to its School Station with no cooldown. School Stations for the other 3 empires are all considerably further from Jita
Specific suggestions for play:
- do the starting tutorial. Career Agent missions may be of interest after the tutorial, but they're not vital
- join a player-run corporation if you're not insufferable. EVE can be played solo, but it's best as a cooperative game. remember the warning about scams, though
- WARNING: player-run corps may have war declared on them such that, after joining, you can be freely attacked in HS (normally, only suicide ganking is a threat there)
- do not move valuables in EVE as a new player! liquidate nonessentials and buy things at your new corp's home
- if nobody in the corp will help you do this or teach you how, find a different corp. I'm very serious! leaving shitty situations is healthy and wise, and not just in EVE
- leave High Security space and join a corp anywhere else. HS is deceptively dangerous and ruthlessly exploitative of naifs and beginners. ways to find a good corp:
- if you don't find a niche you enjoy, ask other EVE players for help! if you do find a niche, try new things every so often anyway
- if your corporation/alliance/roles are not fun, step up and fix them or go elsewhere. again, I'm serious. don't let bad circumstances sour your experience of EVE
- if you to take away only one thing from my entire site, take this! we have too few spins on this weird rock to waste any fraction of them being bored/mad in EVE Online
A few broad tips:
- NEVER undock with PLEX, Skill Injectors, Skill Extractors, or Skin licenses unless you want to give them away by dying. what to do with them instead
- make instant-dock & undock bookmarks for stations you frequent
- repeating for emphasis: DO NOT move valuables as a noob! pay your corp/alliance pros or use e.g. GHSOL or PushX or RedFrog and always use appropriate collateral
- you can learn to haul yourself, but moving valuable stuff is risky for new players with no knowledge of the many pitfalls involved
- if you don't know a word or phrase used in a fleet, ask with your voice. if you can't, check EVE University's EVE Lexicon page
- speech is more considerate than text because it lets others respond without diverting visual attention. if you're deaf, worthwhile corpies will be accommodating
- reiterating: trust as few guides/tools/mentors as you can and test if necessary. 3rd-party info/tooling, including my own, isn't necessarily correct, optimal, or up-to-date
- seek out many guides/tools/mentors. this contradicts the above, but the point is: other peoples' ideas/tools can be constraints as much as catalysts
- search engines and a well-tuned BS-ometer are your friends! YouTube has plenty of guides if you prefer video, but check dates and take everything with a grain of salt
- don't fly what you can't easily replace. this isn't an iconclad rule, but it's generally best to keep a buffer of ISK/assets instead of pouring everything into one ship
- think of ships as ammunition & learn from losses instead of rueing them. its only pixels, y u heff to be mad?
- if you're making a big purchase, hover over the total cost and note that it's spelled out, e.g. 1.28 million or 4.56 billion (good mental scam-avoidance routine)
- if you're unfamiliar with fair pricing, evaluators like Janice exist. beware: for low-volume items, evaluators are easily-gamed
- block toxic players (right-click their name in chat then select "Block"). most EVE players are chill, but some act terribly. report egregious behavior to CCP
- do not report people for blowing you up or using rough words! "PvP everywhere" is fundamental to EVE Online, and learning to ignore shit-talking is a valuable life skill
EVE Online's essential knowledge
Moved this big guide to its own page.
Other Stuff
My own tools & resources and links to others are here. My EVE writing is mostly not newcomer-oriented.