New To New Eden

My tongue wants to shrivel up and die; my cheeks puckering in as if to save it. The Synth Coffee I had been given as a gift for taking on a tribesman's son as an employee may be the worst tasting thing I've ever tried to drink. I'm not sure if it's a measure of the father for his son, or if this stuff is just that terrible in general.  Or maybe the hydrostatic fluid of the capsule is slowly killing my taste buds. Could it be that the nanobots, the cybernetics, and the life of a capsuleer was slowly rewiring my body to taste the stars and give up terrestrial food and such delights? The faint whir of the door opening breaks my reverie and I look up to see my second in command, entering. His jacket is unbuttoned and I can see the start of white ink against bronze at his collarbone in a half-familiar image of our people, but not enough to be sure of the design. "Captain," he says in greeting before taking a seat across the table from me. "Entohk," I

Allison, begin log... This is Erika Fidard, Captain of the Signal Cartel Ship Reclamation. A ship that I found waiting in my hangar on Rens only two days ago, with no transaction log to tell me who my strange benefactor is. Still, I have to admit that for an Amarr vessel, she's pretty sleek.  But I digress. I woke this morning to a new ship with my preferred AI already loaded and a message that said AI couldn't display. Yet I could clearly see the light flashing for a new message. Ten minutes of hacking and what I had was a single line of Matari text. It read, 'Follow the roots.'  Whatever that means.  The Anathema is an Amarr vessel and so much of the history of New Eden ties back to Amarr. Maybe those are the roots? It was the only clue I had, so I set out to find more. I asked Allison to dig up relevant information on Amarr for me and listened to the reports on my way.  I'll admit that I nearly came to tears, not for seeing the beauty o

After fifteen years in the business, Eve Online is a name that is both known and in many ways feared. Jumping into Eve is like trying to join your partner in the D&D campaign they've been playing with the same friends for fifteen years. You hear a lot about it, it sounds fun, but at the same time you know there is no way that you'll ever learn everything they'll expect you to know or remember all the custom rules they've set up. Oh, and hardly anything is written down anywhere. To put it mildly, jumping into Eve if you know anything at all about the game can be more than a little intimidating. It's full of barriers to entry for the average person, and some of its players like that situation just fine. After all, if you don't bring in new people, they can maintain their status as one of the elite few ruling the universe. This will be the first in a series of articles on the barriers to entry I've found to Eve; which is to say, things that might scar

Fatigued as a titan on roam, I returned to my quarters on Rokofur station and drop onto the sofa in the kind of heap that would have had my father sending me into parade formation drills. It's a passing thought and I smirk for it, there's not enough energy left in me to care. Besides, who's around to see me slumping? "Enter new log." I wait for the chime and continue, "Seventeen jumps from Rokofur to Yulai were shortened to twelve using the Thera wormhole connections. The Eve-Scout data proved to be accurate. Met with Ioannis Sepphires of Sapphire Interstellar Banking Solutions. Pleasant enough company even if he made me go planet-side to have our conversation. There's something to be said for meeting someone in person instead of just through relayed messages." I pause, drumming my fingers against the rugged material of my pants. "SIBS is an interesting proposition, and their Rhea Initiative deserves following. Ultimately, I believe Mr. Se

When I first tried Eve Online, there was only the option of a three-day trial. Now, you can play Eve for an unlimited amount of time as an Alpha Clone, or take the plunge to become an Omega. And can I say that I love that CCP worked this change not only from a mechanics perspective but also added the change into the very lore of the game itself? If you haven't seen this, take the time to read Sine Wave: Alpha and Sine Wave: Omega . Alpha Clones As an Alpha Clone, you'll have access to a vast amount of  Eve Online at a rather basic level. You'll get to experience most facets of play, while being held back from the higher tiers of those aspects. You're limited to tech 1 ships (the first level in each category of hull) and nothing bigger than a Battleship. You'll learn new skills at 1/2 the rate of an Omega, and some kills won't be able to be trained, or won't be able to be trained past a certain point. Many corporations will accept Alpha clones into

Some people find relaxation in making pixels explode in space. They long for the challenge of proving their superiority by making other players blink off the map and return to a cloning bay on some distant station. Some find it relaxing to exhale the stress of their lives in each statement made in fleetcoms. For me,  my enjoyment in Eve comes from exploration. I set my sites on some system, lock in some waypoints, and go see what there is to see. It's proven not only lucrative, but a lower-stress way to prepare other aspects of the game (such as the vaunted PVP). It's also lead me to Wormholes, which I find to be amazing for adding a level of paranoia and attentiveness. So how does it all work? Fun and Profit Exploration in New Eden can be done for both fun and profit. There are some shared aspects between the two and I'd recommend a few lessons to keep in mind. First, get comfortable with the Map found in your Neocom menu. Not only can this help you plan your ro