General Discussion

MMORPG.com EVE Online Correspondent Richard Morris writes this quick and easy guide to character creation in CCP's space-based sandbox.

In terms of character creation, there are so many variables that you have to consider in all MMOs, but EVE seems to have the most in my experience. From the beginning of character creation to in action game-play there are hundreds of variables that could change the outcome of any battle. Starting off in character creation there are two variables that will depict how you will play the rest of the game. Attributes and skills. It is crucial that you choose carefully and without mistakes. You have to take into consideration what exactly it is you want to do in the world of EVE. So, let's begin!

Read the article here.

As a player of EVE-Online, I noticed a few things I found incorrect in your article.

Skill Rank:
You wrote - "This is a multiplier that will increase the time spent training if the correct amount of primary and secondary attributes are not present. What this means is for every attribute point you do not have, it will add to the amount of time it takes to learn a skill."

This looks like you are saying that having higher attributes decreases the Skill Rank Multiplier.

Not quite correct. The Skill Rank Multiplies the total number of skill points required to gain a level as compared to a Rank 1 skill.  For example to go from level 0 to level I on a Rank 1 Skill requires 250 Skill points, for a Rank 2 it requires 500 Skill points, Rank 3 750 Skill points, etc.

As for how long it will take you to go from one level to the next, you need to figure out the following.

( SP_Needed - Current_SP ) / ( Pri_Attrib + ( Sec_Attrib / 2 ) )

This will give you the number of minutes it will take to train a particular skill.

Having Higher attributes does not decrease the number of skill points required, it just increases the rate at which you gain skill points, thus decreasing the time required.

And this Example:
"For example, if I have 0 Intelligence and 0 Memory, a skill with those primary/secondary attributes will take a long time to learn."

While this situation is actually imposable in the game itself, if you really had a Zero in both required attributes, the time required to gain a level would be infinite as you would be gaining 0 Skill points per minute.

Those interested can find more info in this EVE-Online Thread

Also the article talks about the Learning skill but completely disregards the other LEARNING skills that increase your indivual stats by 1 point per level which is a MUCH faster way of decreasing your training time.

 I've played EVE, nowdays I can't because I'm under Linux with an ATI card, and that means trouble in games.  I agree with the previous two posts, there are several things left out of this, although we should note is not a guide on leveling, but on character creation. 

As such I would have expected some information on the general type of ships/specializations that define how you start playing the game, for example, caldari affinity for missiles, or even the main differences between the ships they use, as some, for example, favor shields while others favor hull.  This is the type of info seriously missing from this article, as this could help to easen the burden of choices one is presented at start. It would also help people to get a character they feel confortable playing with. 

As a general leveling guide, it has errors and omissions as pointed. Also it lacks depth. In explaining rank benefits, it says rank I of caldari frigate operation lets you pilot that ship. It doens't explain, however, how do rank II and up modify that. It also doens't explain the existance of a skill tree that makes you learn some skills to unlock others. 

Overall, a real bad done ......guide?

I saw another inacurate article on EVE a few days ago and am wondering if this is to become a pattern? I note the advert for "Game Correspondents, Writers, Moderators" but I would expect some sort of quality control.

It can take a while to get a firm grasp on even the basics of the EVE universe but everyone goes through character creation so the author cant be excused for such a bad article on the subject.

The main issue is the article tries to go deep into the importance of attribute and skill selection during the creation process but fails in this as well as failing to cover how the different steps of  the process effect these things.

The article faills absolutely to provide any sort of 'guide' to character creation.

So, this was a non-guide guide?

Not entirely accurate, but not exactly off the mark either; there are some errors, and you could have pointed out the different starting skillsets you get from different career choices, which are quite important for the early game.

On errors (listed on order of appearance)

1) On Implants: "The other ones are extremely expensive and they yield 1 per rank" - either a typo or outright error on forming the sentence.

2) "Simply put the higher rank you want to learn the longer it will take and the better the benefits." - Higher rank does not confer increasing benefits. It simply confers increased training time, and points to the location of the skill on the 'skill tree'. First branch skills are rank 1, third branch up are rank 3, and so on. In addition, the 'lower-rank' skills are most often requirements for many higher-rank skills.

On other discrepancies:

You mention clones, but do not say where they can be bought, or how. You also mention losing skills, but do not tell us how and how much you lose (5% sp off your highest skill) when podded.

The attributes part should at least reference other Learning skills, as well as completely revise the 'implants' section. Remember you require a skill, Cybernetics, to fit implants.

Good job for mentioning EVEMon, it's a tool every newcomer to the game should learn to use.

Well despite what the critics say above, it is a good generic discussion of starting out in Eve except that it is more a brief introduction to Eve rather than a discussion of character creation.  I am going to suppose th author was restricted with word count restraints and that is always a problem when discussing Eve.

Brief and Eve do not go together.  It is a very complex game and those that don't have the fortitude to spend a lot of time reading before they attempt to play it, generally get a bad impression of the game.  The tutorial is a good and is a must.  I see players all the time asking silly questions that are covered well in the tutorial.  Don't bother to play the game if you can't take the tutorial.