EVE Online

 Well, I gave Eve a try 3 times before. The first time I lasted 3 or 4 days? I forgot exactly. Second time I lasted 5-6 days, 3rd time I lasted about 10 days, give or take a couple days.

So, I was busy playing WoW...was gonna get the expansion. Even though that would have really hurt my budget...but no real point in playing without it in my opinion. So, here I am playing...having some fun. It was only MMO out that I knew that I liked. So, even that was kinda boring...I was kinda tired of fantasy and kinda tired of WoW, but I needed that MMO fix. Well, my friend that I play MMOs with (I don't know him in real life) messages me saying something like "Hey, I'm playing Eve. I subscribed". Before he messaged me I actually totally forgot about Eve. So, since its easy to play with long-distance friends in Eve (being only one server he isn't forced to play in a europe server farm and not able to play with US people...hate that in MMOs)...I decided to give Eve another try. 

This time, it was a little different. Instead of picking caldari like the last 3 times, I picked Gallente (mostly for the drones and I like their ships). Okay, so that was a major change. Right away I was having a lot more fun with my drones and flying around...I've always been sorta a pet  "class" guy. I like having pets in MMOs (and in real life ...I have too many lol). So, I still haven't found a corp...but I'm looking to join one if they let me in (Celestial Janisaries). Which is kind of a bummer, since a guild/corp/clan or whatever you want to call it is one of the best parts of a MMO. Being in a corp/guild really enhances the game (for me anyway). But oh well, I want to make sure I find a good corp with people that I like and not just rush into it anyway. I did join my friends corp, but it wasn't the right one, something didn't feel right about it.

So before I got distracted with that corp talk...where did I leave off...oh right. So another thing that was different was I originally planned to stay in high-sec for awhile. Well, a few days into my trial I decide to check out 0.0 space. I decided to go to Providence, since that was the "safer" 0.0 space and they are anti-pirate over there. Probably not a good idea to go there on a trial or even without a corp (cause I haven't found anyone that wants to fleet me in Prov, and no corp to help me either). I went there on the day the game was going down for expansion, spent about 3 hours there (didn't see one red/pirate) and decided to head back to high-sec before game went down. I had a really hard time fighting a lot of the pirates there, especially the battleships (not easy to fight in a Vexor, heard it was possible, though. I just have to get my loadout and skills right). I have learned a few tricks that helped me fight them, like getting up really close to them...but I run out of power to use my modules and have to flee. Hopefully better cap rechargers (1 hour till I can use them) fix that.

So, after the expansion was released I stayed in high-sec for a little while...I still wasn't sure what I wanted to do. I decided high-sec was way too boring after being in 0.0. I joined a low-sec corp, but that corp sucked (which is why I'm taking time to make sure I like the corp before I join...I know corp hopping isn't really good...and I really really don't like doing that anyway.) 

So, I left that corp...which I felt bad, since like I said I don't like joining a corp and leaving. Should have taken my time. And since I didn't want to go back to high-sec, I made a long journey to Providence (0.0). And that is where I am now. Which brings me to...unlike my other three trials that I only stayed in high-sec, I have actually moved up (or down depending on how you want to look at it) to 0.0. Which 0.0 (especially in Prov) isn't bad at all. Even though I can't barely do anything against battleships or do much in 0.0  right now (I'm learning how to deal with the Battleships in a vexor though) I'm having a LOT more fun in 0.0 than I was in high sec. Hard to find a corp that will let a newbie in, though...and I'm trying to find one based in Prov region. So if you know of a corp based in Prov that lets newbies in, let me know.

So, to sum it up...compared to my last three trials, I chose a diff race, my playstyle is a little different and I'm living in 0.0. 

Today I'm subscribing (oh, and I should add...second day of my trial I unsubscribed from WoW) because my trial ends today. And Eve after the 4th time and doing different things has been so far the best MMO I've played...and its sci-fi (space based) which is awesome, was tired of Fantasy. I haven't even seen a lot of the game (like the PvP I've avoided so far) but I'm enjoying it a lot. Thanks to my friend for reminding me that Eve still existed. I wouldn't even thought to try it again if he didn't say something about it.

For those wondering, my character name is Shedarii. Feel free to message me or whatever, I don't know too many people in Eve yet.

Sylph and Sev3rence are both based in Providence and recruit newbs. Providence is not the safest place in the world as there are several terrorist groups who will happily raid and kill you for supporting slavery. Keep your eyes on local and dont make yourself a target, stick to core Providence systems such as 9UY where the CVA response blob is fastest to form. Do not rat in KBP, or anywhere near Catch.

Do you really have to warn people of your long text? It would be a sad day when this becomes a requirement :-|

Anyways, to your actual writing. As i am an eve player, long essays don't scare me. ;)
Looks like you are enjoying the ride so far, which is good.
It's been a while since i visited providence, but last i checked at least severance and paxton were actively recruiting. Cold Steel Alliance should still be around, but if they haven't changed in the last 1 1/2 years, they will be german only. Xen mentioned them anyways.

You Op was a nice read, thanks for that.

If I understood correctly is that THIS time, instead of going the PVE grinding route, you went the 'interact with other players' route, and that is where EVE shines. People running missions or mining 23/7 and then state EVE is dull never really played EVE, they just kept to the dogmas other MMO's enforced; PVE till your ears drop off and perhaps THEN you can worthwhile to a proper group of people. EVE's different.

 To be honest, I haven't joined a fleet (group) yet, haven't found anyone that wants to join me near where I'm located. I have ran into a gatecamp, but all of them were busy fighting and I warped out (got my heart pumping, though). Either they were busy or didn't see me, either way I always warp to 0 km, its quicker and a little safer. But, compared to my last three trials I am doing a lot more social things. For one, I'm talking a lot more to other players (before I barely talked to anyone). Which, in real life I'm a lot more social than I used to be as well...so that transfers over to MMOs as well. Also, even though I'm not in the corp yet and I do hope to join...I have found a much better corp than I have in my previous tries. Very good group of people.

0.0 is way better than high-sec, at least for me...I've gone to a few low-sec systems as well which wasn't too bad either. 

But you are right, I'm going into the more social parts of Eve...though I haven't grouped yet, which I hope to do once I join the corp (shouldn't be hard to find someone in same corp as me who wants to group).

I did accomplish something that I was really proud of today in Eve. I'm in a Vexor, and in 0.0 I find a lot of battleships among the asteroid belts. I can easily take on cruisers, and I forget if I've found any frigates...but cruisers and battleships seem to be the most common. Well, after doing a lot of research and trying a lot of different loadouts I finally found a loadout that lets my Vexor take on a battleship. Not sure if I can take on more than one yet, but I felt really proud of myself (which probably isn't a big deal to a lot of players, oh well) that I was able to win against a battleship in my little Vexor. Took a lot of trial and error to finally win against one. That was pretty cool to me :)

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Originally posted by Vendayn
I finally found a loadout that lets my Vexor take on a battleship. Not sure if I can take on more than one yet, but I felt really proud of myself (which probably isn't a big deal to a lot of players, oh well) that I was able to win against a battleship in my little Vexor. Took a lot of trial and error to finally win against one. That was pretty cool to me :)
 

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That's absolutely something to be proud of. I don't know a lot of people who do this, mostly because they don't manage to minimize the damage dealt to their ships.

I do similar things from time to time, keeps you on your toes about how to steer your ship. You won't last long if you stand still in a cruiser, and playing it so you take minimum damage is something you will need in pvp a lot. You can do similar things in pvp too..

Originally posted by Vendayn

I did accomplish something that I was really proud of today in Eve. I'm in a Vexor, and in 0.0 I find a lot of battleships among the asteroid belts. I can easily take on cruisers, and I forget if I've found any frigates...but cruisers and battleships seem to be the most common. Well, after doing a lot of research and trying a lot of different loadouts I finally found a loadout that lets my Vexor take on a battleship. Not sure if I can take on more than one yet, but I felt really proud of myself (which probably isn't a big deal to a lot of players, oh well) that I was able to win against a battleship in my little Vexor. Took a lot of trial and error to finally win against one. That was pretty cool to me :)

EVE rewards the clever player, and its great to achieve something like this. Nobody is going to belittle your achievement because it was YOU who did it, not your character.

Welcome to the joy of setup tweaking, hours pondering between two nanos and an OD or two ODs and a nano for the vagabond... its an obsession, but good fun :) Incidently, if you let me know where you are ill make sure you have plenty of company...

I'm still on trial, but I was asked to join a corp in solitude, and they gave me a fitted vexor to go pvping with them last night. There were 8 of us (7 vexors and thorax), and eventually we ran into a domi. 8 of us, 40 drones, no problem? Well this was my first time pvping and had no clue what to do, so I launched drones, turned on my damage control and my small hybrids (couldn't fit mediums or neuts, or anything else). We send our drones on him, get him down to armor and BAM! smartbombs. Killed our drones after three cycles. Then his friends jump in and kill two of our fleet members and one of them is podded in the smartbomb. So what does the domi pilot do? Apologizes! I had a lot of fun even though we screwed up.